Considerations for Use of Aerial Views in Remote Unmanned Ground Vehicle Operations

Abstract

Remote unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) operations place the human operator at a perceptual disadvantage. Adding aerial views can benefit the operator's spatial cognition by supplying the missing contextual information regarding the vehicle's position and relation to other objects in the space surrounding the vehicle. In order to benefit from this additional information the operator must control and integrate multiple viewpoints. In a series of experiments the use of aerial views was examined including control mode options and altitude for the aerial scene imaging. Results indicate that aerial views are beneficial in UGV search tasks and that auto-tracking aerial imaging control modes should be considered.