Universal Ground Control Station (UGCS) joystick evaluation

A goal of commonality and interoperability across U.S. Army and Joint Service unmanned aerial systems (UASs) was outlined by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The Universal Ground Control Station (UGCS) is a U.S. Army initiative to meet this requirement. With an objective to control heterogeneous assets with expanded payloads, both displacement and force sensing hand-controllers have been reviewed against a baseline joystick and an alternative mouselike device. This study compared operator performance in three mission environments, exercising critical payload operations tasks. Six combat-experienced UAS operators and six general aviation fixed wing pilots were tested. Performance data, subjective workload ratings, and comments were collected. Analyses revealed only small performance differences between displacement and force sensing joysticks in the UAS operators. Pilots showed better performance in a route reconnaissance task utilizing the familiar mouse-like controller. Individual preference, familiarity, and comfort influenced subjective views. Recommendations include additional testing in representative length missions and designing for sustained comfort.