Autonomous Rotorcraft Flight Control with Multi-Level Pilot Interaction in Hover and Forward Flight

摘要

This paper describes the development and flight testing of an autonomous flight control system that allows for different levels of pilot interaction in both hover and forward flight. Three modes of operations are described, fully coupled autonomy, additive control, and piloted decoupled attitude-command. These modes are demonstrated on the Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL) JUH-60A Black Hawk integrated with Obstacle Field Navigation (OFN) and Safe Landing Area Determination (SLAD) algorithms that both use a line scanning LADAR as their primary sensor. The paper will describe the control system, its performance, and demonstrate how it was used to transition into these modes while flying mission scenarios through mountainous terrain at speeds from hover to 100 kts.