Systems and Methods to Define and Monitor a Scenario of Conditions

Abstract

Systems and methods to define a scenario of conditions comprising the steps of defining at least one condition for at least one educational objective, the at least one condition being represented by a constraint and scheduling the conditions into a scenario of conditions. In some embodiments, the scheduling is performed by analyzing the constraints using constraint programming. In some embodiments, the constraints comprise mathematical or computational constraints representing a range of variables. Also disclosed are systems and methods to monitor a scenario of conditions.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A computer based method of monitoring a user presented a scenario of conditions in a computer based simulator, said method comprising:
 presenting a scenario of conditions to a user with a user interface of a computer based simulator;   the scenario of conditions comprising a plurality of conditions for at least one objective;   the at least one objective is a training objective for the user of a computer based simulator and the plurality of conditions comprises a plurality of training events to be communicated by the computer based simulator to the user;   at least one of the plurality of conditions being represented by at least one constraint;   the at least one constraint comprises a mathematical expression having at least one variable representing a plurality of values of the at least one constraint whereby the at least one of the plurality of conditions can be represented by the plurality of values of the constraint;   the mathematical expression implemented in a computer program;   monitoring, with one or more processor, an execution of the user of the at least one of the plurality of conditions of the user interface of the computer based simulator;   determining, with the one or more processor, at least one actual constraint value of the at least one of the plurality of conditions based on the execution of the user;   whereby the actual constraint value represents a performance of the user in the computer based simulator; and   determining, with the one or more processor, whether the actual constraint value satisfies the at least one of the plurality of conditions.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the mathematical expression comprises a range of a variable of the at least one of the plurality of conditions. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein:
 the mathematical expression is a relational expression representing a variable of the at least one of the plurality of conditions; 
 the at least one actual constraint value comprises an actual value of the variable of the at least one of the plurality of conditions; and 
 determining, with the one or more processor, whether the actual constraint value satisfies the at least one objective comprises comparing, with the one or more processor, the actual value of the variable of the at least one of the plurality of conditions to a range of values of the variable of at least one of the plurality of conditions and determining whether the actual value falls within the range of values. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the objective is an educational objective. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein one of the plurality of conditions is one of a plurality of 3D geographic locations of an entity in a simulation environment. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the scenario of conditions is changed dynamically during the execution of the user based on a second execution of a second user. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the scenario of conditions is changed automatically during the execution of the user based on the actual condition. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein:
 the scenario of conditions is changed by optimizing a plurality of constraints using constraint programming; 
 the at least one objective comprises at least one training objective; and 
 the plurality of conditions comprises one condition selected from the group consisting of: 
 a length of the scenario of conditions, and 
 a quantity of the plurality of conditions. 
 
     
     
         9 . A method of defining a scenario of conditions for computer based simulator, said method comprising the steps of:
 defining a plurality of conditions and a plurality of slots for a plurality of objectives;   at least one of the plurality of conditions being represented by at least one constraint;   the at least one constraint comprises a mathematical expression configured to model a variable of the at least one constraint;   each of the plurality of slots defining a value of the variable;   populating one or more of the plurality of slots with the value of the variable; and   automatically scheduling the plurality of conditions to define the scenario of conditions by optimizing the at least one objective given the at least one constraint across the plurality of conditions.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the plurality of objectives is a plurality of educational objectives. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the step of automatically scheduling the plurality of conditions to define a scenario of conditions by optimizing the at least one objective given the at least one constraint across the plurality of conditions comprises automatically sequencing the plurality of conditions to define a scenario of conditions by optimizing the at least one objective using constraint programming. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9  wherein automatically sequencing the plurality of conditions to define a scenario of conditions by optimizing the at least one objective given the at least one constraint across the plurality of conditions comprises automatically scheduling the plurality of conditions to define a scenario of conditions by satisfying the at least one objective using constraint programming. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the mathematical expression comprises a range of at least two of the plurality of values of the variable of the at least one constraint. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9  wherein a value of the variable is defined by an entity. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9  wherein a value of the variable is defined by a resource. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9  wherein a value of the variable is defined by a priority. 
     
     
         17 . A method of defining a scenario of conditions for a computer based simulator, said method comprising the steps of:
 an assignment model receiving a plurality of conditions for at least one objective;   at least one of the plurality of conditions being represented by at least one constraint;   the at least one constraint comprises a mathematical expression having at least one variable representing a plurality of values of the at least one constraint whereby the at least one of the plurality of conditions can be represented by the plurality of values of the at least one constraint;   the mathematical expression implemented in a computer program to be executed with a processor;   the assignment model communicating at least one of the plurality of conditions to a scheduling model;   the scheduling model scheduling, with a processor, at least one of the plurality of conditions to define the scenario of conditions for a computer based simulation environment by satisfying the at least one objective given the at least one constraint;   the computer based simulation environment comprises a plurality of networked computer based simulators;   whereby the scenario of conditions comprises at least one of the plurality of conditions for each of the networked computer based simulators; and   the scheduling model communicating at least one of the plurality of conditions to the computer based simulation environment.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising:
 receiving an actual value of the at least one variable of the at least one constraint from one of the plurality of networked computer based simulators; 
 whereby the actual value represents an actual constraint value from a user of one of the plurality of networked computer based simulators; 
 the scheduling model rescheduling at least one of the plurality of conditions to define an updated scenario of conditions for the computer based simulation environment by satisfying the at least one objective given the at least one constraint and the actual constraint value; and 
 whereby the updated scenario of conditions comprises at least one of the plurality of conditions for each of the networked computer based simulators.