Operating an Unmanned Aerial System from a Moving Platform

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA487201&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

While the Spatial Disorientation (SD) has long been recognized as an important causal factor in aviation incidents and accidents, it is only beginning to be recognized as a factor in Uninhabited Aerial Systems (UASs). As a first step towards better understanding the effects of control platform motion on manual UAV control Olson, DeLauer and Fale (2006) had 10 rated Air Force pilots fly a simulated UAV task (MS Flight Simulator) from a motion capable control platform (aircraft simulator). Participants performed two basic flight tasks - a vertical task (climb/descent) and a horizontal (turning task). The control platform motion was varied to provide either congruent, neutral, or conflicting motion cues. The current study replicates the simulator study using an Cessna-172 aircraft as the control platform. This will allow for a more complete examination of platform motion cues since simulators cannot adequately simulate sustained motion. This study also adds a landing task to examine glide path and azimuth error. The results of this study mirror those of the previous simulator study and show a general increase in error. These results have implications for planned UAV operations from both fighter and transport aircraft.