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An Investigation of US Military Explosive Ordnance Disposal

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An Investigation of US Military Explosive Ordnance Disposal ©Copyright 2013 Julie Carpenter The Quiet Professional: An investigation of U.S. military Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel interactions with everyday field robots Julie Carpenter A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2013 Reading Committee: John D. Bransford, Chair Stephen T. Kerr Leslie R. Herrenkohl Program Authorized to Offer Degree: College of Education University of Washington Abstract The Quiet Professional: An investigation of U.S. military Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel interactions with everyday field robots Julie Carpenter Chair of the Supervisory Committee: John D. Bransford, Ph.D. Educational Psychology This research explores interactions between Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel and the robots used every day. It was designed to richly describe the nuances of these interactions, especially those related to operator emotion associated with the robots. In this study, the EOD human-robot dynamic was investigated by interviewing 23 EOD personnel, collecting demographic information, and using one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Study results suggest EOD personnel relationships among peers and team members showed distinct patterns in human-human relationships as part of a Human- Human Interaction Model (HHIM) in terms of expectations of performance, and beliefs, values, and actions, related to their work. Findings described here also suggest performance expectations and other factors of the HHIM of teamwork do not map onto EOD personnel human-robot interactions. However, in some cases there is a tendency for personnel to ascribe human traits to robots, creating nuanced human-technology relationships introduced here as the Robot Accommodation Dilemma (RAD). These findings have implications for future personnel training and the refinement of robot design considerations for EOD and other fields that rely on critical small group communication and decision-making skills. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page GLOSSARY OF MILITARY ACRONYMS .................................................................. iv INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 Problem Statement ................................................................................. 1 Purpose of the Study .............................................................................. 3 Need for the Study.................................................................................. 3 U.S. Military Humanoid Robot Development ........................................... 7 Rationale for the Current Study and Design Overview .......................... 17 Implications for the Study ..................................................................... 18 Summary 18 Literature Review .................................................................................................... 19 Social Constructivism and Social Systems Theory as Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................. 19 The Ecological System of U.S. Military EOD Work ............................... 23 Organization 24 People 33 Robots 42 Operating Environment .................................................................. 50 Tasks 51 Summary 53 Research Procedures and Methods ....................................................................... 55 Research Strategy and Design ............................................................. 55 Sample Selection ................................................................................. 57 Data Collection Materials ...................................................................... 60 Questionnaire 62 Semi-structured Interview .............................................................. 64 Procedure ............................................................................................. 64 Data Collection and Analysis ................................................................ 65 Reliability and Validity ........................................................................... 72 Ethical Considerations .......................................................................... 75 Summary 75 Findings: Factors of EOD Collaboration ............................................................... 76 i Questionnaire Results .......................................................................... 76 Age and Gender 77 Formal Education 77 Military Branch 77 Number of Years Served ............................................................... 77 Age of Re-enlistment ..................................................................... 78 Current Rank or Rank at Discharge ............................................... 78 Special Forces or Elite Unit membership ....................................... 80 Prior Exposure to Robots ............................................................... 80 Context of Prior Robot Use ............................................................ 81 Definition of a Robot (Questionnaire and Interview) ....................... 83 Semi-structured interviews ................................................................... 83 The Two Themes: HHIM and RAD ....................................................... 84 Common Beliefs, Values, Strategies: HHIM Model ........................ 86 Robot Accommodation Dilemma ................................................. 100 Summary 111 Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations ............................................. 113 Discussion .......................................................................................... 113 Influences and Constraints On Interactions ........................................ 114 Human Factors Shaping The Robotic Technology .............................. 119 Study Limitations ................................................................................ 120 Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Work ......................... 121 Appendix A: Recruiting Material ......................................................................... 125 Postings on Facebook and LinkedIn Group pages....................... 125 Other Social Networking Sites Post Language ............................ 125 E-mail to Specific Individuals in a Social Networking Site ............ 126 E-mail to Colleague/Military Personnel Requesting Assistance ... 126 Letter of Cooperation from Colleagues/Military Personnel ........... 127 Suggested Text for Interested Colleague/Military Personnel to E-Mail Potential Participants ....................................... 128 Flyer with Tear Strips ................................................................... 130 Oral Consent Script for Informed Consent (Skype and Telephone Interviews) ....................................................... 131 Appendix B: Demographic Questionnaire ........................................................... 133 ii Appendix C: Semi-Guided Interview Questions .................................................. 135 Appendix D: Verbatim participant definitions of a “robot” ............................... 136 Questionnaire ..................................................................................... 136 Interview 136 Appendix E: US Navy EOD Ethos ....................................................................... 141 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Ground Robotics Capabilities Sets (Dyess, Winstead, & Golson, 2011) ................ 9 Figure 2. UGV Capabilities by Timeframe (Dyess, Winstead, & Golson, 2011) ...................10 Figure 3. Manny (Image: Idaho National Laboratory, 1988) .................................................11 Figure 4. BEAR (Photo: Vecna Robotics, 2010) ..................................................................12 Figure 5. PETMAN (Photo: Boston Dynamics, 2013) ..........................................................13 Figure 6. CAPT Paul Stewart and Naval Research Laboratory’s Lucas. (Photo: Jamie J. Hartman/NRL, 2012) ...........................................................................................................14 Figure 7. TALON IV (Photo: QinetiQ, 2011) ........................................................................15 Figure 8. 710 Warrior (Photo: iRobot, 2013) ........................................................................16 Figure 9. HHIM and RAD in EOD microsystem context .......................................................86 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Transcript Formatting Excerpt ...............................................................................70 Table 2. Participant Demographic Information .....................................................................79 Table 3: Responses to Questions About Pre-Military Experience with Robots.....................82 iii GLOSSARY OF MILITARY ACRONYMS AFB Air Force Base AI Artificial Intelligence C-IED Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Capt Captain (Air Force, Marine Corps) CPT Captain (Army) DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DOD Department of Defense EOD Explosive Ordnance Disposal HBIED House Born Improvised Explosive Device IED Improvised Explosive Device IND Improvised Nuclear Devices JIEDDO Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Orgnatization K-9 Canine, or Military Working Dog Maj Major (Air Force, Marine Corps) MAJ Major (Army) MWD Military Working Dog MOS Military Occupational Specialty MSG Master Sergeant MGySgt Master Gunnery Sergeant NCO Non-commissioned Officer PO1 Petty
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