A key question designers of unmanned vehicles face is: To what degree and levelof sophistication should functions be automated? With each new vehicle project, ananswer must be found. Some major influences on the decision are mission requirementsand uncertainties, operating environment, communications constraints, the physicalcapability of the vehicle, and sensor performance. This paper presents an analyticalmethod that helps practitioners find a solution while taking into account such factors.The approach recasts the problem into a trade study linking functional requirementsplaced on the automation to operational performance and cost. Drawing upon prior work,the discussion first frames the problem by providing workable definitions for degree ofautomation and its level of sophistication. A blueprint for conducting investigationsfollows including an approach to building quantitative models and a technique forrunning simulations. Throughout, a real world case study complete with simulationresults provides illustration and demonstrates the method’s utility.
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