Piloted Simulation of Helicopter Shipboard Recovery with Visual and Control Augmentation

Abstract

Shipboard launch and recovery of helicopters continue to pose operational challenges even for experienced pilots. The factors affecting pilot workload include unsteady ship motion, the influence of ship air wakes on helicopters, insufficient visual cues, and adverse weather conditions. The goal of the current research is to investigate novel visual and control augmentation techniques and evaluate their impact on pilot workload and handling qualities for shipboard recovery operations. This paper first outlines a helicopter-ship dynamic interface model developed and integrated into our existing rotorcraft simulation environment (ROSIE). It then describes a visual augmentation concept using a see-through helmet-mounted display (HMD) system for enhancing the pilot's visual cueing environment during the shipboard approach and landing tasks. Next, it describes the synthesis of robust nonlinear control laws for achieving advanced helicopter response types with predicted Level 1 handling qualities. Lastly, the paper reports the results of simulation tests of maritime mission task elements by four experimental test pilots with different levels of augmentation and under different environmental conditions. Results on navigation performance, workload indices, and handling quality ratings indicate a decreased workload and improved handling qualities to almost Level 1 with the assistance of the visual and control augmentation system. Moreover, all piltos stated a higher situational awareness while operating in degraded visual environment conditions using visual and control augmentation.

Helicopter augmented control laws for ship deck landing: HACLAS ONERA/DLR Joint Team

“…This objective can be reached using augmented control laws. Such control laws are particularly valuable for rotorcraft ship deck operations, which are some of the most demanding of all rotorcraft piloting tasks [1]. Assessing different levels of augmentation and determining flight control law requirements for such complex maneuvers can help to improve safety, reduce pilot effort and workload and increase the helicopter-ship operational envelope [2].…”

A Continuous Multivariable Finite-Time Super-Twisting Attitude and Rate Controller for Improved Rotorcraft Handling

“…Likewise, Reference [7] showed that inexperienced pilots could only fly a conventional helicopter when it was augmented via their H ∞ and µ controllers to offer translational rate command responses. Reference [8] showed the ability of a robust sliding mode flight controller to alleviate pilot workload for a shipboard landing task.…”

“…Such a pseudo-SMC approach, however, degrades the desirable robustness properties of the original SMC, since the linear approximation inside the boundary layer is no longer completely robust to uncertainties [13]. Pseudo-sliding mode controllers based on the boundary layer concept have been developed and studied for rotorcraft flight control applications with good results in References [8,[14][15][16][17][18].…”