Rotorcraft Vision 2025 April 14, 2000 George Price NASA Ames Research Center

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Rotorcraft Vision Workshop  Conducted at NASA Headquarters on April 14, 2000  Purpose  Envision potential rotorcraft applications in 2025  Identify technology barriers  Identify innovative/radical/disruptive enabling technologies  Develop inputs to rotorcraft systems analysis  Participants from:  NASA Ames, Langley, Glenn  U.S. Army AFDD  Rotorcraft industry

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Features of 2025 World Environment  High time value for travelers and goods  Demand for rapid, reliable transportation  Increasing urban/suburban land value  Demand for routine access to remote areas  Need for robust military systems  Opportunities for advanced technologies

Rotorcraft Vision Rotorcraft Vision Affordable, reliable, accessible, safe, and timely system solutions A wide variety of vehicles and subsystems to perform specific tasks Infrastructure to enable full 3-D operation from zero altitude up A mix of vertical lift air vehicles operating within a three-dimensional grid

Rotorcraft Vision Rotorcraft Missions Point-to-point passenger and express service Door-to-door personal transport Bulk or large cargo movement UAV surveillance & info-on-demand

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Role of Rotorcraft in NASA Goals Structure Analysis Approach Goals (Pillars)Objectives PRIMARY: Revolutionize air transportation mobility Enable advanced space transportation SECONDARY: Pioneer technical and engineering innovation TERTIARY: Extend the benefit of Enterprise investments Safety; Environment; Throughput; Door-to-Door Speed Access to Space; In-Space Transportation Technology Innovation; Revolutionize the Engineering Culture and Tools Technology Commercialization Systems Analysis; Expert Assessment Expert assessment; Systems Analysis Market Analysis; Expert Assessment

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Goal: Revolutionize Air Transportation Mobility Only vertical lift vehicles can take full advantage of the 3-D grid and not be tied to a need for large acreage on the ground, therefore… …only vertical lift vehicles can truly meet NASA’s goal to revolutionize air transportation mobility

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Vision 2025 Barriers & Key Attributes X Primary influence X Secondary influence ATTRIBUTES BARRIERS

Rotorcraft Vision Attributes Required

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Bio-Analogous Distributed Systems Active aerodynamic controls Intelligent operator interface Self-monitoring, adaptive, reconfigurable, self-healing systems Distributed sensors, processors, and actuation devices Distributed sensors, processors, and actuation devices tailor drag and lift, counter vibration, diagnose faults, and implement corrective action

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Swashplate-less control Reverse velocity airfoils Low-noise geometry Active vibration and noise control Super-safe rotor and drive shaft Active blowing and boundary layer modification Variable speed drive system Advanced Rotor/Drive System Concept Smart material “morphing” blade geometry Continuous control of shape and airflow achieves near-ideal performance

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Environmentally friendly Low-noise rotor Personal Transport Rotorcraft Low-cost construction Affordable propulsion system Economical Auto-Trim Rotor Smart autonomous self-reconfigurable control system Super-safe health & usage monitoring and advanced diagnostics Safe and easy to operate Vertical flight or Extremely Short Takeoff enables true door-to-door mobility

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Ducted Coaxial Rotor Folding Prop-Rotor Canard Rotor / Wing Quad Tilt Rotor Advanced Vehicle Configurations High speed enhances productivity of piloted and uninhabited rotorcraft

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Candidate Innovative Technologies Applications of nano, micromechanical, and microfluidic technologies  Damage tolerant design combined with multiple load paths for single point components and sensors and for near real time fault detection (e.g., nanotubes)  Actuation using multiple micromechanical devices to provide redundancy and fault tolerance  Advanced concepts for reliable and efficient de-icing Intelligent rotorcraft systems  Distributed intelligence and actuation devices (bio-analogy)  Advanced prognostics, self-reconfiguration and repair, and adaptive self-monitoring/ self-healing control and actuation systems  Reconfigurable vehicle elements (folding or retractable rotors, tilt mechanisms, etc.)  Variable-speed drive train  Synthetic environment and synthetic vision for all-weather flight Integrated ideal rotor  Including active controls, smart materials, on-blade intelligence, advanced actuators Intelligent design, analysis, and optimization  Total-system large scale multidisciplinary optimization and integrated design tools  Advanced concepts for high-speed rotorcraft configurations  Spectrum of physics-based models to enable performance prediction and design for advanced configurations

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Impact of Innovative Technologies X Primary influence X Secondary influence INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES ATTRIBUTES

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Where Do We Go From Here?

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Role of Systems Analysis Candidate Technologies Mission Attributes Systems Analysis Candidate System Concepts sensitivitiesimpacts requirements Assessments of Concepts and Technologies characteristics sensitivities characteristics

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Missions-to-Technologies Matrices

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Technology-Mission-Goals Linkages Technology 1Technology 2Technology 3Technology 4Technology 5 Concept 1Concept 2Concept 3 Concept 4 Attribute 4Attribute 3Attribute 2Attribute 1 Mission 2Mission 4 Goal 1Goal 2Goal 3 Mission 1Mission 3

Rotorcraft Vision 2025 Event Schedule Conduct Vision 2025 Workshop April 14, 2000 Conduct Systems Analysis Workshop May 5, 2000 Establish Systems Analysis CapabilityDecember 31, 2000 Assess Candidate Concepts & Technologies January 31, 2001 Formulate Innovative Research Program March 31, 2001