Command and Control of Unmanned Vehicles – where are we going?

The utilization and expectations of unmanned systems is mushrooming following in the success of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Focus on operational usefulness of these systems highlights inadequacies in current command and control designs. Current systems require two operators to control a single unmanned vehicle (UV), however future concepts indicate requirements for single operator control of multiple UV’s. The control problem is amplified when UV’s are considered as force multipliers for combat manned systems, such as on the DARPA UCAR program. In this case operators in high workload environments are asked to bear the burden of the additional tasks required to control UV’s. Recent studies indicate that operators are unable to accommodate UV control with current design paradigms because of the significant increase in workload. Technologies such as autonomous behavior capabilities, innovative human machine interface (HMI) concepts, and networked dissemination of data offer potential components for the solution to UV control. The promise of autonomous systems brings with it a new problem that must be addressed, that of maintaining operator situational awareness. The purpose of this paper is to review the challenges that confront UV designs as they evolve to a single/operator/multiple vehicle paradigm.