Air Vehicle Safety Prevention and Protection System (AVSAPPS)

 

Sociotechnical Plan for the Air Vehicle Safety Prevention and Protection System

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Scope

Despite the many SpaceX technological successes, the Starship rocket launched in April 2023 was destroyed by fire and explosion four minutes after launch above the Gulf of Mexico (Time, 2023). Thankfully, no lives were lost associated with the air vehicle disaster for which the cause is undetermined. However, there was a risk to public safety. 

The scope of this sociotechnical plan is to propose a system to ensure that these flight catastrophes are prevented, the Air Vehicle Safety Prevention and Protection System. The Starship example and other incidents where air vehicle failures or external forces resulted in the loss of life are the motivators for this plan, including the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash, and the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance. This plan suggests that there were indicators of pending adverse situations that current technology did not detect or respond to in a manner that averted the results.  The Air Vehicle Safety Prevention and Protection System, a sociotechnical system, will address this gap.

Features of the system include:

·       Pre-flight safety prediction based on human operator, equipment, environmental conditions, operational scenarios, interface systems,

·       Biometric assessment of human operators to predict attentiveness and other factors that affect response times and decision-making during emergent situations.

·       Continuously review all possible scenarios during flight to predict the probability of hazards.  

·       Automatic notification and reconfiguration, if necessary, to avert hazardous conditions.

One limitation of the system is determining how to validate the system and the significant resources required to validate it. Possible hazard scenarios may be bound by human assessment of possible scenarios, and there may not be trust in the results produced by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Purpose

The Air Vehicle Safety Prevention and Protection System (AVSAPPS) will predict probable air vehicle failures based on environmental, technical, mechanical, human, or other actions and forces; alert operators, pilots, and communication systems; and reverse or prevent actions contributing to adverse situations that threaten public safety or predicts loss of life.  The sociotechnical system aims to reduce air vehicle flight threats to public safety, prevent catastrophic air vehicle events, and prevent the loss of life due to such events.

Supporting forces

Technological Forces: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning will enable the Air Vehicle Safety Prevention and Protection System.  The technologies may be applied to evaluate technical, environmental, human, and other inputs and predict the probabilities of hazardous conditions before and during flight. The system will caution the pilot or operator to conditions or changes that increase the risk of hazards above an acceptable level, alert operators and communication systems of increasing hazardous levels, and, if necessary, override actions that increase the risk of a catastrophic event.

Societal Forces: Air vehicle tragedies that result in the loss of life affect society in terms of the sense of loss for those who lost their life and the opposing views on technological advances.  Averting catastrophic air vehicle events builds public trust and support for technological advances.

Financial Forces: The Air Vehicle Safety Prevention and Protection System will save money.  $2 billion was spent on the Starship (Sheetz, 2023), $3.2 billion on the Columbia (UPI, 1986), and the loss of life experienced in the Kobe Byrant crash and the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance is immeasurable compared to the loss of the aircraft. Although preserving life is the priority, the financial savings associated with averting disasters for funded air vehicle projects extend far beyond each successful launch or flight.

Challenging forces

Technological Forces: The risk of compromise or errors is a concern for AI systems, especially those that will collect inputs from many varying sources and synthesize a massive amount of data to make decisions, sometimes overriding the decisions of humans. The testing and security assessment for the system will exceed current capabilities.

Legislative Forces: Use of the system would require regulatory certification (e.g., the FAA), which typically requires extensive testing of a deterministic system. The system boundaries may be dynamic due to the volume of possible sources that could lead to a hazardous or catastrophic result, presenting a barrier to certification.

Legal Forces: Using machine learning and AI to predict, report, and prevent safety hazards is beneficial; however, what are the implications if a hazardous or catastrophic event occurs while using the system? Liability associated with failure of the system to prevent a hazardous or catastrophic event must also be considered.

 

Models

Key technologies that support AVSAPPS are reflected in the model below.

The AVSAPPS vision is represented in the following image.

Image Generated by Bing

Analytical Plan

Pre-flight technology for the AVSAPPS includes the FutureGen auto-inspection robot, which travels the surfaces of the aircraft to confirm conformance to vehicle specifications, dimensions, and materials.  The FutureGen robot identifies structural flaws and defects.  Such technology would have identified damage to the Space Shuttle Columbia, enabling it to be repaired before take-off.

Key AVSAPPS onboard technologies include augmented reality, the Micheal Dienhart Dense Energy Core Cell (DECC) technology (Erwin, 2023) or the Geroge Erwin Fusion modules (Erwin, 2023), 99th-generation autonomous vehicle technology, an AI-enabled Digital Assistant, Avis, and a Cocoon Personal Protection Capsule (CPPC).

Augmented Reality

Image Generated by MidJourney

 

The system included augmented reality goggles, headsets, and integrated holographic displays and control panels used to fly the air vehicle.  The panels will be automatically configured to simply the user interface and display only the information required based on pilot/crew input, flight parameters, the environment, and flight threats.  Using operator biometric information, the augmented reality system seeks to reduce the amount of UI information presented to the operator at a time and limit displayed information to the minimum needed for the safe operation of the air vehicle to reduce distractions and context switching by the operator and to reduce inadvertent errors. 

Augmented Reality glasses and headsets will be used to control and fly air vehicle systems.  The AI-generated controls displayed will be limited to the minimum critical needed for the safe operation of the aircraft or space vehicle to reduce distractions and operator context switching to reduce inadvertent errors.  The air vehicle will not be allowed to fly faster than safe operation allows for the current environment and weather conditions.

Dense Energy Core Cell (DECC) Technology

To reduce the chance of fires and explosions when equipment fails or the air vehicle is damaged, DECC technology, or possibly Fusion modules, will be used to power air vehicles.  Future research is required to determine which technology will be selected or if both will be used.   Erwin (2023) noted the risk associated with the highly combustible feud used in air vehicles.  The practitioner-scholar stated, "A lightweight, scalable, inexhaustible energy source could be coupled with AVSAPPS systems.”  Erwin (2023) also proposed that heat from the DECC could be used to heat the interior of the vehicles since high altitudes and space are cold environments.  Erwin's insights are valuable and will be considered in future research.

AI-Enabled Digital Assistant, Avis

Avis will monitor aircraft flight, operator, weather, and other environmental information, alert operations and interspace crew stations of faults and celestial obstructions, and extrapolate the flight path to identify celestial obstructions and space conditions that may impact flight. The system will provide flight path assistance to avoid flight hazards.

99th-Generation Autonomous Vehicle Technology

Image Generated by MidJourney

The AVSAPPS autonomous vehicle capability processes input to detect the environment and operate without human interaction.  The 99th-generation autonomous technology provides the following capabilities:

·       Biometric assessment of human operators to predict attentiveness and other factors that affect response times and decision-making during emergent situations.

·       Continuous flight safety prediction based on human operator, equipment, environmental conditions, operational scenarios, and interfacing systems

·       Continuously review all possible scenarios during flight to predict the probability of hazards. 

·       Automatic notification and reconfiguration, if necessary, to avert hazardous conditions.

Sensory information, including touch, smell, and brain processing information, in addition to temperature and vital sign information, will be processed by the system. In addition to the required flight information, the system will predict potential alerts or failures with a high potential of occurring and alert the operator. 

The system operation will initiate autonomous operation if the operator has diminished capability or becomes incapacitated or to protect the crew, passengers, and vehicle if operator response times are inadequate to avert a catastrophe. In this mode, the aircraft will navigate to and land at the closest celestial airstrip and remain until updated fight plans are received or until an emergency support team arrives.   

Cocoon Personal Protection Capsule (CPPC)

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The Cocoon Personal Protection Capsule (CPPC) will be enabled if a life-threatening hazard or catastrophe cannot be averted. The Cocoon, an aerodynamic capsule equipped with oxygen and water supplies, will encompass each passenger and provide the capability to autonomously transport them to the nearest Emergency Space Station or Rescue Aircraft System.

Conclusion

The AVSAPPS identifies indicators of pending adverse situations and applies the highlighted technologies to avert catastrophic results.  The system is a mix of existing technologies that exist but will evolve more in the future, for example, augmented reality and autonomous systems, and new technology that does not exist, for example, the CPPC. 

The AVSAPPS represents my vision of the solution without having the knowledge or technical expertise to design it or determine its feasibility!  Air vehicle safety could be enhanced with advancement in each of the listed technologies.

Areas of Future Research

Areas of future research include multiple innovations listed in this individual project and the projects of my classmates Michael Dienhart and George Erwin: FutureGen robot technology, Micheal Dienhart's Dense Energy Core Cell (DECC) technology, George Erwin’s fusion module, and the Avis Digital Assistant technology.

In addition to its pre-flight auto-inspection capability, the FutureGen robot could be applied to manufacture airplanes, cars, spacecraft, homes, etc.  Although beneficial to air vehicles, it is not limited to a given product type, and the concept could be researched, tested, and proven on automobiles first.  The Micheal Dienhart Dense Energy Core Cell (DECC) technology (Dienhart, 2023) is another area that could be researched as an alternative to combustible fuel sources.  Using such a technology would reduce the risk of fire and explosions associated with failures.  Erwin’s (2023) fusion module is also a candidate energy source for AVSAPPS to reduce the risk of an explosion and enable it to repair or provide assistance to resolve malfunctions.  

Finally, more research is needed to expand digital assistance capabilities.  The current Digital Assistants listen and respond to prompts.  The capabilities needed for Avis must include evaluating biometrics, environment, and other system and flight information to determine when to “take control” from the operator.  Avis must also be able to navigate the Air Vehicle to a safe environment when required.

References

Dienhart, Michael (2023, October 23). Unit 9 – discussion board [Online discussion board Post]. Colorado Technical University.  CTU Discussion Board (coloradotech.edu)

Erwin, George (2023, October 25). Unit 9 – discussion board [Online discussion board Post]. Colorado Technical University.  CTU Discussion Board (coloradotech.edu).

Sheetz, M. (2023, April 29). Cnbc.com. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/29/elon-musk-spacexs-starship-costing-about-2-billion-this-year.html

Smith, D. (2014, September 9). Key Learnings from Past Safety-Critical System Failures. Barr Group Software Experts. https://barrgroup.com/embedded-systems/how-to/learning-from-firmware-failures

Software Testing Help (n.d.). 10 BEST Augmented Reality Glasses (Smart Glasses) In 2023. Softwaretestinghelp.com. https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/best-augmented-reality-glasses/

Time (2023, April 24). What we know about why SpaceX's Starship rocket failed. Time.com. https://time.com/6274091/why-did-starship-rocket-explode-spacex/

Wikipedia (n.d.). Augmented Reality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality

Wikipedia (n.d.). Elon Musk. Wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk

UPI (1986, March 11). The Challenger disaster cost the nation $3.2 billion. UPI Archives. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/03/11/The-Challenger-disaster-cost-the-nation-32-billion-and/5659510901200