Form 9.B Project Summary
Chron:
971184
Proposal Number:
01.02-3474
Project Title:
Air Traffic Controller Agent Model for
Free Flight
Technical Abstract (Limit 200 words)
We propose to examine the human factors needs of
air traffic controllers operating under free flight
through the development of a modeling and analysis
tool based on an agent representation of the overall
controller/air traffic system. The approach relies on
a multi-stage agent-based representation of the
controller's SA and decision-making behavior, and
a multidimensional metric that reflects SA,
performance, and error propensity. We propose to
incorporate the controller agent into a simulated
free flight environment that contains a set of
semi-autonomous pilot agent models. Our objective
is to develop a simulation tool that will support the
development of rules and procedures for free flight
implementation, via simulation-based analysis of
controller behavior and airspace system safety
under alternate free flight configurations. One of
the key innovative features of the resulting free
flight simulation tool is a distributed
decision-making model embedded into the
multi-agent architecture, which will provide air
traffic management system designers with a basis
for the formulation of effective decision allocation
between ground control and pilots in free flight.
Potential Commercial Applications (Limit 200 words)
The proposed technology will directly support
closing the human factors loop on the development
of free flight ATM concepts. The underlying
modeling approach will also support human factors
assessments in other domains (e.g., nuclear power
plants, chemical processing centers, power dispatch
stations, intelligent vehicle highway system control
centers, etc.) where it is desirable to determine how
system design affects operator awareness and
performance before committing to a specific
configuration. We also plan to extract the belief
network algorithm that emulates air traffic
controller situation assessment in the presence of
uncertainty, and develop a commercial-quality
software tool for computer-based reasoning under
uncertainty.
Name and Address of Principal Investigator (Name,
Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Sandeep M. Mulgund
Charles River Analytics
55 Wheeler Street
Cambridge , MA 02138-1125
Name and Address of Offeror (Firm Name, Mail Address,
City/State/Zip)
Greg L. Zacharias
Charles River Analytics
55 Wheeler Street
Cambridge , MA 02138-1125