This paper shows roll and pitch feedback control on a coaxial mini helicopter equipped with a center of gravity steering mechanism. The helicopter carries a minimal set of sensors to measure yaw rate, distance to ground and roll and pitch angle. While yaw rate and distance to ground control are already realized on the helicopter, roll and pitch control including the necessary signal filtering a...

This paper proposes a hierarchical hybrid architecture of a reactive system that governs the operation of a helicopter based UAV. The mission of the helicopter is to search for, investigate and locate objects in an unknown environment. To perform visual navigation, the helicopter is equipped with a Flight Vehicle Management System(FVMS) and a vision system that scans the ground for objects and ...

Launch and recovery helicopter wind envelope for a ship type was determined as the first step to the helicopter qualification program. Flight deck velocities data were obtained by means of a two components laser Doppler anemometer testing a 1/50 model in the wind tunnel stream. Full-scale flight deck measurements were obtained on board the ship using a sonic anemometer. Wind tunnel and full-sca...

Physicians and nurses from shore based practice who move to work on cruise ships often have concerns about the management of critically ill patients and questions about the resources available to transfer by helicopter to a tertiary care facility. This article seeks to outline some of the clinical, operational and logistical issues associated with using a helicopter to transfer a patient from a...

BACKGROUND Helicopters have become a major part of the modern trauma care system and are frequently used to transport patients from the scene of their injury to a trauma center. While early studies reported decreased mortality for trauma patients transported by helicopters when compared with those transported by ground ambulances, more recent research has questioned the benefit of helicopter tr...

In this paper we present a new design method for the fight control of an autonomous quadrotor helicopter based on fuzzy sliding mode control using backstepping approach. Due to the underactuated property of the quadrotor helicopter, the controller can move three positions (x,y,z) of the helicopter and the yaw angle to their desired values and stabilize the pitch and roll angles. A first-order n...

We present an Unmanned Aviation Vehicle-based Photogrammetric mapping system in this paper. This work is part of a project monitoring of unpaved road condition using remote sensing and other technology, sponsored by the US Department of Transportation. The system is based on a low cost model helicopter equipped with a GPS/IMU and a geomagnetic sensor to detect the position, attitude and velocit...

Robust attitude tracking control of a small-scale aerobatic helicopter using geometric and backstepping techniques is presented in this article. A nonlinear coupled rotor-fuselage dynamics model of the helicopter is considered, wherein the rotor flap dynamics is modeled as a first order system, while the fuselage is as a rigid body dynamically coupled to the rotor system. The robustness of the ...

Control of a helicopter is complex, and includes cross coupling of forces and balancing of forces. While sophisticated and advanced controllers can achieve stable control, good mechanical design can reduce the problems and hence make tuning the control loops easier. In this paper, we argue that a coaxial-rotor design solves a number of problems that make control of a four-rotor helicopter diffi...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether availability of the Cornwall Helicopter Ambulance enabled the ambulance service to arrive more rapidly at the scene of emergencies. DESIGN Retrospectively collected ambulance service data analyzed longitudinally. SETTING The ambulance service in Cornwall. SUBJECTS Patients carried as emergencies by the ambulance service. VARIABLE STUDIED: Augmentation of a c...