Human Swarming Teaming Platform for Research in Human Automation Trust and Reliance
Abstract
Title: Human Swarming Teaming Research Platform for Research in Human Automation Trust and Reliance Research Team: Dr. Nhut Ho (PI), Dr. Li Liu, Dr. Kyle Dewey, Dr. Suzanne Scheld, Dr. Ellie Kazemi, Joseph Bautista Institution: California State University, Northridge (CSUN) Swarming technology, in which small robots or unmanned vehicles (UVs) act as a collective organism through semi-autonomous decision making guided by a human operator, is widely considered the military defense of the future. The Strategic Capabilities Office of the Department of Defense has identified swarming UVs as a game-changing technology scalable to a high number of platforms, and the Air Force has been conducting active research in this area. Researchers at CSUN, in collaboration with researchers and subject matter experts at the US Air Force Academy, Wright Patterson Air Force Research Laboratory, and Edwards Air Force Base and NASA, are currently engaged in DoD research funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Trust and Influence Program to better understand components of humanrobot interaction (HRI): specifically, the effects of robot learning systems on the predictability of human machine teaming systems, and in turn, on a human operatorÕs trust toward their robotic teammates. CSUN is seeking support to acquire instrumentation that will enhance its current HRI research capabilities with greater application specifically to swarming technology, extending the impact of the existing research program for the Air Force and its strategic research interests, and for the faculty and students at CSUN. The requested instrumentation will establish a human swarming teaming research platform (HSTRP) that has the capability to conduct live or simulated operations involved collaborative teamwork among human operators and humanoid robo-leaders and a swarm of unmanned vehicles. The new equipment, including unmanned aerial and ground systems, advanced operator control, intelligent interfaces, computer workstations, bio-physiological instrumentation, humanoid robots, and multi-domain sensors, will be integrated and interfaced with existing software in CSUNÕs Systems Engineering Research Laboratory and Human Computing Lab. The HSTRP will enable the researchers to use swarming operations as the context to research a wide range of issues related to human automation trust and acceptance, such as the construct of automation transparency as a mechanism for driving trust calibration, the role of team and organizational and cultural structure on trust development, trade-off between trustworthy and trustable automation, novel human-machine interaction concepts, and computer-supported collaborative work for using artificial intelligence to ensure that human and machine teammates maintain awareness of each otherÕs unique mental models. The proposed instrumentation also enables a gamut of research-related education activities, including the integration of research into undergraduate/graduate student theses and classroom case studies and projects, summer internship and career shadow programs for high school students in the PIÕs and co-PIsÕ research lab, and other outreach and service learning activities that aim to broaden womenÕs and underrepresented minoritiesÕ participation in research and careers related to the DoDÕs mission.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 19, 2019
- Source ID
- W911NF1910472
Entities
People
- Nhut Ho
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- California State University, Northridge
- Office of the Secretary of Defense