THE US NAVY’S USE OF VISUAL SIMULATION TECHNOLOGY TO OPTIMIZE AND REFINE SHIPBOARD ROTORCRAFT COMPATIBILITY

The US Navy conducts shipboard Dynamic Interface (DI) test programs to evaluate the ability of helicopters to operate aboard various ship classes, and to determine limitations associated with such operations. This paper summarizes significant USN efforts that have employed visual simulation technology, resident in the Manned Flight Simulator (MFS) facility, to improve shipboard rotorcraft compatibility. These efforts have included prototype visualization, design optimization visualization studies, manned flight simulation, and research efforts devoted to determining minimum cueing requirements for shipboard rotorcraft simulations. This paper also summarizes of work completed to date at MFS on an ongoing effort to determine the minimum visual cues necessary to conduct simulated shipboard rotorcraft launch/recovery operations. The visual cueing requirement effort investigates the impact of projected image size, ambient illumination, scene texture, and scene level of detail on a pilot’s ability to conduct a simulated landing.