Laboratory for flight mechanics (G001)

The Laboratory of Flight Mechanics deals with all aspects of flight physics, namely flight mechanics, flight control and simulation of large aircraft up to the smallest aircraft (Micro-Air-Vehicles, MAV). The laboratory is closely integrated with the courses in the field of aeronautical engineering as well as with the related research activities. It is planned to start permanent and sustainable research cooperations with Airbus Defense&Space and other regional aeronautical engineering companies.

Goals and idea

Training of students in the fields of flight mechanics & control, simulation and mechatronics
"IronBirdie" test bed for systems of small aircraft for system integration and a hardware-in-the-loop simulation
Development centre for small aircraft in cooperation with the THI wind tunnel
Simulation environment for manned simulation of a generic aircraft (transport, fighter or business jet)
Ground station for the simulated operation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
Simulation of manned and unmanned aircraft in the airspace as well as cooperation / coordination during missions
Development of concepts for resource-saving flying ("Green Aircraft") and their simulation
Operating concepts for aircraft whose systems are highly integrated for the purpose of resource-saving flying.

Laboratory G001

Equipment and activities

Cockpit Simulator

The Cockpit Simulator recreates a two man cockpit of a commercial transport aircraft with its primary controls. Touch-screen displays allow the presentation of modern flight instrumentation and its further development. The dome projection provides a realistic picture from the cockpit for the pilot.

Equipped with force-feedback control elements, flight handling quality investigations of non-electrically controlled (fly-by-wire) aircraft configurations are also possible.

Implemented aircraft simulations: Airbus A320

Ground Station Simulator

The ground station serves as a workstation for a flight test engineer who monitors test flights or for a possible simulated ground radio station as well as for the control of the simulation software.

Furthermore, the ground station is used for software development.

Small aircraft test stand "IronBirdie"
The test stand "IronBirdie" is a hardware-in-the-loop test stand for the system components of an unmanned small aircraft. Before a first flight, the entire system consisting of developed software and hardware is tested and optimized for the mission parameters.

Matlab/Simulink for real-time simulation environment
X-Plane 11 for flight physics calculation and environmental representation
XHSI for the Cockpit Instrument Display
FS-FlightControl as ground station application for: flight simulator control, flight test engineer station and ground stations
Various software development environments: Microsoft Visual Studio, Qt Creator, NetBeans and many more

Practical courses accompanying the lectures:

Avionics
Flight Mechanics
Aeronautical Engineering
Aircraft construction
Flight Test training

Other activities:

Study projects
Theses (Bachelor & Master)
Industrial Projects
Special events: e.g. University information Days, Girls Day, Technology Day, school classes

Development, construction and testing of energy-efficient small aircraft
Simulation of manned and unmanned aircraft in a common airspace and their cooperation in missions
Novel operating concepts for manned and unmanned aircraft under the aspect of resource-saving flying and a fully integrated design of their basic systems

Laboratory management and team

Dean of Studies Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Göllinger
Phone: +49 841 9348-3780
Room: A208
E-Mail: Harald.Goellinger@thi.de