Rapid Development of Scenario-Based Simulations and Tutoring Systems

摘要

Low earth orbit constellations significantly increase the burden for ground-based systems management. Efficient, accurate management requires that ground station and satellite operators are well-trained. Scenario-based training, in which trainees practice handling specific situations using faithful simulations of the equipment they will use on the job has proven to be an extremely effective method for both training and certification. Effectiveness is increased when it is coupled with intelligent tutoring. Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) improve on training simulations by assessing the trainee's actions and providing individualized guidance. This paper describes a simulation-based intelligent tutoring system developed by the authors to support satellite operations and other complex procedural tasks. These systems rely on computable task representations that specify appropriate actions at each step. These task representations must be expressive enough to enable detailed, context-sensitive guidance and feedback, handle the wide range of situations and anomalies that might occur, and accurately assess the many possible actions the trainee might take. Yet, they must also enable easy and rapid knowledge entry and maintenance of large collections of training scenarios.