Distributed Crew Interface for Autonomous Satellite Operations

In this Phase I SBIR, the Aptima team will draw upon its experience and expertise in studying, designing, and supporting effective distributed teams, and its long-term expertise in the design of human-centered interfaces for military command and controlteams to design the interface for a remote distributed satellite maintenance crew. The Phase I work will result in the requirements for a human-centered interface that allows distributed crew members to communicate, maintain situation awareness, andcollaborate in a wireless environment using advanced information technology tools to detect, diagnose, and issue commands to resolve satellite anomalies and emergencies. The Phase I effort will also produce the design for a simulation environment andexperiment plan to empirically evaluate the interface. In Phase II an advanced prototype interface will be developed, along with the simulation environment that will be used to test the interface. The prototype will be evaluated using the experimentdesign developed in the Phase I effort. The methodology and approaches that are developed in Phase II can be adapted and applied in other domains in which distributed teams are involved in diagnosis and resolution of unanticipated disruptions that occurin complex automated systems.The concepts, designs, and findings that emerge from this SBIR effort will have direct application in DoD agencies, non-DoD government agencies, and corporate firms in which distributed and possibly ad hoc teams of experts arecalled upon to collaborate in a distributed environment to detect, diagnose, and stabilize anomalous or emergency conditions that occur in a remotely located automated systems. Potential application domains include law enforcement, remote medicalinterventions, and communications systems.