Asset/Facility Operations Modeling

Infrastructure operators interact with infrastructure systems by making decisions based on constraints and opportunities. To model such interactions, we need a general method to represent infrastructure decision processes. The ability to model these interactions allows prediction of not only the likely infrastructure operator response to external events but also the possible infrastructure impacts caused by those decisions.

This modeling develops and applies the capability to accurately model the operation, function, and interrelationship of particular assets within an infrastructure system. Humans interact with physical systems through implementing policy, assessing situations, and making decisions based on constraints and opportunities.

The model uses an agent framework to simulate the activities of facility and asset operators. The framework enables modeling of routine activities as well as actions that are more complex and require reasoning across capabilities, resources, and constraints. The framework is developed in layers; each layer is demonstrated on a test problem before it is made generally available for NISAC applications. The first layer is the ability to perform routine activities by an operator, enabling reactive behavior. The second layer is the ability to perform complex tasks by reasoning over problem elements, which provides a planning capability. The third layer, develops the ability to reason over problem elements while accounting for the potential actions of other agents, enabling the development of strategic actions that can be either cooperative or adversarial, depending on the environment.

There are many potential applications of this capability to infrastructure modeling, including estimating demand for urban infrastructure services (electrical power, telecommunications, water, and natural gas) and modeling operations of electrical power generating plants, hospital operations, elements of emergency services, ports, and the effects of markets on infrastructure services.

Application of this capability to modeling specific assets and facilities must be done in coordination with sector specialists, private facility owners, and domain specialists to describe the range of behavior to be modeled.