Helmet-mounted displays

[gtx]

Another video (I don't think it has been posted before):
http://youtu.be/Ay6g66FbkmQ

[spazsinbad]

Thanks - some good clear vHUD graphics in the video.

[spazsinbad]

Just slightly off topic again but you know how it is.... On page 33 of this thread here viewtopic.php?f=62&t=16223&p=276045&hilit=Venom#p276045 there was discussion about old flight gear. The video below shows RNZAF single seat - no ejection seat - pilots in their Mae Wests and cloth inner helmet with cardboard painted silver outer helmet. Last frames [screenshot] show the trainer Vampire which has ejection seats while the pilot (getting into left seat after handing the cameraman the camera in right seat) will have bowyangs (similar to those worn by F-8 Crusader pilots) for leg restraints as per illustration....

[spazsinbad]

PCD Portal 'All Systems (F-35B) Are GO' from a video here: viewtopic.php?f=61&p=278585#p278585

[SpudmanWP]

Looks like they are going to display the gun's position on the left, regardless if it's internal or external.

Wonder if it's possible for an A to carry a gun and how would it be displayed?

[spazsinbad]

SWP I would guess that all displays in all variants will be the same except where absolutely necessary - such as the STOVL engine LiftFan indications and whatnots for the Bee. Interesting question about F-35A gun pod. Meanwhile.... the majority of this text is elsewhere [ viewtopic.php?f=57&p=279273#p279273 ] but thought appropriate to post again the HMDS III bits below.

Testing the F-35 – an Australian perspective
NIGEL PITTAWAY, AEROSPACE TESTING INTERNATIONAL, SEPTEMBER 2014

"...The flight testing of software has recently been focused on certification of Block 2B software, which is required to support US Marine Corps IOC in July 2015. Although 2B and 3I offer the same level of functionality, they are hosted on different processors and the Australian jets, along with the other LRIP 6 aircraft, are awaiting certification of the latter later this year.

Block 3I software is also required to support the latest Generation 3 flight helmet, which will rectify shortcomings discovered with the earlier helmet during flight testing. Because modifications are also required to the cockpit, which will be made from LRIP 7 onward, the first two RAAF aircraft will require retrofitting once flight test of the helmet is completed.

Flight testing has also been affected by the recent fleet grounding, following the destruction of an engine and subsequent aft fuselage fire experienced by an F-35A at Eglin Air Force Base. “We’re just starting with (Block) 3I testing and with the little bit of hiatus we had with the grounding, we’re just getting back into the testing. We’ll really test with 3I probably in the September timeframe,” explains Lockheed Martin’s F-35 chief test pilot Al Norman. “Right now, AF-3 is the test jet loaded with 3I. We’ll have more jets loaded with 3I and when we do, the [Generation 3] helmets will be compatible with those. The Gen 3 break in to the LRIP jet is LRIP 7, which is next [northern] spring time.”..."

Source: AEROSPACE TESTING INTERNATIONAL, SEPTEMBER 2014

[spazsinbad]

Another PCD screenshot from a video of the travel sim at Misawa: http://www.dvidshub.net/video/363704/f-35-test-drive

[castlebravo]

Another PCD screenshot from a video of the travel sim at Misawa: http://www.dvidshub.net/video/363704/f-35-test-drive

Anyone have an idea on what the big green shape projecting from the front of the F-35 on the HSD might be? At 0:45 in the video you can see the shape grow somewhat, presumably due to the aircraft gaining altitude.

[SpudmanWP]

SAR range?

[neptune]

...Block 3I software is also required to support the latest Generation 3 flight helmet, which will rectify shortcomings discovered with the earlier helmet during flight testing.

Because modifications are also required to the cockpit, which will be made from LRIP 7 onward,

....]

Is there a "best" reference for this "cockpit modificaton/s"??? thanks in advance

...are these mods "only" the camera upgrades for the "nvg??" issues, or others?

[spazsinbad]

I do not know what is meant by 'cockpit modifications' however Shirley what the Gen III helmet mods are is well documented in this thread?

Here is one modification for 'cockpit' that may apply: viewtopic.php?f=62&t=16223&p=274230&hilit=Tomassetti#p274230

FARNBOROUGH: Lockheed remains confident in F-35 ahead of international debut
26 Jun 2014 Jon Hemmerdinger

"...Art Tomassetti, Lockheed’s F-35B Marine Corps project manager, notes that tests continue to uncover ways Block 2B can be improved. The improvements have included fixes to software problems and updates recommended by pilots, such as changing the colour of cockpit indicator lights, says Tomassetti, a former USMC F-35 instructor who flew the model’s experimental predecessor, the X-35...."

Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... al-400065/

Around this page to jump to would be the 'fixes' that the HMDS III system brings. And here is one small quote from that page:

"......[the] upgraded Gen III version of HMDS.... incorporates software fixes designed to correct latency issues, a new ISIE-11 night vision camera and liquid crystal displays."

[cantaz]

The cockpit modification might be to support the improved helmet tracking, as part of the jitter fix.

[neptune]

The cockpit modification might be to support the improved helmet tracking, as part of the jitter fix.

...and that too ....

it appears that the contrast issues between the MFDs and the "NVG" cams being not completely compatible are part of the fix (now compatible) for this next gen. of the visor...."Bees" were landing on the Wasp with the MK-1 and the DAS-MFD (no visor). With this Block 3i. all of the 95% fixes can evolve to the 3F.

[spazsinbad]

Getting fit for your jet fighter helmet
30 Sep 2014 John McHale

"...how F-35 fighter pilots are fitted for their Helmet-Mounted Display System (HMDS). A F-35 helmet fitting is so granular it measures the distance between your eyes and how your pupils react to light. Makes figuring out the lie angle on a 9-iron seem quite mundane.

I was given a tutorial on the process during the Air Force Association (AFA) event last month in Washington from Martin Gunther, product marketing manager for Airborne Marketing at Rockwell Collins. Gunther, a former Navy fighter pilot, has been designing fighter helmets more than 30 years.

The HMDS, designed and developed by Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems, places a virtual Head Up Display (HUD) and other critical flight data directly onto the helmet’s visor, he says. It has a bi-ocular, 40 by 30 field of view, and a high-resolution, high-brightness display, with integrated digital night vision. It is also integrated with multiple sensors on the aircraft such as the Distributed Aperture System (DAS), designed by Northrop Grumman, that enables pilots to essentially see through the structure of the aircraft for a 360-degree view and see a direct picture of the ground beneath them, Gunther notes.

The only people authorized to assemble and custom-fit a helmet to an F-35 pilot are Rockwell Collins employees (pictured) – Dan Kalsow, a senior systems engineer, and Rodney Breuer, a senior customer support manager – according to Rob McKillip, senior director of F-35 programs for Rockwell Collins. They have fitted more than 120 pilots from the U.S. Air Force and Navy, as well as three foreign national pilots from the Netherlands since 2011. To fit F-35 pilots for the helmet, [Kalsow and Breuer] start by laser scanning the pilot’s head so the helmet’s optics package on the display visor is within two millimeters of exact center of each of the pupils, Gunther says.

This part of the process takes about four hours per helmet and involves spending two days with each pilot, he continues. On the first day, measurements are taken of the pilot’s head, including a 3D head scan and the use of a pupilometer to measure the distance between the pupils, Gunther adds.

Once the measurements are made they begin assembling the helmet. This process includes custom-milling each helmet liner so the helmet sits comfortably on the pilot’s head while maintaining stability under high gravity (G) maneuvers so the optics continue to match up to the individual’s field of view, explains McKillip. “They custom fit the pads in the helmet based on head size,” Gunther says.

Once the helmet is assembled, the pilot comes in for a final fitting on the second day. During this time the optics are aligned to the pilot’s pupils and the display visor is custom contoured – a process that must be done precisely so the pilot has a single focused image at infinity, says McKillip. Many would assume that people’s eyes are aligned, but that is not the case, Gunther says.

Rockwell Collins engineers have developed the third generation of the HMDS (Gen III), which is scheduled for flight-testing at Edwards Air Force Base in California this fall, Gunther says. For the Gen III version the team made improvements to night vision acuity, the latency of the DAS imagery displayed on the visor, and solved a jitter challenge. The jitter – a symptom of the aircraft shake generated during a high G turn – has been totally eliminated in Gen III, Gunther says. “The big difference between the Gen II and the Gen III helmets is the improved optical design performance across the exit pupil,” Gunther notes. “Gen III also has blacker blacks and no green glow that was associated with previous models.”

Gunther says if he had this type of helmet back in the 1970s it would have made landing on aircraft carriers at night a lot less complicated...."

PHOTO: http://i.cloud.opensystemsmedia.com/i__ ... 73c47.jpeg

CAPTION: "Rockwell Collins employees Dan Kalsow (back) and Rodney Breuer (front) test to ensure a pilot’s pupils are within two millimeters of exact center to be properly aligned with the optics package on the F-35 HMDS. (Photo courtesy of Rockwell Collins.)"

Source: http://mil-embedded.com/articles/gettin ... er-helmet/

[cantaz]

Well, the idiots will always have "baaaaah why wasn't it fixed sooner", I guess. And soon enough that'll be all they have.