Advancing Probabilistic Machine Learning to Deliver Safer, More Efficient, and Predictable Air Traffic Control

NatS和艾伦·图灵研究所合作的雄心是发展基础科学，提供世界上第一个在现场试验中控制部分空域的人工智能系统。我们的研究将采取分层的方法来控制空中交通管制(ATC)，为英国空域开发一个数字孪生兄弟和一个多智能体机器学习控制系统。此外，合作伙伴关系将开发部署值得信赖的人工智能系统的技术方法，考虑到安全、可解释性和道德如何嵌入我们的方法，以便我们能够提供新的工具，在安全关键的环境中与人类空中交通管制员和谐工作。在过去的50年里，英国空域的基本基础设施几乎没有变化，但对航空的需求增加了100倍。最近的一份政府绿皮书《航空2050》强调了航空网络对英国繁荣的重要性，每年价值220亿GB。然而，如果不迅速采取行动实现我们的空域和管制方法的现代化，以确保它们能够应对到2050年英国客运量未来超过50%的增长，以及无人机带来的新挑战，我们的国家正处于危险之中，这两个背景都是在全球要求改变该行业对环境影响的压力越来越大的背景下。通过使用人工智能代理来加强实时空中交通管制，可以处理系统中的复杂性和不确定性，这对NatS的业务具有变革的潜力。这将对现场运营以及为新的ATCO提供研究工具和培训设施产生积极影响。相应地，NatS的研究愿景是利用人工智能的新方法，在简化空中交通管制员培训的同时，提高安全性、容量和环境可持续性。人工智能系统对空中交通管制的预期好处在一个关键时刻到来，为我们提供了一个机会，有效地应对由三大危机引起的前所未有的挑战：2019年冠状病毒(新冠肺炎)大流行、英国退欧和全球变暖。英国必须在不损害可持续发展目标的情况下，在该领域发展独立的技术进步。艾伦·图灵研究所处于概率机器学习、安全可信的人工智能和可重复软件工程等快速发展的前沿。将这一点与NatS世界领先的专业知识相匹配，并得到世界首个超过2000万条飞行记录的数据集的支持，这意味着这一合作伙伴关系在建立第一个多AI代理系统以提供对英国空域的战术控制方面处于独特的地位。

The ambition of this partnership between NATS and The Alan Turing Institute is to develop the fundamental science to deliver the world's first AI system to control a section of airspace in live trials.Our research will take a hierarchical approach to air traffic control (ATC) by developing a digital twin alongside a multi-agent machine-learning control system for UK airspace. Furthermore, the partnership will develop technical approaches to deploy trustworthy AI systems, considering how safety, explainability and ethics are embedded within our methods, so that we can deliver new tools which work in harmony with human air traffic controllers in a safety-critical environment.Little has changed in the fundamental infrastructure of UK airspace in the past 50 years, but demand for aviation has increased a hundredfold. Aviation 2050, a recent government green paper, underlines the importance of the aviation network to the prosperity of the UK to the value of £22 billion annually. Yet our nation is at risk without rapid action to modernise our airspace and control methods, to ensure they can handle a future increase in UK passenger traffic of over 50% by 2050 and new challenges arising from unmanned aircraft, both against a backdrop of increasing global pressures to transform the sector's environmental impact. The augmentation of live air traffic control through the use of AI agents which can handle the complexity and uncertainties in the system has transformative potential for NATS's business. This will positively impact live operations, as well as a research tool and training facility for new ATCOs. Correspondingly, NATS's research vision is to exploit new approaches to AI that enable increases in safety, capacity and environmental sustainability while streamlining air traffic controller training.The anticipated benefits of AI systems to air traffic control have come at a critical time, providing us with an opportunity to respond effectively to the unprecedented challenges which arise from a triad of crises: the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Brexit and global warming. The UK must develop independent technical advances in the sector, without compromising sustainability targets.The Alan Turing Institute is positioned at the rapidly evolving frontiers of probabilistic machine learning, safe and trustworthy AI and reproducible software engineering. Matching this with the world-leading expertise of NATS, supported by a world-first data set of more than 20 million flight records, means that this partnership is in a unique position to build the first multi AI agents system to deliver tactical control of UK airspace.