The Aviation and Missile Center within the U.S. Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command is pursuing rotorcraft research under a U.S.-Germany partnership that began in 1979, Dvids Hub reported Monday. The center’s Aviation Development Directorate is among five primary teams to investigate on rotorcraft applications for the U.S. German Project Agreement on Advanced Technologies effort.
ADD will focus on one of the program’s three tasks. The directorate will work to develop tactile cueing technology for inceptor-controlled helicopters. “Tactile cueing is the mechanism by which signals are detected by humans through the sense of touch,†said Jeff Lusardi, an engineer at ADD.
“This tactile cueing flight research test is designed to make it easier for the pilot to follow calculated landing guidance without having to spend all of (their) time focused inside the aircraft, staring at flight guidance symbology on the instrument panel,†said Lt. Col. Dave Hnyda, deputy associate director at ADD.Â
The directorate tested tactile cueing to evaluate the technology’s cyclic and collective characteristics in an actual flight environment in February. The test also supports the Army’s Future Vertical Lift program.
The cooperative research agreement’s two other task areas are: helicopter aids for missions with degraded visual environments and manned-unmanned aircraft teaming with limited datalink connectivity.
