Abstract
This panel has been designed to discuss future directions in unmanned system (UMS) and human-robot interaction (HRI) research. Robotics research for military applications has come a long way, but new issues are appearing on the horizon, which stand to have a significant effect on UMS integration with Soldiers. The Soldiers' role with robotics, in the future, will range from operator, to information manager, to information consumer, to teammate, and interactions will be as varied as the collaborations between man and machine. As heterogeneous robotic assets make their way into regular duty, researchers are faced with the challenge of meeting potential issues in a number of areas head-on; limiting negative influences on performance and increasing effectiveness of UMSs and human-robot teams. Issues that may direct this research include the effects of increased autonomy, multi-robot networking, information flow management, specific task management concerns, and the role of network science in facilitating the integration of UMSs into mainstream battle forces. The members of this panel have been chosen specifically for their background and insight into these areas and it is hoped that their discussion can help provide both direction and guidance in preparing to overcome the challenges of UMS integration into military environments.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.