In this paper, a vision-based stabilization and output tracking control method for a four-rotor helicopter has been proposed. A novel 2 camera method has been described for estimating the full 6 DOF pose of the helicopter. This two camera system is consisting of a pan-tilt ground camera and an onboard camera. The pose estimation algorithm is compared in simulation to other methods (such as four...

Neural Network Identification (NNID) for modeling the dynamics of a miniature Eagle helicopter is presented in this paper. Off-line and on-line identification is carried out for both coupled and decoupled dynamics of the helicopter from the flight test data. For both the cases, identification results and the error statistics are provided. The off-line identification performs better due to suffi...

Unmanned small autonomous helicopters can perform aggressive maneuvers that will be useful for operations in challenging conditions. This paper presents an analysis of the pilot’s execution of aggressive maneuvers from flight test data, collected on an instrumented small-scale acrobatic helicopter. A full-envelope nonlinear dynamic model of the helicopter was developed and validated for aggress...

The acoustical signal generated by a helicopter, as well as many other signals, e.g., a voiced speech signal, can be described as periodic or almost periodic. When these signals are observed in the presence of other additive wide-band signals, it becomes interesting to separate these two kinds of signals. In this paper we specifically present an iterative method for separating helicopter signal...

Cockpit moving-maps have provided heightened situation awareness to Navy fighter pilots for over ten years. The Navy now plans to install a moving-map into its multifunction MH-60S helicopter, which will perform sea-based missions such as combat search and rescue and mine countermeasures. The authors surveyed 49 Navy helicopter aircrew for their preferences with respect to four map types and si...

We present the design and implementation of an omnidirectional vision system used for sideways-looking sensing on an autonomous helicopter. To demonstrate the capabilities of the system, a visual servoing task was designed which required the helicopter to locate and move towards the centroid of a number of visual targets. Results are presented showing that the task was successfully completed by...

A Huey Cobra helicopter was just finishing up a nighttime practice run. The pilot was working on his low hover maneuvers at the air base when he tipped his tail rotor sharply backward, snapping off his tail boom. Without the tail —which keeps a helicopter from spinning around in circles— the helicopter took off like a pinwheel, sliding down the runway doing 360’s in a brilliant shower of sparks...

Most research on fuzzy regulators has focused on integrating rules in intelligent control systems. In this paper a fuzzy helicopter regulator for a single-rotor helicopter PZL Kania is considered. Unlike other methods that match only the ability of stable flying, our methods match hovering conditions with disturbances. Two simulations were performed to validate our method. In the first simulati...