Results for “Playbook” — Page 2

NASA NTRS2017

Increasing Crew Autonomy for Long Duration Exploration Missions: Self-Scheduling

Over the last three years, we have been investigating the operational concept of crew self-scheduling as a method of increasing crew autonomy for future exploration missions. Through Playbook, a planning and scheduling software tool, we have incrementally increased the ability for Earth analog mission crews to modify their schedules. Playbook allows the crew to add new activities from scratch, add new activities or groups of activities through a Task List, and reschedule or reassign flexible activities. The crew is also able to identify if plan modifications create violations, i.e., plan constraints not being met. This paper summarizes our observations with qualitative evidence from four NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) analog missions that supported self-scheduling as a feasible operational concept.

crew autonomy↗

NASA NTRS2017

Subject Matter Expert Evaluation of Multi-Flight Common Route Advisories

Traffic flow management seeks to balance the demand for National Airspace System (NAS) flight resources, such as airspace and airports, with the available supply. When forecasted weather blocks nominal air traffic routes, traffic managers must re-route affected flights for weather avoidance. Depending on the nature and scope of the weather, traffic managers may use pre-coordinated re-routes such as Playbook Routes or Coded Departure Routes, or may design ad hoc local re-routes. The routes of affected flights are modified accordingly. These weather avoidance routes will, of course, be less efficient than the nominal routes due to increased flight time and fuel burn. In current traffic management operations, the transition into a weather avoidance re-routing initiative is typically implemented more aggressively than the transition out of that initiative after the weather has dissipated or moved away. For example, strategic large-scale Playbook re-routes are sometimes left in place (as initially implemented) for many hours before being lifted entirely when the weather dissipates. There is an opportunity to periodically modify the re-routing plan as weather evolves, thereby attenuating its adverse impact on flight time and fuel consumption; this is called delay recovery. Multi-Flight Common Routes (MFCR) is a NASA-developed operational concept and associated decision support tool for delay recovery, designed to assist traffic managers to efficiently update weather avoidance traffic routes after the original re-routes have become stale due to subsequent evolution of the convective weather system. MFCR groups multiple flights to reduce the number of advisories that the traffic manager needs to evaluate, and also merges these flights on a common route segment to provide an orderly flow of re-routed traffic. The advisory is presented to the appropriate traffic manager who evaluates it and has the option to modify it using MFCRs graphical user interface. If the traffic manager finds the advisory to be operationally appropriate, he or she would coordinate with the Area Supervisor(s) of the sectors that currently control the flights in the advisory. When the traffic manager accepts the MFCR advisory via the user interface, the corresponding flight plan amendments would be sent to the displays of the appropriate sector controllers, using the Airborne Re-Routing (ABRR) capability which is scheduled for nationwide operation in 2017. The sector controllers would then offer this time-saving route modification to the pilots of the affected flights via datalink (or voice), and implement the corresponding flight plan amendment if the pilots accept it. MFCR is implemented as an application in the software environment of the Future Air traffic management Concepts Evaluation Tool (FACET). This paper focuses on an initial subject matter expert (SME) evaluation of MFCR. The evaluation covers MFCRs operational concept, algorithm, and user interface.

Human-in-the-loop Evaluation↗

NASA NTRS2017

Increasing Crew Autonomy for Long Duration Exploration Missions: Self-Scheduling

Over the last three years, we have been investigating the operational concept of crew self-scheduling as a method of increasing crew autonomy for future exploration missions. Through Playbook, a planning and scheduling software tool, we have incrementally increased the ability for Earth analog mission crews to modify their schedules. Playbook allows the crew to add new activities from scratch, add new activities or groups of activities through a Task List, and reschedule or reassign flexible activities. The crew is also able to identify if plan modifications create violations, i.e., plan constraints not being met. This paper summarizes our observations with qualitative evidence from four NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) analog missions that supported self-scheduling as a feasible operational concept.

planning and scheduling↗

NASA NTRS2017

Subject Matter Expert Evaluation of Multi-Flight Common Route Advisories

Traffic flow management seeks to balance the demand for National Airspace System (NAS) flight resources, such as airspace and airports, with the available supply. When forecasted weather blocks nominal air traffic routes, traffic managers must re-route affected flights for weather avoidance. Depending on the nature and scope of the weather, traffic managers may use pre-coordinated re-routes such as Playbook Routes or Coded Departure Routes, or may design ad hoc local re-routes. The routes of affected flights are modified accordingly. These weather avoidance routes will, of course, be less efficient than the nominal routes due to increased flight time and fuel burn. In current traffic management operations, the transition into a weather avoidance re-routing initiative is typically implemented more aggressively than the transition out of that initiative after the weather has dissipated or moved away. For example, strategic large-scale Playbook re-routes are sometimes left in place (as initially implemented) for many hours before being lifted entirely when the weather dissipates. There is an opportunity to periodically modify the re-routing plan as weather evolves, thereby attenuating its adverse impact on flight time and fuel consumption; this is called delay recovery. Multi-Flight Common Routes (MFCR) is a NASA-developed operational concept and associated decision support tool for delay recovery, designed to assist traffic managers to efficiently update weather avoidance traffic routes after the original re-routes have become stale due to subsequent evolution of the convective weather system. MFCR groups multiple flights to reduce the number of advisories that the traffic manager needs to evaluate, and also merges these flights on a common route segment to provide an orderly flow of re-routed traffic. The advisory is presented to the appropriate traffic manager who evaluates it and has the option to modify it using MFCRs graphical user interface. If the traffic manager finds the advisory to be operationally appropriate, he or she would coordinate with the Area Supervisor(s) of the sectors that currently control the flights in the advisory. When the traffic manager accepts the MFCR advisory via the user interface, the corresponding flight plan amendments would be sent to the displays of the appropriate sector controllers, using the Airborne Re-Routing (ABRR) capability which is scheduled for nationwide operation in 2017. The sector controllers would then offer this time-saving route modification to the pilots of the affected flights via datalink (or voice), and implement the corresponding flight plan amendment if the pilots accept it. MFCR is implemented as an application in the software environment of the Future Air traffic management Concepts Evaluation Tool (FACET). This paper focuses on an initial subject matter expert (SME) evaluation of MFCR. The evaluation covers MFCRs operational concept, algorithm, and user interface.

Traffic flow management↗

NASA NTRS2019

Designing for Astronaut-Centric Planning and Scheduling Aids

We have investigated and evaluated a novel concept of operations for human spaceflight: allowing astronauts to manage and schedule their own timeline. In order to evaluate this self-scheduling concept of operations, we have designed, implemented, and field-tested astronaut-centric planning and scheduling aid. Our mobile-based software aid, Playbook, has been used in a variety of Earth analogs as well as onboard the International Space Station. We will demonstrate the unique Playbook features that we have developed based on research findings during field testing that facilitate planning and scheduling in extreme environments.

planning and scheduling↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Crew Autonomy through Self-Scheduling: Guidelines for Crew Scheduling Performance Envelope and Mitigation Strategies

Future long duration exploration missions (LDEMs) bring new challenges to astronaut crews in deep space, one of which is increased communication latencies with ground stations. As a result, crews will have to behave more autonomously by self-scheduling their own operational timelines in an efficient and effective manner. To support crew autonomy, our team has spent the last few years developing Playbook, a mission planning and scheduling tool. Our research focuses on investigating scheduling performance using Playbook to inform the deployment of novel aids that streamline the timeline creation process and proposing relevant standards and guidelines for autonomous crews in LDEMs. Summarizing yearly progress of research analysis and experiment in HERA.

user experience↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Facilitating Crew-Computer Collaboration During Mixed-Initiative Space Mission Planning

As NASA looks toward longer duration missions, there will inevitably be a stronger emphasis on crew autonomy, particularly in the domains of mission planning. Ensuring that astronauts, while subject to lengthy periods of communication delay with Earth-based mission support personnel, are able to independently adapt their schedules to rapidly changing environments is a critical aspect of deep-space exploration. This task will likely require the assistance of computer support systems, as the task of mission planning is complex and currently requires dedicated console operators. A mixed-initiative approach can help alleviate some of the more workload-heavy aspects of planning by offloading the intricate task of constraint management to a computer, while still allowing the crew member to maintain overall control of the plan. Playbook is a mission planning tool that has been developed specifically to support this type of mixed-initiative scheduling. This paper examines: 1) the operational evidence of the challenges and viability of autonomous crew planning, and 2) the novel scheduling capabilities in Playbook that are meant to address those findings.

human-computer interaction↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Crew Autonomy Through Self-Scheduling: Guidelines for Crew Scheduling Performance Envelope and Mitigation Strategies

NASA’s future long duration exploration missions (LDEMs) will encounter increasing communication transmission delays as they move farther from Earth-based ground stations. Because crews can no longer rely on real-time support from ground planners, they will have to self-schedule their own operational timelines effectively and efficiently. To enable this, our team develops Playbook, a mission planning and scheduling tool. Our research focuses on quantifying scheduling performance using Playbook to inform the design and development of future features aimed at streamlining timeline creation. We also aim to propose standards and guidelines for autonomous crews in LDEMs. This year, we discuss preliminary results from HERA Campaign 6.

self-scheduling↗

NASA NTRS2019

Crew Autonomy Scheduling: Scheduling Performance Pilot Study

The purpose of this pilot study is to quantify crew performance in self-scheduling through Playbook, a mobile-based scheduling and planning tool. By investigating human performance within the task of self-scheduling, we can further develop countermeasures that can mitigate deficient scheduling performance, and evaluate changes as a result of these countermeasures. Moreover, this research can advise the development of standards and guidelines for autonomous crews in future missions. In human spaceflight today, the task of planning crew member’s schedules falls to Ops Planners. It takes many weeks to plan due to the complex impact each day-to-day activity can have on other activities, crew members, and resources. These impacts are measured as constraints, and these constraints can result in temporal, ordering, or resource requirements. As future spaceflight missions span longer distances and the latency of communication between the crew and Mission Control Center (MCC) increases, the need for crew members to work independently from MCC will also increase. This results in a need for crew members to be able to autonomously plan and adjust their own schedules.

planning↗

DOE OSTI2026

System-Level Efficiency Study of Modular DC/DC and Fuel Cell Stack Series–Parallel Configurations

This paper presents a system-level efficiency study of modular DC/DC converter and fuel cell stack configurations under series, parallel, and series–parallel connections. The investigation considers selected DC/DC converter topologies, including isolated and non-isolated architectures, boost, non-inverting buck-boost, and resonant converters, integrated with commercially available fuel cell stacks, including the Accelera FCE150, Ballard FCgen-HPS, and Toyota TFCM2. DC/DC converter modules are evaluated in modular configurations rated at 60 kW and 90 kW and two distinct output voltage ranges, specifically 580–730V and 780–930V, examining how different interconnection schemes impact overall system efficiency. The converters are evaluated under full load (100%), partial load (66%), and light load (33%) conditions, providing a comprehensive assessment of efficiency and operational characteristics across varying power demands. Approximately two-thousand efficiency data points are obtained from laboratory prototype–level component measurements and validated design evaluations across multiple converter topologies, modular configurations, voltage ranges, and load conditions, providing a robust dataset for comparative system-level efficiency analysis. The results highlight the effects of modularity and topology selection on system-level efficiency, offering a “playbook” framework for designers to select appropriate DC/DC converter arrangements and fuel cell stack connections for series, parallel, or hybrid configurations based on efficiency considerations.

DC/DC↗

DOE OSTI2026

Wolf

The Workflow Orchestration Language Framework (WOLF) is an agentic framework grounded in natural language with an architecture inspired by reinforcement learning (RL)—designed to orchestrate, scale, and accelerate complex workflows. The concept of WOLF was born out of the very successful ASC Tri-lab Multi-Agent Design Assistant (MADA) project, but extends beyond its domain-specific design agents to provide a more general and extensible architecture. WOLF capitalizes on the lessons learned from MADA and is fully aligned with Sutton’s The Bitter Lesson—that the most enduring progress in AI comes from general-purpose methods that scale with computation, rather than narrow techniques built on domain-specific human knowledge. In this spirit, WOLF enables agents to autonomously learn workflows, capture strategies as reusable playbooks, and build a growing corpus of interpretable, auditable “wisdom artifacts.” These artifacts, expressed in natural language, bridge human and machine understanding while preserving adaptability and scalability as computational power continues to expand.

Boureima, Ismaeal↗

DOE OSTI2026

Technical Assistance

DOE-TTO Annual Merit Review presentation on the Technical Assistance task, covering FY25-26. Includes an overview of what technical assistance is and highlights three key projects: (1) FLeet CNG Infrastructure Clean Cities TA request, (2) 3D Mobile App for Emergency Responders (for EVs) Pilot Project, and (3) Smart Playbook for Fleets AFDC content development.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

NASA NTRS2002

Air Traffic Control Response to Delays: A System Study of Newark International Airport

Airport delays are a significant problem in the United States air transportation system. Between 1999 and 2000 the number of flights delayed increased by 20 percent despite only a 0.4% increase in total operations. Newark International Airport (EWR), one of New York City's primary airports, is one of the airports in the United States most impacted by delays. Newark had the highest percentage of operations delayed in 1999, and was second only to LaGuardia Airport in 2000. Nearly 85% of delays at Newark are caused by adverse weather impacting an airport that may be characterized as having limited capacity and a very full schedule. Although Newark is heavily impacted by weather, delays have not increased significantly since 1998. This indicates that the airlines, air traffic control (ATC), and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have successfully adapted. On June 29, 2000, a research team from MIT visited Newark airport to assess the effectiveness of any adaptations made, and to collect data on airline and ATC departure operations, and of the national and local weather affecting the airport. Airline and ATC personnel were also interviewed. Results of this study indicate that airspace capacity limitations downstream of the airport are a primary flow constraint at the airport, and that these constraints are the source of most surface delays. A number of tactical ATC responses to delays were examined, including the application of restrictions, re-routing with the help of the National Playbook, and the use of decision-aiding tools such as the Dynamic Spacing Program (DSP) and the Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS). Improved interfacility communications and further utilization of runway 11-29 were identified as other tactical responses to delays, whilst the formation of the Air Traffic Control System Command Center and the New York Airspace redesign were identified as thekey strategic ATC responses to delays. Particularly the New York airspace redesign has great potential to reduce delays at the airport. Because delays at Newark are caused by downstream flow constraints, the responses at the airport can be applied to other airports as delays from downstream constraints increase. Such an increase in delays system wide from downstream constraints is inevitable as the system becomes more congested.

Evans, Antony D.↗

NASA NTRS2008

The Ares Project: Building an Exploration Culture from the Inside Up

NASA is building its first new human-rated space exploration vehicles in nearly 40 years. This marks an important operational and cultural change from the Space Shuttle. In the wake of the Columbia disaster, the agency and the nation realized that NASA's goals and culture needed to change. The Ares Project, which is building the launch vehicles that will power human beings to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, is taking a page from the Saturn playbook by having NASA lead both the overall integration and the development of the Ares I upper stage. Ares is also creating a new culture of cooperation, openness, and informed risk taking as we set our sights on other worlds. Ares has established a team environment where issues can be discussed, information is shared, fun and teamwork are encouraged, and constructive conflict and accountability are expected. Following a "One NASA" philosophy, Ares is taking steps to strengthen cooperation among space centers, contractor partners, engineering and scientific communities, and headquarters personnel. As we learn lessons from things that went wrong with the Space Shuttle, we are also borrowing best practices from what has gone right with that program and others. All of these cultural elements will be necessary as we take the next steps beyond Earth orbit.

Cook, Stephan A.↗

NASA NTRS2008

The Ares Projects Office: Building an Exploration Culture from the Inside Up

NASA is building its first new human-rated space exploration vehicles in nearly 40 years. This marks an important operational and cultural change from the Space Shuttle. In the wake of the Columbia disaster, the agency and the nation realized that NASA's goals and culture needed to change. The Ares Projects Office (APO), which is building the launch vehicles that will power human beings to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, is taking a page from the Saturn playbook by having NASA lead both the overall integration and the development of the Ares I upper stage. APO is also creating a new culture of cooperation, openness, and informed risk taking as we set our sights on other worlds. APO has established a team environment where issues can be discussed, information is shared, fun and teamwork are encouraged, and constructive conflict and accountability are expected. Following a "One NASA" philosophy, APO is taking steps to strengthen cooperation among space centers, contractor partners, engineering and scientific communities, and headquarters personnel. As we learn lessons from things that Went wrong with the Space Shuttle, we are also borrowing best practices from what has gone right with that program and others. All of these cultural elements will be necessary as we take the next steps beyond Earth orbit.

Leahy, Bartholomew↗

NASA NTRS2013

Supporting Real-Time Operations and Execution through Timeline and Scheduling Aids

Since 2003, the NASA Ames Research Center has been actively involved in researching and advancing the state-of-the-art of planning and scheduling tools for NASA mission operations. Our planning toolkit SPIFe (Scheduling and Planning Interface for Exploration) has supported a variety of missions and field tests, scheduling activities for Mars rovers as well as crew on-board International Space Station and NASA earth analogs. The scheduled plan is the integration of all the activities for the day/s. In turn, the agents (rovers, landers, spaceships, crew) execute from this schedule while the mission support team members (e.g., flight controllers) follow the schedule during execution. Over the last couple of years, our team has begun to research and validate methods that will better support users during realtime operations and execution of scheduled activities. Our team utilizes human-computer interaction principles to research user needs, identify workflow processes, prototype software aids, and user test these. This paper discusses three specific prototypes developed and user tested to support real-time operations: Score Mobile, Playbook, and Mobile Assistant for Task Execution (MATE).

scheduling↗

NASA NTRS2016

Human Factors in Aeronautics at NASA

This is a briefing to a regularly meeting DoD group called the Human Systems Community of Interest: Mission Effectiveness. I was asked to address human factors in aeronautics at NASA. (Exploration (space) human factors has apparently already been covered.) The briefing describes human factors organizations at NASA Ames and Langley. It then summarizes some aeronautics tasks that involve the application of human factors in the development of specific tools and capabilities. The tasks covered include aircrew checklists, dispatch operations, Playbook, Dynamic Weather Routes, Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests, and Airplane State Awareness and Prediction Technologies. I mention that most of our aeronautics work involves human factors as embedded in development tasks rather than basic research.

NASA↗

NASA NTRS2016

Analysis of Multi-Flight Common Routes for Traffic Flow Management

When severe convective weather requires rerouting aircraft, FAA traffic managers employ severe weather avoidance plans (e.g., Playbook routes, Coded Departure Routes, etc.) These routes provide pilots with safe paths around weather-affected regions, and provide controllers with predictable, and often well-established flight plans. However, they often introduce large deviations to the nominal flight plans, which may not be necessary as weather conditions change. If and when the imposed traffic management initiatives (TMIs) become stale, updated shorter path flight trajectories may be found en route, providing significant time-savings to the affected flights. Multiple Flight Common Routes (MFCR) is a concept that allows multiple flights that are within a specified proximity or region, to receive updated shorter flight plans in an operationally efficient manner. MFCR is believed to provide benefits to the National Airspace System (NAS) by allowing traffic managers to update several flight plans of en route aircraft simultaneously, reducing operational workload within the TMUs of all affected ARTCCs. This paper will explore some aspects of the MFCR concept by analyzing multiple flights that have been selected for rerouting by the NAS Constraint Evaluation and Notification Tool (NASCENT). Various methods of grouping aircraft with common or similar routes will be presented, along with a comparison of the efficacy of these methods.

dynamic weather routes↗