Holographic Visual Cues for Mission Task Elements

Abstract

Mission Task Elements (MTEs) are commonly used to evaluate the Handling Qualities (HQs) of rotorcraft. However, the traditional approach of physical ground courses faces challenges due to evolving rotorcraft designs and flight profiles. Infrastructure limitations and lack of flexibility for research pose significant obstacles, particularly for high-speed tasks. The emergence of new air vehicles, such as eVTOLs in the civil sector and Future Vertical Lift configurations in the military domain, requires an adapted visual cueing process for previously unaddressed mission profiles. This paper proposes an innovative solution: an Augmented Reality (AR) system utilizing a HeadMounted Display to create virtual MTE courses called Holographic Visual Cues (HVCs). A piloted simulation campaign performed at DLR’s AVES simulator compares the effectiveness of HVCs with dome projection-based visual cues, evaluating the performance of the AR system. The objective is to validate the efficacy of this technology for HQ evaluations. The initial results suggest that test pilots responded positively to this approach, indicating its potential as a more adaptable and efficient method for MTE visual cueing.