The project studies the use of advanced Human-Machine Interface kits such as helmet displays and Virtual Reality goggles with low-cost autonomous Umanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and assesses their impact on the ground operator's cognitive load, and explores the addition of the capability to enable the UAV with a certain amount of cognitive ability so that it can suggest places in the scene to make observations.
This project impacts search and rescue, disaster mitigation, mapping and assessment, and broadens the perspectives of faculty and students through an international collaborative effort.
Teaming with Professor Xiaoqi Chen, Mechatronics Engineering Program Director of the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, we jointly performed the mission of post-earth quake aerial surveillance for disaster assessment. In addition to the use of the AggieAir platform, we used an advanced human-machine interface (HMI) to reduce the operator’s cognitive load. UAV control was enhanced with cognitive features to allow UAVs to suggest and decide (upon approval of ground control operator) where to fly and what to observe. Intellectual Merits include the use of advanced HMI kits such as helmet displays or VR goggles with low-cost autonomous UAVs and assessment of their impact on the ground operator’s cognitive load; and allowing UAVs to have a certain level of cognitive ability gained from the dominant feature of interest (such as following a fault line crack) and therefore, the UAV can suggest where to observe and acquire imagery next with approval of the ground operator. A team of 4 (two Ph.D. students and two undergraduate researchers) from Utah State University went to Christchurch, New Zealand performed the flights with local support from University of Canterbury for 10 days from July 8 to July 18, 2012. It was an exciting and successful RAPID project with valuable aerial images acquired via the flights.
