VAM

Visual Analytics Manager (VAM) is a software tool that enables humans to perform management of a Cyber Physical System (CPS) more efficiently. A CPS is a collection of physical objects, sensors, and actuators where the sensors provide data to the cyber (computer) realm regarding the physical objects and the actuators allow the cyber realm to cause effects in the physical realm.

The Manager in VAM indicates that the tool contains software to enable the human to query the information and control how it is displayed, enabling the user to make better management decisions. The Analytics in VAM indicates the inclusion of both simple and complex analysis functions to process the data. Simple functions like sampling and aggregation allow the system to process the information and remove redundant information. Complex analytics include artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms that process data and make complex classifications and recommendations. The information from the sensors and the analytics is presented visually to the user by the VAM. This presentation may be in very simple data presentations, such as line and scatter plots and data tables, or can be in the form of complex intelligent icon based views and map views. The visual presentations of the information are designed to present the information in a way that facilitates decision making.

The toolkit is designed to be used by a cyber-engineer (the designer) with knowledge of the physical realm and the components in the CPS. The toolkit creates a VAM which is used by a user, who understands the physical realm (e.g., the elements of a public transportation system), to gain insight into the CPS and to provide human-in-the-loop (HITL) management of the CPS.