Optimizing Drone Operator Workload in the Terminal Area for Shipboard Operations

The United States Navy (USN) is heavily reliant on its ability to operate aircraft in the maritime environment. Done successfully, shipboard flight operations allow air-capable ships to act as mobile airfields, ensuring the USN's ability to maintain freedom of the seas. Typically rotary-wing aircraft land at the stern of USN surface vessels (i.e., a guided missile destroyer (DDG)). Ship movement creates turbulence induced by its superstructure, which may produce unfavorable conditions for rotary-wing aircraft just after takeoff and just before recovery. This ship-aircraft interplay is termed dynamic interface (DI). With the growing prominence of uncrewed aerial systems, the USN deems characterizing the DI a crucial step towards employing these systems from air-capable ships. The United States Naval Academy operates a fleet of 108 ft Yard Patrol Craft tasked with training future naval officers. One of these ships has been modified such that the air wake models a DDG to the 1/4 scale. This research documents the DI tests conducted with a remote-piloted drone through mission representative recoveries to the modified Yard Patrol Craft. While operating in the terminal area, the pilot assessed their workload via a modified Cooper Harper scale.