HIFuzz: Human Interaction Fuzzing for small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) must meet rigorous safety standards when deployed in high-stress emergency response scenarios; however many reported accidents have involved humans in the loop. In this paper, we, therefore, present the HiFuzz testing framework, which uses fuzz testing to identify system vulnerabilities associated with human interactions. HiFuzz includes three distinct levels that progress from a low-cost, limited-fidelity, large-scale, no-hazard environment, using fully simulated Proxy Human Agents, via an intermediate level, where proxy humans are replaced with real humans, to a high-stakes, high-cost, real-world environment. Through applying HiFuzz to an autonomous multi-sUAS system-under-test, we show that each test level serves a unique purpose in revealing vulnerabilities and making the system more robust with respect to human mistakes. While HiFuzz is designed for testing sUAS systems, we further discuss its potential for use in other Cyber-Physical Systems.