학술논문

A flexible delegation-type interface enhances system performance in human supervision of multiple robots: empirical studies with RoboFlag
Document Type
Periodical
Source
IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part A: Systems and Humans IEEE Trans. Syst., Man, Cybern. A Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Part A: Systems and Humans, IEEE Transactions on. 35(4):481-493 Jul, 2005
Subject
Signal Processing and Analysis
Communication, Networking and Broadcast Technologies
Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Computing and Processing
Robotics and Control Systems
Power, Energy and Industry Applications
General Topics for Engineers
System performance
Robots
Robotics and automation
Computer interfaces
Computational modeling
Analytical models
Vehicles
Automatic control
Human factors
Testing
Automation
delegation
human–robot interaction
Playbook
unmanned vehicles
Language
ISSN
1083-4427
1558-2426
Abstract
Three experiments and a computational analysis were conducted to investigate the effects of a delegation-type interface on human supervision of simulated multiple unmanned vehicles. Participants supervised up to eight robots using automated behaviors ("plays"), manual (waypoint) control, or both to capture the flag of an opponent with an equal number of robots, using a simple form of a delegation-type interface, Playbook. Experiment 1 showed that the delegation interface increased mission success rate and reduced mission completion time when the opponent "posture" was unpredictably offensive or defensive. Experiment 2 showed that performance was superior when operators could flexibly use both automated behaviors and manual control, although there was a small increase in subjective workload. Experiment 3 investigated additional dimensions of flexibility by comparing delegation interfaces to restricted interfaces. Eight interfaces were tested, varying in the level of abstraction at which robot behavior could be tasked and the level of aggregation (single or multiple robots) to which plays could be assigned. Performance was superior with flexible interfaces for four robots, but this benefit was eliminated when eight robots had to be supervised. Finally, a computational analysis using task-network modeling and Monte Carlo simulation gave results that closely paralleled the empirical data on changes in workload across interface type. The results provide initial empirical evidence for the efficacy of delegation-type interfaces in human supervision of a team of multiple autonomous robots.