D/NAPS SITUATION ASSESSMENT BY PLAN ASSUMPTION MONITORING

SCOUT/ATTACK HELICOPTER PILOTS CAN EASILY BE OVERLOADED WITH TOO MUCH INFORMATION, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT AND/OR IN ADVERSE WEATHER. INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS WHICH REDUCE PILOT WORKLOAD ARE REQUIRED; A MAJOR COMPONENT OF AN INTELLIGENT SYSTEM IS SITUATION ASSESSMENT (SA), ALLOWING COMPLEX MISSIONS TO BE PERFORMED WITHOUT REQUIRING A COPILOT. THE SA FUNCTIONS MUST PROVIDE A PROBLEM-SOLVING PARADIGM WHICH CAN REASON ABOUT THE STATE OF THE AIRCRAFT AND THE PILOT IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING, UNCERTAIN WORLD. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP AN ARCHITECTURE, AND DESCRIBED A KNOWLEDGE BASED AND PROCESSING SYSTEM, WHICH USES PILOT KNOWLEDGE TO PERFORM SITUATION ASSESSMENT. A DESIGN DESCRIPTION FOR A SUBSET OF THE KNOWLEDGE BASE REQUIRED FOR SA FOR D/NAPS WILL BE PRODUCED. THIS KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEM WILL REASON ABOUT AND ADAPT TO THE ENVIRONMENT. USING RULES, FACTS AND HEURISTICS ABOUT PILOTAGE, MISSION, VEHICLE STATUS, ETC., ELICITED FROM OUR SCOUT/ATTACK HELICOPTER PILOT, WE WILL CONSTRUCT A KNOWLEDGE BASE FOR CONTINUOUSLY MONITORING THE STATE OF THE IRCRAFT AND ITS ENVIRONMENT AND ASSESS THE STATUS OF THE ON-GOING MISSION. THIS DESIGN WILL USE A RULE-BASED PROCESS TERMED SITUATION ASSUMPTION MONITORING (SAM). THE PROPOSED DESIGN CAN BE EXTENDED TO MEET REAL-TIME PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS, REASON UNDER UNCERTAINTY AND EXPLAIN ITS DECISION-MAKING RATIONALE.