Addressing the human element in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

There is a growing effort by the military to develop and field Unmanned (Uninhabited) Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems. This growth has been fueled by technology advances as well as the potentially lower costs of unmanned, relative to manned, aircraft systems. To take full advantage of the opportunities afforded by UAVs requires the effective integration of the human into the UAV system. Recognizing this need, the Air Force Armstrong Laboratory is conducting exploratory and advanced research to better understand human systems and technology requirements for current and future UAVs. As part of this work, the Boeing Defense and Space Group collected information from academia, research groups, UAV system developers and UAV system users. Analyses of the collected information led to sets of research and technology development recommendations for addressing human systems integration needs in such areas as operator interface design, crew selection, training, force structure integration, automation and deployment. This paper describes several of the findings from these analyses.