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

合作项目的研究目标是综合混合控制理论的可观察性和估计技术，以设计和验证昂贵，高风险和安全关键的协作系统（例如航空电子设备和生物医学设备）的用户界面。用户界面为用户提供了一种观察底层自动化系统的方法，也为用户向系统应用输入提供了一种方法。本研究将发展系统在正常和异常运行条件下的确定性和随机方法。开发的技术和算法将被设计用于适应具有复杂信息需求、不可避免的不确定性和测量误差以及非平凡连续动态的环境，例如在空中交通管制和飞机飞行管理系统中发现的环境。具体而言，本研究解决了1)基于可观察性的条件的发展，以评估用户界面中信息内容的正确性（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)故障检测模式估计技术（用于异常条件下的操作）和显示元素的优先级。3)通过传感器调度进行显示设计，以确定给定显示模式下信息的最佳组合；4)基于抽象的用户界面设计正确性条件（假设用户界面是在标准和异常条件下实际底层系统的简化表示）。如果成功，这项研究的结果将有助于在协作系统被构建、测试、部署之前，甚至可能在它们运行时，识别出人机交互问题（如自动化意外、用户界面中包含的信息不足或过多，以及模式混淆）。通过本研究开发的控制算法和界面设计辅助工具是通用的，并且有潜力提高各种领域协作系统的有效性。本研究计划将有助于人机交互学界的形式化方法，以及控制理论学界对决策支持辅助设计的关注。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研究生课程，以控制协作系统，特别强调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.