OBJECTIVE We evaluated a variety of non-invasive physiological technologies and a series of test approaches for examination of aviator performances under conditions of mental workload in order to provide a standard real-time test for physiological and psychological pilot fatigue assessments. METHODS Twenty-one male aviators were selected for a simulated flight in a hypobaric cabin with artifi...

Certification of adaptive control technologies for both manned and unmanned aircraft represent a major challenge for current Verification and Validation techniques. A (missing) key step towards flight certification of adaptive flight control systems is the definition and development of analysis tools and methods to support Verification and Validation for nonlinear systems, similar to the proced...

An approach to automate the real-time analysis of flight critical health monitoring and system status is being developed and evaluated at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dryden Flight Research Facility. A software package was developed in house and installed as part of the extended aircraft interrogation and display system. This design features a knowledge-base structure in th...

Demonstrating the reliability of flight control algorithms is critical to integrating unmanned aircraft systems into the civilian airspace. For many potential applications, design and certification of these algorithms will rely heavily on mathematical models of the aircraft dynamics. Therefore, the aerospace community must develop flight test platforms to support the advancement of model-based ...

Modern flight test tends to be a complex, expensive undertaking so any increases in efficiency would result in considerable savings. Design of experiments is a statistical methodology which results in highly efficient flight test where only the samples needed are collected and analyzed. Design of experiments uses objective, verifiable statistical analysis to plan, execute, and analyze test. Thi...

A quasi-tailless flight investigation was launched using the X-31A enhanced fighter maneuverability airplane. In-flight simulations were used to assess the effect of partial to total vertical tail removal. The rudder control surface was used to cancel the stabilizing effects of the vertical tail, and yaw thrust vector commands were used to restabilize and control the airplane. The quasi-tailles...

Model-based fault detection algorithms can be used to improve the reliability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) while still satisfying their restrictive size, power, and weight requirements. However, the use of model-based algorithms introduces new failure modes that do not exist in physically redundant architectures. Hence a certification process is needed for such systems that incorporates a...

Improvements in testing and modeling of nonlinear and unsteady aerodynamic effects for flight dynamics predictions of vehicle performance is critical to enable the design and implementation of new, innovative vehicle concepts. Any configuration which exhibits significant flow separation, nonlinear aerodynamics, control interactions or attempts maneuvering through one or more conditions such as ...