Predicting Pilot Behavior in Medium-Scale Scenarios Using Game Theory and Reinforcement Learning

A key element to meet the continuing growth in air traffic is the increased use of automation. Decision support systems, computer-based information acquisition, trajectory planning systems, high-level graphic display systems, and all advisory systems are considered to be automation components related to next generation (NextGen) air space. Given a set of goals represented as reward functions, the actions of the players may be predicted. However, several challenges need to be overcome. First, determining how a player can attempt to maximize their reward function can be a difficult inverse problem. Second, players may not be able to perfectly maximize their reward functions. ADS-B technology can provide pilots the information, position, velocity, etc. of other aircraft. However, a pilot has limited ability to use all this information for his/her decision making. For this scenario, the authors model these pilot limitations by assuming that pilots can observe a limited section of the grid in front of them.