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Human cognitive simulation for evaluation of human-robot interface - a trade-off between flexibility in robot control and mental workload

Adaptable automation is a scheme that human operators can modify function allocations among human and machines (or robots) dynamically depending on situations. The concept is that operators should be able to delegate tasks to autonomous agents at times of their own choosing. Playbook is an example of a delegation architecture based on a team’s book of approved plays that provides a “common language” for efficient and effective communication between human operators and agents. The author attended an empirical study examined the efficacy of Playbook interface using the Roboflag simulation platform. The results confirmed the benefits, compared to less flexible interfaces which are susceptible to negative effects due to suboptimal automation or unexpected events. This benefit was somewhat reduced, however, when the number of robots was increased. At this higher load, the benefit may have been reduced due to the greater workload demand imposed by full flexibility. This paper described a probabilistic simulation method to estimate behaviors of human operators as a tool for evaluating human-robot interfaces for operation of multiple robots. Through its application to the multiple robots simulation, advantages and costs of different design alternatives has been investigated in terms of cognitive workload indexes of the human operators. The results may suggest the validity of the hypothesis that there is a trade-off between flexibility in operational alternatives and operator’s mental workload.