Trust: Greatest Obstacle To UAV Autonomy

 http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id=news/awst/2010/09/13/AW_09_13_2010_p48-252520.xml

Autonomy is at the end of a spectrum of increasing automation, and increasing complexity that automation can deal with, says Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Air Vehicles Directorate scientist Bob Smith. “Some automation exists today in almost every capability, but we are on a trajectory to increasing complexity,” he says. “At the same time we have to make sure the automation works well with humans. That’s a critical aspect.”

Autonomy means different things to different people. To Information Directorate chief scientist Rich Linderman, it is a matter of speed—autonomous systems can sense, self-adapt, dynamically plan and make decisions at speeds that preclude having people in the loop. But while the cyber domain requires decision speeds far beyond human capability, timescales in the aviation domain still allow human interaction, says Dan Thompson, Air Vehicles Directorate scientist.

Driving increased autonomy into Air Force ground and air systems to reduce manpower requirements is the major tenet of Technology Horizons, Smith says, adding: “The hope is that increased automation will make each person more effective, and allow them to step back from the hands-on control that timescales allow, but budgets do not.”