Software Analysis and Reuse with Application to Improving Task-Centered Human Machine Interfaces

The ability of warfighters controlling key Ballistic Missile Defense Systems to do their jobs comes down to the effectiveness of the Command, Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs). No matter how sophisticated the hardware and algorithms “behind the glass”, in the end, human operators must decide and execute the appropriate actions to respond to threats. Yet virtually no Missile Defense Agency Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project has focused on the gaps that the National Team faces in HMI engineering tools In this SBIR Phase II effort, Harmonia, Inc. will research and realize an innovative approach to assist the reuse and interoperability of large, complex, mixed programming-language software systems with a focus on improving the process of designing and developing warfighter-centered HMIs. This proposal creates new, breakthrough tools that will be incorporated into Harmonia’s LiquidUI™ product suite, a comprehensive set of HMI design and development tools, to accommodate the full HMI lifecycle, from early design to reuse and maintenance. LiquidUI™ comprises functionality to design new HMIs, extract HMI components and application functionality required by the HMI to reusable modules, and export the HMI designs to tactical source code.