Designing a Reliable UAV Architecture Operating in a Real Environment

The article presents a method of designing a selected unmanned aerial platform flight scenario based on the principles of designing a reliable (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) UAV architecture operating in an environment in which other platforms operate. The models and results presented relate to the medium-range aerial platform, subject to certification under the principles set out in aviation regulations. These platforms are subject to the certification process requirements, but their restrictions are not as restrictive as in the case of manned platforms. Issues related to modeling scenarios implemented by the platform in flight are discussed. The article describes the importance of Functional Hazard Analysis (FHA) and Fault Trees Analysis (FTA) of elements included in the hardware and software architecture of the system. The models in Unified Modeling Language (UML) used by the authors in the project are described, supporting the design of a reliable architecture of flying platforms. Examples of the transformations from user requirements modeled in the form of Use Cases to platform operation models based on State Machines and then to the final UAV operation algorithms are shown. Principles of designing system test plans and designing individual test cases to verify the system’s operation in emergencies in flight are discussed. Methods of integrating flight simulators with elements of the air platform in the form of Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) models based on selected algorithms for avoiding dangerous situations have been described. The presented results are based on a practical example of an algorithm for detecting an air collision situation of two platforms.

Aviation simulator software, typical functions and its development prospects

Flight simulators have been used for more than eighty years. The development of aircraft simulators that simulate the pilot’s work in the cockpit, the conditions of take-off, flight, landing, as well as the work of the dispatcher to train and maintain the professional level of aviation specialists is being addressed worldwide[1]. Training complexes can be divided into several parts, one of which is software. The instructor’s workstation software allows him to set various parameters of take-off, flight and landing conditions, as well as monitor and control the simulator subsystems. The article discusses typical functions of simulator software and prospects for the training development on flight simulators.

STRUCTURE AND REQUIREMENTS FOR A UNIVERSAL TRAINING DEVICE FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT COMPLEXES

The problems of personnel training for the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles have been updated. The differences between the skills and abilities of personnel for manned and unmanned aircraft are highlighted. The widespread types of flight simulators are considered, their features are given. The basic schemes of application of linear and nonlinear mathematical models of formation (formalization) of knowledge, abilities and skills of the personnel taking into account absence / presence of updating of the information in the course of training are substantiated.The basic modes of operation of USL, the universal simulator for training are specified. Emphasis is placed on the fact that USL is a partial case of an automated training management system (ACS), and a block diagram of training with it is given. The tasks that can be solved on a universal simulator and the requirements for software and hardware, automated workplace, digital sound, general software, peripherals, data exchange, digital video, user interface and webbased automated instructions are discussed in detail. The functions and structure of the universal simulator for training unmanned aircraft complex are presented.

Review of flight simulation fidelity requirements to help reduce ‘rotorcraft loss of control in-flight’ accident rates

This paper examines the fidelity requirements for flight simulators to improve training and address the problems associated with rotorcraft loss of control in-flight (LOC-I). To set the context, trends in rotorcraft accident statistics are presented. The data show that, despite recent safety initiatives, LOC-I rotorcraft accidents have been identified as a significant and growing contribution to accident rates. In the late 1990s, the fixed-wing commercial aircraft community faced a similar situation relating to upset prevention and recovery, and through a coordinated international effort, developed a focussed training programme to reduce accident rates. Lessons learned from the fixed-wing programme are presented to highlight how improved rotorcraft modelling and simulation tools are required to reduce rotorcraft accidents through higher quality, simulator-based training programmes. Relevant flight simulator certification standards are reviewed, with an emphasis on flight-model fidelity and vestibular motion cueing requirements. The findings from rotorcraft modelling and motion cueing research, that highlight relevant fidelity issues, are presented to identify areas for further activities to enhance the fidelity of simulators standards for use in LOC-I prevention training.

An Android Based Flight Simulator using VR Technology

For training young pilots. Flight simulators enhance the safety measures, as the risk factor of severe injuries are eliminated since the training is now synthetic. However, flight simulators also require large space, large budget and does have many high end requirements, which are to be met in order to make the simulator respond and perform identical to that of a real aircraft. Flight simulators does have their hardware constraints and because of these limitations, the simulators are not of generic nature that supports different sort of aircrafts. In this paper, the simulator environment is deployed in virtual reality to simulate the similar controls on a stereoscopic environment. Deployment of the simulator is such, that experience of flying an aircraft from cockpit will give a sensational view to the user. Virtual reality is used in learning purpose, as normal person can experience what it will be like, to fly an aircraft

A Guide for Using Flight Simulators to Study the Sensory Basis of Long-Distance Migration in Insects

Studying the routes flown by long-distance migratory insects comes with the obvious challenge that the animal’s body size and weight is comparably low. This makes it difficult to attach relatively heavy transmitters to these insects in order to monitor their migratory routes (as has been done for instance in several species of migratory birds. However, the rather delicate anatomy of insects can be advantageous for testing their capacity to orient with respect to putative compass cues during indoor experiments under controlled conditions. Almost 20 years ago, Barrie Frost and Henrik Mouritsen developed a flight simulator which enabled them to monitor the heading directions of tethered migratory Monarch butterflies, both indoors and outdoors. The design described in the original paper has been used in many follow-up studies to describe the orientation capacities of mainly diurnal lepidopteran species. Here we present a modification of this flight simulator design that enables studies of nocturnal long-distance migration in moths while allowing controlled magnetic, visual and mechanosensory stimulation. This modified flight simulator has so far been successfully used to study the sensory basis of migration in two European and one Australian migratory noctuid species.

Development of a 3D Holographic Flight Situational Awareness System

Recent inventions of Augmented Reality (AR) Head-Mounted-Device (HMD) devices such as Microsoft’s HoloLens have allowed certain innovations that up till now were only able to exist in Science Fiction. The ability to project holograms within a space have been used in the Aerospace industry since 2016, when the HoloLens was first released. However, the aviation industry has yet to harness the capability that such a device can allow. The conversion of a traditional 2D Primary Flight Display (PFD)to a Volumetric 3D representation of the PFD was explored. The 3D representation of the PFD was created in Unity 3D, and by means of the Holographic Remoting Tool the graphics were displayed on to the HoloLens. The symbology on the PFD was driven by live flight data from a flight simulator. For thisproject two different 3D PFD models were created one for a fixed-winged based aircraft, and another fora quadcopter. Two different flight simulators were used for the two different PFDs. For the fixed-wingedPFD the Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) World by Eagle Dynamics was used, and for the quadcopterPFD the AirSim plugin by Microsoft was ran using Unreal Engine 4 (UE4). Through testing it was found that both the PFD models assist the pilots to safely keep their aircraft in the air and also perform an emergency landing by only using the 3D PFD. Another conclusion made was that in its current state the3D PFD is ideal for Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) pilots as a holographic Ground Control Station(GCS)

Development of a 3D Holographic Flight Situational Awareness System

Recent inventions of Augmented Reality (AR) Head-Mounted-Device (HMD) devices such as Microsoft’s HoloLens have allowed certain innovations that up till now were only able to exist in Science Fiction. The ability to project holograms within a space have been used in the Aerospace industry since 2016, when the HoloLens was first released. However, the aviation industry has yet to harness the capability that such a device can allow. The conversion of a traditional 2D Primary Flight Display (PFD)to a Volumetric 3D representation of the PFD was explored. The 3D representation of the PFD was created in Unity 3D, and by means of the Holographic Remoting Tool the graphics were displayed on to the HoloLens. The symbology on the PFD was driven by live flight data from a flight simulator. For thisproject two different 3D PFD models were created one for a fixed-winged based aircraft, and another fora quadcopter. Two different flight simulators were used for the two different PFDs. For the fixed-wingedPFD the Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) World by Eagle Dynamics was used, and for the quadcopterPFD the AirSim plugin by Microsoft was ran using Unreal Engine 4 (UE4). Through testing it was found that both the PFD models assist the pilots to safely keep their aircraft in the air and also perform an emergency landing by only using the 3D PFD. Another conclusion made was that in its current state the3D PFD is ideal for Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) pilots as a holographic Ground Control Station(GCS)

Representing Time Series Data in Intelligent Training Systems

Many of the most popular intelligent training systems, including driving and flight simulators, generate user time series data. This paper presents a comparison of representation options for two different student modeling problems: 1) early failure prediction and 2) classifying student activities. Data for this analysis was gathered from pilots executing simple tasks in a virtual reality flight simulator. We demonstrate that our proposed embedding which uses a combination of dynamic time warping (DTW) and multidimensional scaling (MDS) is valuable for both student modeling tasks. However, Euclidean distance + MDS was found to be a superior embedding for predicting student failure, since DTW can obscure important agility differences between successful and unsuccessful pilots.