Obstacle detection and avoidance maneuver selection for automatically guided rotorcraft nap-of-the-earth flight following planned flight profiles

A procedure for unexpected obstacle avoidance is presented for automatically piloted rotorcraft flying in nap of the earth conditions along a prescribed flight path. Acquired knowledge from the sensed environment is correlated with the forehand knowledge of the recorded environment (terrain, cultural features, threats, and targets) used in the automatic guidance of the rotorcraft. This correlated knowledge is then used to determine an appropriate evasive maneuver if a nonconformity of the sensed and recorded environments is observed. Simulation testing using an autopilot validated the decision-making capacity of this procedure and the resultant maneuvering