Browsing by Subject "UAV"

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Open Access
A Framework for Integrating Unoccupied Aircraft Systems Technology into Environmental Readiness at Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific
(2021-04-30) Shield, Jennie
The Department of Defense is the third largest federal land managing agency in the United States; using approximately 30 million acres, and marine environments, to train and test. The Navy’s ability to adequately train and test is the cornerstone of mission readiness. Therefore, the Navy must sustainably manage its lands, waters, and other natural resources to ensure mission readiness. The Environmental Readiness branch at Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific performs a myriad of compliance and monitoring tasks in support of the Navy’s dual commitment to mission readiness and to environmental stewardship. This project provides a framework for the Environmental Readiness team to integrate Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) technology into compliance and monitoring efforts by examining four tasks: 1) rocky intertidal baseline mapping 2) plant cover classification 3) eel grass habitat mapping, and 4) wildlife detection. This basic framework serves as a foundation for future exploration and evaluation of UAS applications for Environmental Readiness tasking.
Open Access
The Impact of Skill-based Training Across Different Levels of Autonomy for Drone Inspection Tasks
(2018) Kim, Minwoo
Given their low operating costs and flight capabilities, Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles(UAVs), especially small size UAVs, have a wide range of applications, from civilian rescue missions to military surveillance. Easy control from a highly automated system has made these compact UAVs particularly efficient and effective devices by alleviating human operator workload. However, whether or not automation can lead to increased performance is not just a matter of system design but requires operators’ thorough understanding of the behavior of the system. Then, a question arises: which type of training and level of automation can help UAV operators perform the best?
To address this problem, an experiment was designed and conducted to compare the differences in performance between 3 groups of UAV operators. For this experiment, 2 different interfaces were first developed - Manual Control, which represents low LOA interface, and Supervisory Control, which represents high LOA interface - and people were recruited and randomly divided into 3 groups. Group 1 was trained using Manual Control, and Group 3 was trained using Supervisory Control while Group 2 was trained using both Manual and Supervisory Control. Participants then flew a drone in the Test Mission stage to compare performance.
The results of the experiment were rather surprising. Although group 3 outperformed group 1, as expected, the poor performance of group 2 was unexpected and gave us new perspectives on additional training. That is, additional training could lead not just to a mere surplus of extra skills but also a degradation of existing skills. An extended work using a more mathematical approach should allow for a more precise, quantitative description on the relation between extra training and performance.
Open Access
The potential of unmanned aerial systems for sea turtle research and conservation: A review and future directions
(Endangered Species Research, 2018-01-01) Rees, Alan F; Avens, Larisa; Ballorain, K; Bevan, E; Broderick, Annette C; Carthy, RR; Christianen, MJA; Duclos, G; Heithaus, Michael R; Johnston, David W; Mangel, J; Paladino, F; Pendoley, K; REINA, RD; Robinson, NJ; Ryan, R; Sykora-Bodie, Seth T; Tilley, D; Varela, R; Whitman, ER; Whittock, PA; Wibbels, T; Godley, Brendan J
© The authors 2018. The use of satellite systems and manned aircraft surveys for remote data collection has been shown to be transformative for sea turtle conservation and research by enabling the collection of data on turtles and their habitats over larger areas than can be achieved by surveys on foot or by boat. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones are increasingly being adopted to gather data, at previously unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions in diverse geographic locations. This easily accessible, low-cost tool is improving existing research methods and enabling novel approaches in marine turtle ecology and conservation. Here we review the diverse ways in which incorporating inexpensive UAVs may reduce costs and field time while improving safety and data quality and quantity over existing methods for studies on turtle nesting, at-sea distribution and behaviour surveys, as well as expanding into new avenues such as surveillance against illegal take. Furthermore, we highlight the impact that high-quality aerial imagery captured by UAVs can have for public outreach and engagement. This technology does not come without challenges. We discuss the potential constraints of these systems within the ethical and legal frameworks which researchers must operate and the difficulties that can result with regard to storage and analysis of large amounts of imagery. We then suggest areas where technological development could further expand the utility of UAVs as data-gathering tools; for example, functioning as downloading nodes for data collected by sensors placed on turtles. Development of methods for the use of UAVs in sea turtle research will serve as case studies for use with other marine and terrestrial taxa.