Scheduling Under Uncertainty: An Analysis of an Air Force Application

Abstract

We investigated a new scheduling application under uncertainty: the Eglin AFB phased array radar tracks thousands of objects in space. Because of uncertainty associated with an object's location and radar cross-section, as well as the inherent power limits and weather, scheduling must trade-off maximizing the probability of detection against maximizing the total number of objects scheduled for observation; the system must also dynamically reschedule missed observations and incorporate new requests. The problem of scheduling under uncertainty, and what scheduling methods are robust under uncertainty, is not well understood. We developed and tested algorithms that can handle uncertainty during scheduling. We identified key factors that impact performance and algorithm characteristics that address it.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 29, 2007
Accession Number
ADA465658

Entities

People

  • Adele Howe
  • L. D. Whitley

Organizations

  • Colorado State University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Sensors
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Algorithms
  • Arrays
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Computer Science
  • Detection
  • Genetic Algorithms
  • Heuristic Methods
  • Observation
  • Operating Systems
  • Orbits
  • Phased Array Radar
  • Phased Arrays
  • Probability
  • Radar
  • Radar Cross Sections
  • Scheduling (Production)

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Operations Research
  • Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Space Objects