Experimental Test-Bed for the Identification of Biodynamic Feedthrough of Helicopter-Pilot Systems

The design of rotorcraft, especially when the human-machine interaction is concerned, has to take into account the possible interactions between the pilot biomechanics and the rotorcraft dynamics. To this end, existing and novel design techniques and procedures geared toward robust prevention of Rotorcraft-Pilot Couplings need experimental validation to enable their effective application by OEMs. For this purpose, an experimental test bench, providing means to measure the biodynamic feedthrough of pilot-rotorcraft systems is presented. The system has been designed to be easily reconfigurable in order to represent different cockpit designs. Results obtained with a professional test pilot on two different cockpit layouts are presented. The identified biodynamic feedthrough transfer functions are then exploited along with a simplified representation of the helicopter heave dynamics to perform stability assessments regarding the collective bounce phenomenon.