Development of a pilot-in-the-loop flight simulator using NASA's transport class model

This thesis presents the development of an immersive flight simulator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign using NASA's Transport Class Model. Flight simulators are a common and useful tool for control system design as well as verification and validation, and are used extensively throughout the aviation industry to evaluate system performance. The simulation environment at the Illinois Simulator Laboratory uses a modular architecture composed of a Simulink dynamics model, X-Plane visualization, a Frasca 142 cockpit, and a customizable digital cockpit instrument panel, with communication between elements conducted over a local area network. The simulator is intended to streamline the design and evaluation process for a prototype flight control architecture integrating flight envelope protection and loss-of-control prevention systems with a robust adaptive control law, and the availability of a local simulator for control system development will serve to expedite the eventual transfer of this technology to alternate facilities. The thesis documents the creation of a Simulink library that enables efficient switching of simulation modes and controller configurations, so that a control design can be rapidly evaluated and tested using batch simulations and flight simulator testing to obtain pilot performance feedback. Also documented here is the development of automated tools to improve the performance of the simulation during flight testing. Additionally, interfaces for improving the utility and usability of the simulator during testing are presented, as is the design of an environmental disturbance model to provide additional functionality for upcoming flight tests. Finally, preliminary results from simulator flight testing at the Illinois Simulator Laboratory are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Ackerman, Kasey

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hovakimyan, Naira

• flight simulation
• simulation software

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2014 Kasey Alan Ackerman

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/50650

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/50650