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The Closed Ecology Experiment Facilities (CEEF) have been under construction in northern Japan since 1994. These facilities contain the Closed Plant Experiment Facility (CPEF), as well as other facilities, in all of which, Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS) research and development can be conducted. The CPEF includes two Plant Cultivation Modules (PCMs), which contain a PCM consists of three 30m2 closed cultivation rooms illuminated solely by lamps and a 165.1m3 preparation room, and a PCM consists of a 60m2 closed cultivation room illuminated by natural light and supplemental lamps and a 88.8m3 preparation room, and a Material Circulation System (MCS). Measured rate of air exchange between a 30m2 cultivation room and the preparation room was 0.48% hour-1, and that for a 60m2 cultivation room was about 0.11% hour-1. Air leak rate of the PCM as a whole was less than 0.01% hour-1 under isothermal and equal pressure condition.

The Closed Ecology Experiment Facilities (CEEF) were installed to collect data for estimation of transfer of radionuclides from atmosphere to humans in the ecosystem. The first target among the radio-nuclides is 14C. In order to validate function of material circulation in an experimental system constructed in the CEEF, circulation of air constituents, water and materials in waste was demonstrated connecting the Closed Plant Experiment Facility (CPEF) and the Closed Animal and Human habitation Experiment Facility (CAHEF) of the CEEF, since 2005 to 2007. The CPEF has a Plant Cultivation Module (PCM), which comprises of three plant chambers illuminated solely by artificial lighting, one plant chamber illuminated by both natural and artificial lighting, a space for preparation, and an airlock, and a physical/chemical material circulation system.

We developed an Advanced Life Support systems scheduler (ALS scheduler) to back up the habitation experiments of Closed Ecology Experiment Facilities (CEEF), and integrated the Lagrangian decomposition and coordination method for a scheduling algorithm of the scheduler. Later research revealed that when comparing solutions obtained by the Lagrangian decomposition and coordination method and by a skilled operator, respectively, a schedule sought by the skilled operator has different features from those of a schedule sought by the Lagrangian decomposition and coordination method. This paper describes how to generate a schedule such as one created by a skilled operator, while reducing complexity by integrating empirical knowledge to the Lagrangian decomposition and coordination method.

A habitation experiment using the Closed Ecology Experiment Facilities was started in 2005. In the future, the stays will be gradually extended. We have been developing the three layered control software for a Control Computer System of the Closed Ecology Experiment Facilities in order to back up the habitation experiments. In this paper, we will show the development of an operation scheduling system for one of the three layers, such as at the planning and scheduling level, and discuss the development of a scheduling algorithm that does not cause the complexity of the ALS scheduler to be exponentially increased.