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With almost two decades of research in associate systems, ASI has developed many examples of associate systems that have focused on improving manned, unmanned, commercial and military aviation. Of ASI's previous projects, the Pilot's Associate, the Dispatch Associate, and the Automated Negotiation Associate best demonstrate the associate systems approach and its success in aviation. Combining these three areas of research with ASI's past experience in developing model of intent driven systems within the National Airspace System (NAS) makes ASI uniquely qualified to design a human-centered real-time system that will help meet many of the goals laid out by the FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The Pilot's Associate (PA) Program The Pilot's Associate Program was sponsored by DARPA under the Strategic Computing Program. The goal of this program was to investigate the applicability of emerging Artificial Intelligence capabilities in military applications. The PA was the Air Force branch of that effort administered by the Avionics Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio and was originally conceived as a set of four collaborating expert systems: Systems Status reporting the ability of the aircraft to perform its mission; Situation Assessment determining the external environment; Mission Planning with a long-term strategic view of the mission; and Tactics Planning with a short-term, reactive view. After consultation with the customer, three more expert systems were added: Pilot-Vehicle Interface (PVI) managing the presentation of information to the pilot and interpreting pilot actions; Mission Management maintaining a consistent view of the mission parameters and organizing the communications between systems; and Mission Support Tool to allow pilots to tailor the behavior of the systems before each mission. The demo that ASI developed for Lockheed was so useful that it was effectively used by Lockheed for 10 years. It was integral to the development of several Lockheed developed aircraft (F-22 and F-35). Recently, it has been stated that three significant technological developments for air traffic management include bounded-error navigation, aviation communications networks, and automated algorithms to increase air traffic capacity. Associate systems have demonstrated success in aviation communication networks as well as in increasing air traffic capacity, both due to the associate's shared model of intent and the resulting real-time decision making capabilities. Rather than using complex algorithms and heuristics, associates communicate their plans with each other, resolving conflicts by following alternative plans. This conflict resolution is computationally inexpensive, allowing for real-time planning and decision making. The Dispatch Associate (DA) Program
In late 2004, ASI developed an initial concept that envisions a strategic route planning system that operates on specific flights within the NAS to relieve airspace congestion. The initial Dispatch Associate concept and demonstration provided decision support capabilities for an Airline Operations Control (AOC) Center when it is necessary to systemically avoid a Flow Constrained Area (FCA). The Phase I demonstration provided basic capabilities using static and canned data. The concept mission was to comply with identified business goals based on how an airline could best safely and economically maintain its published schedule with the least overall disruptions to passengers (or other customers) while operating within known and/or forecasted system constraints. New Traffic Flow Management (TFM) requirements and recent economic and operational problems have caused reduced resources and a reduction in manpower, signifying a changing character in the way an AOC will do business in the near future. The DA is intended to fill this resource and manpower gap by providing technological advances in dealing with irregular routing operations. |
