A remote-control system for unmanned rotorcraft that requires no flying experience from the operator has been tested by German aerospace agency DLR.
Called “easy handling mode”, it is designed to be an intermediate stage between remote control and complete rotorcraft autonomy.
The easy handling mode uses new flight-control algorithms to enable the craft to execute manoeuvres within a safe flight envelope despite any unfamiliarity by the user. This could aid even an experienced pilot whose vantage point from the control station diminishes his ability to make good manoeuvre decisions.
“Our next step is to improve the adaptability, fault tolerance and reconfiguration [capabilities of the rotorcraft],” says Dr Frank Thielecke, project leader and head of the DLR’s automation systems department.
The rotorcraft undergoing tests in Braunschweig is a modified hobbyists’ aerobatic helicopter with a 1.9m (6.2ft)-diameter rotor, a maximum speed of 65kt (120km/h) and payload capacity of 6.5kg (14lb). The aircraft has been modified to carry a camera and autonomous control system.
The research is part of the DLR’s Automatic Rotorcraft Testbed for Intelligent Systems (ARTIS) project. Started in 2002, ARTIS’s phase 1 ended in the second quarter. Phase 2 has started and will see voice-control flight demonstrations and vehicle tracking during 2005 (Flight International, 29 June–
Source: Flight International
