1. Robert Heffley Engineering
Pilot Behavioral Modeling for Flight Operations Near Ships
1 March 2006
Robert Heffley Engineering
ACGSC March 2006
Review of Work in Progress
Pilot Modeling for Shipboard Ops
(SBIR Phase II)
Robert Heffley Engineering
349 First Street, Suite H
Los Altos, CA 94022
Phone: (650)
Web:
This presentation describes our main ongoing project during , development of pilot behavioral models for flight operations near ships—a set of multi-axis, multi-segment pilot models that launch and recover several diverse types of US Navy aircraft.
1 March 2006

2. Pilot Behavioral Modeling for Flight Operations Near Ships
1 March 2006
Pilot Models for:
MV-22
F/A-18
SH-60
AV-8
The pilot models will implemented in the CASTLE vehicle software for:
F/A-18 (C/D)
MV-22B
AV-8B
SH-60B
Each can be driven by a variety of disturbances, including CFD airwake, turbulence, and ship motion.
3 March 2006

3. Pilot Behavioral Modeling for Flight Operations Near Ships
1 March 2006
Operating from:
DDG
CVN
LHA
The ships from which the aircraft operate in the CASTLE software include:
CVN (Nimitz-class carrier)
DDG (Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer with Flight IIA deck layout)
LHA (Tarawa-class amphibious assault carrier)
The F/A-18 will launch and recover from the CVN, the SH-60 will launch and recover from the DDG, and the other two aircraft will launch and recover from the LHA.
CasView 3-D models are available for all the above aircraft and ships.
3 March 2006

4. Pilot Behavioral Modeling for Flight Operations Near Ships
1 March 2006
T-P-V Architecture
1st layer
segment
TASK
PILOT
VEHICLE
states
cues
controls
states
This is how the task-pilot-model is organized:
TASK—how the task dictates cueing for the pilot based on vehicle (and associated systems) states.
PILOT—decision-making and controller functions that may vary as a function of task progression
VEHICLE—the controlled element that includes the aircraft, FCS, ship, disturbances, and any other component that affects system state.
This is predominantly a closed-loop state-feedback system, but with task segmentation determined by the pilot and the cueing to the pilot.
3 March 2006

5. Pilot Module Architecture
Pilot Behavioral Modeling for Flight Operations Near Ships
1 March 2006
Pilot Module Architecture
2nd layer
PILOT
decision states
Decisions
Controllers
cues
decision results
mode select
flt ref select
commands + -
controls
(to vehicle)
Moving down one layer from the basic TPV architecture, the pilot module consists of:
Decision-making process that is function of time or state cues
Decisions result in setting controller modes (e.g., fwd-flight vs hover), flight references (e.g., indicated airspeed vs visual closure speed with ship), and discrete command (e.g., pull off collective to land)
Controller functions consist of various horizontal- or vertical-plane controllers, hover or fwd flight, outer-loop and inner-loop, etc.)
Input to pilot are “cues” from TASK module and output are “control” inputs to VEHICLE module.
cues
cues
(from task)
3 March 2006

6. Task Module Architecture
Pilot Behavioral Modeling for Flight Operations Near Ships
1 March 2006
Task Module Architecture
2nd layer
TASK
NATOPS
Eulers,
IAS, alt,
states
cues
error cueing
(from vehicle)
(to pilot)
ship rel pos,
vel, dir
Moving down one layer from the basic TPV architecture, the task module consists of various procedural and task-specific relationships that transform the raw vehicle “states” to pilot “cues”. These include
Euler angles, velocities, positions,
Relative aircraft-ship positions, velocities, guidance, etc.,
NATOPS procedures,
Other task attributes that can be based on desired performance, environmental conditions, etc.
other …
3 March 2006

7. Helo Approach/Departure
Pilot Behavioral Modeling for Flight Operations Near Ships
1 March 2006
Helo Approach/Departure
This is a CasView-derived movie that illustrates a the SH-60 approaching a DDG, landing, then taking off and departing. The task segments consist of:
Beginning at 80kt, 1.25 nm behind ship,
Decelerating according to NATOPS profile,
Hovering momentarily behind ship, then moving over deck,
Landing, then
Lifting off to hover over deck,
Backup up glideslope a short distance,
Performing pedal turn to port,
Accelerating and climbing to depart the area of the ship
This illustrates a complete recovery/launch sequence for a specific version of procedures and style used by some pilots. The sequence can be easily modified to adjust the task performance for other variations or for examining any selected portions of these shipboard operations. This movie can be found at
3 March 2006

8. Pilot Behavioral Modeling for Flight Operations Near Ships
1 March 2006
Model Validation
Validation Basis
NATOPS, pilot interviews, commentary
Manned flight, simulator records
Match to aggressiveness, precision, timing
Pilot critique of model behavior in simulator
NATOPS, pilot interviews, commentary
Manned flight, simulator records
Match to aggressiveness, precision, timing
Pilot critique of model behavior in simulator .
3 March 2006