A decomposition of UAV-related situation awareness

Abstract

This paper presents a fine-grained decomposition of situation awareness (SA) as it pertains to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and uses this decomposition to understand the types of SA attained by operators of the Desert Hawk UAV. Since UAVs are airborne robots, we adapt a definition previously developed for human-robot awareness after learning about the SA needs of operators through observations and interviews. We describe the applicability of UAV-related SA for people in three roles: UAV operators, air traffic controllers, and pilots of manned aircraft in the vicinity of UAVs. Using our decomposition, UAV interaction designers can specify SA needs and analysts can evaluate a UAV interface's SA support with greater precision and specificity than can be attained using other SA definitions.