Flight test and simulation results for an autonomous aerobatic helicopter

Author

Gavrilets, V. ; Martinos, I. ; Mettler, B. ; Feron, E.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Aeronaut. & Astronaut., MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

Volume

2

fYear

2002

fDate

2002

Abstract

The X-Cell.60 is a model helicopter with a 5 ft rotor diameter, designed for competition aerobatics. In this paper we present the flight test and simulation results for the helicopter performing aerobatic maneuvering under exclusive computer control. We have previously demonstrated in flight an autonomous axial roll maneuver. Our next goal is to demonstrate operationally useful, and more challenging maneuvers, namely split-S and Immelman. Both maneuvers provide a rapid way to change direction of flight by trading kinetic and potential energy.

Keywords

aerospace simulation; aircraft computers; aircraft control; aircraft testing; helicopters; remotely operated vehicles; 5 ft; Immelman maneuver; X-Cell.60 model helicopter; aerobatic maneuvers; autonomous aerobatic helicopter flight test/simulation results; autonomous axial roll maneuvers; computer controlled aerobatic maneuvering; flight direction change; helicopter rotor diameter; kinetic/potential energy trading; operationally useful maneuvers; split-S maneuver; Aerospace electronics; Aerospace simulation; Computational modeling; Delay; Engines; Global Positioning System; Helicopters; Magnetic separation; Magnetosphere; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Digital Avionics Systems Conference, 2002. Proceedings. The 21st

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7367-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/DASC.2002.1052943

Filename

1052943