Contractor information, if partnered with a Prime or subtier defense contractor under this
SBIR/STTR effort.
Project Title
Acoustic Analysis Intelligent Tutoring System (AAITS)
Technology Developed
AAITS is an artificial intelligence tutoring system developed for sonar technicians. It uses a collection of software programs that display “reality created” acoustic signals that trainees can learn to analyze in order to detect and classify undersea and surface targets. AAITS evaluates the student’s interpretation of the acoustic data by comparing the student’s annotations of the acoustic data with those of an expert and experienced sonar technician who created the scenario. It then debriefs the student by pointing out the student’s correct, incorrect, and missing annotations.
DoD / Government Applications
• AAITS is being used at ten Navy training sites today
Benefit to the DoD
Learning to detect and classify undersea vessels requires extensive practice analyzing sonar data, as well as individualized feedback and instruction from acoustic analysis experts. In the past, high cost of instructors and the large number of students requiring one-on-one tutoring made it difficult to provide extensive scenario-based training. The lack of real-world learning opportunities was also an impediment. By automating the evaluation of each student’s analysis, AAITS enables instructors in schoolhouse environments to provide students with much more practice-based learning in less time. AAITS can also be used at sea to provide instructor-less training. Trainees can access AAITS through standard PCs. AAITS can present easy and difficult scenarios, so it can be used for initial training of novice sonar technicians as well as for advanced acoustic analysis training.
• Uses artificial intelligence to “act” as an instructor, providing automated performance evaluation, feedback, and corrections.
• Can be used with or without live instructors making AAITS a versatile and economic training system.
• Is a far more effective training system than traditional computer-based training systems that merely present information to students and then ask simple, multiple-choice questions.
Private Sector Applications
The teaching methods and software technologies developed for AAITS can be applied to teach other image interpretation tasks, in areas such as medicine imaging, homeland security (e.g., baggage screening), aerial and satellite images for intelligence, damage assessment, and earth science research.
Private Sector Benefits
Benefit to Company
Development of AAITS enabled Stottler Henke enhanced our strong, positive reputation with the U.S. Navy and among contractors to the U.S. Navy for developing innovative yet practical training solutions. This reputation has helped Stottler Henke to join a number of teams that are currently bidding for training systems R&D for the Department of Defense.
Additional Comments
Taxonomy
Photograph/Graphic
