AutonomyBreakout Summary from

NASA Aero-Propulsion Control Technology Roadmap Development Workshop

August 18-19, 2016, Cleveland, Ohio

Jonathan LittJonathan.s.litt@nasa.gov

Intelligent Control and Autonomy BranchNASA Glenn Research Center

AutonomyNASA Aero-Propulsion Control Technology Roadmap Development WorkshopAugust 18, 2016

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Strategic Thrust 6: Assured Autonomy for Aviation Transformation

The objective of Strategic Thrust 6 is to enable autonomous systems that employ highly intelligent machines to maximize the benefits of aviation to society. - NASA Aeronautics Strategic Implementation Plan, 2015

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Outcomes, Benefits, and Capabilities2015 2025 2035

Out

com

es Introduction of aviation systems withbounded autonomy, capable of

carrying out function-level goals

Introduction of aviation systems with flexible autonomy based on earned

levels of trust, capable of carrying out mission-level goals

Introduction of distributed collaborative aviation systems with

assured autonomy, capable of carrying out policy-level goals

Ben

efits

• Efficiency and NAS capacity• Increased robustness and resilience in

operations• Enhanced vehicle performance• Initial UAS applications benefits

• Increased NASA system flexibility,efficiency and capacity

• Prognostic safety• New vehicles designed to leverage

autonomy• Reduced costs at all levels• Multi-vehicle UAS applications benefits

• Extreme flexibility and adaptability for large-scale systems, with extreme levels of reliability and recovery from disturbances

• Advanced prognostic safety• Further reduced costs at all levels

Cap

abili

ties/

NAS

A O

utpu

ts

• Advanced prescribed automation and initial goal-directed and adaptive automation

• Initial world views from local sensors and limited data exchange

• Applied to aviation system components and small-scale systems.

• Predominantly human-supervised; higher levels of machine independence under carefully controlled conditions

• Mission-level goal-directed adaptive automation

• Large-scale detailed world views using advanced sensors and networks

• Applied to large-scale integrated systems

• Human/machine teams with many levels of control, depending on specific situations; extensive machine-based learning

• Campaign-level goal-directed adaptive automation, embeddedwithin all system elements

• Adaptive collaboration based on extensive shared world views

• Highly distributed large-scale collaborative systems that constitute integral parts of larger systems they support

• Human/machine teams, with humans primarily specifying strategic goals; many systems self-protect and self-heal

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1A. Develop machine intelligence design methods that are robust to system failures and system integrity threats

3A. Develop methods and guidelines for assigning roles to humans and increasingly autonomous systems in realistic operating conditions

4A. Develop methods to evaluate the viability & impacts (e.g., societal, economic, technological) of increasingly autonomous aerospace vehicles & operations

1B. Develop technologies to support machine sensation, perception, and low-level cognition

1E. Develop technologies to support machine reasoning and decision making

1H. Develop technologies to support collaboration between autonomous systems

1F. Develop design methods for adaptive/non-deterministic machine intelligence

1C. Develop machine intelligence design methods for unforeseen events in complex environments

1G. Develop technologies for self-healing systems

2A. Develop methods for characterizing the behavior of increasingly autonomous and collaborative systems

2B. Develop methods and standards for assuring trustworthiness of increasingly autonomous systems

2C. Develop certification methods for safe deployment of increasingly autonomous systems

2D. Develop methods and standards for maintaining real-time trustworthiness of increasingly autonomous systems in complex environments

3D. Develop methods and technologies to support teaming between humans and increasingly autonomous systems in normal and non-normal operations

3E. Develop methods to determine which human capabilities remain necessary / add value to the aviation system

3B. Develop framework for introducing increasingly autonomous systems that matches role and authority with earned levels of trust

3C. Develop technologies to enable real-time situation understanding between human operators and increasingly autonomous systems

4E. Identify infrastructure to support flexible, large-scale, cooperative autonomous systems

4H. Select, develop, and implement applications of autonomy that enable adaptive, collaborative aerospace operations on a system-wide scale

4B. Select, develop, and implement applications of autonomy that are compatible with existing systems

4F. Select, develop, and implement applications of autonomy that enable flexible, large-scale aerospace vehicle cooperation

5A. Develop metrics, methods and capabilities to assess feasibility, safety, resilience, robustness, trust, performance, and human interactions with increasingly autonomous systems

2E. Develop methods and standards for maintaining real-time trustworthiness of adaptive/non-deterministic collaborative systems

1D. Develop technologies to support system-state management and optimization

4G. Identify infrastructure to support adaptive, system-wide collaborative autonomous systems

Technologies and Methods for

Design of Complex

Autonomous Systems

Assurance, Verification, and

Validation of Autonomous

Systems

Human-Autonomy Teaming in Complex Aviation Systems

Implementation and Integration of Autonomous Airspace and

Vehicle Systems

Testing and Evaluation of Autonomous

Systems

Strategic Thrust 6 Research ChallengesIntroduction of aviation systems with bounded autonomy, capable of carrying out function-

level goals

Introduction of distributed collaborative aviation systems with assured autonomy, capable of carrying out policy-level goals

Introduction of aviation systems with flexible autonomy based on earned levels of trust, capable of carrying out mission-level goals

2025 20352015

4D. Assess candidate technology development and transition paths for the future of aviation autonomy

5B. Test, evaluate & demonstrate selected small-scale applications of autonomy

5C. Test, evaluate and demonstrate selected flexible, cooperative applications of autonomy to support large-scale operations

5D. Test, evaluate and demonstrate selected adaptive, collaborative applications of autonomy to support system-wide operations

ResearchThemes

4C. Develop framework for co-development of policies, standards, and regulations with development and deployment of increasingly autonomous systems

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On-Going Work at NASA• Essentially all ARMD autonomy work is related to the

airspace (air traffic management, etc.), not vehicle-related• AAVP and TACP sponsored a vehicle-centric autonomy team

that classified vehicle technologies into three areas: vehicle-only, airspace-related, and either/bothVehicle as an Isolated System

Vehicle by design

• Design for performance• Active (intelligent) control for

lightweight wing structural integrity and wing shaping

• Enable vertical/short takeoff & landing access

• Production• Rapid manufacturing, inspection

• Operation in nominal and off-nominal conditions

• Stability & control; avoid loss of control• Damage, environment (ice, etc…)

• Heath/Maintenance• Self health management• Condition-based maintenance

Vehicle as part of Airspace System

Airspace architecture connection by design

• Flight Operations (within rules)• Guidance • Navigation• Communication• Separation

Overlap – Mutual Interests

Gray Zone

• Flight Management• Trajectory Based Ops, Continuous

Descent Approach, etc.• Avoiding ice-prone, contrail-prone

air, etc.

• Aircraft State of Awareness• Data for self • Data communicated, as system of

systems

• Spacing• Spacing to avoid wake vortex • Formation flight (close proximity

possibly)

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Report Out from Breakout Session Discussion

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Break-out Session Participants

• Jonathan Litt NASA• Donald Simon NASA• Gary Hunter NASA• Paul Nelson NASA• Jerry Welch NASA• Milos Ilak United Technologies Research Center• Jerry Ding United Technologies Research Center• Bruce Wood Pratt & Whitney• Laurel Frediani Sporian Microsystems, Inc.• Scott Waun General Electric Aviation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Discussion led to following potential areas for NASA to focus on in terms on developing vehicle related technologies for more autonomous operation of air vehicles in the airspace:

• Micro-weather and UAS–propulsion systems are not capable of responding to micro-weather events or downwash from overhead helicopters

• Imposing conditions on propulsion system to handle these situations• Economics of achieving assured autonomy in civilian applications without having to go through military

first• Safety as size increases• Real-time situational awareness

• More sensors to recognize engine state• Information must be unambiguous

• Automate lower level tasks so single pilot can focus on more demanding tasks• Autonomy to allow aircraft to get additional performance• Teamed autonomous systems

• What information is required for situational awareness on the ground• Propulsion Mission Product for NASA ARMD Autonomy Roadmap

• Lots of effort would go to vehicle, with little spent on engine in each relevant mission product. This would allow an engine interface and capability to be used by multiple other mission products

• Coordination between vehicle and propulsion system• Adapting to mission• Data need to be converted into actionable knowledge for the pilot/monitor on the ground• Communication between airframe and engine• Protection against bad information

Specific Topics to Address

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Broad areas and natural groupings

• Efficiency• Performance • Economics• Adaptability/Resiliency• Safety• Certification

These topics were grouped into broad areas and then further grouped into two Specific technology areas

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Brief Description:Introduction of autonomous systems provides the opportunity to integrate flight and propulsion control, and to use internal knowledge to optimize operations.

• Engine state awareness• Integrated Flight and Propulsion Control for performance• Adaptation to changing conditions• Standard interfaces for internal communication

Relevance to GoalsAddresses Thrusts 3 and 4. New designs that account for enhanced integration and internal communication, ability to anticipate maneuvers, and control optimized for every situation, will help realize N+3 engine goals beyond what is achievable through engine and vehicle design alone.

Efficiency and Performance/Economics

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Brief Description: Autonomous systems will introduce new and unique safety challenges that are not being addressed today. Significantly greater overall internal connectedness enables greater capability but adds complexity and opportunity for security breaches.• Engine state awareness• Integrated Flight and Propulsion Control for safety• Adaptation to unforeseen circumstances / Resilience• Data need to be converted to actionable knowledge• Information needs to be unambiguous and secure• No pilot in the loop means machine must perform human functions• New data flow paths and interconnections. What aspects must the certification address?Relevance to Goals:Addresses Thrusts 1 and 5. Resilience to unusual events and guaranteed robust algorithms will maintain safety at least at current levels in a vastly denser airspace.

Safety/Certification