The Evaluation for Usability Methods of Unmanned Surface Vehicles: Are Current Usability Methods Viable for Unmanned Surface Vehicles? Insights from a Multiple Case Study Approach to Human-Robot Interaction

2025-11-23

AI Summary

Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) operating in dynamic aquatic environments often require excessive human intervention, and Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) research—particularly for novice operators in inland and nearshore maritime contexts—remains underdeveloped. Method: Through in-depth interviews and field observations, this study conducts a multi-case investigation across three real-world tasks: harmful algal bloom monitoring, subsea pipeline inspection, and post-construction hydrographic surveying. Contribution/Results: It presents the first systematic characterization of novice operators’ mental models and uncertainty-handling strategies. The analysis identifies three critical usability bottlenecks: decision latency, inadequate spatial awareness, and poor environmental adaptability. Based on these findings, the study derives key interaction design constraints and actionable improvement pathways tailored to novice USV operators. The results provide empirical grounding and practical guidelines for user-centered maritime HRI design.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: User Experience and Usability
• Intelligent Robots: Human-Robot Interaction
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Activity and Plan Recognition

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: User modeling and simulation for interactive and conversational systems
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics

Abstract

Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) are increasingly utilised for diverse applications, ranging from environmental monitoring to security patrols. While USV technology is progressing, it remains clear that full autonomy is not achievable in all scenarios, and remote human intervention is still crucial, particularly in dynamic or complex environments. This continued reliance on human intervention highlights a range of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) challenges that remain unresolved. Compared to the extensive body of HRI research in domains such as unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous vehicles, HRI considerations specific to USVs remain significantly underexplored. Addressing this gap, our study investigates real-world usability challenges in USV operation through in-depth interviews with 9 engineers and users, supported by field observations. We focus especially on the difficulties beginner operators encounter and their coping strategies. Our findings reveal existing usability issues, mental models, and adaptation strategies of beginners that inform future user-centered design of USV systems, contributing new insights to the emerging field of maritime HRI. Based on these findings, we argue that current USV systems are poorly suited for beginner operation in dynamic inland and offshore environments, where operators must make timely decisions under uncertainty, manage complex spatial awareness, and adapt to changing environmental conditions. Furthermore, we identify key operational patterns in three representative use cases-harmful algal bloom detection, underwater concealed pipe inspection and post-construction hydrographic survey, and summarise key interaction constraints that should inform future maritime HRI design efforts.

Problem

• Evaluating usability methods for Unmanned Surface Vehicles operation
• Investigating Human-Robot Interaction challenges in dynamic maritime environments
• Addressing beginner operators' difficulties and adaptation strategies

Innovation

• Evaluated USV usability via interviews and field observations
• Identified beginner operator challenges and coping strategies
• Analyzed operational patterns across three maritime use cases