Effect of Haptic Feedback on Pilot/Operator Performance During Flight Simulation

Flying an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a challenging task, due to the absence of direct sensory information such as a view of surroundings, sound, vibrations, and motion. It is important to provide these sensory stimulations to an operator for better situational awareness and efficient control. In this research, we study the effects of incorporating haptic feedback in UAV flight control. We present an experimental evaluation of three flight control scenarios, that is, in the absence of haptic feedback, in the presence of realistic haptic feedback, and an exaggerated haptic feedback. These three conditions are tested for an altitude hold, gain, and descent task in the flight simulation environment. A linear mathematical model is used to simulate the flight dynamics of a UAV controlled by a 6 DOF Touch 3D Stylus haptic device. Fifteen untrained users are recruited to participate in the flight simulation experiment. The analysis of the results of the experiment indicates an improvement in the longitudinal flight control performance. Specifically, the altitude hold task is better performed with no feedback, the altitude gain with exaggerated haptic feedback, and the altitude descent with realistic haptic feedback. A subjective evaluation in the end corroborates these findings.