Moonlight in Miami: a field study of human-robot interaction in the context of an urban search and rescue disaster response training exercise

Abstract

This article explores human-robot interaction during a 16-hr, high-fidelity urban search and rescue disaster response drill with teleoperated robots. This article examines operator situation awareness and technical search team interaction using communication analysis. It analyzes situation awareness, team communication, and the interaction of these constructs using a systematic coding scheme designed for this research. The findings indicate that operators spent significantly more time gathering information about the state of the robot and the state of the environment than they did navigating the robot. Operators had difficulty integrating the robot's view into their understanding of the search and rescue site. They compensated for this lack of situation awareness by communicating with team members at the site, attempting to gather information that would provide a more complete mental model of the site. They also worked with team members to develop search strategies. The article concludes with suggestions for design and future research.