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Designing for dealing with drone dilemmas : ten trade-offs in unmanned aircraft systems' human systems integration

Woltjer, Rogier LU orcid ; Prem Maben, Rohith LU orcid ; Woodlock, John LU ; Tyllström, Rikard LU and van Zyl, Christo LU (2026) p.265-281
Abstract
This chapter discusses trade-offs that need to be struck while developing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations. Ten trade-offs are outlined, pertaining to technical systems, to human operators, and to the combined sociotechnical system in its operational and organizational environment, which have implications for Human-Systems Integration (HSI) in multiple phases of the systems engineering life cycle. These ten trade-offs include a wide range of variables and aspects such as aircraft design aspects and materials, mission performance, energy use, payload capacity, hardware and software, fault tolerance and robustness, adaptive capacity, interactivity, automation, distribution of control, time horizons of control and mission goals,... (More)
This chapter discusses trade-offs that need to be struck while developing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations. Ten trade-offs are outlined, pertaining to technical systems, to human operators, and to the combined sociotechnical system in its operational and organizational environment, which have implications for Human-Systems Integration (HSI) in multiple phases of the systems engineering life cycle. These ten trade-offs include a wide range of variables and aspects such as aircraft design aspects and materials, mission performance, energy use, payload capacity, hardware and software, fault tolerance and robustness, adaptive capacity, interactivity, automation, distribution of control, time horizons of control and mission goals, adversarial aspects, and the envisioning of operations. The trade-offs are exemplified from our UAS-lab operational experience and the scientific literature. Rather than listing trade-offs exhaustively, the aim is to encourage developers, designers, and other analysts of complex UAS operations (but also other safety-critical transportation) to explicitly consider trade-offs and trade spaces specific to their own development activities, as a conceptual and reflective tool, critical to effective Human-Systems Integration. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Human systems integration in the design of complex transport systems : a practical guide - a practical guide
editor
Valentinova, Victoria
edition
1. ed.
pages
265 - 281
publisher
CRC Press
ISBN
978-1-032-59784-3
978-1-032-66307-4
978-1-032-66306-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
47f5ce18-cea2-42c6-a7ca-0524742a902e
alternative location
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781032663067-21/designing-dealing-drone-dilemmas-rogier-woltjer-rohith-prem-maben-john-woodlock-rikard-tyllstr%C3%B6m-christo-van-zyl?context=ubx&refId=8feaad23-c28e-4521-9001-8a8ed91fff3e
date added to LUP
2026-04-16 22:04:11
date last changed
2026-05-21 15:34:56
@inbook{47f5ce18-cea2-42c6-a7ca-0524742a902e,
  abstract     = {{This chapter discusses trade-offs that need to be struck while developing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations. Ten trade-offs are outlined, pertaining to technical systems, to human operators, and to the combined sociotechnical system in its operational and organizational environment, which have implications for Human-Systems Integration (HSI) in multiple phases of the systems engineering life cycle. These ten trade-offs include a wide range of variables and aspects such as aircraft design aspects and materials, mission performance, energy use, payload capacity, hardware and software, fault tolerance and robustness, adaptive capacity, interactivity, automation, distribution of control, time horizons of control and mission goals, adversarial aspects, and the envisioning of operations. The trade-offs are exemplified from our UAS-lab operational experience and the scientific literature. Rather than listing trade-offs exhaustively, the aim is to encourage developers, designers, and other analysts of complex UAS operations (but also other safety-critical transportation) to explicitly consider trade-offs and trade spaces specific to their own development activities, as a conceptual and reflective tool, critical to effective Human-Systems Integration.}},
  author       = {{Woltjer, Rogier and Prem Maben, Rohith and Woodlock, John and Tyllström, Rikard and van Zyl, Christo}},
  booktitle    = {{Human systems integration in the design of complex transport systems : a practical guide}},
  editor       = {{Valentinova, Victoria}},
  isbn         = {{978-1-032-59784-3}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  pages        = {{265--281}},
  publisher    = {{CRC Press}},
  title        = {{Designing for dealing with drone dilemmas : ten trade-offs in unmanned aircraft systems' human systems integration}},
  url          = {{https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781032663067-21/designing-dealing-drone-dilemmas-rogier-woltjer-rohith-prem-maben-john-woodlock-rikard-tyllstr%C3%B6m-christo-van-zyl?context=ubx&refId=8feaad23-c28e-4521-9001-8a8ed91fff3e}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}