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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the performance of the control system developed for the helicopter automatic approach and landing on the moving vessel deck, when different values of backlashes are applied to the four control actuators. Design/methodology/approach The system consists of automatic control algorithm based on the linear quadratic regulator and the vessel motion prediction algorithm based on autoregressive method with parameters calculated using Burg’s method. Necessary navigation data is provided by on-board inertial navigation system/Global Positioning System. Calculated control commands are executed by four electromechanical actuators. Performance of the mission, which is based on selected procedure of approach and landing of the helicopter on the moving vessel deck, is analyzed taking into account different values of backlashes applied to the actuators. Findings In this paper, a description of the control system dedicated for automatic approach and landing of the helicopter on the moving vessel deck is shown. Necessary information about helicopter dynamic model, control system and vessel motion model is included. Tests showing influence of actuator backlashes on the mission performance are presented. Practical implications The developed control methodology can be adapted for selected helicopter and used in prospective development of an automatic flight control system (AFCS) or in a simulator. The system can be used to define in which conditions helicopter can perform safe and successful automatic approach and landing on a moving vessel deck. Originality/value In this paper, an integrated control system is presented; influence of the control actuator backlashes on the mission performance is analyzed.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to elaborate and develop an automatic system for automatic flight control system (AFCS) performance evaluation. Consequently, the developed AFCS algorithm is implemented and tested in a virtual environment on one of the mission task elements (MTEs) described in Aeronautical Design Standard 33 (ADS-33) performance specification. Design/methodology/approach Control algorithm is based on the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) which is adopted to work as a controller in this case. Developed controller allows for automatic flight of the helicopter via desired three-dimensional trajectory by calculating iteratively deviations between desired and actual helicopter position and multiplying it by gains obtained from the LQR methodology. For the AFCS algorithm validation, the objective data analysis is done based on specified task accomplishment requirements, reference trajectory and actual flight parameters. Findings In the paper, a description of an automatic flight control algorithm for small helicopter and its evaluation methodology is presented. Necessary information about helicopter dynamic model is included. The test and algorithm analysis are performed on a slalom maneuver, on which the handling qualities are calculated. Practical implications Developed automatic flight control algorithm can be adapted and used in autopilot for a small helicopter. Methodology of evaluation of an AFCS performance can be used in different applications and cases. Originality/value In the paper, an automatic flight control algorithm for small helicopter and solution for the validation of developed AFCS algorithms are presented.

In the paper, influence of control surface failures on UAV aircraft dynamics is investigated. A method for control loads determination for a nonlinear UAV aircraft model is presented. The model has been developed to analyse the influence of various control surface failures on aircraft controllability and to form the background for developing reconfiguration methods of flight control systems. The analysis of the control system failure impact on the aircraft dynamics and the ability of the control system to reconfiguration are presented.

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