Human-Swarm Interaction in Semi-voluntary Search and Rescue Operations: Opportunities and Challenges: Opportunities and Challenges
2023 (English)In: ACM International Conference Proceeding SeriesArticle in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
In search and rescue (SAR) operations, drones can provide clear and timely situational overview data and object identification. However, the current one-to-one relationship between operators and drones limits scalability. Swarm solutions have been proposed to overcome this limitation, but there are few examples of control concepts for SAR operations. Human-swarm interaction (HSI) presents new challenges in terms of task design, control loops, communication, and managing uncertainty. We present an exploratory study of integrating drone swarms into SAR organizations, with a focus on challenges and opportunities for HSI. Our findings highlight the need for a holistic approach to drone swarm systems design, development, and integration. Careful system and task design is vital to reduce operator workload, maximize situational awareness, and maintaining effective communication among SAR team members. Building trust through technology exposure and training is also important. We identify several key research avenues, including adaptive and intelligent swarm control mechanisms, trust dynamics between operators and swarms, participatory design work, legal and operational frameworks, and the organizational impact of drone swarm integration. Overall, this paper contributes to HSI and SAR research by addressing research gaps concerning the integration effects and constraints of drone swarms in current work settings. The study highlights the potential for implementing drone swarms in semi-voluntary SAR organizations, while emphasizing the importance of considering the tasks and interactions between humans and drones when assessing overall system performance.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Association for Computing Machinery , 2023.
Keywords [en]
Integration; ’current; Cognitive work analysis; Control concept; Data identification; Drone swarm; Human-swarm interaction; Object identification; Search and rescue; Search and rescue operations; Task design; Drones
National Category
Human Computer Interaction
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-67683DOI: 10.1145/3605655.3605684Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85173800058OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-67683DiVA, id: diva2:1809978
Conference
2023 European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics, ECCE 2023. Swansea, UK. 19 September 2023 through 22 September 2023
Note
This work was conducted in the HISOS project funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (FID17-0030).
2023-11-062023-11-062023-11-06Bibliographically approved