ALLFlight: tackling the brownout problem

In 2008, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) started the project ALLFlight (Assisted Low Level Flight and Landing on Unprepared Landing Sites). The aim of the program is to integrate a full scale enhanced vision sensor suite in DLR’s research helicopter EC135. The sensor suite consists of a variety of imaging sensors, including a color TV camera and an uncooled thermal infrared camera. Two different ranging sensors are also part of the sensor suite: an optical radar scanner and a millimeter wave radar system. Both radar systems are equipped with specialized software for experimental modes, such as terrain mapping and ground scanning. To be able to process and display the enormous amount of data generated by these sensors, a compact high performance sensor co-computer system (SCC) has been designed and set up. It is built to be easily installable in the helicopter’s cargo bay. We describe the high performance, distributed data acquisition, recording, processing, and fusion software architecture that has been developed and implemented during the first project year. Furthermore, this paper describes the challenging mechanical integration of such a comprehensive sensor suite in the EC135 and explains the architectural hard- and software concept and its implementation in the SCC.

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