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Air Traffic Controller Performance and Acceptability of Multiple UAS in a Simulated NAS EnvironmentPreviously, we showed that air traffic controllers (ATCos) rated UAS pilot verbal response latencies as acceptable when a 1.5 s delay was added to the UAS pilot responses, but a 5 s delay was rated as mostly unacceptable. In the present study we determined whether a 1.5 s added delay in the UAS pilots' verbal communications would affect ATCos interactions with UAS and other conventional aircraft when the number and speed of the UAS were manipulated. Eight radar-certified ATCos participated in this simulation. The ATCos managed a medium altitude sector containing arrival aircraft, en route aircraft, and one to four UAS. The UAS were conducting a surveillance mission and flew at either a "slow" or "fast" speed. We measured both UAS and conventional pilots' verbal communication latencies, and obtained ATCos' acceptability ratings for these latencies. Although the UAS pilot response latencies were longer than those of conventional pilots, the ATCos rated UAS pilot verbal communication latencies to be as acceptable as those of conventional pilots. Because the overall traffic load within the sector was held constant, ATCos only performed slightly worse when multiple UAS were in their sector compared to when only one UAS was in the sector. Implications of these findings for UAS integration in the NAS are discussed.
Document ID
20140011823
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Vu, Kim-Phuong L.
(California State Univ. Long Beach, CA, United States)
Strybel, Thomas
(California State Univ. Long Beach, CA, United States)
Chiappe, Dan
(California State Univ. Long Beach, CA, United States)
Morales, Greg
(California State Univ. Long Beach, CA, United States)
Battiste, Vernol
(San Jose State Univ. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Shively, Robert Jay
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
September 17, 2014
Publication Date
July 30, 2014
Subject Category
Air Transportation And Safety
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN14560
Meeting Information
Meeting: HCI-Aero 2014 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in Aerospace
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: July 30, 2014
End Date: August 1, 2014
Sponsors: Florida Inst. of Tech.
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX09AU66A
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX12AH23A
WBS: WBS 411931.02.61.01.08
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX12AB08A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
measured response
unmanned aerial systems
human-in-the-loop simulation
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