Human factors commanding a swarm of drones
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | SAAB Aktiebolag - Aeronautics |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 405 750 |
| Project duration | November 2017 - September 2018 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | National Aeronautical Research Program 7 |
| Call | 2017-02942-en |
Important results from the project
In recent years, some attention has been put on the possibility to use swarms of drones to perform complicated tasks. One often over-looked aspect is the user perspective for the user who commands the drone swarm, and this has been the focus of this pre-study. The purpose of this pre-study to increase the understanding of the complexity, demands for co-operation, and basic user needs when commanding a swarm of drones has been fulfilled.
Expected long term effects
Results from this study includes identified human factors questions and identification of interaction principles within/between various levels in a command hierarchy.
Approach and implementation
A literature survey has been made as a background, and interviews and workshops has been used to map the possibilities and challenges in the area. This has also resulted in a project proposal for a larger future study. The work has been done with a human factors perspective when analyzing the user needs. Relevant factors studied has been possible tasks for the drone swarm; system co-operation; autonomous co-operation in a command hierarchy; decision support; and autonomy.