• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.704-713
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• 2011

For many years, many pilots lost their lives and aircrafts due to GLOC(Gravity-induced Loss Of Consciousness). Due to the emergence of high-gravity maneuvering aircraft such as the F-16, F-15 and T-50, the automatic GLOC detection and recovery systems are necessary to increase the aircraft safeties even when the pilot loses his consciousness due to high-G maneuvering. This paper addresses the design of GLOC detection, warning and recovery algorithm based on a model of supersonic jet trainer. The system is solely controlled by the pilot's control input (i.e., control stick force) and aircraft status such as attitude, airspeed, altitude and so forth. And, moreover, it does not depend upon any pilot physiological condition. The test evaluation results show that the developed system supports the recovery of an aircraft from the unusual aircraft attitude and improves the aircraft safeties even when the pilot loses his consciousness due to high-G maneuvering.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.548-556
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• 2015

The highly maneuverable fighter aircraft such as F-22, F-16 and F-15have the high maneuverability to maximize the combat performance, whereas the high maneuver characteristics might degrade the pilot's mission efficiency due to fatigue's increase by exposing him to the high gravity and, in the worst case, the pilot could face GLOC (Gravity-induced Loss Of Consciousness). The advanced aerospace company has applied the various technologies to improve the pilot's tolerance to the gravity acceleration, in order to prevent the pilot from entering the situation of the loss of consciousness. Especially, the Anti-G Suit(AGS) equipment to protect the pilot against the high gravity in flight could improve the mission success rate by decreasing the pilot's fatigue in the combat maneuver as well as prevent the pilot from facing GLOC. In this paper, a control algorithm is developed and verified to provide an optimal air pressure to AGS according to the gravity increase during the high performance maneuver. This result is expected, as the key technology, to contribute to the KF-X(Korean Fighter eXperimental), project in the near future.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.535-543
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• 2017

Objective: This study was designed to identify factors affecting pilots' +Gz tolerance recovery from +Gz induced exhaustion. Background: +Gz tolerance of pilots has been considered as a crucial factor to fly the modern high performance fighter aircrafts. However, the factors affecting pilots' G-tolerance recovery from +Gz induced exhaustion have not been examined in the acceleration research community. Method: A centrifuge profile consisting of a high +Gz run for pilot's exhaustion and a low +Gz run for pilot's recovery and another high +Gz runs for pilot's second exhaustion was designed. The subjects' +Gz tolerance recovery ratio was measured by ratio of second high +Gz run time to the first high +Gz run time. The subjects' +Gz tolerance recovery rate was measured by dividing the subjects' +Gz tolerance recovery ratio by the low +Gz run time. The subjects' G-tolerance recovery rate was analyzed with respect to the subjects' personal factors including subjects' anthropometric and physiologic characteristics, flight time, flying aircraft type and so on. Results: The subjects' previous three-month flight hours (r=-0.336, p=0.039), six-month flight hours (r=-0.403, p=0.012) and one-year flight hours (r=-0.329, p= 0.044) correlated with the subjects' G-tolerance recovery rate. Conclusion: The subjects' G-tolerance recovery rate is clearly related to the subjects' previous flight hours. However, the subjects' anthropometric and physiologic characteristics do not show any statistically significant correlation with the subjects' G-tolerance recovery rate. Application: This research provides a safety critical insight to aviation community by identifying the factors to affect the gravity-induced loss of consciousness (GLOC) of pilots.