rc vision brief

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5 Rotorcraft Vision 2025Rotorcraft Vision 2025

April 14, 2000

George PriceGeorge PriceNASA Ames Research CenterNASA Ames Research Center

[email protected]@mail.arc.nasa.gov

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Rotorcraft Vision Workshop Conducted at NASA Headquarters on April 14, 2000

Purpose Envision potential rotorcraft applications in 2025

Identify technology barriers

Identify innovative/radical/disruptive enabling technologies

Develop inputs to rotorcraft systems analysis

Participants from: NASA Ames, Langley, Glenn

U.S. Army AFDD

Rotorcraft industry

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Features of 2025 World Environment

High time value for travelers and goods

Demand for rapid, reliable transportation

Increasing urban/suburban land value

Demand for routine access to remote areas

Need for robust military systems

Opportunities for advanced technologies

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2025 Rotorcraft Vision

•Affordable, reliable, accessible, safe, and timely system solutions

• A wide variety of vehicles and subsystems to perform specific tasks

• Infrastructure to enable full 3-D operation from zero altitude up

A mix of vertical lift air vehicles operating within a three-dimensional grid

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2025 Rotorcraft Missions• Point-to-point passenger and express service

• Door-to-door personal transport

• Bulk or large cargo movement

• UAV surveillance & info-on-demand

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5Role of Rotorcraft in NASA Goals Structure

Analysis Approach

Goals (Pillars) Objectives

PRIMARY:

Revolutionize air transportation mobility

Enable advanced space transportation

SECONDARY:

Pioneer technical andengineering innovation

TERTIARY:

Extend the benefit ofEnterprise investments

Safety; Environment;Throughput; Door-to-Door Speed

Access to Space;In-Space Transportation

Technology Innovation;Revolutionize theEngineering Culture and Tools

TechnologyCommercialization

Systems Analysis;Expert Assessment

Systems Analysis;Expert Assessment

Expert assessment;Systems Analysis

Market Analysis;Expert Assessment

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Goal: Revolutionize Air Transportation Mobility

Only vertical lift vehicles can take full advantage of the 3-D grid and not be tied to a need for large acreage on the ground, therefore…

…only vertical lift vehicles can truly meet NASA’s

goal to revolutionize air transportation mobility

Objective Rotorcraft Impact

Safety - Equivalent to airline operations

Environment - Noise level below annoyance threshold

- Less congestion and pollution from ground vehicles

- Less acreage devoted to transportation

Throughput - Increased capacity of transportation system

- More efficient use of fixed-wing airliners and hubs

Door-to-Door Speed

- True door-to-door transport

- No ground delays

- Universal access to air transportation

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Vision 2025 Barriers & Key Attributes

X Primary influence

X Secondary influence

Vehicle Efficiency

(hover, cruise,

structural)

Cruise Speed

External Noise

Vibration & Internal Noise

Intelligent Automation

Design for Reliability & Safety

All-Weather

Operability (icing, IFR,

etc.)

Cost per Seat-Mile or Ton-Mile x x x x x

Community Acceptance x x

Reliable All-Weather Service x x x

Perceived Safety x x x

Passenger Comfort

x x

Piloting Skill Required x x x

Operation Within 3-D Grid

x x x x

ATTRIBUTESB

AR

RIE

RS

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2025 Attributes RequiredATTRIBUTE CURRENT LEVEL 2025 REQUIREMENT

Figure of Merit = 0.78 0.9

Vehicle L/D = 7 at Vcruise 12 at Vcruise

EW Fraction = .45 (helo) - .55 (tiltrotor) .4 - .5

Helicopter = 170 kts 200 kts

Tiltrotor = 250 kts 350 - 400 kts

External Noise (TBD) dB Below annoyance threshold

Vibration & Internal Noise .05g vibration Imperceptible

Pilot aiding

Autonomous flight (UAV)

(TBD) MTBMA (TBD)

(TBD) Equivalent to fixed-wing airliners

IFR-capable Fully autonomous zero-zero

Limited icing capability Full icing capability

Fully autonomous, ultra-safe, fault tolerant mission execution & replan

Reliability & Safety

All-Weather Operability

Vehicle Efficiency

Cruise Speed


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Bio-Analogous Distributed Systems

Active aerodynamic controls

Intelligentoperatorinterface

Self-monitoring, adaptive, reconfigurable,

self-healing systems

Distributed sensors,

processors, and actuation

devices

Distributed sensors, processors, and actuation devices tailor drag and lift, counter vibration,

diagnose faults, and implement corrective action

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• Swashplate-less control

• Reverse velocity airfoils

• Low-noise geometry

• Active vibration and noise control

• Super-safe rotor and drive shaft

• Active blowing and boundary layer modification

• Variable speed drive system

Advanced Rotor/Drive System Concept

• Smart material “morphing” blade geometry

Continuous control of shape and airflow achieves near-ideal performance

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Environmentallyfriendly

• Low-noise rotor

Personal Transport Rotorcraft

• Low-cost construction

• Affordable propulsion system

Economical

•Auto-Trim Rotor•Smart autonomous self-reconfigurable control system• Super-safe health & usage monitoring and advanced diagnostics

Safe and easy to operate

Vertical flight or Extremely Short Takeoff enables true

door-to-door mobility

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Ducted Coaxial RotorDucted Coaxial Rotor

Folding Prop-RotorFolding Prop-Rotor Canard Rotor / WingCanard Rotor / Wing

Quad Tilt RotorQuad Tilt Rotor

Advanced Vehicle ConfigurationsHigh speed enhances productivity of

piloted and uninhabited rotorcraft

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5Candidate Innovative Technologies

Applications of nano, micromechanical, and microfluidic technologies Damage tolerant design combined with multiple load paths for single point components and sensors and for near real time fault detection (e.g., nanotubes)

Actuation using multiple micromechanical devices to provide redundancy and fault tolerance

Advanced concepts for reliable and efficient de-icing

Intelligent rotorcraft systems Distributed intelligence and actuation devices (bio-analogy)

Advanced prognostics, self-reconfiguration and repair, and adaptive self-monitoring/ self-healing control and actuation systems

Reconfigurable vehicle elements (folding or retractable rotors, tilt mechanisms, etc.)

Variable-speed drive train

Synthetic environment and synthetic vision for all-weather flight

Integrated ideal rotor

Including active controls, smart materials, on-blade intelligence, advanced actuators

Intelligent design, analysis, and optimization Total-system large scale multidisciplinary optimization and integrated design tools

Advanced concepts for high-speed rotorcraft configurations

Spectrum of physics-based models to enable performance prediction and design for advanced configurations

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Impact of Innovative Technologies

X Primary influence

X Secondary influence

Nano and Micro Technologies

Intelligent Rotorcraft Systems

Integrated Ideal Rotor Intelligent Design

Vehicle Efficiency x x x x

Cruise Speed x x x x

External Noise x x x x

Vibration & Internal Noise x x x x

Intelligent Automation x x x

Design for Reliability & Safety x x x x

All-Weather Operability x x

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

AT

TR

IBU

TE

S

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5 Where Do We Go From Here?

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Role of Systems Analysis

CandidateTechnologies

Mission Attributes

Systems Analysis

Candidate System Concepts

sensitivities

impacts

requirements

Assessments of Concepts and Technologies

characteristics

sensitivities characteristics

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5Missions-to-Technologies Matrices

Vehicle Efficiency

(hover, cruise,

structure)

Cruise Speed

External Noise



Design for Reliability &

Safety

All-Weather Operability (icing, IFR,

etc.)

Personal Transport

Passenger & Express

Cargo

UAV

ATTRIBUTES

MIS

SIO

NS

SY

ST

EM

CO

NC

EP

TS

TECHNOLOGIES

Vehicle Efficiency (hover, cruise, structure)

Cruise Speed

External Noise



Design for Reliability & Safety

All-Weather Operability (icing, IFR, etc.)

AT

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IBU

TE

S

SYSTEM CONCEPTS

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5Technology-Mission-Goals Linkages

Technology 1 Technology 2 Technology 3 Technology 4 Technology 5

Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3 Concept 3 Concept 4

Attribute 4Attribute 3Attribute 2Attribute 1

Mission 2 Mission 4

Goal 1 Goal 2 Goal 3

Mission 1 Mission 3

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Event Schedule

Conduct Vision 2025 Workshop April 14, 2000

Conduct Systems Analysis Workshop May 5, 2000

Establish Systems Analysis Capability December 31, 2000

Assess Candidate Concepts & Technologies January 31, 2001

Formulate Innovative Research Program March 31, 2001

rc vision brief

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