Participant Characteristics in Human-in-the-Loop Studies with Multiple Unmanned Vehicles including Aircraft

The characteristics that a supervisor of multiple autonomous and semi-autonomous systems should possess remain unclear. Determination of these qualities would support job performance as well as recruiting and training. To evaluate the human characteristics currently being considered by human-in-the-loop experiments, a review of the multiple remote vehicle supervision literature was conducted. The human characteristics addressed included: gender, domain relevant experience, working memory, supervisory relevant skills and abilities (e.g., visual skills, spatial ability, attentional control, vigilance), and traits related to multi-tasking (e.g., stress, resilience). The discussion identifies gaps in the current state of the art with respect to the consideration of human characteristics for multi-autonomous and semi-autonomous systems supervision where at least one vehicle is an aircraft.