Expertise

Intelligent Automation is actively involved in research and development in Air Traffic Management and Control to support NASA, FAA and JPDO's NextGen vision. Our core focus is in the development of technologies for the modeling and simulation of the NAS, concept development to support Airspace, Airportal and Aviation safety initiatives, and software tools for ATM design and analysis.

Modeling and Simulation of NAS

Leveraging our expertise in agent technology and aviation domain knowledge IAI's NAS modeling and simulation efforts include:

• Simulation Framework and Execution Engine for Airspace Concept Evaluation System (ACES), an agent-based plug-n-play simulation software for modeling, simulation, and system wide analysis of current and next generation ATM concepts. ACES is built on IAI's CybelePro agent platform.
• ACES models for Terminal Areas, Flight Trajectory Services, Flight Trajectory Generators, Constrained Airspace Rerouting, Enroute Descent Advisors, and Final Approach Spacing.
• Development and analysis of CNS models for voice over VHF radio, VDL-2, VOR/DME, GPS, SSR, and ADS-B models for new airspace concepts
• Modeling and Simulation of NextGen Vehicles such as Unmanned Vehicles, VLJ's and Supersonics in the NAS

Airspace Design and Analysis Tool

To support airspace design of NextGen Concepts NAS design and analysis tools developed by IAI include:

Terminal Airspace and Airport Design Editor - 3D editor and visualization for designing terminal airspaces for SDO concepts. Provides data interoperability between SMS, ATAG, and ACES

IntelliTrace - Provides the Capability to capture, visualize, and analyze  large amounts of data from ACES simulations

Concept Development

IAI is closely working with NASA researchers in Airspace and Air Portals to develop NextGen concepts for:

• Merging and spacing techniques for current NAS and SDO concepts
• Dynamic air corridors to improve arrival and departure throughput within the terminal area
• Collaboration of regional flow control tools for ARTCCs to implement collectively beneficial traffic flow management restrictions

Expertise

Intelligent Automation is actively involved in research and development of leading edge technologies in the area of Distributed Robotics and Control.  Our core focus area has been in the area of sensing and control for teams of autonomous unmanned vehicles, human-robot teams, and human-robot interaction.

Control of Unmanned Vehicle Teams

Leveraging IAI expertise in multi-agent systems, IAI's efforts in this area are focused on the development of a Distributed Control Framework (DCF) for unmanned vehicle teams and algorithms for planning, coordination and control for applications related to boundary tracking, mobile networks and sensor networks. DCF provides structured, pluggable framework for building and composing Robot Agents with custom  State Estimators, Robot Coordinators, Robot Planners, and custom User Tasks. DCF uses the Motion Description Language extended (MDLe) for specifying platform independent behaviors and state transition logic.

Human Robot Teams

We focus on human robot teams for tactical operations and space mission by building on technologies related to:

• Mixed Initiative Control
• Extended Hierarchical Task Networks
• Protocol-Driven Interactions

State Estimation

Focusing specifically on sensors for control and navigation,  IAI is currently developing innovating technology  and algorithms for:

• Robust positioning using networked GPS receivers with integrated IMU sensors
• Low cost integrated INS, GPS, and vision sensors for simultaneous localization and mapping

Key Programs

• Agile Robot Teams of Mobile Networking in Urban Environments (DARPA)
• Human Robot Teams for Tactical Operations (DARPA)
• Human System Integration Framework (NASA)
• Mobile Ad hoc Networked GPS for Robust Positioning (ARMY)
• Underwater Sensor Networks (ONR)
• Tactical Control of UAV Teams (ARMY)
• Dynamic Boundary Tracking with Robot Teams (ARMY)

Expertise

Intelligent Automation Inc. (IAI) has significant expertise  in applying distributed problem solving techniques to develop customized solutions in areas of logistics, planning and scheduling.  Integral to our solutions is the use of our Cybele-based distributed agent-based generic scheduling engine  that can be customized to a particular domain, our XML-Schema based development planning and scheduling ontology to represent resources, constraints and workflows, and a and a service oriented architecture  enabling interfaces with various databases, financial and administrative tools.  

Range Scheduling System

Air Force's AFRL and 45th Space Wing funded our development of StarGate -- an agent-based Range Instrumentation Scheduling System for the allocation of instrumentation and communications equipment for Space Launch Missions.  StarGate employs IAI's CybelePro agent platform to facilitate integration with mission critical systems, financial systems, and knowledge resources.

Multi Purpose Cost Evaluation and Simulation System (MPCE)

The development of a complex weapon system calls for modern Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization (MDO), which involves optimization with respect to multiple criteria including development and manufacturing cost.  IAI’s MPCE, a research prototype tool allows designers to evaluate, simulate, and optimize manufacturing and development cost in an integrated and extensible manner. Features of MPCE include, integrated cost modeling, a flexible XML-based interface for integration with legacy performance optimization tools, plug and play cost modeling framework and fast-time distributed computation

Expertise

Intelligent Automation Inc. (IAI) is currently actively involved in the development of  library of agent-models to support human- behavior modeling in cultural and social domains.  Integration of these agents in complex social and urban scenarios enable the study of emergent behaviors of people, crowds, and mime propagation in societies. IAI is currently focuses on developing modeling and simulation tools in the following areas.  

Leadership Education and Evolutionary Development

We focus on developing novel and innovative simulation-based leadership training approach that use of role-playing agents in leadership training. We apply intelligent agent-modeled character-based simulations to create a realistic, interactive learning environment.  The domain of instruction is leadership in the context of crowd control in urban setting in a hostile territory like Iraq.

Crisis Operations Simulations

The Crisis Operations Simulation Framework, with its component elements, enables the studying of pedestrian crowd behavior and potential use of police resources for crowd management and safety in the context of an urban crisis situation. Agent-based models of both the cognitive, affective pedestrian agents with personality features (emotion, rational cognition, way finding and locomotion) and cognitive police agents are integral to this tool. A goal in developing the Crisis Operations Simulation Framework is to allow a user/ analyst to study potential crowd bottlenecks and police crowd control efficacy in realistic city areas in crisis situations. The framework includes a Geo(metry) Builder Template Tool, an  Agent Template Tool and a Crisis Operations Simulation Engine built using CybelePro.