This work presents a novel system concept for multi-UAV mission guidance, which allows the operator access to functions with different levels of automation. The highest level of automation is task-based guidance, and the lowest level is waypoint input into the UAV's flight guidance system. The flexibility that this variably adjustable degree of automation allows makes effective mission execution in a real scenario possible in the first place, which will be explained in more detail in the course of the work. However, the concept only allows access to low-automation functions after the operator has transmitted his intention to the system in the form of a task. Access is then not arbitrary but is guided by a hierarchical plan created from the task. This ensures that the cognitive resources of the technical system are not decoupled, thus optimizing the mission performance of the human-machine cooperation. The concept was implemented for the use case of military reconnaissance drones in the form of a cognitive agent and investigated with the help of experimental missions in simulation and real flight. To this end, an experimental campaign was conducted with a helicopter simulator and Bundeswehr pilots, in which the helicopter was supported by three simulated UAVs in the reconnaissance of safe flight paths. The UAVs were guided by the helicopter commander using the system concept presented (manned-unmanned teaming). In a further experiment, the suitability of the concept for guiding a real flying reconnaissance UAV from a ground control station was investigated and compared with the possibility of freely accessing all automated functions. The results show that the guided access contributes to a higher mission performance, which is mainly based on the greater flexibility in guidance and the ability of the system to support error avoidance.    «

This work presents a novel system concept for multi-UAV mission guidance, which allows the operator access to functions with different levels of automation. The highest level of automation is task-based guidance, and the lowest level is waypoint input into the UAV's flight guidance system. The flexibility that this variably adjustable degree of automation allows makes effective mission execution in a real scenario possible in the first place, which will be explained in more detail in the course...    »