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At least 541 records · Page 30
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-T-587: Optimal Volumetric Modulated Arc Radiotherapy Treatment Planning Technique for Multiple Brain Metastases with Increasing Number of Arcs

Purpose: To show improvements in dose conformity and normal brain tissue sparing using an optimal planning technique (OPT) against clinically acceptable planning technique (CAP) in the treatment of multiple brain metastases. Methods: A standardized international benchmark case with12 intracranial tumors was planned using two different VMAT optimization methods. Plans were split into four groups with 3, 6, 9, and 12 targets each planned with 3, 5, and 7 arcs using Eclipse TPS. The beam geometries were 1 full coplanar and half non-coplanar arcs. A prescription dose of 20Gy was used for all targets. The following optimization criteria was used (OPT vs. CAP): (No upper limit vs.108% upper limit for target volume), (priority 140–150 vs. 75–85 for normal-brain-tissue), and (selection of automatic sparing Normal-Tissue-Objective (NTO) vs. Manual NTO). Both had priority 50 to critical structures such as brainstem and optic-chiasm, and both had an NTO priority 150. Normal-brain-tissue doses along with Paddick Conformity Index (PCI) were evaluated. Results: In all cases PCI was higher for OPT plans. The average PCI (OPT,CAP) for all targets was (0.81,0.64), (0.81,0.63), (0.79,0.57), and (0.72,0.55) for 3, 6, 9, and 12 target plans respectively. The percent decrease in normal brain tissue volume (OPT/CAP*100) achieved by OPT plans was (reported as follows: V4, V8, V12, V16, V20) (184, 343, 350, 294, 371%), (192, 417, 380, 299, 360%), and (235, 390, 299, 281, 502%) for the 3, 5, 7 arc 12 target plans, respectively. The maximum brainstem dose decreased for the OPT plan by 4.93, 4.89, and 5.30 Gy for 3, 5, 7 arc 12 target plans, respectively. Conclusion: Substantial increases in PCI, critical structure sparing, and decreases in normal brain tissue dose were achieved by eliminating upper limits from optimization, using automatic sparing of normal tissue function with high priority, and a high priority to normal brain tissue.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-T-625: Potential for Reduced Radiation Induced Toxicity for the Treatment of Inoperable Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Using RapidArc Planning

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of using RapidArc (RA) treatment planning to reduce irradiation volume of normal lung and other organs at risk (OARs) in the treatment of inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods: A retrospective treatment planning and delivery study was performed to compare target coverage and the volumes of the normal lung, spinal cord, heart and esophagus on 4D-CT scan above their dose tolerances delivered by RA vs. IMRT for ten inoperable NSCLC patients (Stage I-IIIB). RA plans consisted of either one-full or two-partial co-planar arcs used to treat 95% of the planning target volume (PTV) with 6MV beam to a prescription of 66Gy in 33 fractions. IMRT plans were generated using 5–7 co-planar fields with 6MV beam. PTV coverage, dose-volume histograms, homogeneity/conformity indices (CI), total number of monitor units(MUs), beam-on time and delivery accuracy were compared between the two treatment plans. Results: Similar target coverage was obtained between the two techniques. RA (CI=1.02) provided more conformal plans without loss of homogeneity compared to IMRT plans (CI=1.12). Compared to IMRT, RA achieved a significant median dose reduction in V10 (3%), V20 (8%), and mean lung dose (3%) on average, respectively. On average, V5 was comparable between the two treatment plans. RA reduced mean esophagus (6%), mean heart (18%), and maximum spinal cord dose (7%), on average, respectively. Total number of MUs and beam-on time were each reduced almost by a factor of 2 when compared to IMRT-patient comfort, reduced intra-fraction-motion and leakage dose. The average IMRT and RA QA pass rate was about 98% for both types of plans for 3%/3mm criterion. Conclusion: Compared to IMRT plans, RA provided not only comparable target coverage, but also improved conformity, treatment time, and significant reduction in irradiation of OARs. This may potentially allow for target dose escalation without increase in normal tissue toxicity.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2015

MO-F-CAMPUS-T-04: Development and Evaluation of a Knowledge-Based Model for Treatment Planning of Lung Cancer Patients Using Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT)

Purpose: To describe the development of a knowledge-based treatment planning model for lung cancer patients treated with SBRT, and to evaluate the model performance and applicability to different planning techniques and tumor locations. Methods: 105 lung SBRT plans previously treated at our institution were included in the development of the model using Varian’s RapidPlan DVH estimation algorithm. The model was trained with a combination of IMRT, VMAT, and 3D–CRT techniques. Tumor locations encompassed lesions located centrally vs peripherally (43:62), upper vs lower (62:43), and anterior vs posterior lobes (60:45). The model performance was validated with 25 cases independent of the training set, for both IMRT and VMAT. Model generated plans were created with only one optimization and no planner intervention. The original, general model was also divided into four separate models according to tumor location. The model was also applied using different beam templates to further improve workflow. Dose differences to targets and organs-at-risk were evaluated. Results: IMRT and VMAT RapidPlan generated plans were comparable to clinical plans with respect to target coverage and several OARs. Spinal cord dose was lowered in the model-based plans by 1Gy compared to the clinical plans, p=0.008. Splitting the model according to tumor location resulted in insignificant differences in DVH estimation. The peripheral model decreased esophagus dose to the central lesions by 0.5Gy compared to the original model, p=0.025, and the posterior model increased dose to the spinal cord by 1Gy compared to the anterior model, p=0.001. All template beam plans met OAR criteria, with 1Gy increases noted in maximum heart dose for the 9-field plans, p=0.04. Conclusion: A RapidPlan knowledge-based model for lung SBRT produces comparable results to clinical plans, with increased consistency and greater efficiency. The model encompasses both IMRT and VMAT techniques, differing tumor locations, and beam arrangements. Research supported in part by a grant from Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto CA.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-442: Dose Distribution Comparison for Post-Laryngectomy Stoma Area Between Conventional AP and VMAT Plans with Or Without Bolus

Purpose: To compare dose distributions of conventional AP vs. VMAT treatment plans with or without bolus around post-laryngectomy stoma. Methods: Radiation dose coverage for post-laryngectomy stoma was analyzed using a set of real-case CT-simulation images. After meticulous contouring of the catheter cuff, stoma lumen, peri-stoma skin and subclinical tumor bed at the larynx, the resulting dosimetry plans were analyzed with or without a 5 mm bolus placement. Wet gauze was used to minimize the effect of any air gap. Four plans were generated: AP superclavicular (SCV) plan with or without bolus, and VMAT plan with or without bolus. A dose of 60Gy in 30 fractions was prescribed at 3 cm depth for AP SCV plan, and to 95% of the PTV volume for VMAT plan. Results: For the conventional AP SCV plan, the peri-stoma skin dose is sensitive to bolus placement as well as air gap compensation by wetted gauze (V95% of 20.7%, 33.0% and 94.8% for no bolus, bolus without and with air gap compensation, respectively). For stoma lumen, the dose drops off rapidly in depth. The catheter cuff may have certain dose-buildup effect, but air gap around it and under the bolus placed can pose a more serious problem. The dose distributions of the two VMAT plans are moderately different for peri-stoma skin (V95% of 95.0% with bolus and air gap compensation, and 82.3% without bolus), but nearly identical for stoma lumen (V95% of 91.5% and 92.0%, respectively). VMAT allows beamlets with different angles of incidence that helped achieve such dose distribution around the stoma even without bolus placement. Conclusion: Overall, the dose coverage around the stoma in the VMAT plan is better than the conventional AP SCV plan. To achieve optimal dose distribution, it is still recommended to place physical bolus and reduce the air gaps.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

TH-CD-209-05: Impact of Spot Size and Spacing On the Quality of Robustly-Optimized Intensity-Modulated Proton Therapy Plans for Lung Cancer

Purpose: To investigate how spot size and spacing affect plan quality, especially, plan robustness and the impact of interplay effect, of robustly-optimized intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) plans for lung cancer. Methods: Two robustly-optimized IMPT plans were created for 10 lung cancer patients: (1) one for a proton beam with in-air energy dependent large spot size at isocenter (σ: 5–15 mm) and spacing (1.53σ); (2) the other for a proton beam with small spot size (σ: 2–6 mm) and spacing (5 mm). Both plans were generated on the average CTs with internal-gross-tumor-volume density overridden to irradiate internal target volume (ITV). The root-mean-square-dose volume histograms (RVH) measured the sensitivity of the dose to uncertainties, and the areas under RVH curves were used to evaluate plan robustness. Dose evaluation software was developed to model time-dependent spot delivery to incorporate interplay effect with randomized starting phases of each field per fraction. Patient anatomy voxels were mapped from phase to phase via deformable image registration to score doses. Dose-volume-histogram indices including ITV coverage, homogeneity, and organs-at-risk (OAR) sparing were compared using Student-t test. Results: Compared to large spots, small spots resulted in significantly better OAR sparing with comparable ITV coverage and homogeneity in the nominal plan. Plan robustness was comparable for ITV and most OARs. With interplay effect considered, significantly better OAR sparing with comparable ITV coverage and homogeneity is observed using smaller spots. Conclusion: Robust optimization with smaller spots significantly improves OAR sparing with comparable plan robustness and similar impact of interplay effect compare to larger spots. Small spot size requires the use of larger number of spots, which gives optimizer more freedom to render a plan more robust. The ratio between spot size and spacing was found to be more relevant to determine plan robustness and the impact of interplay effect than spot size alone. This research was supported by the National Cancer Institute Career Developmental Award K25CA168984, by the Fraternal Order of Eagles Cancer Research Fund Career Development Award, by The Lawrence W. and Marilyn W. Matteson Fund for Cancer Research, by Mayo Arizona State University Seed Grant, and by The Kemper Marley Foundation.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Sampling and Analysis Plan for U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management Sites

This plan incorporates U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) standard operating procedures (SOPs) into environmental monitoring activities and will be implemented at all sites managed by LM. This document provides detailed procedures for the field sampling teams so that samples are collected in a consistent and technically defensible manner. Site-specific plans (e.g., long-term surveillance and maintenance plans, environmental monitoring plans) document background information and establish the basis for sampling and monitoring activities. Information will be included in site-specific tabbed sections to this plan, which identify sample locations, sample frequencies, types of samples, field measurements, and associated analytes for each site. Additionally, within each tabbed section, program directives will be included, when developed, to establish additional site-specific requirements to modify or clarify requirements in this plan as they apply to the corresponding site. A flowchart detailing project tasks required to accomplish routine sampling is displayed in Figure 1. LM environmental procedures are contained in the Environmental Procedures Catalog (LMS/PRO/S04325), which incorporates American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), DOE, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidance. Specific procedures used for groundwater and surface water monitoring are included in Appendix A. If other environmental media are monitored, SOPs used for air, soil/sediment, and biota monitoring can be found in the site-specific tabbed sections in Appendix D or in site-specific documents. The procedures in the Environmental Procedures Catalog are intended as general guidance and require additional detail from planning documents in order to be complete; the following sections fulfill that function and specify additional procedural requirements to form SOPs. Routine revision of this Sampling and Analysis Plan will be conducted annually at the beginning of each fiscal year when attachments in Appendix D, including program directives and sampling location/analytical tables, will be reviewed by project personnel and updated. The sampling location/analytical tables in Appendix D, however, may have interim updates according to project direction that are not reflected in this plan. Deviations from location/analytical tables in Appendix D prior to sampling will be documented in project correspondence (e.g., startup letters). If significant changes to other aspects of this plan are required before the annual update, then the plan will be revised as needed.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Underground Test Area (UGTA) Sampling Plan for Corrective Action Units 101 and 102: Central and Western Pahute Mesa, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada

The purpose of this groundwater sampling plan (referred to herein as “the Plan”) is to describe the approach for collecting and analyzing groundwater samples to meet the objectives of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Management (EM) Nevada Program’s Underground Test Area (UGTA) Activity. The Plan is focused on the Central and Western Pahute Mesa corrective action units (CAUs 101 and 102). The remaining UGTA CAUs are in the final stage of the UGTA strategy (Closure Report [CR] stage), and monitoring requirements for these CAUs are described in their respective CRs. The Plan supersedes the Nevada National Security Site Integrated Groundwater Sampling Plan and its ensuing Record of Technical Change (ROTC) (DOE/EMNV, 2019b). The Plan is designed to ensure compliance with the UGTA Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) and its ensuing ROTC (DOE/EMNV, 2018), and the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) (1996, as amended). The Plan is implemented by the Environmental Program Services (EPS) contractor. Implementation of the Plan provides data to complete corrective actions prescribed by the FFACO to protect the public from groundwater contaminated by historical underground nuclear testing. The Plan’s scope comprises sample collection and analysis requirements for assessing the extent of groundwater contamination from underground nuclear testing. Sampling wells located in the communities surrounding the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) is performed by other organizations (e.g., management and operating [M&O] contractor) and is therefore not included within the Plan. The results of the community sampling are presented in the annual NNSS environmental reports.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Multi-Stage and Multi-Timescale Robust Co-Optimization Planning for Reliable and Sustainable Power Systems. Final Report

In this project, Clarkson University, in collaboration with Southern Methodist University and University of Pittsburgh, conducted the research to model, design, and implement a sophisticated generation and transmission co-optimization planning decision tool, called Multi-stage and Multi-timescale robust Co-Optimization Planning (MMCOP). The MMCOP decision tool intends to facilitate generation and transmission co-optimization planning of emerging power systems, while mitigating risks and uncertainties in both short-term operation dynamics and long-term policy and technology changes. Long-term power system planning aims at optimizing asset utilization by investing in a proper mix of various generation technologies and transmission lines to supply the future load growth. In particular, the Clean Power Plan (CPP), which is designed to combat climate change and reduce carbon emissions by setting a national limit on carbon pollution from power plants, may dramatically change the landscape of the power industry by further promoting clean energy and phasing out emissions-intensive generation technologies. In addition, novel non-wire alternatives (e.g., demand response (DR), distributed generation (DG), energy efficiency (EE), and smart grid technologies) and the computational complexity for large-scale systems significantly complicate the system planning procedure even further. However, existing conventional planning approaches neglect short-term variability and uncertainty of renewable energy, hourly chronological operation details, and physical nonlinear characteristics of the alternating current transmission network. As a result, existing conventional planning approaches may not work properly, and power systems reliability could be in jeopardy. In observing the limitations of existing conventional planning approaches and addressing new challenges of emerging power systems, the main scope of this project to develop co-optimization planning models within a multi-stage and multi-timescale framework. In particular, random contingencies, key uncertainty factors, and AC power flows are included to derive expansion plans while considering both long-term reliability and short-term flexibility.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

SFWST Disposal Research R&D 5-Year Plan (FY2023 Update)

This FY2023 report is the second update to the Disposal Research (DR) Research and Development (R&D) 5-year plan for the Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) Campaign DR R&D activities. In the planning for FY2020 in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) NE-81 SFWST Campaign, the DOE requested development of a high-level summary plan for activities in the DR R&D program for the next five (5)-year period, with periodic updates to this summary plan. The DR R&D 5-year plan was provided to the DOE based initially on the FY2020 priorities and program structure (initial 2020 version of this 5-year plan) and provides a strategic summary guide to the work within the DR R&D technical areas (Control Accounts, CA), focusing on the highest priority technical thrusts. This 5-year plan is a living document (planned to be updated periodically) that provides review of SFWST R&D accomplishments (as seen on the 2021 revision of this 5-year plan), describes changes to technical R&D prioritization based on (a) progress in each technical area (including external technical understanding) with specific accomplishments and (b) any changes in SFWST Campaign objectives and/or funding levels (i.e., Program Direction). Updates to this 5-year plan include the DR R&D adjustments to high-priority knowledge gaps to be investigated in the near-term, as well as the updated longer-term DR R&D directions for the program activities. This plan fulfills the Milestone M2SF23SN010304083 in DR Work Package (WP) SF-23SN01030408 (GDSA - Framework Development – SNL).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Pantex Plant Ogallala Aquifer and Perched Groundwater Contingency Plan

The Pantex Plant Ogallala Aquifer and Perched Groundwater Contingency Plan has been developed in accordance with the requirements identified in the: • Interagency Agreement for the Pantex Superfund Site, Article 8.5 Work to be Performed, • Compliance Plan Provision of Hazardous Waste Permit No. 50284, and • Record of Decision for Groundwater, Soil, and Associated Media, Pantex Plant. A Long‐Term Monitoring System Design has been designed to monitor conditions in the perched groundwater including changes in the perched aquifer as a result of implementing the response actions. Monitoring is required for verifying the effectiveness of perched groundwater response actions (i.e., conditions in the perched aquifer are being affected as intended) and for confirming that the perched aquifer and Ogallala Aquifer characterization as defined in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Facility Investigation Report and the Corrective Measure Studies/Feasibility Study remains accurate. If monitoring results obtained through the monitoring network identify an unexpected condition or deviation, contingent actions will be considered and implemented as necessary to ensure continued protection of the Ogallala Aquifer and human health and the environment. Potential deviations to expected technology performance may be encountered for each of the four primary response actions that compose the selected remedy for perched groundwater; Playa 1 Pump and Treat System, Southeast Area Pump and Treat System, Southeast Area In‐Situ Bioremediation System (comprised of the Southeast In‐Situ Bioremediation System Original System, Southeast Area In‐Situ Bioremediation System Extension System, Offsite In‐Situ Bioremediation System, Perchlorate/Chromium ISB, Northeast ISB and County Road 8 ISB), and Zone 11 In‐Situ Bioremediation System. Monitoring will also be conducted to determine if there are deviations to the expected characterization, e.g., contaminants not expected as a result of the RCRA Facility Investigation characterization. Deviations to expected conditions in the Ogallala Aquifer could also be encountered if the response actions in the perched groundwater are not performing as expected, i.e., preventing contaminants from migrating to the Ogallala Aquifer. Currently, Pantex has begun investigation of detections of high explosives above groundwater protection standards in wells on the Texas Tech University property and a plume that is moving to the northeast from that area. Due to those detections, this Plan recognizes the fact that future detections in the Ogallala will be focused on first‐ time detections of analytes. After a remedy is determined, this Plan will require modification to address-deviations and contingent actions. This Plan was developed to identify the contingent actions necessary to mitigate impacts resulting from deviations to site conditions or response action performance. The Plan defines the environmental problem being addressed by the response actions, clarifies the expected conditions and objectives of the response actions, and identifies the potential deviations to the response actions (due to site conditions or technology performance) that could be encountered. The deviations were evaluated to determine the likelihood of occurrence, potential impact, and time to respond to avoid impact. The Plan also identifies the monitoring outlined in the Long‐Term Monitoring System Design Report (Consolidated Nuclear Security, 2024) and Sampling Analysis Plan (PanTeXas Deterrence, 2024) that will be used to detect the deviations. Lastly, the Plan specifies the contingent actions that could be implemented in response to the deviations. Because each response focuses on a discrete portion of the perched aquifer and contaminant plume, each response action has a different set of expected conditions, and therefore differing impacts from deviations to the site and technology expectations. As a result, the contingent actions are identified for each response action and potential deviation including specific constituents, location, and conditions. If deviations are encountered that impact the ability of the response action to meet performance objectives, the contingent actions will be focused on ensuring the response action can meet the performance objective. Contingent actions may be implemented as interim actions (ISMs/removal actions) in accordance with the Record of Decision, Interagency Agreement, and Hazardous Waste Permit‐50284, if warranted by the specific circumstances. For deviations to site characterization expected conditions, the contingent action will focus on determination of the source of the deviation, determination of the appropriate response, and evaluation of additional work to be completed. However, if the deviation to characterization impacts the performance of the response action, the contingent action will again focus on ensuring performance objectives can be met. Early source term removals and cleanup actions have been implemented to protect the Ogallala Aquifer. Because of these actions and based on modeling results, the expected conditions in the Ogallala Aquifer are that constituents of concern will not be detected above the Groundwater Protection Standards (GWPSs) nor will they reach potential points of exposure above the GWPS. The primary deviation of concern for the Ogallala is if constituents are detected in the Ogallala Aquifer near or above GWPSs. If it occurs, this change in expected conditions would require further evaluation of site and contaminant characteristics to determine an appropriate course of action. The evaluation would include additional monitoring, source identification, implementation of interim protective measures (if necessary), and delineation of extent. These evaluations are necessary to determine an appropriate response action for the Ogallala. The primary goal of the Plan is to provide for the continued protection of the Ogallala Aquifer and the health of its consumers. In recognition, this Plan presents a flexible and rational approach for making future decisions associated with confirming the change in perched and Ogallala aquifer conditions and identifying a response (technical activities, changes to response actions, regulatory oversight, and public involvement).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS1991

Explanation-based generalization of partially ordered plans

Most previous work in analytic generalization of plans dealt with totally ordered plans. These methods cannot be directly applied to generalizing partially ordered plans, since they do not capture all interactions among plan operators for all total orders of such plans. We introduce a new method for generalizing partially ordered plans. This method is based on providing explanation-based generalization (EBG) with explanations which systematically capture the interactions among plan operators for all the total orders of a partially-ordered plan. The explanations are based on the Modal Truth Criterion which states the necessary and sufficient conditions for ensuring the truth of a proposition at any point in a plan, for a class of partially ordered plans. The generalizations obtained by this method guarantee successful and interaction-free execution of any total order of the generalized plan. In addition, the systematic derivation of the generalization algorithms from the Modal Truth Criterion obviates the need for carrying out a separate formal proof of correctness of the EBG algorithms.

Kambhampati, Subbarao↗
NASA NTRS1994

Abstraction Planning in Real Time

When a planning agent works in a complex, real-world domain, it is unable to plan for and store all possible contingencies and problem situations ahead of time. The agent needs to be able to fall back on an ability to construct plans at run time under time constraints. This thesis presents a method for planning at run time that incrementally builds up plans at multiple levels of abstraction. The plans are continually updated by information from the world, allowing the planner to adjust its plan to a changing world during the planning process. All the information is represented over intervals of time, allowing the planner to reason about durations, deadlines, and delays within its plan. In addition to the method, the thesis presents a formal model of the planning process and uses the model to investigate planning strategies. The method has been implemented, and experiments have been run to validate the overall approach and the theoretical model.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE↗
NASA NTRS2000

Streamlining Collaborative Planning in Spacecraft Mission Architectures

During the past two decades, the planning and scheduling community has substantially increased the capability and efficiency of individual planning and scheduling systems. Relatively recently, research work to streamline collaboration between planning systems is gaining attention. Spacecraft missions stand to benefit substantially from this work as they require the coordination of multiple planning organizations and planning systems. Up to the present time this coordination has demanded a great deal of human intervention and/or extensive custom software development efforts. This problem will become acute with increased requirements for cross-mission plan coordination and multi -spacecraft mission planning. The Advanced Architectures and Automation Branch of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is taking innovative steps to define collaborative planning architectures, and to identify coordinated planning tools for Cross-Mission Campaigns. Prototypes are being developed to validate these architectures and assess the usefulness of the coordination tools by the planning community. This presentation will focus on one such planning coordination too], named Visual Observation Layout Tool (VOLT), which is currently being developed to streamline the coordination between astronomical missions

Misra, Dhariti↗
NASA NTRS2000

Ames Research Center FY 2000 Implementation Plan: Leading Technology into the New Millennium

This document presents the implementation plan for Ames Research Center (ARC) within the overall framework of the NASA Strategic Plan. It describes how ARC intends to implement its Center of Excellence responsibilities, Agency assigned missions, Agency and Enterprise lead programs, and other roles in support of NASA's vision and mission. All Federal agencies are required by the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act to implement a long-term strategic planning process that includes measurable outcomes and strict accountability. At NASA, this planning process is shaped by the Space Act of 1958, annual appropriations, and other external mandates, as well as by customer requirements. The resulting Strategic Plan sets the overall architecture for what we do, identifies who our customers are, and directs where we are going and why. The Strategic Plan is the basis upon which decisions regarding program implementation and resource deployment are made. Whereas the strategic planning process examines the long-term direction of the organization and identifies a specific set of goals, the implementation planning process examines the detailed performance of the organization and allocates resources toward meeting these goals. It is the purpose of this implementation document to provide the connection between the NASA Strategic Plan and the specific programs and support functions that ARC employees perform. This connection flows from the NASA Strategic Plan, through the various Strategic Enterprise plans to the ARC Center of Excellence, primary missions, Lead Center programs, program support responsibilities, and ultimately, to the role of the individual ARC employee.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2004

MAPGEN: Mixed-Initiative Activity Planning for the Mars Exploration Rover Mission

This document describes the Mixed initiative Activity Plan Generation system MAPGEN. This system is one of the critical tools in the Mars Exploration Rover mission surface operations, where it is used to build activity plans for each of the rovers, each Martian day. The MAPGEN system combines an existing tool for activity plan editing and resource modeling, with an advanced constraint-based reasoning and planning framework. The constraint-based planning component provides active constraint and rule enforcement, automated planning capabilities, and a variety of tools and functions that are useful for building activity plans in an interactive fashion. In this demonstration, we will show the capabilities of the system and demonstrate how the system has been used in actual Mars rover operations. In contrast to the demonstration given at ICAPS 03, significant improvement have been made to the system. These include various additional capabilities that are based on automated reasoning and planning techniques, as well as a new Constraint Editor support tool. The Constraint Editor (CE) as part of the process for generating these command loads, the MAPGEN tool provides engineers and scientists an intelligent activity planning tool that allows them to more effectively generate complex plans that maximize the science return each day. The key to the effectiveness of the MAPGEN tool is an underlying constraint-based planning and reasoning engine.

Ai-Chang, Mitchell↗
NASA NTRS2011

ISS Operations Cost Reductions Through Automation of Real-Time Planning Tasks

In 2008 the Johnson Space Center s Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) management team challenged their organization to find ways to reduce the costs of International Space station (ISS) console operations in the Mission Control Center (MCC). Each MOD organization was asked to identify projects that would help them attain a goal of a 30% reduction in operating costs by 2012. The MOD Operations and Planning organization responded to this challenge by launching several software automation projects that would allow them to greatly improve ISS console operations and reduce staffing and operating costs. These projects to date have allowed the MOD Operations organization to remove one full time (7 x 24 x 365) ISS console position in 2010; with the plan of eliminating two full time ISS console support positions by 2012. This will account for an overall 10 EP reduction in staffing for the Operations and Planning organization. These automation projects focused on utilizing software to automate many administrative and often repetitive tasks involved with processing ISS planning and daily operations information. This information was exchanged between the ground flight control teams in Houston and around the globe, as well as with the ISS astronaut crew. These tasks ranged from managing mission plan changes from around the globe, to uploading and downloading information to and from the ISS crew, to even more complex tasks that required multiple decision points to process the data, track approvals and deliver it to the correct recipient across network and security boundaries. The software solutions leveraged several different technologies including customized web applications and implementation of industry standard web services architecture between several planning tools; as well as a engaging a previously research level technology (TRL 2-3) developed by Ames Research Center (ARC) that utilized an intelligent agent based system to manage and automate file traffic flow, archiving f data, and generating console logs. This technology called OCAMS (OCA (Orbital Communication System) Management System), is now considered TRL level 9 and is in daily use in the Mission Control Center in support of ISS operations. These solutions have not only allowed for improved efficiency on console; but since many of the previously manual data transfers are now automated, many of the human error prone steps have been removed, and the quality of the planning products has improved tremendously. This has also allowed our Planning Flight Controllers more time to focus on the abstract areas of the job, (like the complexities of planning a mission for 6 international crew members with a global planning team), instead of being burdened with the administrative tasks that took significant time each console shift to process. The resulting automation solutions have allowed the Operations and Planning organization to realize significant cost savings for the ISS program through 2020 and many of these solutions could be a viable

Hall, Timothy A.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Domain Compilation for Embedded Real-Time Planning

A recently conceived approach to automated real-time control of the actions of a robotic system enables an embedded real-time planning algorithm to develop plans that are more robust than they would otherwise be, without imposing an excessive computational burden. This approach occupies a middle ground between two prior approaches known in the art as the universal-plan and hybrid approaches. Ever since discovering the performance limitations of taking a sense-plan-act approach to controlling robots, the robotics community has endeavored to follow a behavior-based approach in which a behavior includes a rapid feedback loop between state estimation and motor control. Heretofore, system architectures following this approach have been based, variously, on algorithms that implement universal plans or algorithms that function as hybrids of planners and executives. In a typical universal-plan case, a set of behaviors is merged into the plan, but the system must be restricted to relatively small problem domains to avoid having to reason about too many states and represent them in the plan. In the hybrid approach, one implements actions as small sets of behaviors, each applicable to a limited set of circumstances. Each action is intended to bring the system to a subgoal state. A planning algorithm is used to string these actions together into a sequence to traverse the state space from an initial or current state to a goal state. The hybrid approach works well in a static environment, but it is inherently brittle in a dynamic environment because a failure can occur when the environment strays beyond the region of applicability of the current activity. In the present approach, a system can vary from the hybrid approach to the universal-plan approach, depending on a single integer parameter, denoted n, which can range from 1 to a maximum domain-dependent value of M. As illustrated in the figure, n = 1 represents the hybrid approach, in which each linked action covers a small part of the state space of the system. As n increases, the portion of state space associated with each action and its subgoal grows. When n reaches M, coverage extends over the full state space, so that the system contains a universal plan.

Barrett, Anthony↗
NASA NTRS2018

Innovative Development of a Cross-Center Timeline Planning Tool

The Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is the United States focal point to support operations controllers and payload developers conducting payload science operations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Some of the key functions are planning, coordination and scheduling of science activities. This effort occurs in coordination with other NASA centers, international partners, and payload developers. The ability to efficiently plan and re-plan in response to change is critical to the flight planning teams. Additionally, in Fall 2017, NASA will increase its ability to perform payload science operations aboard the ISS with a fourth crew member. In order to support this, there will be an increasing need to quickly plan and schedule more activities. In the past, it was cumbersome and time-consuming to consolidate copious amounts of planning and change request data from various sources. Planners would summarize information from the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Operations Planning Timeline Integration System (OPTIMIS) and manually integrate it with other data in order to produce a Timeline Planning Summary (TPS). This lengthy process of updating static documents while planning and re-planning was cumbersome, introduced human error, and was inflexible to last minute changes. There was a need for a dynamic, more efficient, less erroneous, and more concise way of building a report that could be readily updated as fast as payload science plans change.

Pedoto, Ramon W.↗