Constraint-Checking Editor for Procedure Tracking (ConCEPT)

Constructing, maintaining, and adapting operational procedures for manned space operations is a complex task, requiring the procedure author to satisfy constraints resulting from the system configuration, current state, and applicable flight rules. This Phase 1 SBIR project will establish the feasibility of the Constraint-Checking Editor for Procedure Tracking (ConCEPT), a constraint-checking system for procedures represented in the Procedure Representation Language (PRL) and authored in PrIDE. Using automated translation and Constraint Satisfaction Problem generation technologies developed on previous projects, ConCEPT will assist users in identifying conflicts and inconsistencies in procedures as they are developed. The user edits a procedure in PrIDE, using procedure steps that have been annotated with information about resources and state changes. Configuration information, current state, and flight rules are stored in and obtained from the System Description, an existing component of PrIDE. As the procedure is being developed, ConCEPT automatically and continuously gathers appropriate constraints from the domain model and flight rules, translates them into a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) which is then submitted to a CSP solver, which alerts the user to any violated constraints. Phase I will define relevant scenarios of use, establish the applicability and feasibility of ConCEPT, and provide a proof-of-concept demonstration.