Training and Operations Integrated Calendar Scheduler - TROPICS

摘要

TROPICS is a rule-based scheduling system that optimizes the training experience for students in a power (note this change should be everywhere, i.e. Not reactor) plant environment. The problem is complicated by the condition that plant resources and users' time must be simultaneously scheduled to make best use of both. The training facility is highly constrained in how it is used, and, as in many similar environments, subject to dynamic change with little or no advance notice. The flexibility required extends to changes resulting from students' actions such as absences. Even though the problem is highly constrained by plant usage and student objectives, the large number of possible schedules is a concern. TROPICS employs a control strategy for rule firing to prune the possibility tree and avoid combinatorial explosion. The application has been in use since 1996, first as a prototype for testing and then in production. Training Coordinators have a philosophical aspect to teaching students that has made the rule-based approach much more verifiable and satisfying to the domain experts than other forms of capturing expertise.