From: nasanews
Date: Dec 14 14:19 UTC
Subject: New Digital Flight Control System
NASA DEVELOPS NEW DIGITAL FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM
Landing a jet on a small ship in choppy seas at night is a tough job,
even for experienced pilots. NASA has developed and is now testing a
new integrated flight and propulsion control system to help pilots land
under these and other adverse conditions.
Aerospace engineers at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA,
are developing the digital fly-by-wire flight control system to reduce
a pilot's workload and help stabilize landing aircraft. NASA is
testing the new flight control system in the V/STOL (Vertical/Short
Takeoff and Landing) Systems Research Aircraft (VSRA) to improve
takeoff and landing capabilities for V/STOL aircraft in reduced
visibility. The VSRA is a modified version of the U.S. Marine Corps'
AV-8B Harrier jet fighter, which can take off and land vertically.
"Digital fly-by-wire can give the pilot direct control over the
aircraft's velocity," said Ed Aiken, an Ames aerospace engineer. "It
helps the pilot control the aircraft at low speed," he said. "At low
speed in a V/STOL aircraft such as the AV-8 Harrier, you lose the
stabilizing effects of the aircraft's aerodynamics and only the
aircraft's propulsion system holds you aloft."
The new automated flight control system features both heads-up and
panel-mounted computer displays to help the pilot control the
aircraft. "Pilots can land with very low visibility, at night or in a
hazardous landing zone," said program manager John Foster. "They can
slow the aircraft to hover and land vertically on a small site."
The flight control system also automatically integrates control for the
aircraft's thrust and thrust vector angle. "We can change the
aircraft's thrust angle automatically to improve control during
hovering," Foster said. "This allows the pilot to concentrate on other
tasks such as avoiding obstacles or communicating with the ship if
landing at sea."
Flight tests, which include simulated shipboard landings using the
Global Positioning System for guidance, will continue at Ames through
Dec. 31. Project participants include pilots and engineers from the
Marine Corps, McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop/Grumman and
NASA.
"This research provides some valid design guidelines for these
aerospace companies to apply to a new STOVL (Short Takeoff and Vertical
Landing) fighter," Aiken said.
"They can study our test results and modify the flight control system
for their particular aircraft," Foster said. "They want a control
system they can build with minimal risk and investment. We think ours
will work. It really does reduce the pilot's workload."
The VSRA research project is supported by NASA, the U.S. Marine Corps
and the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command. Flight research data will be
used to develop and validate integrated control technology for future
Advanced Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (ASTOVL) aircraft.
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- T o d d E. V a n H o o s e a r -
``'''vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu - vanhoose@msu.edu - vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu
(._.) Michigan State University - East Lansing, MI USA
(_) Computer Laboratory - Department of Communication
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"I'd love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code!"
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