Using Heart Rate Variability to Assess Operator Mental Workload in a Command and Control Simulation of Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned systems will play an increased role in the future beyond military application including but not limited to: search and rescue, border patrol, homeland security, and natural disaster relief operations. Current models of unmanned system operations, such as those used for unmanned aerial vehicles, require multiple operators to control a single vehicle. This multioperator-single vehicle ratio will soon shift to a multioperator-multivehicle model as the number of unmanned systems increase and work in unison to complete a mission. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of a physiological measure i.e. heart rate variability (HRV), to assess operator workload in a single operator-multivehicle command and control simulation. An internally developed command and control simulator is described and observed effects of mental workload on HRV are reported. Results suggest that HRV can be used to assess operator workload during a command and control simulation of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles.