SBIR-STTR Award

The proposed Deck Motion Compensation Analysis Tool (DMCAT) is a PC based simulation for the development of Mode 1, 1A and II Automatic Control Landing System functionality. The tool is built on the Task-Pilot-Vehicle flight simulation environment from Robert Heffley Engineering. The DMCAT is based upon a Power Approach configuration of the F/A-18 derived from the CASTLE airframe model. The performance of the DMCAT model is consistent with the Navy's knowledge base of the simulated and

Benefit:
The Deck Motion Compensation Analysis Tool (DMCAT) provides a desktop focused simulation for the Automatic Control Landing System. The TPV/ Matlab Simulink based implementation provides an efficient, familiar and flexible work environment for the user. Basing the Phase 1 DMCAT on an existing CASTLE airframe results in an ACLS focused simulation whose performance can be directly compared to the Navy's knowledge base of simulation and

Keywords:
landing, landing, suitability, GPS, Carrier landing, Simulation, motion compensation, automatic, inertial

The proposed work has two companion objectives. Objective #1 is to assess the feasibility of developing a prototype Systems Engineering Analysis and Documentation (SEAD) tool which effectively supports the analysis of static and dynamic systems, manages output data, documents and communicates the results. The tool will be designed to interface with, and use, system information/descriptive models. Objective #2 is to host an Automatic Carrier Landing System (ACLS) domain model within the tool which encodes the tests, evaluations, examples, and design guidance appearing in Sections 6.4, 10 and 11 of the Carrier Suitability Testing Manual. The tool will host legacy ACLS models for the CASTLE non-linear F/A-18C/D model, a linear F/A-18C/D model and an A-7E model. The tool will support automated testing of these models against the Carrier Suitability test suite and will display the results against established design criteria. In Phase II Option 1, the ACLS domain model will be extended to include a model of the UCAS-D aircraft using the JPALS recovery system. The Phase II Option 2 will extend the ACLS domain to include the MQ-8C Fire Scout together with a model of the UCARS radar recovery system and environmental disturbances for DDG class ships.

Benefit:
Developing integrated dynamic systems for military, commercial and industrial applications involves a high level of expertise in controls analysis and simulation. The overall development effort typically involves: conducting analyses in the time and frequency domain, developing and standardizing tests for the system, documenting information in various formats to address: 1) Tradeoffs and compromises made in establishing an operational state for the system and 2) Concerns of the various stakeholders involved in the system's development, analyzing interrelationships amongst the models' data, management of the system's technical data and the overarching task of accumulating the knowledge base underlying the system's development. Engineer's typically use a potpourri of commercial-off-the-shelf tools to achieve these goals, ranging from information/descriptive (i.e. Model Based Systems Engineering) tools for planning and decision making to domain specific analysis tools such as MATLAB and MatrixX; everything else in the middle is typically accomplished using office productivity tools. The objective of the current work is to assess the feasibility of developing an application that ties these elements together in a seamless Integrated Development Environment that facilitates the complete process in a user friendly fashion while comprehensively capturing the technical database of the system. If this is possible the tool will be applicable to all integrated dynamic systems. If the tools has the easy-to-use, fast and

Keywords:
CONTROLS ANALYSIS, systems engineering, AUTOMATIC CARRIER LANDING SYSTEM, APPROACH POWER COMPENSATOR SYSTEM, CAUSE/EFFECT, F/A-18, A-7E, tool