Steven M. Shope

Dynamical analysis in real time: detecting perturbations to team communication.

Dynamical systems methods characterise patterns of change over time. Typically, such methods are applied only after data collection is complete. However, brief disturbances – perturbations – can occur as a process unfolds and can result in undesirable outcomes if not acted on. The application of dynamics in real time would be useful for detecting these sudden changes. Real-time analysis was accomplished by updating dynamical estimates simultaneously across different window sizes. We calculated the largest Lyapunov exponent, a measure of dynamical stability, to detect a perturbation to team communication in a simulated uninhabited air vehicle (UAV) reconnaissance mission. The perturbation consisted of information demands from a confederate that occurred unexpectedly during performance of a UAV mission. We demonstrate the use of real-time methods in detecting that perturbation as it occurred. In application, this technique would have enabled real-time intervention. Extensions of the real-time dynamical method to other domains of psychological inquiry are discussed. Practitioner Summary: A real-time dynamical analysis method that was developed to detect unexpected perturbations in team communication is described. The use of the method is demonstrated on perturbed communication from a three-person uninhabited air vehicle command-and-control team. The generalisability of the method is considered with respect to physiological and motor coordination dynamics.

A Synthetic Task Environment for Team Cognition Research

A STE (Synthetic Task Environment) provides the context for a suite of synthetic tasks in which skills pertinent to the corresponding real-world task can be exercised in a controlled setting, thus bridging the gap between lab and field studies. The UAV (Uninhabited Air Vehicle)-STE described in this paper was designed to provide a flexible research platform, yet realistic task environment, for team performance research and the measurement of team cognition. The abstraction of task features from the real UAV task environment occurred with these objectives serving as a filter. In the resulting UAV-STE, three team members work together to control and navigate the UAV and to take photographs of designated targets. Whereas, there are similarities between the synthetic and real UAV task environments, the differences reflect the objectives in that the UAV-STE exaggerates team cognition, provides task and measurement flexibility, and allows for relatively rapid skill acquisition by inexperienced participants.

Plastic Laminate Pulsed Power Development

The desire to move high-energy Pulsed Power systems from the laboratory to practical field systems requires the development of compact lightweight drivers. This paper concerns an effort to develop such a system based on a plastic laminate strip Blumlein as the final pulseshaping stage for a 600 kV, 50ns, 5-ohm driver. A lifetime and breakdown study conducted with small-area samples identified Kapton sheet impregnated with Propylene Carbonate as the best material combination of those evaluated. The program has successfully demonstrated techniques for folding large area systems into compact geometrys and vacuum impregnating the laminate in the folded systems. The major operational challenges encountered revolve around edge grading and low inductance, low impedance switching. The design iterations and lessons learned are discussed. A multistage prototype testing program has demonstrated 600kV operation on a short 6ns line. Full-scale prototypes are currently undergoing development and testing.

Control of an Uninhabited Air Vehicle: A Synthetic Task Environment for Teams

A synthetic team task is presented in which a three-person team controls a UAV (Uninhabited Air Vehicle) in the context of a reconnaissance mission. This synthetic task has been designed to provide a flexible research platform, yet realistic task environment, for team performance research and the measurement of team cognition.

22. Guiding the Design of a Deployable UAV Operations Cell

Todays battlespace is a very complex system of humans and technology. It could be thought of as a system of layers – where there might be a layer of ground operations and a layer of air operations. Within the air operations layer exists two additional layers of manned air operations and unmanned air operations. If you peel back all layers of todays battlespace and just view the “unmanned air operations” layer, you will find another complex system of humans and technology working as just one element of the overall system. This system of uninhabited air operations might consist of different types of uninhabited air vehicles (e.g., Predator, Hunter, etc.) performing different types of missions (e.g., Intelligence, Reconnaissance, Surveillance-IRS; IRS-strike; search and rescue, etc.).

Naturalistic Observation of Airport Incident Command

In this paper we provide a set of observations, recorded in the context of incident command operations at an airport mass casualty exercise, that emphasize the need for cognitive engineering in the design of socio-technical systems such as this one. Observations of inadequate communication resources, insufficient leadership, and malfunctioning equipment were made. These shortcomings appeared to hinder team decision making and team communication capabilities. Our observations also revealed potential areas for improvements in the operation of airport incident command systems.

Human systems integration: A 28,000 foot view

Human Systems Integration (HSI) is a discipline in which human capabilities and limitations across various dimensions are considered in the context of the design and evaluation of a dynamic system of people, technology, environment, tasks, organization, and other systems with the ultimate goal of achieving system resilience and adaptation, approaching joint optimization. An HSI perspective is described in the context of the Two Eagles mission, in which two pilots crossed the Pacific Ocean in a gas balloon. The two pilots set both the record for the longest duration and for the longest distance in a gas balloon. The system extended far beyond the balloon and the two pilots. It was complex and distributed around the world. There were many challenges associated with HSI issues, which are detailed in this paper and exemplify the value of a systems perspective.

The extreme environment of high altitude gas ballooning: Lessons learned in assessing cognition

Extreme environments often profoundly impact one’s cognition and subsequently the ability to make accurate and correct decisions. Although we are beginning to understand how these environments impact individual and team cognition, more specific work conducted in real extreme environments is needed to further understand this relationship. In this paper, we present data collected in the extreme environment of gas ballooning. Recently, the Two Eagles gas ballooning project set two absolute world records: longest duration in a gas balloon and longest distance in a gas balloon. During this project, our research team was able to collect cognitive abilities data and data on the effects of multiple stressors in the environment. We present the overall project along with some insights from the data. We also highlight lessons learned from attempting to collect data in an extreme environment.

Comparison of Seismic And Electromagnetic Inversion At the Idaho Springs Tunnel Detection Test Facility, Idaho Springs, Colorado

Eight second sweeps were used with frequency varying from 80 Hz to 420 Hz. The recorded signals Crosshole variable frequency electromagnetic and were then filtered, cross-correlated with a source shear wave seismic data sets were collected across a reference signal, deconvolved and five-fold stacked known mine tunnel at the Idaho Springs Tunnel to create sections from which shear wave travel times Detection Test Facility in Idaho Springs, Colorado. were picked. A total of 250 usable travel times ware The data sets were inverted using simultaneous obtained out of 318 stacked traces. iterative reconstruction techniques (SIRT) and damped least-squares inversion. Resulting models for SEISMIC INVERSION RESULTS seismic velocity did not detect the tunnel due to the attenuation of the high frequencies but did exhibit The travel times were inverted using two methods: linear trends in the geology. The electromagnetic a straight-ray simultaneous iterative reconstruction results showed both the tunnel anomaly, arising from technique (SIRT) using a code obtained from the U. S. conducting material in the tunnel, and linear trends Bureau of Mines (Tweeton, 1988); and a damped leastsimilar to those seen in the seismic data. squares method (Levenberg, 1944; Marquardt, 1963) Comparison of the inversion results with geology that also employs a straight-ray approximation. indicates that the linear trends match mineralized Parameterization of the two-dimensional velocity fracture zones passing through the tunnel. Using model varies between the two methods. The tomography multiple geophysical methods not only provides used 1782 constant velocity 1 m square cells with greater confidence in the interpretation, but can smoothing applied so that no cells were unaffected by also give successful results if one of the methods passing rays, even if no rays passed directly through fails. the cell. The least-squares method, on the other hand, used 209 defined node points on a 3 m by 3 m INTRODUCTION grid with velocities interpolated between them. Overall good resolution, except near the top and In the summer of 1989, a suite of crosshole bottom of the model, was indicated by resolution variable frequency electromagnetic (EM) and shear matrices obtained from the least-squares inversion. wave seismic data was collected surrounding a known Velocity models derived from each of the mine tunnel at the Idaho Springs Tunnel Detection inversion methods are shown in Figures 2 and 3. Both Test Facility operated by the Colorado School of methods show similar gross structural features. Mines. The experiment was designed to test the Unfortunately, the tunnel does not appear evident. capabilities of the two methods and to determine how Considering the good resolution of the data set, we well they would complement each other in the believe this is due to the attenuation of the high interpretation of tunnel detection data sets. frequencies resulting in a dominant frequency of The site is located in a terrain of folded, about 150 Hz for the crosscorrelated wavelet. The interlayered gneisses with varying amounts of tunnel, therefore, has a diameter of only about l/4 biotite, pegmatites, and schists. Fault and shear wavelength and cannot be resolved with these zones give rise to localized highly-fractured inversion techniques. regions. These regions commonly contain metallic There are similar features that show up in both sulfide mineralizations. The tunnel itself is from 3 velocity models. These include a low velocity (.75 m to 4 m in diameter at a depth of approximately 46 m to 1.25 km/s) region down to 30 m depth, a high . below the surface. The tunnel has a flat floor and velocity area between 32 m and 42 m out to 10 m