Investigation and evaluation of a helicopter pilot assistance system for offshore missions in degraded visual environment

Environmental factors and weather conditions pose numerous challenges to helicopter pilots and crew in offshore missions. Fog or the lack of visual cues over the sea, for example, can lead to disorientation and a lack of situational awareness. To increase safety and the operational capability of helicopters in offshore missions to wind farms, a pilot assistance system, providing offshore wind farm specific information in the head-up display, obstacle awareness, route planning and navigation support, has been investigated and evaluated. The head-up visual display consists of different sets of symbology for flight guidance, navigation and obstacle avoidance to increase situational awareness. Furthermore, a path planning algorithm ensures an obstacle-free flight path to a selected target which is displayed as "tunnel-in-the-sky". Besides the head-up visual system, head-down display information is supplemented by infrared camera-based imagery embedded into a synthetic overlay (combined vision) by target information and traffic information from Automatic Dependence Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals. Additionally, a digital mission/navigation map which is complemented by specific offshore-relevant information for wind farms, is provided on a head-down display. To evaluate the pilot assistance system, two simulation campaigns (2019 and 2021) have been conducted in DLR's Air Vehicle Simulator (AVES). Both piloted studies focused on workload impact and situational awareness as well as conclusions to further improve the system according to operational needs. In addition, a system demonstrator has been integrated into an Airbus H145 helicopter test platform supplementing system evaluation in a flight campaign. This paper will present an overview of the pilot assistance system and the results from the second piloted simulation campaign completed in September 2021, complemented by pilot feedback from the flight demonstration performed by Airbus.