Edwin W. Aiken

New Concepts and Perspectives on Micro-Rotorcraft and Small Autonomous Rotary-Wing Vehicles

A key part of the strategic vision for rotorcraft research as identified by senior technologists within the Army/NASA Rotorcraft Division at NASA Ames Research Center is the development and use of small autonomous rotorcraft. Small autonomous rotorcraft are defined for the purposes of this paper to be a class of vehicles that range in size from rotary-wing micro air vehicles (MAVs) to larger, more conventionally sized, rotorcraft uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) - i.e. vehicle gross weights ranging from hundreds of grams to thousands of kilograms. The development of small autonomous rotorcraft represents both a technology challenge and a potential new vehicle class that will have substantial societal impact for: national security, personal transport, planetary science, and public service.

Mars rotorcraft: possibilities, limitations, and implications for human/robotic exploration

Several research investigations have examined the challenges and opportunities in the use of small robotic rotorcraft for the exploration of Mars. To date, only vehicles smaller than 150 kg have been studied. This paper proposes to examine the question of maximum Mars rotorcraft size, range, and payload/cargo capacity. Implications for the issue of whether or not (from an extreme design standpoint) a manned Mars rotorcraft is viable are also discussed.

Preliminary design features of the RASCAL - A NASA/Army rotorcraft in-flight simulator

Salient design features of a new NASA/Army research rotorcraft - the Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL) - are described. Using a UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter as a baseline vehicle, the RASCAL will be a flying laboratory capable of supporting the research requirements of major NASA and Army guidance, control, and display research programs. The paper describes the research facility requirements of these programs together with other critical constraints on the design of the research system, including safety-of-flight. Research program schedules demand a phased development approach, wherein specific research capability milestones are met and flight research projects are flown throughout the complete development cycle of the RASCAL. This development approach is summarized, and selected features of the research system are described. The research system includes a full-authority, programmable, fault-tolerant/fail-safe, fly-by-wire flight control system and a real-time obstacle detection and avoidance system which will generate low-latitude guidance commands to the pilot on a wide field-of-view, color helmet-mounted display.

Exploration: Past and Future Contributions of the Vertical Lift Community and the Flight Vehicle Research and Technology Division

Abstract : Fulfillment of the exploration vision will require new cross-mission directorate and multi-technical discipline synergies in order to achieve the necessary long-term sustainability. In part, lessons from the Apollo-era, as well as more recent research efforts, suggest that the aeronautics--and specifically the vertical lift--research community can and will make significant contributions to the exploration effort. A number of notional concepts and associated technologies for such contributions are outlined.

Rotorcraft aircrew systems concepts airborne laboratory (RASCAL) helmet-mounted display flight research

The Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL) is a UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter that is being modified by the US Army and NASA for flight systems research. One of the objectives of the research is to develop and integrate technologies for Automated Nap-of-the Earth (ANOE) flight. The principal elements of this system include video imaging sensors, advanced real-time image processing capabilities, a graphics supercomputer, a wide field-of-view color helmet mounted display (HMD), and an advanced fly-by-wire flight control system. The development methodology and the current status of the ANOE Flight Program are summarized, a description of the visionics system is provided, and the plans for the initial applications of the color HMD are presented.

A review of recent programs and future plans for rotorcraft in-flight simulation at Ames Research Center

A new flight research vehicle, the Rotorcraft-Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL), is being developed by the U.S. Army and NASA at Ames Research Center. The requirements for this new facility stem from a perception of rotorcraft system technology requirements for the next decade together with operational experience with the CH-47B research helicopter that was operated as an in-flight simulator at Ames during the past 10 years. Accordingly, both the principal design features of the CH-47B variable-stability system and the flight-control and cockpit-display programs that were conducted using this aircraft at Ames are reviewed. Another U.S. Army helicopter, a UH-60A Black Hawk, has been selected as the baseline vehicle for the RASCAL. The research programs that influence the design of the RASCAL are summarized, and the resultant requirements for the RASCAL research system are described. These research programs include investigations of advanced, integrated control concepts for achieving high levels of agility and maneuverability, and guidance technologies, employing computer/sensor-aiding, designed to assist the pilot during low-altitude flight in conditions of limited visibility. The approach to the development of the new facility is presented and selected plans for the preliminary design of the RASCAL are described.