Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ROSSI (Robotic Test System for Active Inceptors)
Berichtszeitraum: 2020-07-01 bis 2021-07-31
Rossi project address the technological gap of testing the capabilities of active inceptors, focusing on the haptic performance of these devices. The new active inceptors provide new functionalities and especially haptic behaviour to improve the flight experience and the crew coordination. This project is focused on the design of a test bench fully automated, able to receive and control a shipset of generic active inceptors. The test bench simulates the haptic behaviour of the pilots’ hands and is adaptative to the various configurations and combinations compatible with generic inceptor. This bench has a high level of versatility, both on mechanical side and electronical side, evaluating the haptic behaviour of each inceptor independently or combined in a coupling mode. This project has been developed under the Clean Sky 2 program.
The new generation of active inceptors provide new functionalities and especially haptic behaviour to improve the flight experience and the crew coordination. It is therefore important to have means of test able to support these new and high-level functionalities.
Test whose execution relies on humans are subject to unnecessary and unforeseen delays due to fatigue or distractions. Automatic test, on the other hand, follow a strict schedule, resulting in an execution as fast as possible.
On the other hand, results obtained from manual test are not completely reliable, due to the inherent risk of error carried out by human intervention. However, automatic test guarantees the execution of the test sequence exactly as programmed, excluding the possibility of short cuts, misunderstandings, or forgetfulness. Besides, the fact of registering test results automatically removes all possibilities of intentional distortion. All of this address to a more reliable product.
The main objectives of the project are:
• Simulating the pilot hands. The system will allow to program an infinity of movements simulating the behaviour of the hand to the nearest reality, generating different profiles (flying/auto-pilot mode, coupled/decoupled mode) regardless of the platform type (A/C and H/C).
• Measuring and validating the haptic performance of the inceptor(s). The system will also be provided with the ability of characterizing the feedback resulting from the application of the mentioned pilot actions. This feedback information will be compared with the one expected according to the applied actions and the flight data, therefore producing an evaluation on the haptic performance.
• Test execution speed maximization.
• Human resources optimization.
• Reliability of the measurement and repeatability of the results.
The new generation of active inceptors provide new functionalities and especially haptic behaviour to improve the flight experience and the crew coordination. It is therefore important to have means of test able to support these new and high-level functionalities.
Test whose execution relies on humans are subject to unnecessary and unforeseen delays due to fatigue or distractions. Automatic test, on the other hand, follow a strict schedule, resulting in an execution as fast as possible.
On the other hand, results obtained from manual test are not completely reliable, due to the inherent risk of error carried out by human intervention. However, automatic test guarantees the execution of the test sequence exactly as programmed, excluding the possibility of short cuts, misunderstandings, or forgetfulness. Besides, the fact of registering test results automatically removes all possibilities of intentional distortion. All of this address to a more reliable product.
The main objectives of the project are:
• Simulating the pilot hands. The system will allow to program an infinity of movements simulating the behaviour of the hand to the nearest reality, generating different profiles (flying/auto-pilot mode, coupled/decoupled mode) regardless of the platform type (A/C and H/C).
• Measuring and validating the haptic performance of the inceptor(s). The system will also be provided with the ability of characterizing the feedback resulting from the application of the mentioned pilot actions. This feedback information will be compared with the one expected according to the applied actions and the flight data, therefore producing an evaluation on the haptic performance.
• Test execution speed maximization.
• Human resources optimization.
• Reliability of the measurement and repeatability of the results.
During this period, the following works have been developed:
WP1. Preliminary Analysis: identification of the requirements to be fulfilled by the system under development in order to accomplish the complete test bench functionality.
WP2. Preliminary Design: design of the general system architecture for the test bench.
WP3. Design: detailed definition of the way that each HW and SW component of the solution will accomplish their corresponding functionality.
WP1. Preliminary Analysis: identification of the requirements to be fulfilled by the system under development in order to accomplish the complete test bench functionality.
WP2. Preliminary Design: design of the general system architecture for the test bench.
WP3. Design: detailed definition of the way that each HW and SW component of the solution will accomplish their corresponding functionality.
The ROSSI test bench is innovative due to the very nature of the system under test: the new generation of active inceptors feedback haptics not implemented in aviation vehicles so far. This involves the study of the theoretical curves and the provision of the means to test them.
The aim of replacing the pilot hand with a robotic arm is also a considerable challenge. Although the robot capacity to sense their environment and coordinate their actions is improving day by day, they are still far from fully cover a human hand functionality. In this sense, a major demand is the avoidance of damages to the unit under test. One of our main focuses will therefore consist on obtaining an accurate inceptor manipulation and a high-resolution force sensing.
Given the critical nature of the system under test, the test system must be particularly robust and reliable. Potential uncertainties like allowances and tolerances will be kept to minimum; if they are not avoidable, they will be exhaustively identified in order to be mitigated through calibration routines/patterns.
The aim of replacing the pilot hand with a robotic arm is also a considerable challenge. Although the robot capacity to sense their environment and coordinate their actions is improving day by day, they are still far from fully cover a human hand functionality. In this sense, a major demand is the avoidance of damages to the unit under test. One of our main focuses will therefore consist on obtaining an accurate inceptor manipulation and a high-resolution force sensing.
Given the critical nature of the system under test, the test system must be particularly robust and reliable. Potential uncertainties like allowances and tolerances will be kept to minimum; if they are not avoidable, they will be exhaustively identified in order to be mitigated through calibration routines/patterns.