Safety analysis for innovative cockpit-displays in helicopters (InteCo - intelligent cockpit for helicopter)

In the future the intelligent automation on the basis of a knowledge based systems will allow controlling the continuous growing flood of information within the cockpit and flying within more and more complicated environments with even more challenging tasks. With targets like all-weather capability and optimized, noise-reduced and energy efficient flight guidance, INTECO is also contributing to increase the efficiency and the transport capacity as well as an improved acceptance for the population. The Major focus of INTECO is on extending the knowledge base from PILAS and the conception of a licensable database system. Moreover investigations are performed to a situation-dependent HMI and the 4D-flight guidance is extended till the slow flight and hovering near the ground. It is meant to perform starting- and landing procedures semi-automatically by terrain distance sensor technology. Further technological targets are:

• Extension of the set of rules in order to be able evaluating complex situations
• Extensive support of pilots handling helicopters

The project involves 3 technological sub-tasks as well as the overall integration and testing in the simulator and flight trials:

• Mirroring the cognitive system architecture on approval requirements and the extension of the (a-priori) knowledge base.
• The extension of the functionality within the cockpit concerning the situation adaptable interface between human being and machine as well as the conception of a powerful symbols generator.
• The support of the pilot handling a helicopter at low speed areas as well as take-off and landing. Special algorithms and sensors for the autopilot are developed for this purpose.

At the moment pilot assistance systems for helicopters of this functionality are not available on the world market. None of the offered avionic systems on the world market are constructed in a way that it can perform an automatically route planning onto which an auto pilot intrusion is possible and certified.

Client: Diehl Aerospace GmbH