Introduction
The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator is a medium-altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft (UA) that is commonly used to carry out a wide range of missions such as surveillance, reconnaissance, close air support and target strikes given its capability to carry multiple sensors and precision weapons when armed (USAF, 2015). A complete set of Predator UAS comes with four unmanned aircraft (UA), one ground control station (GCS), UHF and VHF radio data links for line of sight (LOS) operations, as well as a satellite link for beyond line of sight (BLOS) operations.
Ground Control Station (GCS)
According to Blickensderfer et al. (2012), the purpose of an UAS GCS is to control and monitor the aircraft status, perform navigation and communication, avoid obstacles as well as manage contingencies. Confined in a mobile trailer with an uninterrupted power supply, the Predator GCS comes with air conditioning system, pilot and payload operator stations (PPO), and several other workstations for communications and radar control (Defence Industry Daily, 2011). Due to the long endurance capability of the Predator, a typical mission lasting 12 hours can consist of up to five crew members. A monitor crew to monitor the entire mission; a pilot to fly the UA using a joystick; a sensor operator to operate the cameras, radar and targeting systems; an intelligence officer to analyze the imagery and a flight engineer to monitor the serviceability status of the systems. Each of the workstations will be equipped with two or more screens. All communications are done from the HF/VHF/UHF and the satellite links established by the communications terminals in the trailer.
Associated GCS Human Factors
According to GAO (2008), there are several human factors issues that arise from modern UAS GCS. There is no clear resolution of how many UAS can a single GCS crew operate. For BLOS operations, there is also unresolved issues of communication lag and lost links with UAS. Of the many human factors that are associated with operating MALE UAS such as the Predator, fatigue and loss of situational awareness are two of the most common issues.
Fatigue
As a single Predator UAS GCS can be used to control up to four UA, an operator managing multiple UA by monitoring multiple screens over long periods of time with high vigilance is almost an impossible task. The amount of information presented on the screens from multiple UA can be too much for a single operator to handle effectively. It has been reported that UAS pilots are subjected to high levels of stress and fatigue, especially those in the war zone (Tritten, 2015). It has also been reported that UAS pilots suffers from mental fatigue as they often switch back and forth between family and war, thereby creating feelings of being perpetually deployed (Drew & Phillips, 2015). Similar to manned aircraft pilots who fly long haul, UAS operators can also develop back problems due to the extended periods of sitting during UAS long missions.
Lack of situational awareness
According to Valdes (2004), the pilots who flew the Predator described their experience like “flying an airplane while looking through a straw”. Pilots have to rely on the limited sensors on-board the Predator to know what is going on around the aircraft. Unlike a manned aircraft pilot, an UA pilot is not able to get any vestibular or kinesthetic feedback from the UAS operation such as vibrations and sound. This can lead to problems when there is turbulence encountered by the UAS. Even when the pilot has knowledge of the turbulence, as his or her life is not at risk in case of any miscalculation, the pilot may decide to take higher risks and operate the UAS in situations inappropriate for the UA.
Solution
The way to mitigate such human factor problems is to design better ground control stations for the Predator UAS. According to Tvaryanas (2006), one solution is to transfer control of one or more UA to other operators with lower workload. Another is to have screens and windows configurations that can be customizable to suit individual operators’ preferences which will lead to an increased efficiency of operators (Mchale, 2010). General Atomics (2016) have recently launched an advance cockpit GCS that features bigger screens, ergonomic seats and enhanced situational awareness by decluttering through data fusing and integration. Some other solutions include having stereo images to improve depth perception, 3D audio cues and virtual reality googles (Freedberg, 2012).
References
Blickensderfer, B., Buker, T. J., Luxion, S. P., Lyall, B., Neville, K., & Williams, K. W. (2012). The design of the UAS ground control station: Challenges and solutions for ensuring safe flight in civilian skies. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 56(1), 51-55.
Defense Industry Daily (2011, Oct 3). It’s better to share: Breaking down UAV GCS barriers. Retrieved from http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/uav-ground-control-solutions-06175/
Drew, C., & Phillips, D. (2015, June 15). As stress drives off drone operators, Air Force must cut flights. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/us/as-stress-drives-off-drone-operators-air-force-must-cut-flights.html?emc=edit_th_20150617&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=58656522&_r=2
Freedberg, S.J. (2012, August 7). Too many screens: Why drones are so hard to fly, so easy to crash. Breaking Defense. Retrieved from http://breakingdefense.com/2012/08/too-many-screens-why-drones-are-so-hard-to-fly-and-so-easy/
General Atomics (2016). Advanced cockpit GCS. Retrieved from http://www.ga-asi.com/advanced-cockpit-gcs
Mchale, J. (2010, June 18). Ground control stations for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming networking-hub cockpits on the ground for U.S. unmanned forces. Military and Aerospace Electronics. Retrieved from http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/2010/06/ground-control-stations.html
Tritten, T.J. (2015, June 25). Mccaskill: Drone pilot stress is unprecedented. Stars and Stripes. Retrieved from http://www.stripes.com/mccaskill-drone-pilot-stress-is-unprecedented-1.354681
Tvaryanas, A. P. (2006). Human factors considerations in migration of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operator control. Retrieved from http://www.wpafb.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090121-046.pdf
USAF (2015, September 23). MQ-1B Predator. Retrieved from http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Article/104469/mq-1b-predator.aspx
Valdes, R. (2004, April 1). How the Predator UAV works. HowStuffWorks. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/predator.htm
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