Human factor influences on supervisory control of remotely operated and autonomous vessels

Autonomous ships require remote supervision from a human operator to ensure safety. However, there are knowledge gaps concerning human factor influences on remote supervisory control. We investigate the influence of five factors on remote supervisory control during simulated intervention scenarios: (i) Skillset, represented by gamers and navigators; (ii) Monitoring Time, represented by either 5 or 30 min of passive monitoring; (iii) Number of Vessels, represented by either one or three vessels; (iv) Available Time, represented by 20- or 60-s critical time windows; (v) Decision Support System (DSS), represented by availability of a DSS. The experiment was a randomized factorial design where participants (n = 32) completed two interventions: first a handover (automation detects a critical event and hands over control) and then a takeover (operator detects a critical event and takes over control). We observed: (i) gamers and navigators both demonstrated transferrable skillsets, but neither group excelled over the other; (ii) monitoring time affected boredom, but this translated to minor performance effects. Moreover, performance was reduced under conditions of (iii) supervising three vessels, (iv) low time availability, and (v) unavailable DSS. These outcomes contribute to the empirical basis for assessing maritime human factors in remotely controlled and autonomous ship design.