Rotorcraft control mode transition smoothing

A flight control system for a rotorcraft comprising:

• a processor and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium with an executable program stored thereon, the executable program including instructions to:
• receive a pilot control signal via a first interface of the processor;
• in a first mode
• determine a first value based on the received pilot control signal,
• determine a second value based on the determined first value,
• determine an actuator command based on the determined first value, determining the actuator command comprising executing a first dynamic controller that has an integrator, and
• providing an output of the first dynamic controller to an actuator via a second interface of the processor, wherein a flight state of the rotorcraft corresponding to the first value is configured to be proportional to the received pilot control signal, and a change in the first value is configured to cause a corresponding change in the flight state of the rotorcraft;
• and
• transitioning from the first mode to a second mode when a first condition of the rotorcraft crosses a first predetermined threshold, transitioning comprising
• fading out a gain of the first dynamic controller over a first period of time, and
• decreasing a value of the integrator over a second period of time;
• and
• in the second mode, providing an output of a second dynamic controller to the actuator via the second interface of the processor, wherein the output of the second dynamic controller is proportional to the received pilot control signal.

A rotorcraft comprising:

• a body;
• a power train coupled to the body and comprising a power source and a drive shaft coupled to the power source;
• a rotor system coupled to the power train and comprising a plurality of rotor blades;
• a flight control system operable to change at least one operating condition of the rotor system;
• a pilot control assembly configured to receive commands from a pilot, wherein the flight control system is a fly-by-wire flight control system in electrical communication with the pilot control assembly;
• and
• a flight control computer in electrical communication between the flight control system and the pilot control assembly, the flight control computer configured to:
• receive, from the pilot control assembly a pilot command to change a first flight characteristic,
• when a velocity of the rotorcraft is less than a first velocity threshold, interpret the first flight characteristic as a translational speed in a first mode and determine an attitude based on the translational speed via using an attitude controller comprising an integrator and a proportional path parallel to the integrator,
• when the velocity of the rotorcraft is greater than a second velocity threshold, interpret the first flight characteristic as a rate in a second mode, and
• when the velocity of the rotorcraft increases past the second velocity threshold, fade out a gain of the attitude controller, and successively decrease a value of the integrator.