Virtual Model Control of Rotorcraft with Articulated Landing Gear for Shipboard Landing

摘要

Rotorcraft are essential to operations at sea, primarily due to their ability to perform vertical takeos and landings. However, due to the motion of the ship deck, ship landings can be dangerous for the pilot and result in damage to the helicopter. The addition of an articulated landing gear to a rotorcraft increases the number of degrees of freedom that can be used to land on a moving surface, such as a ship deck. Instead of relying solely on the rotor thrust magnitude and direction to land safely, the articulated landing gear can also be used to conform to the ship deck while maintaining a level fuselage, potentially allowing for quicker and safer landings. This paper presents a multi-body simulation tool to simulate the dynamics of a rotorcraft with robotic gear landing on a moving surface. A virtual model controller is developed to produce appropriate actuator torques. Dynamic simulation results show that an articulated, legged landing gear system can aid helicopters to landing on a moving ship deck.