Interactive Resource Management in the COMIREM Planner

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Interactive Resource Management in the COMIREM
Planner

• Stephen F. Smith, David Hildum, David Crimm
• Intelligent Coordination and Logistics Lab
• The Robotics Institute
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Pittsburgh PA 15213
• sfs_at_cs.cmu.edu
• 412-268-8811

Carnegie Mellon
IJCAI-03 Workshop on Mixed-Initiative Intelligent
Systems - August 9 2003
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Outline of Talk

• Brief Introduction to Comirem
• Mixed-Initiative Perspective
• Connection to Workshop Themes

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COMIREM

• A light-weight, interactive system for resource
  management in continuous planning domains
• Domain SOF planning
• Motivating Themes
• Resource management cannot be considered a
  separable post-process to plan generation
• Planning is an ill-structured, iterative process
  that is rarely amenable to total automation and
  not well supported by batch-oriented solution
  generators
• Planning involves collaboration among
  (increasingly) mobile decision making agents

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Embassy Rescue Scenario
Rebel Enclave
Bridge
Staging Area
Rebel Controlled Airport
Task Force Bravo (64 Troops)
Task Force Charlie (56 Troops)
Embassy
250 AmCits
Task Force Alpha (24 Troops)

• Available at Home Airport
• 7 MH60s
• 5 MH47s
• 5 MC-130Hs
• 2 C-141s
• 1 AC-130U

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Mixed-Initiative Design Goals

• Adjustable decision-making autonomy
• User will want to make decisions at different
  levels of detail in different contexts
• Translation of system models and decisions
• User should be able to inject decisions without
  having to understand system search models and
  vice-versa be able to effectively interpret
  system results
• Incremental problem solving
• Constraints typically become known incrementally
• Controlled change facilitates comprehension
• Solution stability is crucial in continuous
  planning domains

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Constraint Management and Search Infra-structure

• Comirem is a flexible times scheduler
• Activity start and end times float to the extent
  that problem constraints allow
• Activities requiring the same resources are
  sequenced
• Simple Temporal Problem (STP) constraint network
  solver is used to manage temporal constraints
• Constraint graph of time points (nodes) and
  distances (arcs)
• Higher-level domain model super-imposed to add
  reasoning about resource usage constraints
• Required and provided capabilities
• Resource location (positioning, de-positioning,
  repositioning)
• Resource carrying capacity (manifests and
  configurations)
• Decisions (user and system) are made
  opportunistically

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Elements of Mixed-Initiative Approach

• Highly interactive - spreadsheet metaphor
• Levels of automated decision-making
• Individual decision expansion and options
• Temporal and resource feasibility checking
• Automated solution generation -biased by user
  goals and preferences
• User over-ride of any constraint in system model
• Interaction via mutually understood domain model
• Translation of domain model edits into internal
  constraint models
• Complementary use of domain model to convey and
  interpret results
• Visualization of decision impact

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Generating Options
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Generating Conflict Resolution Options
Option1 Override computed duration
Option4 Deploy earlier
Option2 Assign a faster resource
Option3 Delay engagement
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Comirem Positions on Workshop Issues

• Task - User manipulates goals, constraints and
  preferences system solves within specified
  parameters
• Control - User in control system offers decision
  options wherever possible and solutions when user
  delegates
• Awareness - Mutually understandable domain model
  used to bridge user and system models
• Communication - Summarization, visualization of
  decision impact
• Evaluation - increased efficiency/effectiveness
  system manages complexity user brings knowledge
  outside of system models
• Architecture - Spreadsheet model of interaction
  incremental change

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END
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Functional Capabilities

• Interactive Planning and Resource Allocation
• Option generation
• Visualization of decision impact
• Requirements and capabilities editing
• Automated assignment and feasibility checking
• What-if exploration
• Resource Configuration
• Construction and allocation of aggregate
  resources
• Execution Management
• Resource tracking
• Plan tracking
• Conflict analysis

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A More Complex Conflict Involving Shared Resources
C
Move2 1xHMMVV
B
Move1 1xHMMVV
LFT
A
EST
Dur(HMMVV) gt LFT(Move) - EST(Move)

• Resource sequencing constraint in conjunction
  with the timing constraints of Move1 and Move 2
  causes cycle

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Comirem User Interface
Gantt and Vector Activity Views
Resource Aggregation
Resource Usage Positioning
Resource Tracking
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