Development of an Operability Evaluation Framework for Remotely Controlled Ground Combat Vehicles in a Simulated Environment

This paper proposes a systematic framework for operability evaluation of remotely controlled ground combat systems (RGCS) in a simulated environment. The popular human-robot interaction metric used in unmanned vehicle systems is called fan-out (FO) and represents the maximum number of robots/vehicles that could be controlled by a single human operator. However, FO is inappropriate for systems with a lower level of automation where vehicles are remotely controlled by a human, such as RGCS. The theoretical background of the suggested framework is based on McRuer’s crossover model that was initially developed in the aviation domain for explaining pilot handling issues. In this study, an evaluation/analysis software prototype was developed, known as the RGCS operability evaluation tool in a simulated environment (ROPES). The ROPES was designed to be a simple tool for use by officers or researchers who only have intuitive understanding on the human adaptability. The ROPES includes two sub-modules; 1) an interactive interface for the configuration of the RGCS dynamic parameters and user interfaces and 2) a time-varying graphical display of system and human performance. Examples case studies demonstrate the advantage of the ROPES, and improvement points were identified for future development.