Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations

Florian Jentsch, Michael Barnes

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317119463
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Human-Computer Interaction
• Index: Computer Science

Soldier-robot teams will be an important component of future battle spaces, creating a complex but potentially more survivable and effective combat force. The complexity of the battlefield of the future presents its own problems. The variety of robotic systems and the almost infinite number of possible military missions create a dilemma for researchers who wish to predict human-robot interactions (HRI) performance in future environments. Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations provides an opportunity for scientists investigating military issues related to HRI to present their results cohesively within a single volume. The issues range from operators interacting with small ground robots and aerial vehicles to supervising large, near-autonomous vehicles capable of intelligent battlefield behaviors. The ability of the human to 'team' with intelligent unmanned systems in such environments is the focus of the volume. As such, chapters are written by recognized leaders within their disciplines and they discuss their research in the context of a broad-based approach. Therefore the book allows researchers from differing disciplines to be brought up to date on both theoretical and methodological issues surrounding human-robot interaction in military environments. The overall objective of this volume is to illuminate the challenges and potential solutions for military HRI through discussion of the many approaches that have been utilized in order to converge on a better understanding of this relatively complex concept. It should be noted that many of these issues will generalize to civilian applications as robotic technology matures. An important outcome is the focus on developing general human-robot teaming principles and guidelines to help both the human factors design and training community develop a better understanding of this nascent but revolutionary technology. Much of the research within the book is based on the Human Research and Engineering Directorate (HRED), U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) 5-year Army Technology Objective (ATO) research program. The program addressed HRI and teaming for both aerial and ground robotic assets in conjunction with the U.S. Army Tank and Automotive Research and Development Center (TARDEC) and the Aviation and Missile Development Center (AMRDEC) The purpose of the program was to understand HRI issues in order to develop and evaluate technologies to improve HRI battlefield performance for Future Combat Systems (FCS). The work within this volume goes beyond the research results to encapsulate the ATO's findings and discuss them in a broader context in order to understand both their military and civilian implications. For this reason, scientists conducting related research have contributed additional chapters to widen the scope of the original research boundaries.

PART I
Introduction to HRI

Chapter 1
An Introduction to Human-Robot Interaction in Military Applications

A. William Evans III

University of Central Florida

I’m completely operational and all my circuits are functioning normally.

Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick & Clarke, 1968)

Already in the 1960s, when 2001: A Space Odyssey was filmed, people imagined a world in which robots were able to seamlessly interact with humans. Since then, the dreams of young science fiction enthusiasts have grown into the realities of scientists, leading the robotics charge that we see today. While we have not quite achieved the level of interaction (or encountered the perils) imagined in Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke’s prediction of the year 2001, we have seen tremendous advances in the areas of robotics, artificial intelligence, and the interactions between humans and machines. Within that interaction between man and machine lies a bounty of questions, issues, and possibilities waiting to be explored.

Human-robot interaction (HRI) is an ever-growing research field with connections to both military and civilian applications. While there is a considerable overlap between military and civilian applications of unmanned vehicles, this volume focuses chiefly on military applications. Previous military uses of unmanned systems included, primarily, teleoperations of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in search and rescue tasks and in ordnance disposal, as well as the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance and, more recently, strike operations. Advances in robot technology, however, will soon allow robots to perform advanced reconnaissance tasks, logistics supply, and battlefield casualty evacuation, among others. Hopes are that someday robotics will be able to supplement human counterparts in all military tasks, including a firelight. However, all of these advances, and others not yet conceived, are dependent upon the success of researchers within the HRI field to conduct sound and meaningful studies that help the HRI community learn more about the capabilities, uses, and potential misuses of such technology. This is the motivation for the current book. Included within this volume are examples of fundamental and domain-specific results and knowledge generated from the HRI community.

The chapters in this volume address such issues as basic HRI architecture, cognitive and social influences, and fundamental perceptual issues that are relevant to HRI. Beyond this, chapter contributors have addressed specific issues relating to UGVs, UAVs, and unmanned vehicle operator control units (OCUs). The overarching issues that concern all robotic systems in the military are addressed as well. In conjunction with these topics, several field experiments are outlined in detail, whereas other chapters discuss the theories relating to the future of HRI. In this brief foreword, a summary of the contributions is provided so as to give the reader an “advanced organizer” of what can be found in the remainder of the book.

Parts I and II: Introduction to and Foundations of HRI

This volume begins with an introduction to HRI, starting with an overview of current military research presented by one of the editors of this volume, Michael Barnes. Barnes’ chapter is followed by a brief synopsis of current civilian applications of ground robotic assets, covering the lab and field research of Murphy and Burke. These authors have put particular emphasis on the human-robot ratio, with a specific focus on safety. Following this, a more detailed report of foundational research is presented, which starts with Gillan, Riley, and McDermott’s description of the cognitive psychology involved with HRI. Specifically, Gillan and his coauthors have taken a look at which cognitive processes are critical in the control and use of robotic assets. The social factors affecting HRI are then discussed in Thompson and Gillan’s work. Social influences such as acceptance and trust have been addressed within their work. Pazuchanics and Chadwick have continued the foundational theme by exploring the role of spatial ability and perception involved in human-robot teaming. One of the main foci of their chapter is the role of target recognition in HRI performance.

Expanding on some of the basic psychological foundations used in the previously mentioned chapters, Cosenzo, Parasuraman, and de Visser have discussed strategies for utilizing adaptive automation as a tool to increase performance in human-robot teams, by utilizing a dynamic “division of labor” between human and robotic teammates. Following this is Mitchell and Samms’ chapter, which has taken a deeper look into soldier workload while utilizing robotic assets. In doing so, the authors have made use of the Army Research Laboratory’s Improved Performance Research Integration Tool (IMPRINT).

Part III: UAV Issues and Research

The second section of the book deals with issues that are more closely related to the use of UAVs. UAVs were some of the first unmanned vehicles and thus are, in many instances, further along the developmental path than many of their ground and sea-based brethren. As such, UAV-specific research tends to provide a view of foundational issues that ultimately affect all unmanned vehicles.

The section begins with Schulte and Meitinger’s chapter on the use of cognitive automation techniques and their potential uses in flight guidance systems for unmanned aircraft. The challenges of maintaining situational awareness while operating UAVs is discussed in detail by Riley, Strater, Chappell, Connors, and Endsley. Wickens, Levinthal, and Rice have investigated the issues of reliability or, more importantly, imperfect reliability, on workload and performance in supervisory control of UAVs. Continuing with the theme of understanding UAVs as teammates are Oron-Gilad and Minkov, who have taken a look at UAV usage from a bottom-up perspective. This section of the book is rounded out by a description of a research study, which was conducted by Calhoun and Draper, aimed at creating a better video display unit to help increase UAV operator’s performance.

Part IV: UGV Issues and Research

Jansen and van Erp’s chapter begins the third section, which is dedicated to UGV issues. While many global issues affecting UGVs have been foreshadowed in research with UAVs, there are issues specific to the more complex navigation and control of UGVs. One construct, for example, that is more critical for UGVs than UAVs is that of operator spatial and situational awareness. In this vein, Jansen and van Erp have presented the idea of telepresence and its usefulness for enhancing the situational awareness of human supervisors. The authors have explored the use of telepresence to gain some perspective on the needs of supervisors in human-robot teams when stepping back into the control loop, as operators. Following this, Haas and van Erp have discussed the use of multimodal displays to help create more efficient OCUs. These two chapters are followed by three research chapters, describing empirical studies in the area. Each of these chapters, like the first two in this section, is centered on the goal of improving operator awareness and control while utilizing UGVs. This begins with Chen’s examination of operator workload in single-task and multi-task environments. Allender has followed up with a field investigation of the effects of temporal latency on the performance of robotic operators, and ways to combat those effects. Returning to the issue of display layouts, Redden and Elliott have presented their research on the scaling of OCUs specifically to be used by dismounted soldiers.

Part V: Cross-Platform Research

Research that attempts to span the gap between various unmanned vehicle platforms can become quickly very complex, simply due to the nature of comparing two dissimilar assets. Yet, it is what we can learn from one platform and apply to another that is of particular value to developers and researchers alike. In an attempt to cross the bridge between UAVs and UGVs, Cooke and Chadwick have discussed lessons learned from research in different areas of HRI. Various issues such as piloting a plane versus piloting a UAV, and the limitations of UGV visual perception are addressed. Similarly, Goodrich has contributed an interesting chapter on the potential of a theoretical model for use in control of assets in human-robot teams, called a fan-out model. Fan-out refers to the number of assets an operator or operators can control at one time, and could have application in all manner of unmanned systems. Finally, Lewis and Wang have taken on the difficult task of creating metrics with which predictions can be made about task difficulty and coordination demand, as well as providing an algorithm to help in the control of large numbers of similar and dissimilar robotic assets.

Part VI: Summary and Future Directions

The chapters in this book have been assembled with the intention of providing an insight into current military HRI-related research. Based on this research, and coupled with the theories used by the chapter authors, readers are provided with an indication as to where unmanned systems use is headed in the military and the role that research will play in creating a more efficient and cohesive team union between man and machine. Evans and Jentsch have provided a summary of the research being done, and discuss how each of these individual projects is one piece of a much larger whole. In addition, examples of Jentsch, Evans, and Ososky’s own research have been provided in Part V, discussing how past and concurrent research play a role in study design, theory, training, analysis, and conclusions. All in all, it is the hope of the editors that this book should provide a deep and diverse look into the world of HRI and unmanned systems in the military that can both inspire and guide future research within the field.

References

Allender, L. (2010). A Cognitive Systems Engineering Approach for Human-Robot Interaction: Lessons for an Examination of Temporal Latency. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 315–334). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Barnes, M. J. (2010). Soldier-Robot Teams in Future Battlefields: An Overview. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 9–30). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Calhoun, G. L. & Draper, M. H. (2010). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Enhancing Video Display Utility with Synthetic Vision Technology. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 229–248). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Chen, J. Y. C. (2010). Robotics Operator Performance in a Multi-Tasking Environment. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 293–314). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Cooke, N. J. & Chadwick, R. (2010). Lessons Learned from Human-Robotic Interactions on the Ground and in the Air. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 355–374). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Cosenzo, K., Parasuraman, R., & de Visser, E. (2010). Automation Strategies for Facilitating Human Interaction with Military Unmanned Vehicles. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 103–124). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Evans, A. W., III (2010). An Introduction to Human-Robot Interaction in Military Applications. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 3–8). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Evans, A. W., III & Jentsch, F. G. (2010). The Future of HRI: Alternate Research Trajectories and Their Influence on the Future of Unmanned Systems. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 435–442). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Gillan, D., Riley, J., & McDermott, P. (2010). The Cognitive Psychology of Human-Robot Interaction. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 53–66). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Goodrich, M. (2010). On Maximizing Fan-Out: Towards Controlling Multiple Unmanned Vehicles. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 375–396). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Haas, E. & van Erp, J. (2010). Multimodal Research for Human-Robot Interactions. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 271–292). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Jansen, C. & van Erp, J. (2010). Telepresence Control of Unmanned Systems. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 251–270). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Jentsch, F. G., Evans, A. W., III, & Ososky, S. (2010). Model World: Military HRI Research Conducted Using a Scale MOUT Facility. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 419–432). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Kubrick, S. (writer/director) & Clarke, A. C. (writer) (1968). 2001: A Space Odyssey [motion picture]. United States: MGM Studios.

Lewis, M. & Wang, J. (2010). Coordination and Automation for Controlling Robot Teams. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 397–418). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Mitchell, D. & Samms, C. (2010). An Analytical Approach for Predicting Soldier Workload and Performance Using Human Performance Modeling. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 125–142). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Murphy, R. & Burke, J. (2010). The Safe Human-Robot Ratio. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 31–50). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Oran-Gilad, T. & Minkov, Y. (2010). Remotely Operate Vehicles (ROVs) from the Bottom-Up Operational Perspective. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 211–228). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Pazuchanics, S., Chadwick, R., Sapp, M., & Gillan, D. (2010). Robots in Space and Time: The Role of Object, Motion, and Spatial Perception in the Control and Monitoring of Uninhabited Ground Vehicles. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 83–102). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Redden, E., & Elliott, L. (2010). Robotic Control Systems for Dismounted Soldiers. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 335–352). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Riley, J., Strater, L., Chappell, S., Connors, E., & Endsley, M. (2010). Situation Awareness in Human-Robot Interaction: Challenges and User Interface Requirements. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 171–192). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Schulte, A. & Meitinger, C. (2010). Introducing Cognitive and Co-operative Automation into UAV Guidance Work Systems. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 145–170). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Thompson, L. F. & Gillan, D. (2010). Social Factors in Human-Robot Interaction. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 67–82). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Wickens, C., Levinthal, B., & Rice, S. (2010). Imperfect Reliability in Unmanned Air Vehicle Supervision and Control. In M. J. Barnes & F. G. Jentsch (eds), Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations (pp. 193–210). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Chapter 2
Soldier-Robot Teams in Future Battlefields: An Overview

Michael J. Barnes and A. William Evans III

U.S. Army Research Laboratory/University of Central Florida

Working with the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), the Human Research and Engineering Directorate (HRED), U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) embarked on a five-year Army Technology Objective (ATO) research program that addressed human-robot interaction (HRI) and teaming for both aerial and ground robotic assets. The purpose of the program was to understand HRI issues in order to develop technologies and procedures that enhance HRI performance in future combat environments. Soldier-robot teams will be an important component of future battlespaces, creating a complex but potentially more survivable and effective combat force. The variety of robotic systems and the almost infinite number of possible Army missions create a dilemma for researchers who wish to predict HRI performance in future environments, requiring researchers to develop creative simulations of future combat systems as well to conduct field tests with actual systems (Barnes et al., 2006a). The purpose of this chapter is to summarize issues and solutions that have resulted from the research program. The researchers have published over 100 individual papers and more continue to be submitted. Furthermore, the larger field of HRI has grown immensely in the last five years. For obvious reasons, we have limited the chapter to a few crucial issues highlighting our own HRI re...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• About the Editors
• List of Contributors
• PART I INTRODUCTION TO HRI
• PART II FOUNDATIONS OF HRI
• PART III UAV RESEARCH
• PART IV UGV RESEARCH
• PART V CROSS-PLATFORM RESEARCH
• PART VI FUTURE DIRECTIONS
• Index