Motion Cueing Fidelity in Rotorcraft Flight Simulation

Motion Cueing Fidelity in Rotorcraft Flight Simulation: A New Perspective using Modal Analysis

Miletović, I. (TU Delft Control & Simulation)

Mulder, Max (promotor)
Pavel, M.D. (promotor)

Delft University of Technology

2020-02-03

Flight simulators, or Flight Simulation Training Devices (FSTDs), offer great benefits in terms of safety and cost associated with pilot training and certification. To warrant uniform certification standards and to prevent adverse pilot training, (sub)system fidelity requirements are imposed by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). While comprehensive, a notable example of an area in which these requirements are somewhat limited, are those pertaining to the Motion Cueing System (MCS) of full-flight flight simulators. The MCS comprises hardware, typically a set of actuators to enable physical motion of the platform, and software, often termed the Motion Cueing Algorithm (MCA), to process the simulated vehicle motion to prevent violation of (physical) simulator constraints. Naturally, the MCA introduces a significant mismatch between the actual (i.e., in-flight) and simulated vehicle motion perceived by the pilot. Furthermore, this mismatch often comes on top of inaccuracies in the mathematical model used to compute the simulated vehicle motion. Because of this complex interaction, the formulation of quantitative requirements pertaining to the allowed mismatch between real vehicle and simulator motion has proven cumbersome. To date, certification of flight simulator motion is therefore based predominantly on subjective evaluation by experienced pilots. To address this problem, the aim of this dissertation is to develop a unifying tool to quantify motion cueing fidelity in helicopter flight simulation and to evaluate its suitability in realistic applications.

helicopter dynamics
flight simulation
motion cueing
simulation fidelity

https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:4fdea178-a5b1-4620-987e-b1f2f9c23d32

TU Delft, Faculteit LR

978-94-6384-103-0

Institutional Repository

doctoral thesis

© 2020 I. Miletović