Computer Generated Environment for Steering a Simulated Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(Computer gegenereerde omgeving voor het besturen van een gesimuleerd onbemand voertuig)

摘要

Two important tasks in operating a Maritime Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MUAV) arecontrolling the airframe and its onboard camera. However, the visual information on which the human operator has to perform these tasks is of poor quality, due to the restricted capacity of the down link between MUAV and operator. This leads to performance degradation in search and tracking tasks and loss of situational awareness. In previous experiments, it was shown that augmentation of the camera image by adding a Computer Generated Environment (CGE) improves performance in controlling the camera and enlarges situational awareness. The present experiment focuses on the possibilities of operating both the airframe and the onboard camera simultaneously, e.g. tracking a target ship while flying a circle around it. The experiment compared performance in four display type conditions: two without augmentation (respectively north up and heading up), and two with augmentation (respectively a 2D CGE and a 3D CGE). The resuLts show that the CGE is successful in supporting airframe controL, without affecting tracking performance. No differences were found between the 2D and 3D CGE, and no differences were found between the north up and heading up displays without CGE. On the basis of these results, it is recommended to investigate the effects of integrating more information into the CGE (i.e. electronic maps), and to explore the possibilities of switching between 2D and 3D. Moreover, more basic knowledge should be acquired concerning the (visual) perception and discrimination of combined airframe, camera, and target motions.