Identification of Pilot Control Behavior in a Roll-Lateral Helicopter Hover Task

This paper focuses on the influence of different forms of motion feedback on the perception and control behavior of pilots in a roll-lateral helicopter hover task. To identify this influence, a combined target-following and disturbance-rejection task is carried out where the motion feedback is varied. The participants perform the control task with roll motion only, lateral motion only, combined roll-lateral motion, or with no motion. A cybernetic approach is taken to identify multi-loop pilot describing functions and estimate the parameters of a pilot model. Results show that participants perform significantly better at the control task with feedback of combined roll-lateral motion, and decrease their control activity. For the condition with feedback of roll motion a similar trend is observed. This is explained through the increased amount of information present in the inner roll stabilization loop.