Human Factors of Remotely Piloted Aircraft

Alan HobbsSan Jose State University/NASA Ames Research Center

Nogales Predator Accident

Nogales Predator Accident

Emerging Issues

1. Transfer of risk2. Teleoperation3. Air traffic considerations4. Transfer of control5. The control station6. Maintenance

Transfer of Risk

UA collides with people or property on ground

Other airspace user collides with UA

Public Tolerance of Risk

Involuntary exposure

Unfamiliar

• Radioactive waste

• Commercial aviation

• Skateboards

• Lead paint

• Pesticides

Trampolines •

• Water fluoridation

• Automobile accidents

Smoking • Nuclear weapons •

Familiar

Voluntary exposure

• Genetically modified organisms

Paul Slovic, 2000

Flight Termination

• Manned vs unmanned mindset• Information requirements

Teleoperation• Reduced perceptual cues• Potential for reduced situational awareness• Control/consequence incompatibility• Latencies• Link management

The Loop

• Human-in-the-loop– Manual– Via automation

• Human-on-the-loop• Human-out-of-the-loop

Capa

bilit

y of

on-

boar

d au

tom

ation

HOOTL HITLHOTL

Capa

bilit

y of

on-

boar

d au

tom

ation

HOOTL HITLHOTL

Capa

bilit

y of

on-

boar

d au

tom

ation

HOOTL HITLHOTL

Capa

bilit

y of

on-

boar

d au

tom

ation

HOOTL HITLHOTL

Teleoperation + Automation

Air Traffic

• Lack of out-the-window view• Timeliness of response?• Autonomous collision avoidance?• Lost link?• Impact on ATC workload and efficiency• Voice latencies

Transfer of Control

Transfer of Control

1

3

2

Control Stations

IFF transponder “IDENT”1. Remove right hand from control stick2. Move curser to tracker display3. Click on TOOLS menu4. Scroll to IFF5. Click to open IFF window6. Click “IDENT” button7. Click “APPLY”

Curser is accessed by trackball and Left/Right buttons

Note: In manned aircraft, the pilot response toATC-directed “IDENT” command is one step: 1. Push a button.

Fuel Heat Inhibit

Disable / Enable F9

Turning on the fuel heat system.

Note: This switch labeling has been changed to: “Fuel Heat: ON / OFF”

On-screen menu items refer to Function Keys for control.

Human Factors in UAS Maintenance

Human Factors in UAS Maintenance

Maintenance and Fault Diagnosis of IT Systems

• Ill-defined faults• Consumer hardware and software• Laptop use discipline

Maintenance and Fault Diagnosis of IT Systems

“The desktop computer, which was serving as the ground control system, locked up while the unmanned aircraft was in flight. The only alternative was to re-boot the computer, and this took about two to three minutes before command-and-control was reestablished. The unmanned aircraft’s flight path, however, was already uploaded so there was no effect on the flight.”

Final thoughts

• Public perceptions may matter more than “equivalent level of safety”

• We need to get it right from the start• We need to apply old lessons, and learn new

ones• There is an acute need to learn from UAS

incidents and accidents