Pilot in the Loop Simulation of Helicopter-Ship Operations Using Virtual Reality

Since the beginning of the history of flight, simulation has gained increasing importance in all the life stages of a rotorcraft project. Modern flight simulation systems can be used, among other activities, to study the possible occurrence of adverse rotorcraft pilot couplings originating from the interaction between the pilot (who participates to the human–machine system with the dynamics of her/his body), automatic control systems and rotorcraft dynamics, to replace or complement real flight testing for what concerns machine certification requirements in those situations where testing itself presents high risks of damage for people and things and as powerful conceptual design tools to explore both conventional and non conventional configurations. The work carried out describes how it is possible to build a real-time flight simulator designed to investigate these research fields, that is based on open-source software, cost effective with respect to the solutions actually available in the aerospace industry and which uses virtual reality to give the pilot full involvement in the testing environment. The experimental campaigns carried out have demonstrated the fulfillment of all the requirements, especially concerning real-time performances of the system.