Research Interests:

Automatic flight control design, handling qualities analysis, and flight simulation modeling with particular emphasis on rotorcraft applications.  Carefree maneuvering control systems.  High fidelity flight dynamics modeling of rotorcraft in the shipboard environment.  Damage mitigating control of rotorcraft.  Control law design and optimization for compound helicopters with redundant control effectors.  Non-linear, adaptive flight control.  Autonomous rotorcraft UAV’s.  Highly reliable control of UAV’s using redundant sensor systems.

Education: 

Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, June 1999.

M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, August 1992.

B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, May 1990.

Experience:

Associate Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University Park, PA. 2006-present

-- Assistant Professor, 2000-2006.

Senior Engineer, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Electronic Flight Controls and Simulation, Handling Qualities Group, Stratford, CT. 1999-2000.

Research Assistant, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Aerospace Engineering, 1996-1999.

Project Engineer, Piasecki Aircraft Corporation, Essington, PA. 1992-1996.

Awards and Affiliations:

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

American Helicopter Society (AHS).

AHS Handling Qualities Technical Committee.

1998 Robert L. Lichten Award from AHS.

Publications in Archival Journals:

Horn, J.F., Tolani, D.K., Lagoa, C.M., Wang, Q., and Ray, A., “Reliable Operation of Rotorcraft Using Probabilistic Robust Control,” IFAC Control Engineering Practice , Vol. 12, (8), August 2005, pp. 1037-1046.

Lee, D., Sezer-Uzol, N., Horn, J.F., and Long, L.N., “Simulation of Pilot Control Activity During Helicopter Shipboard Operations,” AIAA Journal of Aircraft , Vol. 42, (2), March-April 2005, pp.448-461.

Brentner, K.S., Lopes, L.V., Chen, H.N., and Horn, J.F., “Near Real-Time Simulation of Rotorcraft Acoustics and Flight Dynamics,” AIAA Journal of Aircraft , Vol. 42, (2), March-April 2005, pp. 347-355.

Sahani, N. and Horn, J.F., “Neural Network Based Algorithms for Comprehensive Collective Axis Limit Avoidance on Rotorcraft,” AIAA Journal of Computing, Information, and Communications , Vol. 1, November 2004, pp.432-451.

Horn, J.F. and Sahani, N., “Detection and Avoidance of Main Rotor Hub Moment Limits on Rotorcraft,” AIAA Journal of Aircraft , Vol. 41,(2), March-April 2004, pp.372-379.

Horn, J.F., Calise, A.C., and Prasad, J.V.R, “Flight Envelope Limit Detection and Avoidance for Rotorcraft,” Journal of the American Helicopter Society , Vol. 47, (4), October 2002, pp. 253-262.

Horn, J.F., Calise, A.C., and Prasad, J.V.R, “Flight Envelope Cueing on a Tilt-Rotor Aircraft Using Neural Network Limit Prediction,” Journal of the American Helicopter Society , Vol. 46, (1), January 2001, pp. 23-31.

Archival Journal Publications in Press:

Sahani, N. and Horn, J.F., “Adaptive Model Inversion Control of a Helicopter with Structural Load Limiting.” Accepted for publication in AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics .

Horn, J.F., Bridges, D.O., Lopes, L.V., and Brentner, K.S., “Development of a Low-Cost Multi-Disciplinary Rotorcraft Simulation Facility.”  Accepted for publication in AIAA Journal of Aerospace Computing, Information and Communication .

Publications in Conference Proceedings:

Lee, D. and Horn, J.F., “Optimization of a helicopter Stability Augmentation System for Operation in a Ship Airwake,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society 61 st Annual Forum, Grapevine, TX, June 1-3, 2005.

Horn, J.F., Bridges, D.O., Wachspress, D.A, and Rani, S.L., “Implementation of a Free-Vortex Wake Model in Real-Time Simulation of Rotorcraft,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society 61 st Annual Forum, Grapevine, TX, June 1-3, 2005.

Jeram, G. J., Sahani, N. A., Prasad, J. V. R., and Horn, J. F., “Distributing Limit Protection between Autonomous Restraint and Voluntary Tactile Cues,” AIAA Aerospace Science Meeting, Reno, Nevada, Jan. 2005.

Lee, D. and Horn, J.F., “Simulation of Pilot Workload for Helicopters Operating in a Turbulent Ship Airwake,” AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, Providence , RI , August 2004. AIAA Paper 2004-5360.

Horn, J.F., Bridges, D., Sharma, C., Lopes, L., and Brentner, K.S., “A Multi-Disciplinary Rotorcraft Simulation Facility Composed of Commodity Components and Open Source Software,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society 60 th Annual Forum, Baltimore , MD , June 7-10, 2004.

Sahani, N., Horn, J.F., Jeram, G., and Prasad, J.V.R., “Hub Moment Limit Protection Using Neural Network Prediction,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society 60 th Annual Forum, Baltimore , MD , June 7-10, 2004.

Geiger, B., Horn, J.F., Greenjack, A.., and Piasecki, F.W., “Trim and Maneuver Optimization Methods for Compound Rotorcraft,” American Helicopter Society 60 th Annual Forum, Baltimore , MD , June 7-10, 2004.

Tolani, D.K., Horn, J.F., Ray, A., and Chen, J., “Hierarchical Control of Future Generation Rotorcraft,” American Controls Conference, Boston , MA , June 30 – July 2, 2004.

Kothmann, B.D., Lu., Y., DeBrun, E., and Horn, J., “Prospective on Rotorcraft Aerodynamic Modeling for Flight Dynamics Applications,” American Helicopter Society 4 th Decennial Specialist's Conference on Aeromechanics, San Francisco , CA , January 21-23, 2004.

Chen, H., Brentner, K.S., Lopes, L., and Horn, J.F., “A Study of Rotorcraft Noise Prediction in Maneuvering Flight,” Proceedings of the AIAA 42 nd Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, NV, January 2004.

Lee, D., Horn, J.F., Sezer-Uzol, N., and Long, L.N., “Simulation of Pilot Control Activity During Helicopter Shipboard Operations,” Proceedings of the AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, Austin, TX, August 2003, AIAA Paper 2003-5306.

Horn, J.F., Tolani, D.K., Lagoa, C.M., Wang, Q., and Ray, A., “Reliable Operation of Rotorcraft Using Probabilistic Robust Control,” Proceedings of the 5th IFAC Symposium on Fault Detection, Supervision and Safety of Technical Processes, Washington, D.C., June 9-11, 2003, pp.181-186.

Bridges, D., Horn, J.F., and Ray, A., “Damage Mitigating Control of Rotorcraft,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society 59 th Annual Forum, Phoenix , AZ , May 2003.

Lee, D., Sezer-Uzol, N., Horn, J.F., and Long, L.N., “Simulation of Helicopter Shipboard Launch and Recovery Operations Using Time-Accurate Airwakes,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society 59 th Annual Forum, Phoenix , AZ , May 2003.

Brentner, K.S., Lopes, L., Chen, H., and Horn, J.F., “Near Real-Time Simulation of Rotorcraft Acoustics and Flight Dynamics,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society 59 th Annual Forum, Phoenix , AZ , May 2003.

Sahani, N.* and Horn J.F., “Collective Axis Cueing and Limit Avoidance Algorithms for Carefree Maneuvering,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society Flight Controls and Crew System Design Specialists' Meeting, Philadelphia , PA , October 2002.

Lee, D.* and Horn J.F., “Simulation and Control of Helicopter Shipboard Launch and Recovery Operations,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society Flight Controls and Crew System Design Specialists' Meeting, Philadelphia , PA , October 2002.

Horn, J.F., “Rotor State Feedback for High Bandwidth Control and Structural Load Limiting,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society Flight Controls and Crew System Design Specialists' Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, October 2002.

Sahasrabudhe, V., Spaulding, R., Faynberg, A., Horn, J., and Sahani, N*., “Simulation Investigation of a Comprehensive Collective-Axis Tactile Cueing System,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society 58th Annual Forum, Montreal , Canada , June 2002, Vol. 1, pp. 559-568.

Horn, J., and Sahani, N.*, “Detection And Avoidance of Main Rotor Hub Moment Limits on Rotorcraft,” Proceedings of the AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, Montreal, Canada, August 2001, AIAA Paper 2001-4138.

Horn, J. F., Calise, A. C., and Prasad, J.V.R, “Flight Envelope Limit Detection and Avoidance for Rotorcraft,” Proceedings of the 25th European Rotorcraft Forum, Rome , Italy , September 14-16 1999 .

Horn, J. F., Calise, A. C., and Prasad, J.V.R, “Development of Envelope Protection Systems for Rotorcraft,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society 55th Annual Forum, Montreal , Canada , May 25-27, 1999, Vol. 2, pp. 2025-2036 .

Horn, J. F., Calise, A. C., and Prasad, J.V.R, “Flight Envelope Limiting Systems Using Neural Networks,” Proceedings of the AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, Boston, MA, August 10-12, 1998, pp. 741-751.

Horn, J., Calise, A.C., Prasad, J.V.R, and O'Rourke, M., “Flight Envelope Cueing on a Tilt-Rotor Aircraft Using Neural Network Limit Prediction,” Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society 55th Annual Forum, Washington , D.C. , May 1998, Vol. 2, pp. 1093-1104.

Research Sponsors:

National Rotorcraft Technology Center (NRTC), U.S. Army, Piasecki Aircraft Corporation, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation