An RC modeler’s dream:
Pilot your own Black Hawk helicopter
This has got to be the ultimate experience for radio-controlled model airplane aficionados: Flying a real Black Hawk helicopter by remote control. Sikorsky does this using a system it developed called Matrix which also lets the copter fly itself autonomously if need be. Ordinary Black Hawks are fly-by-wire, meaning the human pilot interacts with sensors that transmit inputs to the flight control system, rather than directly interacting with helicopter control surfaces. So a remote-controlled Black Hawk uses a remote interface to the flight computer that mimics inputs from a conventional pilot. Additional sensors serve as eyes and ears for the craft. Matrix is also handles situations that are tough for autonomous systems such as flying at low altitudes where there are a lot of obstacles to worry about.
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Filed Under: Bearings, Cables + cable management, Connectors (electrical) • crimp technologies, Vision • machine vision • cameras + lenses • frame grabbers • optical filters
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