Collaborative Research: Synthesis of User Interfaces for Collaborative Systems in Uncertain Environments

协同项目的研究目标是综合混合控制理论中的可观测性和估计技术，为昂贵、高风险和安全关键的协同系统(如航空电子和生物医学设备)设计和验证用户界面。用户界面为用户提供了观察底层自动化系统以及向系统应用输入的手段。这项研究将发展系统在正常和非正常运行条件下的确定性和随机性方法。开发的技术和算法将设计为适应具有复杂信息要求、不可避免的不确定性和测量误差以及非平凡的连续动态的环境，例如空中交通管制和飞机飞行管理系统中的环境。具体地说，本研究致力于开发1)基于可观测性的条件以评估用户界面中信息内容的正确性(被建模为具有离散按钮和连续操纵杆类型输入的混合系统)，2)用于故障检测(用于异常条件下的操作)和显示元素的优先级的模式估计技术，3)通过传感器调度来确定给定显示模式的信息的最佳组合的显示设计，以及4)基于抽象的用户界面设计正确性条件(其假设用户界面是标准和异常条件下实际底层系统的简化表示)。如果成功，这项研究的结果可能有助于在协作系统构建、测试、部署之前以及可能在运行时识别协作系统中的人-自动化交互问题(例如，自动化意外、用户界面中包含的信息不足或过多，以及模式混乱)。通过本研究开发的控制算法和界面设计辅助工具具有通用性，并有可能在不同领域的协同系统中提高有效性。这项研究计划将有助于人机交互领域的形式化方法，以及专注于决策支持辅助设计的控制理论领域。开发的理论、代码和数据将及时传播。学生将受益于开发一门新的、多学科的协作系统控制研究生课程，重点是航空电子和空中交通应用，以及指导和参与这项研究。

The research objective of collaborative project is to synthesize observability and estimation techniques from hybrid control theory to design and validate user-interfaces for expensive, high-risk, and safety-critical collaborative systems (e.g. avionics and biomedical devices). The user interface provides a means for the user to observe the underlying automated system as well as for the user to apply inputs to the system. This research will develop deterministic and stochastic methods for systems under both normal and abnormal operating conditions. The developed techniques and algorithms will be designed to accommodate environments that have complex information requirements, inevitable uncertainties and measurement errors, and nontrivial continuous dynamics, such as those found in air traffic control and aircraft flight management systems. Specifically, this research addresses the development of 1) observability-based conditions to assess the correctness of information content in user interfaces (modeled as hybrid systems with discrete push-button and continuous joystick-type inputs), 2) mode estimation techniques for fault detection (for operation under abnormal conditions) and a prioritization of display elements, 3) display design via sensor scheduling to determine the optimal combination of information for a given display mode, and 4) abstraction-based conditions for correctness of user-interface design (that assume the user interface is a reduced representation of the actual underlying system under standard and abnormal conditions). If successful, the results of this research could help identify human-automation interaction problems (such as automation surprises, inadequate or excessive information contained in the user interface, and mode confusion) in collaborative systems before they are built, tested, deployed, and possibly while they are operating. The control algorithms and interface design aids developed through this research are generic, and have potential to improve the effectiveness in collaborative systems in a variety of domains. This research plan will contribute to the formal methods in human computer interaction community, and to the control theory communities focused on the design of decision support aids. Developed theory, code, and data will be disseminated in a timely manner. Students will benefit through development of a new, multidisciplinary graduate course in control of collaborative systems, with particular emphasis on avionics and air traffic applications, as well as from mentoring and participation in this research.