Model-Based Tool for the Automatic Validation of Rotorcraft Regime Recognition Algorithms

TDA is proposing to develop a model based technique to automate the verification and validation process of helicopter regime recognition codes in three major steps. In the first step, a list of standardized flight regimes will be developed as this is a pre-requisite for automated verification and validation process, and these may become the recommended standard in the helicopter and HUMS community. In the next step, a helicopter dynamic model will be developed and used to fly various helicopter flight regimes. The parameters of the flight dynamic model will be determined by a nonlinear system identification process utilizing actual HUMS flight data. For all the regimes identified in the first step, appropriate feedback laws will be created to generate the control input time history sequence, which in turn will be given as input to the helicopter dynamic model. The output response from the helicopter model will be fed to the regime recognition codes as simulated HUMS flight data and the predicted regimes will be compared with the known regimes. In the final step, a verification and validation tool will be developed that will compare the regimes predicted by the regime recognition codes with the actual regimes flown by the simulated helicopter model and will output the misclassification rate, confusion matrix and other relevant statistical measures to quantify the accuracy of the regime recognition algorithms. For the purposes of this program, TDA will use the SH-60B helicopter to generate example results and will extend to other helicopter platforms later.