OPTIMAL GUIDANCE WITH OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE FOR NOE FLIGHT

NAP-OF-THE-EARTH FLIGHT IS FLIGHT AS CLOSE TO THE EARTH'S SURFACE AS OBSTACLES, TERRAIN AND VEGETATION WILL PERMIT, SO THAT MAXIMUM ADVANTAGE OF MASKING FROM THREATS IS OBTAINED. THIS EFFORT ADDRESSES AN AUTOMATED GUIDANCE PROCEDURE FOR NOE FLIGHT THAT ALSO ACCOUNTS FOR OBSTACLES. SUCH AUTOMATED GUIDANCE IS IMPERATIVE FOR CREW STATION WORKLOAD REDUCTION IN SUPPORT OF THE ADVANCED ROTORCRAFT TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION (ARTI) AND SUPERAUGMENTED ROTORCRAFT TECHNOLOGY (SART) PROGRAMS. IT IS BASED ON INNOVATIVE DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES THAT CURRENTLY SHOW PROMISE FOR TERRAIN FOLLOWING/TERRAIN AVOIDANCE GUIDANCE AS WELL. OBJECTIVES ARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NOE OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS, THE FORMULATION OF THIS OPTIMAL CONTROL PROBLEM, AND THE FEASIBILITY DEMONSTRATION OF A SOLUTION APPROACH INCLUDING COMPUTER SIMULATION. THE FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS INCLUDE OBSTACLE PARAMETERIZATION AND USE OF SUITABLE DIGITAL TERRAIN ELEVATION DATA BASES. THE EFFORT ADDRESSES DEFINITION OF SEVERAL POSSIBLE PERFORMANCE MEASURES THAT CAN BE OPTIMIZED IN REAL-TIME, RESULTING IN A FLIGHT PATH THAT, FOR EXAMPLE, MAXIMIZES TERRAIN MASKING WHILE AVOIDING OBSTACLES OVER EACH ROUTE SEGMENT. FEASIBILITY OF THIS AUTOMATIC GUIDANCE APPROACH, INCLUDING PRELIMINARY COMPUTER SIZING REQUIREMENTS, WILL BE ESTABLISHED.