Using Natural Language to Enable Mission Managers to Control Multiple Heterogeneous UAVsThe availability of highly capable, yet relatively cheap, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is opening up new areas of use for hobbyists and for commercial activities. This research is developing methods beyond classical control-stick pilot inputs, to allow operators to manage complex missions without in-depth vehicle expertise. These missions may entail several heterogeneous UAVs flying coordinated patterns or flying multiple trajectories deconflicted in time or space to predefined locations. This paper describes the functionality and preliminary usability measures of an interface that allows an operator to define a mission using speech inputs. With a defined and simple vocabulary, operators can input the vast majority of mission parameters using simple, intuitive voice commands. Although the operator interface is simple, it is based upon autonomous algorithms that allow the mission to proceed with minimal input from the operator. This paper also describes these underlying algorithms that allow an operator to manage several UAVs.
Document ID
20160010334
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Trujillo, Anna C. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Puig-Navarro, Javier (Illinois Univ. Urbana-Champaign, IL, United States)
Mehdi, S. Bilal (Illinois Univ. Urbana-Champaign, IL, United States)
Mcquarry, A. Kyle (Analytical Mechanics Associates, Inc. Hampton, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2016
Publication Date
July 27, 2016
Subject Category
Air Transportation And Safety
Report/Patent Number
NF1676L-23087
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics