Robotics operator performance in a military multi-tasking environment

Abstract

We simulated a military mounted environment and examined the performance of the combined position of gunner and robotics operator and how aided target recognition (AiTR) capabilities (delivered either through tactile or tactile + visual cueing) for the gunnery task might benefit the concurrent robotics and communication tasks. Results showed that participants' teleoperation task improved significantly when the AiTR was available to assist them with their gunnery task. However, the same improvement was not found for semi-autonomous robotics task performance. Additionally, when teleoperating, those participants with higher spatial ability outperformed those with lower spatial ability. However, performance gap between those with higher and lower spatial ability appeared to be narrower when the AiTR was available to assist the gunnery task. Participants' communication task performance also improved significantly when the gunnery task was aided by AiTR. Finally, participant's perceived workload was significantly higher when they teleoperated a robotic asset and when their gunnery task was unassisted.