Suppression of Pilot-Induced Oscillation (PIO)

Closed loop instability caused by excess phase lag induced by actuator rate limiting has been suspected in many pilot-induced oscillations (PIOs) and oscillatory departures from controlled flight. As part of the joint AFIT/TPS program, a longitudinal pilot command notch filter activated by a real-time oscillation verifier (ROVER) algorithm was developed to eliminate the PIO source for any developing, severe PIO. Closed loop computer simulations were conducted to prepare for the flight test. The HAVE ROVER flight test project was flown using the NF-16D Variable Stability In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA). A programmable heads-up display (HUD) was used to generate a tracking task simulating Category A fighter maneuvers. 6 of the 12 evaluation sorties were flown against an airborne target aircraft. Flight test results showed the stick filter was pivotal in preventing aircraft oscillatory departures and suppressing PIOs. With the original threshold settings, the ROVER algorithm correctly characterized pilot observations of the aircraft motion 72% of the time. Further analysis indicated that a high false detection rate was responsible for this relatively low correct detection rate. These results suggested that the threshold values used by ROVER to detect PIO were set too low. By varying the threshold values as part of a parametric study, a maximum overall correct detection rate of 82% was attained