UAS Ground Control Station (GCS) and Human Factors
The UAS GCS
selected for this paper is Insitu’s Common Open Mission Management Command and
Control (ICOMC2). The ICOMC2 is portable and can be installed and operated from
a laptop. Insitu says the ICOMC2 can control multiple unmanned vehicles from a
single work station and provides the operator with a video overlay function (Insitu,
2016).
The ICOMC2
display is configurable by the operator. For example, the user can show engine
parameters in one window and use drop down menus to select specific vehicle conditions
such as airspeed and altitude in another. The operator may choose to display a map
overlay in yet another window and a sensor feed in a third. These can be
adjusted and manipulated with common keyboard, mouse and touchpad laptop
controls (Insitu, 2016). For navigation of the UA, the user can select a
waypoint on the map or have the aircraft fly a pre-programmed route.
Insitu
advertises an Augmented Video Overlay System (AVOS) that provides operators
with various overlays of a video sensor feed in the ICOMC2 system. It can add
terrain elevation, acoustic detectability and other satellite data such as
borders or restricted airspace (Insitu, 2016). This capability should increase
the situational awareness for the user, helping them navigate safely around the
search area. This display method should increase the “operator imagery
interpretation (Cooke, 2006, p. 153)” as described by Cooke, and increase
situational awareness compared to a top-down view. However, environmental
conditions such as cloud cover or nighttime operations may negate the AVOS
advantages, similar to manned aircraft. Technology may offer mitigation in the
form of a virtual reality headset such as the Oculus Rift, a COTS virtual
reality headset that retails for $699 dollars (Greenwald, 2016). Virtual
reality may offer enough of an immersive experience that the operator can
maintain a higher level of situational awareness.
The ICOMC2 is
a laptop display capably of controlling multiple UA at once (Insitu, 2016).
This implies a considerable workload increase for the operator as each UA is
added to the mission; a concern from a human factors perspective. If the
operator is trying to control multiple aircraft, it would quickly become
difficult to maintain situational awareness, especially if one of the UAs
experience a malfunction. This may focus the operator’s attention on the problem
aircraft and may not allow enough extra mental capacity to make time critical
decisions for the other aircraft, a typical task saturation and negative human
factors concern.
Another possible
negative human factors issue with the ICOMC2 is the laptop interface described
above. The user manipulates the display while operating the various compatible
UAs. Familiarity with laptops controls is likely universal. Everyone should
understand how a mouse or touchpad controls functions on a screen. The downside
from a human factors point of view is this is not normal aircraft controls for
trained pilots. For example, a pilot will pull back on the controls in an
aircraft to increase flight altitude. On the ICOMC2, or any laptop controlled
UAS, it may be a mouse command or even typing in the desired altitude before
the UA begins a climb.
A conventional
laptop human machine interface (HMI) lacks tactile feedback. A manned aircraft
pilot may experience audible and tactile alerts when approaching a stall,
something likely not available from standard laptop configurations. A
mitigation strategy for this could include using controls similar to manned
aircraft, and provide more conventional aircraft controls to the operator.
REFERENCES
Cooke, N. J.
(2006). Human factors of remotely operated vehicles. Amsterdam, United
Kingdom: Elsevier JAI.Greenwald, W. (2016, December 20). The Best VR (Virtual Reality) Headsets of 2017. Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article/342537/
Insitu. (2016). Insitu - Insitu Common Open Mission Management Command and Control (ICOMC2). Retrieved from https://insitu.com/information-delivery/command-and-control/icomc2#2
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