Developing A Low Cost Ground Velocity Sensor

Hover hold and other advanced flight control laws require a Ground Velocity Sensor to achieve acceptable aircraft performance, traditionally provided by a Doppler Velocity Sensor (DVS) or an Embedded GPS with inertial navigation system (EGI). The relatively high cost and weight of these sensors have limited the adoption of advanced control laws, particularly in the civil market. Bell Helicopter, working in conjunction with Esterline CMC Electronics, developed a GPS based Ground Velocity Sensor suitable for use for Hover Hold and other advanced control laws. The program successfully created a ground velocity sensor through software modifications to the CMC CMA-5024 GPS/SBAS Landing System Sensor Unit (GLSSU). The resulting CMA-5024 Ground Velocity Sensor provides velocity outputs with the stability and accuracy characteristics of an EGI at a fraction of the cost and weight.