Workload, Situation Awareness, and Teaming Issues for UAV/UCAV Operations

A new partnership is forming between humans and uninhabited aircraft. To augment the abilities of military forces on the ground and in the air, the US Armed Forces have developed several Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to work in conjunction with human pilots and enhance surveillance and combat capabilities. Even with no onboard pilot, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and combat-tailored versions (UCAVs) rely on proficient human operators on the ground for proper guidance and munitions deployment. For this reason, system designers must consider several key human factors issues in the development of functional UAV/UCAV systems. This work addresses three of these issues: workload, situation awareness, and teaming concerns. Recommendations to maximize operator efficacy, based on findings from human factors and ergonomics research, are presented as well as implications for training.