Robotic Control In A Multi-Task Environment

In this study, we performed an experiment to examine the workload and performance of the combined position of gunner and robotic operator. The experimental conditions included a gunner baseline and concurrent task conditions where participants simultaneously performed gunnery tasks and one of the following tasks: monitor an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) via the video feed (Monitor), manage a semi-autonomous UGV, and teleoperate a UGV (Teleop). Participants also performed single-task robotic baselines using the UGV and Teleop modes. Results showed that, for the robotic tasks, there were significant differences among the Monitor, UGV, and Teleop conditions in human target detection performance, with the UGV being the lowest (only 52% were detected). When participants only had to operate the UGV (i.e., UGV baseline), their overall target detection rate was 80%; when they had to concurrently operate the UGV while performing the gunner\u27s tasks (i.e., UGV condition), their target detection using the UGV dropped to 68%. Participants\u27 perceived workload for the four conditions was also all significantly different from one another, with Teleop being the highest and, in decreasing order, UGV, Monitor, and Gunner Baseline