Robots are already being used in a variety of applications, including the military battlefield. As robotic technology continues to advance, those applications will increase, as will the demands on the associated network communication links. Two experiments investigated the effects of communication latency on the control of a robot across four Levels Of Automation (LOAs), (1) full teleoperation, (2) guarded teleoperation, (3) autonomous obstacle avoidance, and (4) full autonomy. Latency parameters studied included latency duration, latency variability, and the "direction" in which the latency occurs, that is from user-to-robot or from robot-to-user. The results indicate that the higher the LOA, the better the performance in terms of both time and number of errors made, and also the more resistant to the degrading effects of latency. Subjective reports confirmed these findings. Implications of constant vs. variable-latency, user-to-robot vs. robot-to-user latency, and latency duration are also discussed.
Much of the research on unmanned-vehicles (UVs) focuses on technology or interface design.This study however, investigated how to best support effective communication between the operator monitoring a UV and the Soldier in the field using that information to complete a mission. Several questions arise: Does the operator need to be co-located with Soldiers in the field or can he or she be in a more secure rearward location? Does the team need the capability to transmit visual images or is radio communication adequate? Is information from one type of UV better than others? Do real time mapping and tracking technologies increase situation awareness (SA)? To begin to answer these questions, military teams conducted rescue missions using the video game Raven Shield as a simulated battlefield. The analysis of performance data, self reports, and observations provide some valuable insight to these questions.
Risk perception and uncertainty management are important components of military decision making, especially in time-stressed and resource-limited environments. The purpose of this experiment was to understand the interaction of integrality of information, presentation mode, and information frame on situation awareness (SA) and decision-making (missile allocation) in a National Missile Defense (NMD) paradigm. Results of the information frame manipulation (expected gain v. expected loss) support earlier findings that subjects are loss averse. SA Accuracy was higher with graphical displays than alphanumeric displays. The implications for NMD are discussed.
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