Estimating the Effects of Crew Number and Crew Fatigue on the Control of Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAVS)

Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) crew frequently encounter extended duty days, reduced crew size and varying shift schedules. The objective of this study was to simulate how fatigue, crew size, and rotation schedule affect operator workload and performance during the control of a TUAV. Over 400 mission scenario replications of an operator model were executed allowing statistically reliable predictions to be made of the effect of operator fatigue on performance. The conclusions indicate that reducing the number of operators currently recommended to control TUAV’s and increasing their fatigue results in 33% more mishaps and an 11% decrease in the number of targets detected.