Pilot-in-the-Loop Flight Simulator for NASA’s Transport Class Model

An immersive flight simulator has been developed at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign using NASA’s Transport Class Model aircraft dynamics in an effort to streamline the design and testing process of a flight control law incorporating flight envelope protection and loss-of-control prediction and prevention systems. A modular simulator structure has been implemented using a Simulink dynamics model, X-Plane visualization, Frasca 142 cockpit, and a custom digital gauge panel, with communication between elements over a local area network. Utilizing purpose-built Simulink libraries, a single Simulink model is able to facilitate batch simulations, desktop piloted simulations, and pilot-in-the-loop simulations in the flight simulator. This paper presents an overview of the simulator architecture and its implementation.