The Effects of Asset Degradation on Human Trust in Swarms

Human-swarm interaction (HSwI) research investigates interactions between human operators and robotic swarms. Swarms comprise assets, which operate as a unified group to complete goals like target foraging and shape configuration for asset movement optimization. Though the algorithmic specifications of swarm operations make them robust to individual asset loss, it is unknown how viewing asset degradations affects operator trust towards swarms. To investigate this relationship, modifications to an extant simulator of swarm foraging behaviors were implemented to portray functional asset degradation. Participants viewed recordings of swarms foraging, each comprising a randomized percentage of asset degradation. After each recording, participants rated their intentions to rely on the swarms in a target foraging task. Results showed an effect of differential asset loss on participants’ intentions to rely on swarms. Post hoc analyses showed that participants had greater intentions to rely on swarms in a future target foraging task when 5% and 15% of assets were degraded compared to 20% and 50%. Limitations and ideas for future research on trust in HSwI during target foraging tasks are discussed in detail.