The concept shows great promise in helping helicopter pilots better navigate and avoid problems when transporting so-called sling loads from a tethered gimbal. Whether in battlefield deployments or in alpine hiker rescues, the loads that dangle from helicopters typically encounter unique wind and movement conditions that could imperil the flight. Smith's team is addressing those issues.
"We wrote the code to reverse engineer the computations that tell us the friction that is building in the gimbal," said Smith, whose work has been supported by the Army, Navy, NASA, and AE's Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence (VLRCOE).
"And now we are hearing from people from all over the world who want to work with us on it, to apply it to different areas."
Smith's colleague, Dr. Eric Johnson has been using reduced order modeling code to determine the best way to fly UAVs in turbulent conditions. Smith said the construction industry has also expressed interest in the concept as a way to control the huge payloads that dangle from cranes.
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