Metrics and Procedures to Assess Crew and Team Performance In Mixed Manned-Unmanned Formations for Next Generation Combat Vehicles

This effort involves multiple projects that began in Oct. 2019.

Advances in autonomy, artificial intelligence and machine learning will change both the nature of the battlefield and the tasks that Soldiers will perform. As such, the Army has been investigating how future technologies will shape new interactions amongst teams of Soldiers and intelligent agents, including mixed formations of manned and unmanned vehicles.

The motivation of this project is to avoid scenarios in which future Army ground vehicles are inappropriately manned (either not enough to complete tasks or too many so other tasks are undermanned) and/or fail to satisfy mission requirements.

The focus of the first phase is to refine a set of metrics and procedures applicable to Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle/Robotic Combat Vehicles (OMFV/RCV) formations that is well-defined and consistent to establish a systematic, quantifiable framework to evaluate Next Generation Combat Vehicle concepts. Then, methodologies can be developed on how crew and team performance of such formations can be assessed to determine impact of intelligent technologies on taskwork, teamwork and mission objectives.

The second phase is implementing the benchmark tasks in GVSC simulations and other projects, make changes based on lessons learned, develop predictions of benchmark task performance based on human performance models, document what has been done, and provide support to other GVSC Crew Optimization & Augmentation Technologies (COAT) activities.

This will be followed by writing recommended practice that provides definitions for terms related to off-road driving of tracked vehicles, in particular, OMFV/RCV. In addition to definitions, representative data will be provided as well as guidance in selecting measures and applying them to meet evaluation objectives.

#2.A72, #2.A74

References:

• E. Anderson, J. Bryant, V. Paul, A. Reid, and J. Schrader, “Use of Crew Augmentation Techniques to Reduce Combat Crew Size,” in 2018 NDIA Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium, Modeling and Simulation, Testing and Validation (MSTV) Technical Session, Novi, MI, August 7-9, 2018.
• M. Demir, A. Likens, N. Cooke, P. Amazeen, N. McNeese, “Team Coordination and Effectiveness in Human-Autonomy Teaming” in IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 150-159, April 2019, DOI 10.1109/THMS.2018.2877482.