Modeling and Analyzing Distributed Autonomy for Spaceflight Teams

Caldwell, Barrett S.; Onken, Jeffrey D.

doi:10.2514/6.2011-5135

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Operators hand off autonomy when another team or system has better local information, multidimensional expertise, and situational awareness available within the time and task constraints of a time-critical event. For example, in the launch phase of a mission the time available to detect an anomaly and complete abort preparations is too short for onboard crewmembers or ground-based controllers to effectively perform manually, therefore the task is allocated to computers (Caldwell & Onken, 2011). As demonstrated by the coordination of tasks between mission control and crew for controlling the Canada robotic arm, the crew is in a better location for timely and precise movements using hand controllers than using a series of commands from ground.…”

Section: Dynamic Function Allocation In Multiteam Space Operationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For near-Earth missions, there is an adaptive hand-off of authority between the Mission Control Center (MCC) and the crew depending on the task and who is in a better position to perform the task (Caldwell & Onken, 2011). Examples of the control hand-offs are detailed in the Hubble Space Telescope (Hubble) servicing missions and the International Space Station’s (ISS) CanadArm operations sections of this paper.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distributed Supervisory Coordination and Function Allocation Between Multi-Teams in Crewed Space Exploration with Time Delays

Davis,

Caldwell

2023

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual

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Function allocation and distributed task coordination are complex challenges facing many multi-team systems. These challenges are intensified in the case of human expeditions to and exploration of Mars, due to the impact of one-way light-time communication delays that can exceed 20 minutes. Research to identify, enhance, and support new requirements for task coordination and communication include considerations to mitigate the impact of delays through improved state monitoring and crew coordination and knowledge sharing techniques. Effective coordination for human cislunar and Mars exploration operations, including servicing, assembly, and maintenance activities, require effective and adaptive function and task allocation constrained by available bandwidth and crew member workload capability. The authors describe some of their previous research and ongoing activities, including improvements to time-delayed information and data displays to support mission control and spaceflight crew member situational awareness when conducting both routine operations and real-time responses to emerging anomalies.

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Section: Dynamic Function Allocation In Multiteam Space Operationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distributed Supervisory Coordination and Function Allocation Between Multi-Teams in Crewed Space Exploration with Time Delays

Davis,

Caldwell

2023

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual

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“…As a result, effective centaur teams must not only consider effective allocation of functions and decisions between the human experts and software agents, but how these allocations can be managed dynamically to improve performance within task and time constraints for performance. [3]- [5], [15]. The following sections describe examples of initial analysis approaches and requirements definitions for creating centaur teams in two areas of human-A2IR interactions.…”

Section: Where Is the Field Going?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The personnel in Mission Control are responsible for processing and monitoring the majority of the necessary information streams and keeping the astronauts safe during EVA [29], [30]. There is evidence that this current model of EVA is incompatible with the time-delayed communication constraints and the communication blackout periods that come with human deep-space missions [31], and is also not scalable to situations where they may be more than one EVA being performed simultaneously [15].…”

Section: Human-robotic Cooperation For Human Spaceflight Explorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in Human-Automation Collaboration, Coordination and Dynamic Function Allocation

Caldwell¹,

Nyre-Yu²,

Hill³

2019

Advances in Transdisciplinary Engineering

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Effective integration of humans and automation in control systems engineering has been an ongoing effort since the original publication of McRuer’s descriptions of human operators in servomechanism systems in 1959. Over the past 60 years, increasing capabilities of automation and computer systems have resulted in changing considerations of function allocation and human-automation interaction since Fitts’ “Humans are better at / Machines are better at” descriptions of the early 1950s. The processes of distributed autonomy and dynamic function allocation in modern human-automation and human-robotic interactions benefit from increased computing capabilities, resulting in systems with potentially fluid (and sometimes conflicting) boundaries for human vs. automation control. Using examples from human and robotic spaceflight, robotics can demonstrate significant autonomy (automated “safe-moding” and restart by Mars rovers), and humans may have limited autonomy (when astronauts conducting extravehicular activity rely on and wait for ground controllers to create or modify procedures to complete required tasks). Proposed future advances in human-automation interaction and coordination include the development of “centaur” teams of humans interacting with sophisticated software and robotic agents as team members (rather than fixed allocations as human-controlled servos or automation-controlled autonomous systems). Approaches within the authors’ lab include qualitative research of process and cognitive task demands to create functional architecture for AI applications in cyber security. Another method uses agent-based modeling to incorporate individual thinking style and interpersonal interactions in task performance simulations, effectively creating more robust hybrid systems incorporating cognitive and social factors in complex settings.

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“…How these models of environments and system behavior differ from actual environmental dynamics and the performance of the system-in-environment are critical, especially if linear models are projected into nonlinear ranges of real-world behavior. Caldwell and Onken (2011), in their discussion of realtime adjustment of ''dynamic functional autonomy,'' discuss how designers and operators need to respond to both initial system designs of task requirements and environmental ranges, and how prior events or current operational plans may require adjustments of achievable levels of autonomy and function allocation. As discussed above, engineering system designs include implicit models of what levels of system performance are achievable over what range of environmental conditions.…”

Section: System Models For Resilience Estimatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robust Resilience: Metaphor and Meaning in Assessing System Performance Ranges

Caldwell¹

2013

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

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The current emphasis on Resilience Week and the International Symposium on Resilient Cognitive Systems highlights a growing awareness of the importance of designing and operating engineering systems under a variety of environmental conditions and in response to dynamic events. Although there has been considerable confusion and drift in the use of the term, ''resilience'' as a concept dates back to dynamic systems study of complex ecological systems in the 1970s. This original definition relates clearly to quantitative metrics that link also to statistical process control techniques describing system performance as affected by external, ''assignable'' causes. This paper discusses important elements in the consideration of resilience as a quantitative metric to improve consistency and clarity of evaluation in engineering systems. Rather than simply a binary attribute of systems, resilience should be considered in terms of system performance measures as affected by environmental conditions or events, energy flow couplings, and statistical process control limits. Our estimations of system resilience are seriously compromised when process control estimates are extrapolated beyond linear ranges of environmental conditions or when including discontinuous performance/event outliers exceeding appropriate forecasting estimates.

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Modeling and Analyzing Distributed Autonomy for Spaceflight Teams

Cited by 7 publications

References 5 publications

Distributed Supervisory Coordination and Function Allocation Between Multi-Teams in Crewed Space Exploration with Time Delays

Distributed Supervisory Coordination and Function Allocation Between Multi-Teams in Crewed Space Exploration with Time Delays

Advances in Human-Automation Collaboration, Coordination and Dynamic Function Allocation

Robust Resilience: Metaphor and Meaning in Assessing System Performance Ranges

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