The Lab
AI & Robotics for Collaborative Systems
The AI & Robotics for Collaborative Systems (ARCS) Lab studies how humans and intelligent systems become more than the sum of their parts. We combine qualitative, quantitative, and computational methods to engineer human-AI teams that are trusted, ethical, and effective in the environments that matter most: defense, healthcare, manufacturing, and emergency response.
Visit the ARCS Lab websiteFunded Projects
What we're building right now.
More than $2.8 million in sponsored research awarded as Principal Investigator, anchored by two Army Research Office projects on shared world models and compromised AI teammates.
Formation, Drift, and Reconciliation of Shared World Models in Human-AI Teams Under Degraded Information Environments
$2,077,811 · Principal Investigator
Human-AI teams rarely operate on clean information. This project studies how a team's shared world model forms, drifts apart under degraded, delayed, or contested information, and can be reconciled again, so that humans and AI teammates keep a common picture of the mission when the environment stops cooperating.
Preventing, Identifying, and Mitigating the Impact of Compromised AI Teammates Using Shared Situation Awareness and Mental Model Accuracy
$718,690 · Principal Investigator
What happens when an AI teammate is compromised (hacked, spoofed, or degraded) and the team doesn't know? This project develops methods grounded in shared situation awareness and mental model accuracy to detect and recover from compromised AI teammates before they compromise the mission.
Augmenting Situation Awareness · Understanding the Acceptance of AI Teammates in High-Risk Contexts
$2,200 · Principal Investigator
Departmental funding supporting undergraduate researchers working on situation awareness augmentation and the acceptance of AI teammates in high-risk work.
Understanding the Acceptance of AI Teammates in High-Risk Contexts
$1,750 · Principal Investigator
Internal seed funding supporting undergraduate researchers studying when and why operators accept AI teammates in high-risk work.
Developing Personalized Adaptive AI Teammates
$1,750 · Principal Investigator
Internal funding supporting research on AI teammates that adapt their behavior to the individual humans they work with.
The Team
The humans behind the human-AI research.
Leadership
Beau G. Schelble, PhD
Founding Director
Assistant Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. PhD in Human-Centered Computing, Clemson University.
Doctoral Researchers
Sarah Mendoza
PhD Student
Industrial & Systems Engineering. Joined 2025.
Yayun Tian
PhD Student
Industrial & Systems Engineering. Joined 2025.
Naveena Nagaraju
PhD Student
Industrial & Systems Engineering. Joined 2026.
DEng Researchers
Daniel Opong-Duah
DEng Student
Doctor of Engineering, Industrial & Systems Engineering. Joined 2026.
Victoria Lalena
DEng Student
Doctor of Engineering, Industrial & Systems Engineering. Joined 2025.
Joey Burdin
DEng Student
Doctor of Engineering, Industrial & Systems Engineering. Joined 2025.
Cody Gaspar
DEng Student
Doctor of Engineering, Industrial & Systems Engineering. Joined 2024.
Undergraduate Researchers
Gracyn Filer
Undergraduate Researcher
B.S. Industrial & Systems Engineering. Joined 2024.
Brooke Henley
Undergraduate Researcher
B.S. Industrial & Systems Engineering. Joined 2025.
Owen Fair
Undergraduate Researcher
B.S. Information Systems. Joined 2025.
Aiden Conklin
Undergraduate Researcher
B.S. Industrial & Systems Engineering. Joined 2026.
Lab Alumni
Elizabeth Hughes
Lab Alumna
B.S. Applied Artificial Intelligence, 2024–2026.
Carson Bogue
Lab Alumnus
B.S. Industrial & Systems Engineering, 2024–2026. Now a graduate student in Industrial & Systems Engineering.
Join the Lab
The hardest problems in human-AI teaming need more minds.
The ARCS Lab is always looking for curious, rigorous students who want to shape how humans and AI work together. We welcome inquiries from prospective PhD students (Industrial & Systems Engineering), DEng students, and UTK undergraduates interested in research experience. Email bschelbl@utk.edu with your CV and a short note about what questions excite you.