Human in the Loop

There are no government mandated vision standards for aviation maintenance inspectors. Empirically derived vision standards for other occupations cannot be extended to this very different occupation. We apply a psychophysical human-in-the-loop methodology toward defining an empirically-based visual acuity standard for a representative task performed by aircraft maintenance inspectors. Visual acuity declines are simulated using a Gaussian blur function on airframe images. Psychophysical data were collected in non-inspectors and in highly experienced aviation maintenance inspectors. The data may be used to construct an empirically-based visual acuity standard.

Human-robot interaction (HRI) for mobile robots is still in its infancy. Most user interactions with robots have been limited to tele-operation capabilities where the most common interface provided to the user has been the video feed from the robotic platform ...

It is now recognized in many domains that content-based image retrieval (CBIR) from a database of images cannot be carried out by using completely automated approaches. One such domain is medical radiology for which the clinically useful information in an image typically consists of gray level variations in highly localized regions of the image. Currently, it is not possible to extract these regions by automatic image segmentation techniques. To address this problem, the authors have implemented a ...

FORGE brings together a number of advances in architectural modeling, software architecture and distributed/real-time systems to build a platform that provides two fundamental capabilities for distributed, real time, and embedded (DRE) system development:(a) conceptualization and coding of the design knowledge through collaborative specifications that are inherently matched to distributed solutions; and (b) exploitation of the design knowledge across all development phases for the DRE systems. ...

This paper presents a team of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) which are controlled and monitored by a Base Station (BS). The MAVs are of coaxial design which imparts mechanical stability both outdoor and indoor while obeying a 30cm size constraint. They have carbon fiber frames for weight reduction allowing sensors and microcontrollers to be mounted on‐board for low level control. Localization and obstacle avoidance are achieved using an on‐board GPS receiver, digital compass and colour camera. The UGVs are similarly equipped but also carry directional microphones to assist in detection of guards and hostages when visual information is inadequate. The BS monitors the vehicles and their environment and navigates them autonomously or with humans in the loop through the developed GUI. The initial goal of the project is the demonstration and assessment of the developed systems at MAV08. Following the demonstration, the systems will be used to demonstrate...

This paper investigates the holonic modeling of a self-reconfigurable multiple module robotic system which operates in a two dimensional space. Holons are the simplest physical elements of the system, which have the capabilities of independent actuation, and of cooperation with other holons in achieving global behavior for the whole colony structure. Our work focuses on the concept of self-reconfigurability of the modular colony structure so as the holons reconfigure themselves to a pre-described structure in the absence of a human in the loop. The reconfiguration control of the dynamical holonic structure is developed based on hybrid control, since our system exhibits both discrete and continuous behaviors. This paper introduces the mechanical design of holons, their connection/disconnection and motion mechanisms together with the control architecture developed. Acknowledgement: The holons considered in this work are being manufactured by supports provided by project no: AFP-97-03-...

This work describes and evaluates an integrated system of computing information technologies to support the data mining and knowledge discovery of qualitative data collected from groups with diverse objectives and multiple, possibly conflicting criteria. The system provides a method and supporting infrastructure to produce a shared view and common objective based on the data collected, hence managing effectively a conflict situation. This multidisciplinary research combines social scientific fields of conflict resolution, group dynamics, social psychology, and sociology with current knowledge in computer technology, decision sciences, database development, data mining and data fusion. The goal is to build human and information systems that maintain the human-in-the-loop, but provide for more efficacious decision support and collaborative resolution and planning. By combining an action evaluation (AE) Web based elicitation process with database management system and searching schemes, an integrated platform is developed to collaboratively reach consensus and resolve conflicts. The system was implemented and validated with actual projects. Qualitative assessment of its effectiveness and use was also carried out. Conclusions derived from this experience are made in order to improve the system's design and future development.

Research projects on enabling trajectory-based 4D operations have had limited success in the past causing tendencies to abandon the idea of “absolute” time-based operations in favor of “relative” aircraftto-aircraft based operations. Over the past five years researchers at NASA Ames Research Center have matured a concept of trajectory-oriented time-based arrival management in a number of human-in-theloop simulation studies. Data gathered in recent experiments reflect the potential benefits envisioned for the concept. Inter-arrival time variability has been significantly reduced. More aircraft were able to conduct energy-efficient descents during a reduced flight time. Controller workload at the busiest sector was reduced; with some workload shifted to less busy sectors. Objective and subjective data were analyzed to provide recommendations for ground-based automation that enables trajectory-oriented operations with its associated benefits. These operations can facilitate and be comp...

The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology (DUSD/S&T), as part of their ongoing ATR Program, has sponsored an effort to develop and demonstrate methods for evaluating ATR algorithms that utilize multiple data sources, i.e., fusion-based ATR. The AFRL COMPASE Center has formed a strong ATR evaluation team and this paper presents results from this program, focusing on

A simulation evaluation of Distributed Air Ground-Traffic Management (DAG-TM) concepts for distributing flight information and decision-making authority among pilots and controllers was completed at NASA Ames. A procedure for en route trajectory negotiation was tested, with air-ground communication method (voice vs. data link) and level of automation technology varied in four experimental conditions: Baseline, Uplink, Uplink/Downlink, and Uplink/Downlink with conflict detection and resolution (CD&R). Data link was used for transfer of communication (TOC) in all conditions. The results suggest that pilot-initiated requests and simple controller response to the requests was as an efficient method of trajectory negotiation. However, the pilot and controller interfaces could provide better cues for the requests and the traffic situation. The data linked route requests were most likely to be accepted by the controllers when the routes were conflict-probed by the flight deck CD&R, showing...

Abstract- We report on the ongoing development of a research framework for dynamic integration of information from hard (electronic) and soft (human) sensors. We describe this framework, which includes representation of 2nd order uncertainty. We outline current and planned human-in-the-loop experiments in which an "ad hoc community of human observers" provides input reports via mobile phones and PDAs. Our overall approach is based on three pillars: traditional sensing resources ("S-space'?, dynamic communities of human observers ("H-space " and resources such as archived sensor data, blogs, reports, dynamic news reports from citizen reporters via the Internet (rl-space") The sensors in all three of these pillars need to be characterized and calibrated. In H-space and I-space, calibration issues related to motivation, truthfulness, etc. must be considered in addition to the standard physical characterization and calibration issues that need to be co...

It is now recognized in many domains that content-based image retrieval from a database of images cannot be carried out by using completely automated approaches. One such domain is medical radiology for which the clinically useful information in an image typically consists of gray level variations in highly localized regions of the image. Currently, it is not possible to extract these regions by automatic image segmentation techniques. To address this problem, we have implemented a human-in-the-loop (a physician-in-the-loop, more ...

FORGE brings together a number of advances in architectural modeling, software architecture and distributed/real-time systems to build a platform that provides two fundamental capabilities for distributed, real time, and embedded (DRE) system development:(a) conceptualization and coding of the design knowledge through collaborative specifications that are inherently matched to distributed solutions; and (b) exploitation of the design knowledge across all development phases for the DRE systems. ...