1. The Future: Multiple Robotic Forklift Operations
Mary (Missy) Cummings, Associate Professor
Birsen Donmez, Postdoctoral Associate
Jackie Tappan, PhD Student

2. Motivation Robotic forklifts (RFs) will be a force multiplier
Overall throughput will increase
Overall customer wait time will decrease
Can dampen the effect of unexpected increases (or decreases) in activity
The use of multiple RFs will require a supervisor’s display to track overall progress and develop contingency courses of action
Leveraging other Army research
Metric development for the Joint Warfighter Test and Training Capability Research Effort
Aberdeen Test Center

3. The Supervisor-Multiple UV Model
MULE-C
Class IV UAS

4. The New Challenge
Previous research examined a single human exclusively controlling multiple unmanned vehicles
This project adds a new twist
Single human managing multiple RFs as well as Army personnel who will physically intervene as required
A decision support system is needed that provides:
Situation awareness (SA) of both current and likely events
Health and status monitoring of RFs
Recommendations for problem resolution in the event of a RF delay and possible reallocation of resources due to system delays or sharp increases in throughput/demand

5. Progress towards the Supervisor DSS
Development of a workload prediction simulation
Discrete event simulation which accounts for a varying number of RFs, varying number of personnel, and capabilities of both
The goal is to minimize customer wait time and maximize throughput, but also keep Army personnel utilization < 70%
Previous research shows that when busy > 70% of time on task, operators’ performance degrades
Future research will also examine the capacity of the supervisor, i.e., how many RFs and people can the supervisor manage

6. Preliminary Results I
Given a 32 person SSA in an 8 hour day with a heavy truck arrival rate, customer wait time can guide number of RFs:
Current operation ~ 10 – 40 min customer wait times
14 min
9 min

7. Preliminary Results II
Given a 32 person SSA in an 8 hour day with a heavy truck arrival rate, operator utilization can guide number of RFs:
Current operation peaks at ~ 75% utilization

8. Preliminary Results III
Utilization and busy SSA activity can guide personnel assignment
12 people, 20 min

9. Next Steps for the Supervisor DSS
apr 08
jan 31
Develop formal cognitive requirements for the multiple RF/multiple Army personnel scenario
3 primary components: SA, health & status, and course of action recommendations
Years 2-3
Develop and test prototype supervisor’s display
Will incorporate workload prediction model
sep 31
Visit Kiva Systems and determine the cognitive requirements of their “command and control” center