ASISTO: An integrated intelligent assistant system for power plant operation and training

In this paper we present ASISTO, an intelligent assistant system for power plant operation and training based on probabilistic graphical models. Its main advantage is that it provides on-line guidance in the form of ordered recommendations, sensor validation capabilities, and explanation features, all for uncertain environments. The system allows dealing with abnormal situations, non-expected events, or the occurrence of process transients. The different modules of the system are based on Markov decision processes, Bayesian networks, and knowledge representation using the object-oriented paradigm. Functional results for each component of ASISTO using a power plant simulator are also presented.