Title: Integrated vehicle routing: a case study of unmanned aerial vehicle decision making

Authors: Varun Kalyan; Subhashini Ganapathy; S. Narayanan; Raymond R. Hill

Addresses: Department of Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering, Wright State University, 207 Russ Engineering Centre, Dayton, OH 45435, USA ' Department of Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering, Wright State University, 207 Russ Engineering Centre, Dayton, OH 45435, USA ' Department of Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering, Wright State University, 207 Russ Engineering Centre, Dayton, OH 45435, USA ' Department of Operational Sciences, Air Force Institute of Technology, 2950 Hobson Way, WPAFB, OH 45433-7765, USA

Abstract: Time critical vehicle routings, such as with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) routing, are considered as integrated location routing problems where the objective is to simultaneously optimise the location and the routing. Although computer systems are good at providing solutions for optimised routing, they may not have the expert knowledge as that of human operators. Human operators play an important role in ensuring the safety and in achieving operational effectiveness in such systems. Problems such as increased human error, lack of situational awareness, and opacity from poorly automated systems remain; particularly in scenarios where human operators must make decisions in time-pressured planning. Hence, we study joint cognitive problem solving for a class of problems related to supervisory control of integrated vehicle routing. Results indicate that the graphical representation of the routing alternatives led to quicker evaluation time by the operator than tabular representation.

Keywords: time critical vehicle routing; interactive systems; human centred modelling; case study; unmanned aerial vehicles; UAVs; UAV decision making; UAV routing; supervisory control; joint cognitive problem solving.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIDSS.2015.075476

International Journal of Intelligent Defence Support Systems, 2015 Vol.5 No.3, pp.205 - 225

Received: 04 Sep 2014
Accepted: 20 Feb 2015

Published online: 24 Mar 2016 *

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