How Ai Influences The Design Process Of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles’ (Uuvs) 3d Sonar System,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
How Ai Influences The Design Process Of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles’ (Uuvs) 3d Sonar System, Eden Tsouklaris, Abriella Smith, Brianna Broderick, Carissa Aumack, Victoria Cornaro
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
With the exponential growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI), user interface (UI) designers have explored using AI to shorten design time. This study assessed the effectiveness of UIs designed with AI programs versus manual methods for an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) control system. Participants were tasked with designing an interface that would allow submarine operators to monitor and coordinate three UUVs repairing a severed underwater communication cable at a depth of 2,000 meters. The scenario presented several operational challenges (zero visibility, sonar-only perception, data latency, and potential system degradation), requiring participants' designs to maintain spatial awareness and support remote repair tasks. …
High Tempo Air Operations,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
High Tempo Air Operations, Joseph Lipson, Brennan Flanagan, Trevor Sterbens, Brandon Godfrey, Jeremiah Sepich
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
Aircraft carrier flight decks are one of the most dangerous work environments in the world, where dozens of aircraft must be moved, fueled, and armed within strict time limits. Currently, Flight Deck Handling Officers track aircraft positions using a physical board with wooden pucks that can be knocked out of place or become outdated during fast-moving operations. This study looks at whether using AI tools helps people design a better digital version of this tracking system. Participants with little design experience were randomly selected and then randomly assigned to one of two groups — one that could use AI tools …
Humans Vs. Ai: Comparing Approaches To Disaster Response Interface Design,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Humans Vs. Ai: Comparing Approaches To Disaster Response Interface Design, Kelly Nguyen, Olivia Hartmann, Kailey Hrbek, Madeline Nees, Gabrielle Roth, Emily Silliman
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
Amphibious emergency support operations involve rapidly changing information, high stress, and significant cognitive demands, which can make decision-making and situation awareness more difficult for operators. When interfaces are poorly designed, they can contribute to issues such as alarm flooding, confusion from incomplete information, and delayed responses, all of which increase operational risk during time-critical disaster situations. This study explores whether using generative AI to assist with interface design will improve performance (output quality and effort) and usability compared to a manual sketch mock-up. Participants were asked to design a dashboard interface to support disaster relief operations following a Category 5 …
Evaluating The Impact Of Ai-Assisted Tools On Novice Interface Design For Combat Search And Rescue Operations,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Evaluating The Impact Of Ai-Assisted Tools On Novice Interface Design For Combat Search And Rescue Operations, Louis Pandolfo, Kaylee H. Akerlund, Cassidi Ellison, Sierra Martinez
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) operations are specialized military missions with the goal of rescuing personnel from hostile territory, often involving helicopters and elite teams tasked with locating and stabilizing survivors. It is imperative to a mission's success that any interface used by rescuers is efficient and usable, as they work under high risk, high stress, and time limited conditions. This study examined how access to artificial intelligence (AI) design tools influence novice interface design under a time constraint. Participants completed an interface design exercise based on a simulated U.S. Navy maritime disaster and CSAR mission. The overall aim of …
Navigating Enhanced Exploration Assistance (Nexa),
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Navigating Enhanced Exploration Assistance (Nexa), Azhari Abbas, Caleb Fakunle, Ryan Powell, Donovan Livingston
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
NEXA is an artificial intelligence software platform developed to enhance residential security and property monitoring through seamless integration with autonomous drone systems. This research application of advanced AI in surveillance aims to create a standalone solution capable of real-time threat detection and intelligent alert management. By processing visual and sensory data, NEXA facilitates autonomous drone operation with minimal human intervention. Secure communication channels ensure that instant alerts are delivered to property owners and, potentially, law enforcement, improving response times in security incidents, search-and-rescue operations, and perimeter surveillance. Additionally, NEXA is capable of interfacing with commercially available drone platforms and presents …
An Evaluation Of Machine Learning Models' Efficacy In Determining Uav Spoofing Attacks,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
An Evaluation Of Machine Learning Models' Efficacy In Determining Uav Spoofing Attacks, Nicolas Machado, Jaxon Selzer
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
An Evaluation of Machine Learning Models' Efficacy in Determining UAV Spoofing Attacks - The rapid integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) into urban airspace has introduced significant cybersecurity concerns, particularly due to vulnerabilities in Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B), which lacks authentication and encryption. This project addresses the problem of detecting spoofing and data manipulation attacks that can compromise UAV safety and mission reliability. The objective of this work is to evaluate the effectiveness of machine learning–based anomaly detection, specifically Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) networks, as protocol-agnostic solutions for identifying anomalous UAV behavior. To achieve this, …
Helio: Heliophysics Enhanced Learning For Intelligent Orbits,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Helio: Heliophysics Enhanced Learning For Intelligent Orbits, Kylie Nager, James Kirk
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
HELIO: Heliophysics Enhanced Learning for Intelligent Orbits Satellite constellations operating in near-Earth space are increasingly vulnerable to space weather disturbances, such as solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and high-speed solar wind streams, which degrade communications, destabilize attitude control, and accelerate orbital decay. These disturbances directly threaten mission continuity, constellation availability, and space asset survivability. Current protective approaches rely primarily on ground-based alerts and lack integration with broader space domain awareness, which results in programmed reactive protocols that are often initiated too late to prevent performance degradation and asset loss. The HELIO project addresses this gap by turning space-weather forecasts …
Interplanetary Trajectory Optimization With Reinforcement Learning,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Interplanetary Trajectory Optimization With Reinforcement Learning, Shiloh Cuffe
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
This project investigates the application of reinforcement learning (RL) to optimize low-thrust interplanetary trajectory design, focusing on the Earth-Venus transfer leg of the BepiColombo mission. Traditional trajectory optimization methods, such as patched conics and genetic algorithms, often require simplifying assumptions or complex optimization schemes. This work formulates the trajectory design problem as an optimal control problem (OCP) within a Markov Decision Process (MDP) framework, enabling an RL agent to learn efficient transfer strategies under realistic spacecraft constraints. The objective is to develop an autonomous guidance approach capable of replicating or improving upon established mission designs. The spacecraft is modeled as …
Feasibility Of High-Throughput Onboard Ai For Mars Rovers Under Solar Constraints,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Feasibility Of High-Throughput Onboard Ai For Mars Rovers Under Solar Constraints, Aashman Gupta
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
This project evaluates the feasibility of sustained onboard AI autonomy for a solar-powered Mars rover by directly linking solar energy availability to achievable compute performance. While Mars solar irradiance and edge computing performance have been studied independently, no unified framework currently couples surface power generation to autonomy throughput in an experimentally validated manner. The project will begin with a simulation of solar power generation for a 1 m² rover-mounted array across a Martian sol, accounting for seasonal variation, dust opacity, and array configuration (fixed versus sun-tracking). The resulting power profile will then be coupled to representative compute platforms running autonomy …
An Energy-Aware Meta-Learning Framework For Real-Time Lunar Rover Localization Via Adaptive Algorithm Selection,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
An Energy-Aware Meta-Learning Framework For Real-Time Lunar Rover Localization Via Adaptive Algorithm Selection, Jose Demedeiros, Garrett Seyler
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
This work proposes an energy-aware meta-learning framework that selects the single most suitable localization algorithm for a lunar rover, per scene, using only monocular imagery and orbital maps. The goal is to achieve sub-meter accuracy while minimizing onboard compute and energy consumption. We assemble a suite of seven lunar-relevant algorithms spanning relative and absolute localization, including monocular ORB-SLAM3, LuVo homography-based visual odometry, Censible cross-view matching with orbital imagery, crater-based methods (LunarNav and ShadowNav), monocular horizon navigation with a DEM, and DROID-SLAM. Relative methods provide incremental motion updates, while absolute methods deliver global pose fixes; an Extended Kalman Filter fuses these …
A Qualitative Analysis Of Human-Ai Interaction Through Animated Shapes,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
A Qualitative Analysis Of Human-Ai Interaction Through Animated Shapes, Kavya Dipen Shah, Angel Hinojosa, Caroline Deck
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
As technology becomes more advanced, it is important to understand how people perceive the intentions and abilities of machines. This project, conducted in the InTeRACT Lab, explores how we attribute humanlike qualities to different types of agents, ranging from animals to robots. The study analyzes data from an experiment where participants watched animations of moving triangles. Although the videos were identical, participants were told the shapes represented either humans, robots, dogs, or inanimate objects. While previous math-based data showed that these labels changed how people felt, those structured scales didn't allow for a natural, unbiased explanation of what people actually …
A System Safety Approach To Assuring Artificial Intelligence Enabled Functions In Civil Aviation,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
A System Safety Approach To Assuring Artificial Intelligence Enabled Functions In Civil Aviation, Evan Bear, Quinn Galen
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are increasingly proposed for use in safety-critical civil aviation functions including perception decision support and pilot assistance. Existing aviation safety and certification standards such as ARP4754A and DO-178C were developed under assumptions of determinism explicit requirements and complete behavioral specification which do not directly apply to learning-enabled systems. This mismatch has created uncertainty regarding how artificial intelligence enabled avionics can be safely assured and certified. This paper presents a system safety approach for assuring artificial intelligence enabled functions within existing aviation certification frameworks. In this approach safety assurance is based on explicitly identifying the …
A Hybrid Llm-Srgm Framework For Ai-Enabled Reliability Assessment In Safety-Critical Software Systems,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
A Hybrid Llm-Srgm Framework For Ai-Enabled Reliability Assessment In Safety-Critical Software Systems, Caleb Stone, Shrenik Jadhav
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
Ensuring the reliability of software intensive and safety critical systems is a persistent challenge across aerospace, defense, transportation, and other mis- sion focused domains. Traditional software relia- bility growth models (SRGM) provide useful quanti- tative insight into defect discovery trends, but they rely mostly only on numerical failure data and do not use the rich contextual information contained in test logs, anomaly reports, and engineering notes. This paper presents a hybrid framework that com- bines semantic features extracted by a large lan- guage model (LLM) with a non-homogeneous Pois- son process (NHPP) based software reliability growth model. The LLM analyzes …
Cars Imass - Comparing Llm Vs Human Operator Effectiveness In Multi-Agent Swarm Coordination,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Cars Imass - Comparing Llm Vs Human Operator Effectiveness In Multi-Agent Swarm Coordination, Gatlin Nelson
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
Title: Dual-Perspective Risk Analysis for Human-LLM Decision Comparison in UAV Swarm Navigation Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms operating in low-altitude wireless network environments encounter localized disruptions that degrade positioning and navigation metrics. These disruptions are modeled as geographic failure zones with defined boundaries. A UAV discovers a zone by entering it and observing degraded performance on its onboard systems. This work assumes that affected UAVs can autonomously retreat to safety using onboard sensors and focuses on the subsequent rerouting decision. Once recovered, the system generates candidate repositioning points surrounding the vehicle, each scored using Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR). A human operator …
Social Attributions Of Moving Shapes: Comparing Qualitative Analyses Of Humans Vs. Ai,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Social Attributions Of Moving Shapes: Comparing Qualitative Analyses Of Humans Vs. Ai, Angel Hinojosa
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
As technology becomes more intelligent, the relationship between humans and machines is rapidly shifting. Whether a machine is perceived as a capable partner or a source of wariness often depends on the intentions and abilities, we attribute to it. My research in the InTeRACT Lab seeks to empirically assess these perceptions by comparing how we view different nonhuman agents, ranging from animals to robots. This study analyzes qualitative data from a task where participants viewed animations of moving triangles. While the videos remained the same, participants were told the shapes represented either humans, robots, dogs, or inanimate shapes. Previous quantitative …
A Survey On Machine Learning Applications For Operating System Fingerprinting,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
A Survey On Machine Learning Applications For Operating System Fingerprinting, Siri Siqveland
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
In the modern age of computers and interconnected networks, cybersecurity and cyber-attackers are evolving in tandem to exploit each other’s vulnerabilities. One technique used by both parties is Operating System Fingerprinting (OSF): with the knowledge of what Operating System a target system is running, innate vulnerabilities can be identified and patched or exploited. Historically, OSF utilizes two main methods: passive and active—the former trades accuracy with undetectability while the latter is generally more detectable but more accurate. However, recent work has combined OSF with Machine Learning (ML) to improve accurate identification. The work presented here is a survey for the …
Phaëthon System,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Phaëthon System, Brady Roudabush, Lauren Gallo, Emelia Thompson, Jacob Woods
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
Phaëthon System is the project name for the Search and Rescue Drone Initiative. This initiative will improve the current search and rescue drone industry by introducing new techniques to get through dense forest canopies and other places where an overhead view is not useful. The Phaëthon System uses a swarm of drones that can penetrate under the tree canopy to map and search with the utmost efficiency and safety for rescuers. A command drone is launched to survey the overall search area, and set up a communications and data link. The next component is then released, which is a swarm …
Stress-Triggered Automation Reliance,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Stress-Triggered Automation Reliance, Jazmin Elek
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
Automation is widely used in complex systems and includes any process that replaces human motor, sensory, or cognitive functions with machines or computers (Norman, 1996). As automation becomes more common, understanding how humans trust and interact with these systems is critical. Trust can be measured by whether users override automation or blindly follow its prompts (Norman, 1996). Artificial intelligence (AI) introduces additional complexity by enabling systems to learn patterns from data it generates. AI performs tasks with the ability to learn from experience (NASA, 2024). AI builds internal databases that can mimic human-like responses (Norman, 1996). However, AI systems can …
Stormtrack: A Regime-Aware Classifier-Router Architecture For Multi-Horizon Kp Index Forecasting,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Stormtrack: A Regime-Aware Classifier-Router Architecture For Multi-Horizon Kp Index Forecasting, John Rendleman
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
STORMTRACK: A Regime-Aware Classifier-Router Architecture for Multi-Horizon Kp Index Forecasting Current algorithms in operational space weather face extreme difficultly predicting the Kp geomagnetic index beyond 24 hours, a lead time that is critical for protecting high-frequency communications and infrastructure. Most regression models are optimized for quiet conditions, which dominate the data, leading to systematic underpredictions of storm events that cripple space infrastructure. Probabilistic approaches and physics-based numerical models also falter due to the same class imbalance plaguing standard regressors at multi-day lead times. The ICARUS 6 architecture addresses this by splitting the forecasting component into quiet and storm regimes, which …
Accelerating Search And Rescue Response: A Simulation Study On The Dynamic Efficiency Of Flocking-Enabled Drone Swarms,
2026
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Accelerating Search And Rescue Response: A Simulation Study On The Dynamic Efficiency Of Flocking-Enabled Drone Swarms, Sophia Beckwith, Carys Del Prete
Discovery Day - Daytona Beach
This project explores how imitations observed in animal group behavior, specifically flocking in birds, can be applied to the functionality of autonomous drone systems to aid in search and rescue efforts. The goal is to demonstrate how incorporating code based on the Boids, Vicsck and predictive control linear algebraic mathematical models for drone flight controls and the collective behaviors of flocks will increase the efficiency of drone maneuvers, allowing them to reorganize and fill gaps when one is removed. A MATLAB-based simulation was developed to model the behaviors using research conducted on the symmetric and synchronized behaviors observed from flocks …
