In the development of uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) oftentimes the focus is upon the enhancement of the vehicle and its automated functions. In fact, the aspects related to human-machine-interaction are mostly neglected. An unmanned vehicle should not be mistaken for an unmanned system with a human operator, although not being aboard. From accident analysis in civil air transport human factor problems resulting from too complex automation are well documented for a long time. Starting from a more human-centered perspective, this contribution describes the approach of cognitive and co-operative automation in order to mitigate such problems by establishing a close-partner work relationship between human operators and automated functions. First applications have already been developed and provide prove of concept.
