Method for Predicting Multi-Axis Task Performance and Handling Qualities Rating for a Coaxial-Compound and Tiltrotor Rotorcraft with Validating Data
Publication Date
1-1-2023
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Title
FORUM 2023 - Vertical Flight Society 79th Annual Forum and Technology Display
Abstract
The Cooper-Harper scale provides a structured approach for assessing handling qualities. It ties performance and relative pilot workload to the Handling Qualities Rating (HQR) of a task such that neither one, in isolation, is used to assess handling qualities. Prior work demonstrated that the Spare Capacity OPerator Estimator (SCOPE), whose elements derive from tracking error and pilot control motion, could predict HQR and performance for a single-axis task by applying a model of pilot control and an objective function driving pilot behavior to establish reference workload associated with Level 1 and Level 2 handling qualities. Level 1 workload is generated using elementary vehicle dynamics for executing the task. Level 2 workload is generated using vehicle dynamics that are degraded to produce a response coinciding with the adequate performance criteria. This method of workload calibration avoids using training data collected from pilots. The work presented in this paper extends SCOPE's single-axis predictive capabilities to multi-axis coupled control using the same perceptual principles employed in SCOPE, where individual stimuli are perceived collectively as the summation of their logarithms. SCOPE's predictive performance and HQR estimates were tested using data from a high-fidelity piloted simulation study for a variety of evaluation tasks using two representative Future Vertical Lift rotorcraft configurations (a lift offset coaxial helicopter with a pusher propeller, and a tiltrotor). The SCOPE derived estimates compared very favorably with the pilot performance and ratings from the simulation study.
Funding Sponsor
San José State University
Department
Research Foundation
Recommended Citation
Edward Bachelder, Tom Berger, Bimal Aponso, and Jeff Lusardi. "Method for Predicting Multi-Axis Task Performance and Handling Qualities Rating for a Coaxial-Compound and Tiltrotor Rotorcraft with Validating Data" FORUM 2023 - Vertical Flight Society 79th Annual Forum and Technology Display (2023).
