Investigating UAS Operator Characteristics Influencing Mission Success

Our research objective is to evaluate how the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operators influence mission success. In Phase I, we conducted a critical review of the literature to create a UAS Taxonomy of important KSAs and a metrics taxonomy to assess these KSAs. After discussion with UAS program director Alex Mirot, our team identified a prioritized set of KSAs for further investigation: flight skill in a manned and unmanned flight environment, gaming experience, team experience, and trust in automation. In Phase II, we plan to observe flight crews, recruited from students enrolled in ERAU UAS courses, to evaluate the effect of these KSAs on participants’ task performance, situation awareness, and crew resource management during an operational mission. Findings from our study may offer insights into the development of personnel selection tools, operator training programs, and user interface design guidelines to ensure successful UAS operations