Managing Multiple Uavs: Are we Asking the Right Questions?

Abstract

The limiting factor in how many unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) a single operator may be able to simultaneously control successfully may be constrained by the workload experienced by that operator. Recently, the focus on the cause of the workload and performance variation primarily stemmed from the number of concurrent UAVs controlled by a single operator. The present experiment systematically investigated the number of UAVs controlled and the number of targets each UAV had to provide information on during its flight. Additionally, an automation aid was evaluated to determine if cueing facilitated performance. The results suggest that the tasks of each UAV are just as much or perhaps even more important to consider when evaluating the source of increased operator workload and performance differences. Further, the automation, as employed in this experiment was limited in providing a practical benefit to the operator.