Learning Upgrades to Mission planning ENvironments (LUMEN)
Navy SBIR FY2018.1


Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2018.1
Topic No.: N181-018
Topic Title: Learning Upgrades to Mission planning ENvironments (LUMEN)
Proposal No.: N181-018-0314
Firm: Charles River Analytics Inc.
625 Mount Auburn Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 2138
Contact: James Niehaus
Phone: (617) 491-3474
Web Site: http://www.cra.com
Abstract: Mission planning is critical to successful deployment of military power. Mission planning is a complex task that requires the detailed orchestration of many subcomponents and elements of human performance in varied, real world environments. This task is becoming yet more complex and challenging as the DoD begins to explore missions that include both manned vehicles and unmanned platforms and incorporate multi-domain air, ground, and sea elements. Mission planning tools and processes do not yet scale to these future challenges, and mission planners may soon be overwhelmed by this complexity. To meet this need, we propose to design and demonstrate Learning Upgrades to Mission planning ENvironments (LUMEN). LUMEN features: (1) a deep learning suite applying deep learning approaches to mission planning problems and mission planner support to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of mission planning workflows; (2) automatically generated causal DNN explanations to enable appropriate trust and understanding of deep learning recommendations; (3) a narrative-based human machine interface (HMI) design to enable mission planners to effectively use these models; and (4) a joint mission planning system (JMPS) integration and security classification layer to enable interoperability with current and future mission planning systems.
Benefits: We expect the full-scope LUMEN program to have immediate and tangible benefits for mission planners across the Navy and the DoD. LUMEN will provide enhanced mission planning capabilities through the application of deep learning technologies. We will explore market licensing or selling LUMEN as an application for commercial and private aircraft flight planning. LUMEN will also contribute technical improvements to our XAI deep learning explanation software, increasing its appeal as a commercial product.

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