UAS Human Factors

Human factors in Unmanned Aerial Systems are the effects of interactions with UAS systems which can either be positive impacts on the system or negative impacts on the system due to limitations in system design or human errors. 

When it comes to the design and manufacture of unmanned system ground control systems, it has been noted that many designers do not involve unmanned system operators during designs of these systems.  The lack of aviator involve has led to cockpits that are wither misapplied (McCarley & Wickens, n.d.). Designers also tend to use video game and smartphone designs to develop unmanned system GCS which are in most cases divergent from aviation standards. The rush to put out a working model has also created underdeveloped or incomplete mission requirements. The result of these inconsistent or non-standardized GCS are pilot errors and confusions or inappropriate responses during emergencies which could lead to the loss of the UAS.

Another human factor in UAS operation is over automation and inadequate ineffective command interfaces. For many UAS especially the highly autonomous systems such as the RQ4, most of the operations are automated with the operator only having access to a throttle, keyboard and a mouse. In most of these highly autonomous systems, the pilot is more of a program manager than an operator. The Pilot also uses more text entries which can cause distractions and errors as the pilot/operator has to shift eyes from keyboard to textbox(Howe, 2017).

Solutions to overcome relying heavily on autonomy is to make the UAS systems more intuitive. Command interface should be more of a display, buttons, and layouts, and button guards for critical knobs to avoid mistakes when under duress. Challenges with video visuals and depth can be overcome with the development of technologies that aid in-dept perception such as heads up displays and stereoscopic vision technology. In the long run, standardization of GCS such as the ones seen in manned aircraft will lead to less confusion and errors which are usually more experienced in emergency situations.

 References

Howe, S. (2017). The leading human factors deficiencies in unmanned aircraft systems. Retrieved from https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20170005590.pdf

McCarley, J., & Wickens, C. (n.d.). Human factors concerns in uav flight. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.551.6883