Mixed-reality for unmanned aerial vehicle operations in near earth environments

Future applications will bring unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to near Earth environments such as urban areas, forcing a change in the way UAVs are currently operated. Of concern is the high rate of UAV accidents, many of which can be attributed to a UAV pilot's low situation awareness (SA) due to the limitations of UAV operating interfaces.;The work conducted for this thesis is motivated by the desire to improve UAV operations in near Earth environments. It contains hardware and software integration and design in addition to human performance analysis. The contributions can be broken down into the following: Development of a hardware-in-the-loop indoor virtual UAV test facility that integrates a large robotic 6DOF gantry and flight simulation software for UAV pilot training. Subjects flew simulated missions through the gantry environment and performance data was measured. Studies found performance increase with continued use of the indoor virtual UAV test facility.;The novel application of UAV avionics with motion platforms to allow for the study of the "shared fate" effect on UAV pilot control and decision making. The major contributions are the development of the multiple subsystems necessary for implementation.;A novel mixed-reality UAV piloting interface that improves situational awareness for UAV operations in near Earth environments. The interface uses real world real time avionics information along with computer graphics to create an augmented viewing field and virtual chase viewpoint for the UAV pilot. Contributions include human performance studies and cognitive workload assessment. Results showed that the mixed reality interface improved operator piloting performance in near Earth environments and decreased operator cognitive workload.;Development of a field ready system to implement the mixed reality interface in close range operations. Real world tests showed good performance of the interface during field missions and the potential to enhance awareness during periods of degraded camera images. The mixed reality approaches presented follow studies on human factors performance and cognitive loading. The resulting designs serve as test beds for studying UAV pilot performance, creating training programs, and developing tools to augment UAV operations and minimize UAV accidents during operations in near Earth environments.