FUZZY COGNITIVE MAPS FOR MISSION PLANNING AND FLIGHT CONTROL

THE FUZZY COGNITIVE MAP, A NEURAL-NETWORK APPROACH TO KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION, HAS SEVERAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKE IT HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE FOR USE IN PLANNING AND CONTROL TASKS: EASE OF COMBINING KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES; A CAPACITY FOR ADAPTIVE REFINEMENT THROUGH SUPERVISED AND UNSUPERVISED LEARNING; AND AN ABILITY TO MAKE VERY HIGH SPEED INFERENCES IN BOTH ROUTINE AND NOVEL SITUATIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL ASSESS THE POTENTIAL OF THE FUZZY COGNITIVE MAP AS A PRINCIPAL FORM OF KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION IN PLANNING AND CONTROL SYSTEMS. IN SUCH SYSTEMS, FUZZY COGNITIVE MAPS COULD ASSUME SOME OF THE FUNCTIONS CURRENTLY HANDLED BY HUMAN EXPERTS, ASSURING A FASTER, MORE CONSISTENT RESPONSE. PHASE I WILL CONSIST OF AN ANALYSIS OF THE FUZZY COGNITIVE MAN AS APPLIED TO PLANNING AND CONTROL, A COMPARISON TO OTHER AL TECHNIQUES, PARTICULARLY EXPERT SYSTEMS, AND A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT DEMONSTRATION CENTERED ON A SELECTED PROBLEM AREA. THE FUZZY COGNITIVE MAP, A NEURAL-NETWORK APPROACH TO KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION, HAS SEVERAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKE IT HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE FOR USE IN PLANNING AND CONTROL TASKS: EASE OF COMBINING KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES; A CAPACITY FOR ADAPTIVE REFINEMENT THROUGH SUPERVISED AND UNSUPERVISED LEARNING; AND AN ABILITY TO MAKE VERY HIGH SPEED INFERENCES IN BOTH ROUTINE AND NOVEL SITUATIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL ASSESS THE POTENTIAL OF THE FUZZY COGNITIVE MAP AS A PRINCIPAL FORM OF KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION IN PLANNING AND CONTROL SYSTEMS. IN SUCH SYSTEMS, FUZZY COGNITIVE MAPS COULD ASSUME SOME OF THE FUNCTIONS CURRENTLY HANDLED BY HUMAN EXPERTS, ASSURING A FASTER, MORE CONSISTENT RESPONSE. PHASE I WILL CONSIST OF AN ANALYSIS OF THE FUZZY COGNITIVE MAN AS APPLIED TO PLANNING AND CONTROL, A COMPARISON TO OTHER AL TECHNIQUES, PARTICULARLY EXPERT SYSTEMS, AND A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT DEMONSTRATION CENTERED ON A SELECTED PROBLEM AREA.