GCAS Government Contracts

The major focus of our business operations has been in the areas of probabilistic reasoning under uncertainty using Rule-based Expert Systems, Bayesian Networks, Markov Chaining, Probabilistic Relational Models, and other advanced statistical techniques

Acquisition Planning

Under the Navy contract, GCAS is developing an interactive and dynamic Planning System for ship modernization. This system is based on the Logic Modeling paradigm and Expert Decision Support technology. As a result, it allows Participating Acquisition Resource Managers to efficiently plan, coordinate, model and track all aspects of ship modernization at multiple levels of collaboration. The system supports users in accessing adaptive and interactive resource management, budgeting, cost control, risk identification and mitigation, conflict alerts, efficiency analysis, and configuration management.

Distributed Missions and Means System

GCAS is developing a Distributed Missions and Means System (DMMS) with the key objective to develop an autonomous agent-based modeling and simulation system that will facilitate distributed missions planning and execution in complex dynamic environments. DMMS will help ease the burden of decision-making. DMMS lays the foundations for retrieving, analyzing, synthesizing, and disseminating information to military commanders and also provides linkage from low-level state changes to mission success.

Expert Structure & Coating Analysis Tool

The GCAS Expert Structures & Coating Analysis Tool (ESCAT) is used by the Navy Carrier Planning Group to automate the inspection, data analysis, and repair process. Data Analytics is used on the resulting inspection database to forecast which tanks will need repair during the next ship availability.

Blast/ESET

GCAS is developing an intelligent vulnerability analysis tool for the Army Research Laboratories for characterizing the failure of electronic equipment subjected to mechanical shock from blast waves created by conventional weapons.

Corrosion Expert Tool

GCAS created a Corrosion Expert System (CES) for the US Army TACOM. CES is used in automotive and truck vehicle design (as well as at maintenance depots and logistic commands) for identifying design problems leading to corrosion.

CORRDBMS and AIRS

Probabilistic Data Collection. GCAS created the CORRDBMS system used by TACOM for tracking the corrosion of the fielded fleet. CORRDBMS is unique in its ability to extract corrosion rate information from uncontrolled field observations

ECAT

Under the Navy contract, GCAS is currently developing an Expert System, ECAT (Expert Coating Analysis Tool), for recommendations on coating solutions using Navy corrosion databases [Borse and Savell, 2004]. The data stored in such databases is of various formats. Our approach is to build an autonomous agent that will extract information from those databases for data mining purposes. The output of the data-mining process will link up with an Expert System that models system breakdown and provides optimized recommendations on coating solutions. The benefit of the Expert System is twofold: i) Selection of optimum coatings for new construction/applications, and ii) Defining maintenance intervals to reduce the cost of repair/rebuild of components.

Command/Control

Under the Air Force contract [Le and Savell, 2005] in the area of dynamic planning, GCAS is designing an interactive and continuous planning system for Air Campaign Planning that can handle multi-level objectives together with their deadlines and priorities under. This planning system will be able to adapt to real-time information updates (for example, changes in the status of resources, additional or revised mission objectives, revised priorities of objectives, or target lists). In addition, the system will assist the users in specifying their assumptions, and external factors.

Logic Model

Under the National Institute of Health application, we pursued the development of a computer software system that guides the development of Program Logic Models for program planning and evaluation. Using a template, the user is able to control the planning experience by answering a sequence of questions corresponding to components of the model. The software then generates a Program Logic Model based on responses to the sequence of questions. Through this process, the user is able to develop plans in a more objective and time-efficient manner. The software is based on the Logic Model Development Guide by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and is complemented with a set of advanced features. Such features include Scheduling (Milestone Charts, Gantt Charts, Pert Charts, Critical Path Analysis, Critical Chain Method), Project Risk Management (Belief Networks, Influence Diagrams), Timeline Budgeting and Earned Value Management.

NASA Search

Under the NASA contract, GCAS has designed a system for searching scientific data in digital libraries. This system incorporates an innovative approach using a knowledge base to process a user's questions and provide information that will be helpful in answering the user's questions based on the system's estimation of the logical process involved in answering the question.

Second Order Uncertainty

Under the Missile Defense Agency contract, GCAS has performed research on Interval Propagation in BNs and PRMs

Life Signs Monitoring

GCAS is currently developing computational algorithms and agent-based software for the Life-Sign Decision Support Algorithms (LSDSAs) for the Warfighter Physiological Status Monitoring system under the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command contract.