EFFECTS OF UAV SUPERVISORY CONTROL ON F-18 FORMATION FLIGHT PERFORMANCE IN A SIMULATOR ENVIRONMENT

1. EFFECTS OF UAV SUPERVISORY CONTROL ON F-18 FORMATION FLIGHT PERFORMANCE IN A SIMULATOR ENVIRONMENT LCDR Eric McMullen MAJ Shane Grass Thesis Advisor: Dr. Ji-Hyun Yang Co-Advisor: Dr. Quinn Kennedy Second Reader: Dr. Joseph Sullivan

2. Outline • Background • Pilot Study • Hypotheses • Experiment • Participants • Equipment • Design • Results • Data Formatting • Data Filtering • Statistics • Future Work • Q&A

3. Background • Distractions degrading task performance has been researched in numerous studies, but rarely concerning secondary tasks while flying military aircraft. • Noted study by Strayer, Drews, & Couch (2006) investigated the effects of cell phone use while driving • Compared effects to intoxication • Frequently cited in Crew Resource Management Instructors’ course for Naval Aviators

4. Pilot Study Conducted proof of concept in HF of System Design Inter-plane Following Distance

5. Hypotheses The objective of this thesis is to investigate the following questions: • What is the difference in performance of the primary flight task when performing a traditional secondary task versus a potential future UAV supervisory task? •  Does pilot experience and proficiency/currency indicate their primary task performance when performing a future secondary task? • (EXPLORATORY) What is the difference in physiological measures such as heart rate, respiration rate, and posture when performing the traditional versus future secondary tasks?

6. NAS Lemoore

7. Participants • Aviators from NAS Lemoore operational squadrons • CAT II-IV qualified (moderate to high experience) Median Mean SD

8. Equipment • Primary Task Simulators : F-18 Tactical Operational Flight Trainers (TOFTs) • Semi-Autonomous Wingman Supervisory Interface (SAWSI) • BioHarness

9. F-18 Tactical Operational Flight Trainer (TOFT)

10. Semi-Autonomous Wingman Supervisory Interface (SAWSI)

11. Cockpit Configuration

12. BioHarness Records Heartrate, Respiratory Rate, Posture, and Skin Conductance

13. Design • Planned for 40 participants • 3 Scripted Tasks with a practice session • Baseline (no secondary task) • Traditional (w/Air-Ground task) • Futuristic (w/UAV task using SAWSI) • Length • Each session 5 minutes long (~20 min sim period) • ~ 1 hr/participant total • Simplified Randomization • Group A: B, T, F • Group B: B, F, T

14. Primary Task - Parade Position

15. Parade Position Inter-plane Following Distance

16. Scenario Brief & Traditional Task 50nm

17. Semi-Autonomous Wingman Supervisory Interface (SAWSI)

18. SAWSI

19. SAWSI

20. SAWSI

21. SAWSI

22. SAWSI

23. SAWSI

24. SAWSI

25. Battle Hit Assessment (BHA)

26. Future Task 50nm

27. Script

28. Data Formatting

29. Raw Data

30. Data Filtering if (filtering distance == 0) then use the original following distance value else, (if original following distance>the filtering distance) then (if the previous cell following distance > filtering distance) then use min(the next previous cell’s value, filtering distance) else use the original following distance.

31. Data Filtering Smoothing Function=IF(AC$3=0,AB9,(IF (AB9> AC$3,IF(AB8>AC$3,MIN(AB7,AC$3),AB8),AB9))) Filtering Distance

32. Raw Data

33. Filtered Data

34. t-test Results on Filtered Data

35. C/D vs E/F Comparison C/D E/F

36. Filtered Averages by Session

37. Perceived Cockpit Workload

38. Future Work • Continue analysis of biodata • Factor in performance of secondary task • Study performance in multi-crew aircraft compared to single pilot • Vary intensity of secondary task • Increased UAVs • Vary frequency of interaction

39. Questions and Answers ?