FULLY AUTOMATIC GUIDANCE FOR ROTORCRAFT NAP-OF-THE-EARTH FLIGHT

NAP-OF-THE-EARTH (NOE) FLIGHT IN A CONVENTIONAL HELICOPTER IS EXTREMELY TAXING FOR TWO PILOTS UNDER VISUAL CONDITIONS. DEVELOPING A SINGLE PILOT ALL-WEATHER NOE CAPABILITY WILL REQUIRE A FULLY AUTOMATIC NOE NAVIGATION AND FLIGHT CONTROL CAPABILITY FOR WHICH INNOVATIVE GUIDANCE AND CONTROL CONCEPTS ARE PROPOSED. TIME-OPTIMALITY PROVIDES A VALIDATEDCRITERION FOR AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLED NOE MANEUVERS, IF THEPILOT IS TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE AUTOMATED MANEUVERING TECHNIQUE. THIS IS ONE INNOVATION WHICH WE PROPOSE. ANOTHER INNOVATION IS TO ORGANIZE THE STORAGE AND REAL-TIME UPDATING OF TERRAIN PROFILES AND OBSTACLES IN COURSE-ORIENTED COORDINATES WHICH ARE INDEXED TO THE MISSIONFLIGHT PLAN. THE DEFINED FLIGHT PROFILE COMMANDS WILL BE UPDATED IN REAL TIME BY PARAMETER IDENTIFICATION USING SENSED OBSTACLE AND TERRAIN DATA. OTHER OBJECTIVES OF PHASE I ARE TO DEFINE THE AUTOMATIC GUIDANCE ALGORITHMS AND NECESSARY DATA PREVIEW REQUIREMENTS TO FOLLOW THE UPDATED VERTICAL, LATERAL, AND LONGITUDINAL GUIDANCE COMMANDS DICTATED BY THE UPDATED FLIGHT PROFILES AND TO ADDRESS THE EFFECTS OF DELAYS AND DATA SKEWNESS IN DIGITAL GUIDANCE AND CONTROL SYSTEM CANDIDATES COMPOSED OF INDEPENDENT DIGITAL PROCESSORS FOR THE INTENDED APPLICATION. WHEN THE FIRST TWOPHASES OF WORK HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, WE ANTICIPATE THAT SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL GROUND-BASED TESTING OF PROMISING ALTERNATIVES FOR AUTOMATIC GUIDANCE AND CONTROL OFROTORCRAFT IN NOE OPERATIONS WILL HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED TO PROVIDE A PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION OF CONCEPTS.