The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) simulator was created to simulate different levels of drone automation to see how autonomous drones can become.

Outcomes and Additional Information

• The students were challenged to create a simulation that could be used for training and research purposes with realistic scenarios and accurate controls and physics.

• The UAV had to be able to hover and return to homebase, and needed to have GPS and a camera system.

• The simulated UAV user interface featured settings to control the environment and UAV conditions, including battery life and flight time. 

• The simulation also featured questions that pop up for the user to answer related to the flight mission, current operations, and situational awareness. 

Publications related to this effort

• Rebensky, S., Carroll, M., Bennett, W., & Hu, X. (2020). Collaborative development of a synthetic task environment by academia and military. 2020 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference. 

• Rebensky, S., Carroll, M., Bennett, W., & Hu, X. (2021). Impact of heads-up displays on small unmanned aircraft system operator situation awareness and performance: A simulated study. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 28(5). 419-431.  

• Ebnali, M., Bailey, S., Ciccone, B., Wilson, R., Rebensky, S., Carroll, M., Bennett, W., Hu, X., Reiner, A., Vasquez, H., Wooldridge, A., Lee, L., Verma, P., Jeong, H., Gisick, L., French., Keebler, J. (2020). Virtual reality, augmented reality, and virtual environments: Demonstrations of current technologies and future directions. HFES 2020.