Human Factors Affecting the Safe Operation of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) - Research Paper Example

? A STUDY OF SELECTED HUMAN FACTORS AFFECTING THE SAFE OPERATION OF THE UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES (UAVs) Academia-Research Order 531400 ID: 21516 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Abstract 3 2. Introduction 4 3. Body 4 Types of UAVs 4 Human Errors 8 UAV Pilot Selection & Training (UPT) vs. the new UAV Operator Course 11 Causes of Shifting to UAVs 12 4. Conclusion 13 5. References 14 Abstract The introduction of the UAV as a regular vehicle commuting the air space together with its relatively low ability to foresee or avoid mishaps as good as its manned counterparts necessitates a relook at the factors contributing to its reliability and sustainability in the present day military scenario. Since UAVs offer distinct advantages over conventional manned aircraft in long and dangerous missions, the high rate of UAV mishaps are definitely a cause for concern and needs to be mitigated from a strategic point of view. This paper attempts to discuss the human errors contributing to UAV mishaps with a view to find out whether the safe operation of UAVs is affected by experience and suggests ways to effect improvements. An overview of the different types of UAVs classified on the basis of their performance characteristics and mission capabilities as well as other related topics such as training and the reasons for shifting to UAVs are also included. 1. Introduction As many as 19 different types of UAVs were operating with the coalition forces in 2005 over Iraq, emphasizing the increasing role of UAVs in today’s war front (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, 2005). Advances in automation enable UAVs to be flown autonomously for long periods of time, which necessitate making their own decisions based on input data fed by remote control into them by the human operator positioned on the ground station. UAVs are set to dominate the military skies in a big way, with at least 90% of reconnaissance aircraft predicted to be made up of UAVs by 2015 (Karimov,2003). However, the increasing dominance of the skies by UAVs has been considerably overshadowed by a marked increase in their accident rates as well in comparison with conventional aircraft, in which the human error emerges as a significant contributing factor. This paper discusses the various types of UAVs, the human errors contributing to UAV mishaps and the various related issues. 2. Body Types of UAVs As per US classification, UAVs are essentially classified into the following types: i) Micro UAVs ii) Low altitude Long endurance UAVs iii) High altitude long endurance UAVs using a conventional design iv) High altitude long endurance UAVs incorporating a low observable design (Draganfly, 2010) Notwithstanding the above, Agostino , Mammone Nelson & Zhou (n.d.,7-23) argue that UAVs can be classified into different sub groups in five different ways based on their Performance Characteristics such as Weight, Endurance &Range, Maximum Altitude, Wing Loading or the Engine Type. UAVs can also be categorized depending on their Mission Capabilities. Accordingly, depending on weight, a UAV can be of Super Heavy, Heavy, Medium, Light or Micro category. Table-1 gives the classification by weight of some well known UAVs. As per this classification, Global Hawk is a super heavy UAV of over two tons by weight while Raven is a medium UAV and Dragon Eye a micro UAV of under 5Kg by weight. A comparison of weights of the different types of UAVs on a logarithmic scale is given at Fig-1. According to the endurance and range UAVs are classified to enable the type of UAVs to be selected for a particular mission based on the distance it has to travel and the frequency of refueling needs requiring it to be grounded. While long endurance UAVs can stay on a sortie for more than 24 hours at a stretch, medium endurance UAVs stay afloat for 5-24 hours and low endurance UAVs can fly only less than 5 hours continuously. The range of long endurance UAVs tends to be high, with around 22,000kms for Global Hawk. The ranges of Gnat and Heron are less than 5000km as shown at Fig-2. The classification of UAVs on endurance and range is shown at Table-2. Altitude is another factor used as a criterion for classification of UAVs. UAVs suitable for reconnaissance and imaging missions require very high altitude to avoid detection and enemy fire. Global Hawk, Dark Star and Predator are all High altitude UAVs flying at above 10000 meters. Medium altitude UAVs such as Finder fly at altitudes between 1000 to 10000 meters while Low altitude UAVs such as Dragon Eye and Pointer fly at below 1000 meters.Table-3 gives the type of classification based on altitude. Fig-3 shows a comparison of the major UAVs in use based on their maximum operational altitude in meters. Wing Loading value can be taken as another criterion to classify UAVs. The UAVs with low wing loading have less than 50 kg/ m2 as Wing Loading value whereas those having values of wing loading between 50-100kg/ m2 are of medium wing loading category. Finally, UAVs with above 100 kg/ m2 are considered to be of high wing loading types. Table-4 shows the type of classification of UAVs based on Wing Loading as a factor.Table-4 gives a classification based on Wing Loading values and Fig-4 shows a comparison of the values of wing loading in kg/ m2 for the various types of UAVs in operational use. UAVs can be classified based on the type of engine used for their power plant as shown at Table-5. Accordingly, they are categorized as Turbofan, Piston, Two strike, Rotary, Turboprop, Push and Pull, Electric and Propeller engine based. While the smaller UAVs with a lighter weight use electric motors, the heavier types of UAVs use massive turbofan or piston engines. Agostino , Mammone Nelson & Zhou (n.d.,7-23) UAVs are also categorized based on their Mission Capabilities such as ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle), Multipurpose, VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing), Radar & Communication Relay and Aerial delivery and Resupply. The characteristics of different types of UAVs are shown at Table-6. The examples of their classification based on mission capabilities are as follows:- ISTAR UAVs: Here, the aim is to collect information on the enemy, find location of the target and patrol hostile air space without risking lives of personnel. UAVs such as Brevel, Cypher, Dark Star, Dragon Eye, FPASS/Desert Hawk, Global hawk, Gnat, Heron, Hummingbird Warrior, LEWK, Luna, Neptune, Shadow, Outrider, Phoenix, Pioneer, Predator A, Raven and Silver Fox belong to this category. UCAV: These are a class of highly maneuverable UAVs used to engage the enemy in air to air combat and to provide precision strike of targets on hostile territory. They have cruise speeds of above0.85 Mach, carry over 4500lbs payload, fly above 4,000 feet , have ranges of 1200 nautical miles and can use precision guided bombs of up to 250 lb weight. Examples of UCAVs are X45A, X45C, X46, X47A, X47B and X50 Multipurpose UAVs: These types of UAVs can undertake both reconnaissance and annihilation of crucial targets with self guided weapons. They can also be used for surveillance and target acquisition functions. Examples are MQ-1 Predator, MQ-5B Hunter and MQ-9 Predator B. VTOL UAVs: These UAVs have the capabilities to take-off and descend within a very limited space which are necessary in critical missions such as in operations from battleships, or hideouts lacking adequate runway facilities. Examples of VTOL UAVs are the Hummingbird Warrior, Fire Scout, Killer Bee and the X-50. Radar and Communication Relay UAVs: These are used for surveillance or to provide support to other UAV systems. The Tethered Aerostat Radar System is an example of the former offering low level surveillance whereas Near Space Maneuvering Vehicle (NSMV) operating between 100000 and 120000 feet below low-earth orbit satellites represents the latter type of UAVs. Aerial Delivery and Resupply UAVs: These types of UAVs are used to deliver cargo items and ammunition with pin point accuracy. CQ-10 Snow Goose which consists of a central fuselage module housing a payload and fuel is an example. Fig-5 shows a concise view of the different types of UAVs as categorized above ( Agostino , Mammone Nelson & Zhou n.d.,24-43). Human Errors The human factors relating to the operation of UAVs are quite different from the corresponding factors relevant for manned aircraft. This is due to the fact that the operators of UAVs are positioned at a distant location on the ground away from the UAV that they operate by remote control(McCarley J.S.& Wickens C.D n.d.p1). According to Hottman & Sortland, (2006, p71-88), a completely different set of criteria relating to human factors issues needs to be created to enable the integration of UAVs with the existing infrastructural operating conditions in aviation. The amount and type of qualifications required for operation of UAV, and the certification status of airborne and ground support equipment for UAV operation and of the personnel working with these equipments are all factors which affect the performance of the operator. The qualifications required for a UAV operator operating from ground will be quite different from those of a rated pilot flying manned aircraft. The human factors relevant to UAV operation can be classified into the three broad categories of Display and Control, Automation and System Display and Control. Compared to the pilot of a manned aircraft, the typical UAV operator who is remotely piloting his vehicle finds it very difficult to attain situational awareness (Nisser and Westin, 2006, p19). It is in a state of relative sensory isolation from the vehicle under his control that the UAV operator is forced to pilot his aircraft, since he is deprived of vital sensory cues such as ambient visual information, kinesthetic or vestibular input and auditory input, which are easily available to his counterpart in a manned aircraft. McCarley J.S.& Wickens C.D (n.d.p2) have proposed that a UAV operator on the ground would perform far better when given multimodal displays including tactile or auditory displays rather than when he is operating only on the basis of visual mode displays while controlling the UAV. The bandwidth of the communications link between the vehicle and its ground control station puts limitations on the temporal resolution, spatial resolution, color capabilities and field of view of visual displays and hence lowers the quality of visual information displayed by adversely affecting the operator control input feedback causing transmission delays. The flight controls are automated to different extents among different types of UAVs. A disproportionate number of UAV accidents during take-off and landing take place due to human error.(McCarley J.S.& Wickens C.D n.d.p3-4).The UAV is an automated aircraft which leads to faster decision making conditions than aircraft piloted by a human operator. Decisions in automation are based on given input and output data. However, if the data are not well-defined problems arise in decision making. The cause of the problems associated with human errors in UAV operation can be traced by a study of situational awareness(SA), which postulates that an operator bases his decisions and actions on the situation as interpreted by him, which is colored by his perceptions and previous decisions. The human brain can integrate and comprehend only 5-9 objects or entities at any point of time. The operator of a UAV has to pilot his remote vehicle sifting through innumerable data, interpreting them and making his decisions while being in a disadvantageous position of being unable to see traffic. Even while working within this workload memory limitation, human cognitive and decision making capacity is impaired by factors such as stress and dynamic surroundings. Moreover, instead of acting rationally, human beings, especially experienced pilots, tend to act by heuristics or rules of thumb, in an involuntary effort to reduce their cognitive burden of decision making, in acts such as estimation of rates of climb, which result in introduction of decision making biases and sub-optimal strategies(Nisser and Westin,2006,p13-19). A 10-year review of human factors in Department of Defense (DoD) UAV mishaps using HFACS model of accident causation which proposes latent failures as the main contributing factors to active failures, has found out the presence of operations or maintenance human casual factors in 68% of UAV mishaps, with the maximum such accidents reported in Air Force followed by those in Navy/Marines and Army, in that order. The accident rates of UAVs are many times the accident rates observed in manned aircraft and were found to be greatly influenced by latent failures in instrumentation and sensory feedback systems, automation and channelized attention in the Air Force scenario. The human error mishaps in the Navy/Marine forces involved workload, attention and latent risk management factors. In the Army, the errors were caused by lapses in procedural guidelines, organizational training, crew coordination or communication problems. The Air Force mishaps had more to do with skill-based errors associated with basic flight skills that involve psychomotor behaviors which do not involve thought in any significant manner (Thompson, Tvaryanas and Constable, 2005, 13-18). Though manned aircraft flying experience is necessary for Predator operation, a flying experience in excess of 150-200 hours of flight experience seemed to call for the unlearning of certain aspects of piloting such as dependence on vestibular and peripheral visual cueing, especially for operations involving UAV landings, during which 66.7% of Predator mishaps occurred. The Army’s RQ-7 Shadow which lands on an automatic landing system was observed to have a lower rate of mishaps dominated by decision making errors in comparison to the externally piloted RQ-5 Hunter which is landed without an automated system. The existing Predator flight simulator does not accurately reproduce the handling characteristics of the actual vehicle which suggests that either increasing the operator proficiency by enhanced training or increasing the degree of automation during landing phase may be required to bring down the human error mishaps in Predator landing phase(Thompson, Tvaryanas and Constable, 2005,p17). UAV Pilot Selection & Training (UPT) vs. the new UAV Operator Course The mid -1990s saw the phasing out of UPT and its replacement with SUPT (Specialized Under-graduate Pilot Training). This changeover to the new training program was carried out keeping in view the need to prolong the life of T-38, upgrade the training fleet and improve the training. The FSP in old UPT was of 14 hrs instruction in T-41.With the replacement of T-41 with T-3 in 1994, the hands-on training was increased by 7 more hours to 21 hours. In July 1997, T-3 training was suspended due to technical reasons causing influx of students to SUPT without any hands-on training, to tackle which problem, an Introductory Flight Training Program was introduced in Oct 1998 with hands-on flying time of 50 hrs followed by FAA certified flight instruction through local flight schools, the completion of which enables students to enroll for SUPT. The USAF pilot selection test procedure was based on criteria for medical, anthropometric educational, and aptitude test scores and includes tests for cognitive, psychomotor and risk-taking characteristics.(Carretta, n.d.) During the last latter half of the last decade, the US Air Force introduced changes in the methods of selection and training for UAV pilots by creating an altogether new career field for them to suit the rising demand for pilots for UAVs such as the MQ-1 Predator and RQ-4 Global Hawk. Newly commissioned officers without flying experience are trained as per this new program to qualify as UAV pilots at the end of training course. Earlier, only pilots with prior flying experience in other airframes ranging from single-seat fighters to transport aircraft were selected for undergoing training as UAV pilots. The first step to this new UAV operator program consists of a flight screening course of 25 hours duration in civilian aircraft extending over several weeks. In the second step to this program the basic skills required to fly a Predator are imparted to the trainees at Creech Air Base, Nevada, during a period of three months. The third and final step to this program consists of graduation from the Creech air Base after which the student who has thus successfully completed his course is assigned to UAV squadrons (Rolfsen,2006). Trainee typically pilots require more than one year to become qualified as pilots of aircraft in US Air Force. Hence the new program, by removing the compulsory requirement to enroll only trained pilots for the UAV operator course has drastically cut down the time to turn out new UAV operators to suit the needs of the present times. Causes of Shifting to UAVs UAVs are ideal platforms to launch electronic attack (EA), strike missions, suppression and/or destruction of enemy air defense (SEAD/DEAD) and combat search and rescue, due to which reasons they occupy a crucial position in today’s military maneuvers. Enemy fire can be engaged with indirect fire by UCAVs which can also be tasked with the highest risk missions of Air Force and naval aviation, with greater sustained battle presence than manned aircraft, and with less risk to personnel (Barry C.L.& Zimet Elihu,2001,p1). Military missions are being carried out in the Middle East, Asia and Europe by squadrons of UAVs such as those of the ‘hunter-killer’ MQ-9 Reaper which incorporate infra-red, laser and radar targeting for precision guided weapon strikes. This UAV can carry 14 Hell-fire II anti armor missiles, or 4 Hell-fire missiles and two 500lb bombs. Besides, it can deploy precision guided weapons such as the GBU-12 and 500lb GBU-38 all the while flying at 300mhp at altitudes of over 50,000ft for more than 14 hours at a time (Mc Keegan,S 2007). The remotely piloted UAVs can offer greater sustained battle presence compared to manned aircraft, thus greatly reducing the risk of pilot fatalities or injury to personnel, who control them from afar and whose physical presence in the battle zone is completely obviated. 3. Conclusion The present rates of UAV mishaps which are observed to be around 30-300 times more than that of manned aircraft as revealed during studies on RQ-1 Predator, RQ-5 Hunter and RQ-2 Pioneer, need to be brought down to reasonable levels in order to realize the full benefits offered by the UAV platform which is proving to be a transformational technology shaping the course of wars being fought today. This calls for a shift in focus from technological innovation to human-machine challenges so as to minimize the lack of integration between the human operator and the automated systems of the UAV. As admitted by Gen Ron Fogleman (Ret’d), former USAF Chief of Staff: ‘At first we treated UAVs as though they were trucks- and it was a disaster. Now, the UAV- now being termed the UAS (S= system)- challenge is to ‘find, fix, track and target- in near time’ (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, 2005).For this to happen, the human-machine interface of UAV needs to be thoroughly redesigned with inputs from situational awareness(SA) models to transform it into a sub-system of the Unmanned Aerial System. 4. References: Agostino Shane, Mammone Matthew, Nelson Matthieu & Zhou Tong (n.d.) Classification of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles [Online] available at http://personal.mecheng.adelaide.edu.au/~marjom01/Aeronautical%20Engineering%20Projects/2006/group9.pdf Barry C.L.& Zimet Elihu(2001)UCAVs-Technological,Policy and Operational Challenges Defence Horizons 3 (Oct 2001) [online] retrieved from http://www.ndu.edu/CTNSP/docUploaded/DH_03.pdf Carretta,(n.d.) US Air Force Pilot Selection and Training Methods [online] available at http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA430320&Location=U2... Draganfly Innovations (2010) Inc An Introduction to unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) [online] available at http://www.draganfly.com/news/2008/08/24/introduction-to-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-uavs/ Hottman & Sortland(2006) ‘UAV Operators, Other Airspace Users and Regulators Advances in Human Performance and Coginitive Engineering research(vol 7) JAI Press, Oxford Karimov,A, (2003) High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Air Vehicles: Unique And Effective [online]retrieved from http://www.lavoiestrategique.com/3.cours/3.Documentations/3.3articles/Articles/UAV/UAV_Russian.pdf McCarley J.S.& Wickens C.D n.d Human Factors Concerns in UAV Flight [online] retrieved from http://www.hf.faa.gov/docs/508/docs/uavFY04Planrpt.pdf Mc Keegan,S (2007) Reaper UAV to be deployed for combat [online]retrieved from http://www.gizmag.com/go/7909/ Nisser, Tobias and Westin, Carl(2006) Human Factors Challenges in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs): A Literature Review. School of Aviation, Lund university Rolfsen,Bruce(2006) Air Force News- A Career Fling UAVs available at http://www.airforcetimes.com/legacy/new/0-AIRPAPER-1461216.php Thompson,WT, Tvaryanas,P.A., and Constable, S.H. 2005 U.S. military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Mishaps: Assessment of the Role of Human Factors Using Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS). Brooks city-base TX USA Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 2005 Nineteen UAV types currently operating in Iraq [online] retrieved from http://www.livingroom.org.au/uavblog/archives/nineteen_uav_types_currently_operating_in_iraq.php Read More