Mixed-Initiative Adjustable Autonomy for Human/Unmanned System Teaming

To increase the applicability and utility of unmanned systems, we propose a mixed-initiative adjustable autonomy system that will enable a more flexible interaction between humans and unmanned systems. Typ- ically, the autonomy levels of unmanned systems are fixed; however, during operation there are a number of elements that are likely to change including the environment, the mission, workload, and trust. A fixed level of autonomy can result in an inability of the human/unmanned system team to respond as effectively as desired. A mixed-initiative adjustable autonomy system enables either member of a human/unmanned system team to adjust autonomy during mission execution. In this paper we discuss the benefits and challenges of mixed-initiative adjustable autonomy, describe previous work on the subject, and present our own approach. We discuss our approach in the context of a driving mission for a human-robot team and present the human interfaces we have designed with this task in mind. We also describe ongoing work to validate the effectiveness of this approach.