VIATO - Visual Interactive Aircraft Trajectory Optimization

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Manuscript On the Use of Influence Diagrams in a
One-on-One Air Combat Game in Kai Virtanens
thesis Optimal Pilot Decisions and Flight
Trajectories in Air Combat Target
audience 1. Air combat analysts, simulator
developers 2. Guys working with influence
diagrams 3. Dynamic/differential game theorists
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Maneuvering decisions in one-on-one air combat
¼
tDt
tDt
¼
t0
t0
Find the best maneuvering sequence with respect
to the goals 1. Avoid being captured by the
adversary 2. Capture the adversary by taking into
account - Preferences of a pilot -
Uncertainties - Behavior of the adversary -
Dynamic decision environment
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Existing modeling approaches

• Dynamic game theory
• Pursuit-evasion games ltgt Fixed roles of the
  players
• Two-target games
• - Qualitative and quantitative solutions
  intractable
• - Myopic feedback strategies
• Models emulating the decision making of pilots
• Rule based and heuristic value driven systems
• Discrete dynamic games, combinations of AI and
  games
• Influence Diagrams (ID)
• Single stage (Virtanen et al. 1999),
• - pilots short-term decision making
• Multistage (Virtanen et al. 2001),
• - preference optimal flight paths against
  given trajectories
• - a nonlinear programming -based solution
  approach

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Contributions of the manuscript

• Two approaches for including the adversarys
  behavior in IDs
• Stochastically
• Deterministically
• Single stage ID game containing controls for both
  players, its solution concepts
• - A good computer guided aircraft
• - Reasonable feedback strategies
• Multistage ID game and its solution by nonlinear
  programming
• - Planning of fighter maneuvers
• Simulation procedure
• - An approximate solution for the one-on-one air
  combat game

- Preference and uncertainty model into
two-target games - Utilization of influence
diagrams in a dynamic game situation
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Contents of the manuscript

• Definition of the game, motivation for the use of
  IDs
• IDs from the viewpoint of a single player
• Single stage ID game, its solution concepts
• Multistage ID game, the corresponding
  optimization problems
• The simulation procedure
• Numerical examples
• Possible journals
• Priority 1 Systems, Man, and Cybernetics
• Priority 1.1 Guidance, Control, and Dynamics