SCORCH system showing positive results
The US Army's Aviation Development Directorate (ADD) has developed a new system called Supervisory Controller for Optimal Role Allocation for Cueing of Human Operators (SCORCH), that enables an air mission commander to manage up to three UAS simultaneously.
Consisting of intelligent UAS autonomous behaviours and an advanced user interface, the SCORCH system is designed to improve situational awareness and mission performance without increasing operator workload.
The technology is expected to help the army's manned-unmanned teaming operations evolve from an operator manually controlling a single UAS to supervising multiple semi-autonomous UAS from a manned aircraft crew station, without compromising the operator's primary mission
The interface has been optimised for multiple UAS control, and features a glass cockpit with touchscreen interaction, a movable game-type hand controller with its own touchscreen display, and an aided target recognition system.
During recent experimental evaluations, army aviators completed two days of training, testing, and interviews to evaluate the SCORCH system. The ADD team recorded results that revealed the aviators adapted quickly to the change in mission execution, from direct control to supervision of automation.
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