Building upon the technological capabilities and infrastructure established through the development of the Surion helicopter, KARI developed key technologies for the Light Civil Helicopter (LCH), including the Main Rotor Blade (MRB), Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS), and Active Vibration Control System (AVCS).
In the field of Main Rotor Blade (MRB) development, KARI independently acquired aerodynamic shape design technologies aimed at enhancing rotor performance and reducing noise, establishing a full optimization and analysis framework. These technologies were validated through final flight testing and are planned to be utilized in future performance upgrade programs.
Research on the Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS) software focused on designing flight control laws that integrate limited-authority automatic commands with manual pilot inputs within the LCH system. A model-based verification and validation (V&V) framework was established in compliance with DO-178C, the U.S. avionics software airworthiness standard, and the control laws were validated through ground testing using PILS (Processor-in-the-Loop Simulation) and HILS (Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation). Final flight tests confirmed the functionality of the developed control laws.
In the AVCS domain, KARI developed and certified software in accordance with DO-178C. The Institute also secured advanced algorithm design capabilities to achieve optimal vibration suppression performance and established optimization techniques to refine actuator and sensor configurations through both ground and flight testing.
The components developed through this core technology program successfully obtained Supplementary Type Certification (STC) from the domestic airworthiness authority. The technologies and testing infrastructure acquired through this effort will be applied to future domestically developed helicopter programs.