Minimizing Human Factors Mishaps in Unmanned Aircraft Systems

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qaisar R. (“Raza”) Waraich ◽  
Thomas A. Mazzuchi ◽  
Shahram Sarkani ◽  
David F. Rico
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Ground Control ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Engineering Standards ◽  
General Purpose Computer ◽  
Aircraft System ◽  
Purpose Computer

Unmanned aircraft system (UAS) mishaps attributable to lack of attention to human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) science in their ground control stations (GCSes) are alarmingly high, and UAS-specific HF/E engineering standards are years away from development. The ANSI/HFES 100-2007 human factors standard is proposed as a specification for the design of UASes because of the similarity between general-purpose computer workstations and GCSes. Data were collected from 20 UASes to determine the applicability of commercial standards to GCS designs. Analysis shows that general-purpose computer workstations and UAS GCSes are up to 98% similar. Therefore, our findings suggest that the application of commercial human factors standards may be a good solution for minimizing UAS mishaps.

scholarly journals Human Factors Contributions to the Development of Standards for Displays of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Support of Detect-and-Avoid

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim-Phuong L. Vu ◽  
Robert Conrad Rorie ◽  
Lisa Fern ◽  
Robert Jay Shively
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
National Airspace System ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Human Systems Integration ◽  
High Level ◽  
Evidence Based Guidelines

Objective The aim is to provide a high-level synthesis of human factors research that contributed to the development of detect-and-avoid display requirements for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Background The integration of UAS into the U.S. National Airspace System is a priority under the Federal Aviation Administration’s Modernization and Reform Act. For UAS to have routine access to the National Airspace System, UAS must have detect-and-avoid capabilities. One human factors challenge is to determine how to display information effectively to remote pilots for performing detect-and-avoid tasks. Method A high-level review of research informing the display requirements for UAS detect-and-avoid is provided. In addition, description of the contributions of human factors researchers in the writing of the requirements is highlighted. Results Findings from human-in-the-loop simulations are used to illustrate how evidence-based guidelines and requirements were established for the display of information to assist pilots in performing detect-and-avoid. Implications for human factors are discussed. Conclusion Human factors researchers and engineers made many contributions to generate the data used to justify the detect-and-avoid display requirements. Human factors researchers must continue to be involved in the development of standards to ensure that requirements are evidence-based and take into account human operator performance and human factors principles and guidelines. Application The research presented in this paper is relevant to the design of UAS, the writing of standards and requirements, and the work in human–systems integration.

Coexistence Analysis of Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Low Altitudes

Frequenz ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (11-12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuzhe Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Rate Model ◽  
System Communication ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Communication Models ◽  
Ratio Criterion ◽  
Coverage Model ◽  
Aircraft System ◽  
Frequency Distance

AbstractThe requirement of unmanned aircraft systems in civil areas is growing. However, provisioning of flight efficiency and safety of unmanned aircraft has critical requirements on wireless communication spectrum resources. Current researches mainly focus on spectrum availability. In this paper, the unmanned aircraft system communication models, including the coverage model and data rate model, and two coexistence analysis procedures, i. e. the interference and noise ratio criterion and frequency-distance-direction criterion, are proposed to analyze spectrum requirements and interference results of the civil unmanned aircraft systems at low altitudes. In addition, explicit explanations are provided. The proposed coexistence analysis criteria are applied to assess unmanned aircraft systems’ uplink and downlink interference performances and to support corresponding spectrum planning. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed assessments and analysis procedures satisfy requirements of flexible spectrum accessing and safe coexistence among multiple unmanned aircraft systems.

Typology and anatomy of drones

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serge A. Wich ◽  
Lian Pin Koh
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Power Source ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Ground Control ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Ground Control Station ◽  
Remotely Piloted Aircraft ◽  
Pros And Cons

In this chapter we discuss the typology of drones that are currently being used for different kinds of environmental and conservation applications. Drones are also commonly known variously as Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). We focus on the most popular aircraft types including multirotor (of various configurations), fixed wing, and hybrid ‘vertical-take-off-and-landing’ (VTOL) craft, and briefly discuss the relative pros and cons of each type. We also broadly discuss the essential components common to all remotely piloted aircraft systems, including the power source, flight controller (or autopilot), and ground control station.

PROSPECTIVE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF THE CENTER FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS OF EMERCOM OF RUSSIA

2021 ◽  
pp. 57-61
Author(s):  
Инесса Николаевна Исавнина ◽  
Юрий Николаевич Осипов ◽  
Владимир Иванович Ершов ◽  
Надежда Германовна Каменских
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft System ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Departmental Level ◽  
Aircraft System ◽  
Operating Units

Развитие системы беспилотной авиации, независимо от ее предназначения и структурной принадлежности, предполагает согласованные усилия заинтересованных лиц (руководства, ученых и конструкторов, специалистов испытательных комплексов, преподавателей, инструкторов теоретического и практического обучения операторов управления летательными аппаратами и их полезными нагрузками) по совершенствованию технических характеристик и функционала беспилотных воздушных судов, а также по формированию соответствующих компетенций у персонала эксплуатирующих подразделений. Очевидным является тот факт, что все перечисленные мероприятия наиболее полно могут быть реализованы в рамках функционирования специальных центров развития беспилотных авиационных систем государственного или ведомственного уровня. The development of unmanned aircraft system, regardless of its purpose and structural affiliation, involves the concerted efforts of stakeholders (management, scientists and designers, specialists of test complexes, tutors, as well as theoretical and practical instructors for operators of aircraft and their payloads control) to improve the technical characteristics and functionality of unmanned aircraft, as well as to create appropriate competencies among the personnel of operating units. It is obvious that all these measures can be fully implemented within the framework of special centers for unmanned aircraft systems of state or departmental level.

Human Factors Guidelines for Unmanned Aircraft Systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Hobbs ◽  
Beth Lyall
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Human Machine Interfaces ◽  
Unrestricted Access

The pilot control stations of some unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) have been plagued by poor human–machine interfaces. Human factors guidelines focused on the unique challenges of unmanned aviation will be essential if UASs are to gain unrestricted access to civil airspace. We present a systematic approach that can assist in the development and organization of human factors guidelines for UAS pilot control stations and other human–machine interfaces.

Measuring Shared Mental Models in Unmanned Aircraft Systems

2015 ◽  
pp. 1188-1196
Author(s):  
Rosemarie Reynolds ◽  
Alex J. Mirot ◽  
Prince D. Nudze
Keyword(s):  
Mental Models ◽  
Mental Model ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Shared Mental Models ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft System ◽  
Team Coordination ◽  
Shared Mental Model ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Aircraft System

Unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) are becoming part of the aviation landscape, taking on the dirty, dangerous, or dull operations traditionally completed by military and specialized civil aircraft. These operations often require high levels of team coordination. Team coordination is facilitated when team members share a mental model of group tasks and the individual crewmember's responsibilities in the performance of these tasks. The shared mental model is therefore critical for unmanned aircraft system teams to complete their operational objectives. The ability to forge a shared mental model is complicated by the diverse and often distributed nature of unmanned aircraft system teams. Before strategies can be developed to create accurate shared mental models, researchers must effectively measure shared mental models. This chapter explores the measurement of shared mental models in UASs.

A neurobiologically-inspired intelligent trajectory tracking control for unmanned aircraft systems with uncertain system dynamics and disturbance

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Jafari ◽  
Hao Xu ◽  
Luis Rodolfo Garcia Carrillo
Keyword(s):  
System Dynamics ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Uncertain System ◽  
Emotional Learning ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft System ◽  
Trajectory Tracking Control ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Aircraft System

In this paper, a novel neurobiologically-inspired intelligent tracking controller is developed and implemented for unmanned aircraft systems in the presence of uncertain system dynamics and disturbance. The methodology adopted, known as Brain Emotional Learning Based Intelligent Controller (BELBIC), is based on a novel computational model of emotional learning within brain limbic systems in mammals. Compared to conventional model-based control methods, BELBICs are more suitable for practical unmanned aircraft systems since they can maintain the real-time unmanned aircraft system performance without known system dynamics and disturbance. Furthermore, the learning capability and low computational complexity of BELBIC mean that it is very promising for implementation in complex real-time applications. Moreover, we proved that our proposed methodology guarantees convergence. To evaluate the practical performance of our proposed design, BELBIC has been implemented into a benchmark unmanned aircraft system. Numerical and experimental results demonstrated the applicability and satisfactory performance of the proposed BELBIC-inspired design.

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