Mini-Remotely Piloted Vehicle Precision Tracking Evaluation

Abstract

The research reported assessed the ability of a human operator to manually null the residual pointing errors that remain on the output of an automatic target tracker under conditions of data link bandwidth reduction. Three operator performance evaluations were conducted using a hybrid computer simulation of the mini-RPV system. The first study assessed the ability of an operator to null the residual errors using a baseline system design. In the study, 32 combinations of environmental and display factors were examined to determine their impact on pointing accuracy. In no case did the average performance reach the 50 microradian standard deviation criterion. The remaining two studies evaluated candidate modifications to the mini-RPV system which would be expected to improve overall tracking performance. Based on these studies, a modified system was identified which allowed criterion tracking accuracy while yielding a 32-to-1 reduction in the data link bandwidth.