Speed Dating Trust: Simulation-based User Enactment Study in Mars Ground Planning Systems

Lead Researcher 

•  Thomas Chan – Social and Behavioral Sciences

Collaborators 

• Kim-Castet, Group Supervisor, JPL
• Davidoff, Group Supervisor, JPL
• Ramaswamy, UX Researcher, JPL

Student Team

• Argueta
• Armendariz
• Blanco
• Carrillo
• Graham
• Pena

Funding

• Funding Organization: NASA JPL
• Funding Program: Engineering and Science Directorate 

Abstract 

A comprehensive understanding of the tactful coordination between science, instrument, and engineering system teams is needed to ensure that Martian Rovers have the most significant likelihood of achieving their science goals – while enduring the harsh Martian environment. Correspondingly, the coordination on Earth to operate autonomous systems on the Martian surface is considerable – and extremely high stakes. The operations team, each with different objectives, must decide what to execute on Mars’ surface over the next planning period. Multiple science and engineering teams need to work together to understand each other’s experimental objectives and instrumental constraints. Subsequently, key “linchpin” personnel take these team negotiations and interpret the appropriate course of action to radiate to the spacecraft. The current study aims to illuminate Jet Propulsion Lab’s (JPL) operators’ strategic coordination processes to express intent to Martian Rovers. This study plans to examine the relationship “vibes,” by delving into how intent specification may be a crucial barrier to adopting autonomous capabilities hypothesized to erode trust when users are not intuitive. Together, our study aims to detect how much planning intent is communicated to the autonomous system and how it is handled through communication between human operators. The end goal of this work is to foster a greater understanding of the development of trust and operator intent before and during the use of complex autonomous systems. Getting to and onto Mars in itself is a remarkable feat – however, the intense coordination continues between science and engineering teams to ensure rovers can survive and thrive on the Martian surface.

Teams work together, and autonomous systems play a role in the interaction.