Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Intelligent Information Processing for Enhanced Safety in the NAS
Project Description
We propose a system that focuses on how improved information flow between agents acting in a flight deck environment can improve safety performance. Agents are defined as either human, computational, or hardware that can act on information. Information that can flow to an agent is filtered based on priority. This protects human agents from information glut and information overload and reduces bandwidth requirements on communications channels. Agents react to the presented information by accepting it, discounting it, or querying the system for more information. All decisions and actions are recorded and modeled by the system in order to verify correct and efficient processing of information. The proposed system will operate independently of flight deck systems but will have access to required information sources. It will not impose an additional monitoring responsibility on the flight crew except for when safety issues surface. At that point, the flight crew's attention is captured and then predefined, prioritized information is presented in a selected format. The proposed system consists of the major software components: the Metadata Workbench, the Condition Monitor, and the Notification Terminal. The Metadata Workbench is used to identify all agents, roles, conditions of interest which trigger information flows, and information with associated context and priority. The notification mechanism, the information flow's destination, and the format for reporting information along with justification is also defined by the workbench. Condition monitors serve as the interface between information-producing systems and notification terminals. Conditions of interest along with all information metadata are deployed to the condition monitors. The notification terminal receives prioritized information and presents the information in the predefined format.
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Anticipated Benefits
Monitoring high-reliability systems where human agents must be in-the-loop to handle events. High-reliability systems are rarely expected to experience adverse events. However, when the events do occur, information overload can result. The human operator must be able to come up to speed on the situation as quickly as possible without being overloaded. The decisions and responses may not be optimal or may even be deficient. The proposed system will prevent information overload by presenting the most important information first. The proposed system can also monitor operator responses and compare them to expected behaviors. Decision support in an environment where information glut exists. The availability of information is increasing at an exponential rate. The proposed system can filter this information by performing such tasks as assigning priorities, coordinating information flows, and defining how information is presented. The proposed system can also integrate information from multiple sources, repackage the information, and present the information in a more abstract form. It also allows linking of information producers with information consumers in a uniform, integrated manner. Monitoring rogue behavior. Models of expected behavior can be compared with agent actions. Actions are monitored in the context of an explicit intent consistent with all agents. As behaviors deviate, additional, appropriate actions may be taken by other agents.
Military command and control. Battlefield operations are some of the most dynamic information environments going from relatively inactive to completely overwhelmed. Information flows are likewise dynamic with the number of agents, their roles, and their need for information constantly changing. The proposed system can define these characteristics and can scale in terms of size from small unit tactical operations to theater-wide strategic operations and from a low level combat unit's specific information needs to the highest level leadership's abstract information needs. Emergency response systems. Emergencies can run the gamut from a small, local house fire to a state-wide environmental catastrophe. In the larger scale emergencies, the need for timely, critical information flow to the responders must be efficient and effective especially since traditional information channels may be overwhelmed, no longer be available, or severely degraded. The proposed system with its metadata analysis would only allow the most important and necessary information to be communicated in the most succinct and abstract form with well-defined alternatives. The proposed system focuses solely on information, who has it, who needs it, and how it is handled. More »
Military command and control. Battlefield operations are some of the most dynamic information environments going from relatively inactive to completely overwhelmed. Information flows are likewise dynamic with the number of agents, their roles, and their need for information constantly changing. The proposed system can define these characteristics and can scale in terms of size from small unit tactical operations to theater-wide strategic operations and from a low level combat unit's specific information needs to the highest level leadership's abstract information needs. Emergency response systems. Emergencies can run the gamut from a small, local house fire to a state-wide environmental catastrophe. In the larger scale emergencies, the need for timely, critical information flow to the responders must be efficient and effective especially since traditional information channels may be overwhelmed, no longer be available, or severely degraded. The proposed system with its metadata analysis would only allow the most important and necessary information to be communicated in the most succinct and abstract form with well-defined alternatives. The proposed system focuses solely on information, who has it, who needs it, and how it is handled. More »
Project Library
Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metis Technology Solutions, Inc. | Lead Organization |
Industry
Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB)
|
Albuquerque, New Mexico |
Langley Research Center
(LaRC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Hampton, Virginia |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
New Mexico
-
Virginia
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