How can shovel operator abilities be augmented?

Challenge

Optimize digging and loading operations for a mining excavator shovel in a copper mine.
Develop a product concept that allows shovel
operators to fill each shovel load optimally, filling the shovel fully without overloading the weight capacity.
The product must be part of a system that can be installed into existing shovel cockpits.

My approach

Conducted a task analysis to isolate operator tasks.
Conducted a 3 day field visit to the mine in Kamloops, British Columbia.
Identified red routes to sort operator tasks based on field visit data.
Contributed to the design of UI concepts in an
iterative process with the product design team.
Presented the results to stakeholders in a slide deck format.

Outcomes

Increased revenue: Increased potential revenue by 1% by optimizing each shovel load, so that no copper ore is unnecessarily missed, without causing wear by overfilling the shovel.

Increased operator awareness: Increased operator awareness by gamifying the operator’s digging and loading metrics and providing feedback in real time.

Increased health and safety: Reduced the range of shovel operator head movement by 15%.

How is trust calibrated in soldier-robot teams?

Challenge

Develop a trust management system embedded in an existing team awareness device.
The system will address information sharing and
coordination challenges between robotic swarms and human operators.
The client’s desire is to increase the operator’s trust in the swarm to support human-robot teaming efforts for the Canadian Armed Forces.

My approach

Conducted a stakeholder analysis to understand their system integration priorities.
Conducted a survey of 70 autonomous system
operators to understand their human-robot teaming concerns.
Facilitated a usability testing workshop with soldiers to compare their trust in autonomous robotic systems when using or not using the trust management system prototype.
Presented the results to stakeholders in a report
format.

Outcomes

Return on investment: Increased return on investment for the future integration of autonomous systems into the Canadian Armed Forces.

Stakeholder alignment: Increased stakeholder alignment by providing evidence-based insights into soldier-robot trust.

Increased trust recovery rate: Created a use case which increases the recovery of trust after system failure at a 10% faster rate than without intervention.

“Lego Robot” by Brad Montgomery is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

How can risk be reduced in the development of an AR submarine navigation tool?

Challenge

Revise the design of an existing augmented reality (AR) tool for underwater battlespace awareness.
The client wants to address issues that have caused the current design to fall flat with expert users who have extensive training using underwater mission planning tools.

My approach

Conducted a heuristic review in consultation with 4 military experts to identify 50 instances of usability issues.
Integrated design changes based on the heuristic review, using standardized symbology for tactical planning tools.
Facilitated remote usability testing with subject
matter experts to test solutions to usability issues.
Presented the results to stakeholders in a video
format.

Outcomes

Return on investment: Increased return on investment for integrating the
mission planning tool into experimentation with
soldiers.

Reduced Risk: Reduced risk of developing a product that fails to resonate with military expert users by minimizing usability issues and inaccurate use case depictions from 50 instances to zero.

“Deep Sea Explorer” by Robiwan_Kenobi is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.