Design, flight simulation, and handling qualities evaluation of an LPV gain-scheduled helicopter flight control system

This paper summarises a recent project involving the design, piloted simulation, and handling qualities evaluation of a Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) gain-scheduled helicopter flight control law. The work was jointly carried out by the Control Systems Research group of Leicester University and the Advanced Engineering group of GKN Westland Helicopters, Yeovil, England. The controller design was based on a Lynx MK7 helicopter model and used the quadratic H_∞ performance methodology with a 2-degrees-of-freedom controller. In an off-line computer analysis, the controller consistently achieved Level 1 Cooper-Harper handling qualities ratings. A series of successful flight simulations were then performed by two test pilots on Westland´s Advanced Engineering Simulation Facility (AESF). Both pilots consistently awarded Level 1 handling qualities ratings for the LPV gain-scheduled controller.