Intregration of a visibility graph based path planning method in the ACT/FHS architecture

Abstract

This work presents recent progress at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in in-flight trajectory planning for the research aircraft "Active Control Technology / Flying Helicopter Simulator" (ACT/FHS), a highly modified EC135. During the DLR internal project ALLFlight, the ACT/FHS has been equipped with a sensor suite including a HELLAS-W LIDAR sensor, a forward looking RADAR, an infrared camera and a TV camera to provide sensor-based situational awareness. Based on environmental information acquired by these sensors, a method for planning an initial flight path from initially unknown landing entry points to the landing point based on a previously developed 2D method is presented. Further on, a 3D re-planning strategy based on visibility hulls is described. This work continues recent research at DLR’s Institute of Flight Systems helicopter department for flight under degraded visual environment (DVE) for a full-scale helicopter.