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HIGHLIGHTS ARCHIVE
Level 2 Qualification for Software Assurance in the Aviation Systems Division
March 9, 2017

NASA's Safety and Mission Assurance Technical Excellence Program (STEP) has granted the Aviation Systems Division's Software Assurance Manager a Level 2 Qualification for Software Assurance. This supports the division's experiment to see if we can use local, embedded software assurance support, in cooperation with the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate (Code Q). This qualification will reduce the reliance on Code Q's limited resources, and the burden on individual projects, when complying with NASA 8739.8 Software Assurance Standard. (POC: Debbi Ballinger)



NASA and FAA Quarterly Meeting
March 9, 2017

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA conducted their joint quarterly review of current and potential future collaborations on February 28-March 1, 2017, at NASA Ames Research Center. The quarterly meetings provide a valuable two-way exchange of plans, constraints, ideas and possibilities affecting the two agencies. Current collaborations include Airspace Technology Demonstration (ATD)-1, -2 and -3 subprojects, as well as the FAA/NASA Research Transition Team for UTM (Unmanned aircraft system Traffic Management). Potential future collaborations include NASA's emerging plans for a new Trajectory-Based Operations research project. Specific discussions about ATD-3 focused on the current ground-based (Multi-Flight Common Route, MFCR, and Dynamic Routes for Arrivals in Weather, DRAW) and cockpit-based (Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests, TASAR) rerouting technologies, along with the concept of integrating the ground and cockpit tools. The ground-based technologies are slated for integration into FAA operational infrastructure, while NASA is working with flight operators and industry to implement the integrated technologies. (POC: Kapil Sheth)



Motion Cueing Experiment at the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS)
March 9, 2017

External view of the two CVSRF simulators
Figure 1: Typical Hexapod Motion Simulators

The majority of commercial pilot training is performed in hexapod motion flight simulators (see Figure 1). Hexapod motion system performance parameters are often configured based on pilot opinion and can vary greatly between simulators of the same aircraft type. In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) motion simulator certification is also subjective, based on pilot opinion. To develop objective motion cueing criteria for hexapod simulators, that would be provided to industry, the FAA and NASA have planned a series of experiments on Motion Cueing at the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS). The last of four Motion Cueing experiments, scheduled for March 14, 2017, will help define the boundary for acceptable hexapod system motion cueing based on three important flight maneuvers using a generic mid-sized twin-engine transport aircraft math model: 1) stall at high altitude, 2) one engine failure on takeoff, 3) side step approach and landing. The large motion envelope, high fidelity motion, and flexible system architecture make the VMS an ideal platform for motion cueing research (see Figure 2). (POC: Scott Reardon)

Photo showing the top view of the Vertical Motion Simulator and its motion platform.
Figure 2: Vertical Motion Simulator



Certification Criteria for Advanced Rotorcraft Experiment at the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS)
March 9, 2017

Photo of the out the window scene from the cockpit of the VMS during the CCAR experiment.
CCAR Cockpit on the VMS

Civilian rotorcraft have begun to incorporate advanced flight control (AdFC) systems such as fly-by-wire or fly-by-light as part of their new designs. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wishes to understand the changes in flight performance related to these new AdFCs and objective data is needed to support development of advanced rotorcraft Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) certification criteria. The large motion envelope, high fidelity motion and flexible system architecture make the NASA Ames Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) an ideal platform for flight handling qualities research. The FAA-sponsored Certification Criteria for Advanced Rotorcraft (CCAR) experiment was performed at the VMS between August 15 – September 9, 2016 and January 16 – February 3, 2017 and will provide guidance and supporting data for recommended minimum performance standards for helicopters with AdFC. The CCAR experiment collected data to determine what AdFC systems response types are acceptable/certifiable during realistic, moderate-to-high workload, full mission scenarios. Six FAA, Sikorsky and Bell pilots participated in the experiment and flew 185 data runs. (POC: Scott Reardon)



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