Flight termination for air vehicles

• US 10,450,077 B2
• Filed: 05/06/2016
• Issued: 10/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Ferreyra, Eduardo Gabriel, Serrot, Enrique Emilio, Lemus, Jose Luis, Blanco, Jose Antonio, Lapena, Nieves
• Primary Examiner(s): Shudy, Angelina
• Application Number:
  US15/149,019
• Publication Number:
  US 20160340049A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,264 Days
• Field of Search: 701 3, 701 23
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 17/80 in association with aircraft, e.g. for braking thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 25/00 Emergency apparatus or devices, not otherwise provided for parachutes B64D17/00, B64D19/00; jettisoning of fuel tanks or fuel per se B64D37/00; specially adapted for protection against criminal attack, e.g. anti-hijacking systems B64D45/0015 ; safety belts or body harnesses in general A62B35/00; safety belts or body harnesses for land vehicles B60R22/00; jettisonable parts of fuselage facilitating emergency escape B64C
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/10 autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS]
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/20 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 70/83 using parachutes, balloons or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

The present disclosure refers to a method and a related system of flight termination for air vehicles. The method and the system of flight termination for air vehicles involve deploying a parachute for flight termination of an air vehicle. A flight termination system, which in turn comprises at least one microcontroller unit that is connected to at least one parachute deployment system for deploying an air vehicle'"'"'s parachute when a major emergency is determined during an air vehicle'"'"'s flight.

Claims

1. A method of flight termination for an air vehicle, the method comprising:

sensing, by sensors of the air vehicle, measurements, wherein the sensors are connected to at least one microcontroller unit of the air vehicle;

sending an alert message, by the at least one microcontroller unit, when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements are within predetermined critical range limits;

deploying, with at least one parachute deployment system of the air vehicle, a parachute of the air vehicle for flight termination of the air vehicle, when the at least one microcontroller unit of the air vehicle determines that the measurements are not within predetermined normal range limits and not within the predetermined critical range limits, wherein the at least one microcontroller unit is connected to the at least one parachute deployment system; and

communicating, via a radio transmitter connected to the at least one microcontroller unit, between the at least one microcontroller unit with at least one of;

a manual pilot located at least one of outside or inside the air vehicle;

an autopilot located at least one of inside or outside the air vehicle;

or a control station located outside the air vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensors comprise internal sensors.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the internal sensors comprise at least one of:

an inertial measurement unit, a magnetometer, an altitude sensor, a barometer, a gyroscope, or a global positioning system receiver.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensors comprise external sensors.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the external sensors comprise sensors with which the air vehicle is conventionally equipped, which are located onboard the air vehicle.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the external sensors comprise sensors located outside the air vehicle, which are connected to the at least one microcontroller unit via a radio.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

determining, by the at least one microcontroller unit of the air vehicle, whether the measurements are found to be within the predetermined normal range limits;

when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements are within the predetermined normal range limits, awaiting for further measurements;

determining, by the at least one microcontroller unit, whether the measurements are found to be within the predetermined critical range limits, when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements are not within the predetermined normal range limits; and

when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that measurements are within the predetermined critical range limits;

checking for reception of instructions for deploying the parachute,

deploying the parachute, if the instructions for deploying the parachute are received, and

awaiting detection of the further measurements, if the instructions for deploying the parachute are not received.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises assessing whether a level of at least one battery provided for powering the sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, and the parachute deployment system, is sufficient for ensuring performance of at least one of:

the sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, or the parachute deployment system.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises emitting an insufficient battery level alert and shutting down the sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, and the parachute deployment system, when the at least one microcontroller unit of the air vehicle determines that the level of the at least one battery is not sufficient for ensuring performance of at least one of:

the sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, or the parachute deployment system at any time during the flight.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprising powering, by at least one battery, the at least one microcontroller unit, the at least one parachute deployment system, and the sensors.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises measuring, by a battery level measurement unit, a level of the at least one battery.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the air vehicle is an unmanned air vehicle (UAV).

13. A system of flight termination for an air vehicle comprises:

a parachute;

at least one microcontroller unit connected to a parachute deployment system; and

sensors connected to the at least one microcontroller unit, wherein the sensors measure measurements comprising flight and air vehicle related variables,

wherein the at least one microcontroller unit sends an alert message, when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements are within predetermined critical range limits,

wherein the at least one microcontroller unit activates the parachute deployment system to deploy the parachute, when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements are not within predetermined normal range limits and not within the predetermined critical range limits; and

a radio transmitter, connected to the at least one microcontroller unit, for communication between the at least one microcontroller unit and at least one of;

a manual pilot located at least one of outside or inside the air vehicle, an autopilot located at least one of inside or outside of the air vehicle, or a control station located outside of the air vehicle.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the sensors comprise external sensors, wherein the external sensors comprise at least one of:

sensors with which the air vehicle is conventionally equipped, which are located onboard the air vehicle, or sensors located outside the air vehicle, which are connected to the at least one microcontroller unit via a radio.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the sensors comprise internal sensors, wherein the internal sensors comprise at least one of:

an inertial measurement unit, a magnetometer, an altitude sensor, a barometer, a gyroscope, or a global positioning system receiver.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the sensors comprise external sensors, wherein the external sensors comprise at least one of:

an inertial measurement unit, a magnetometer, an altitude sensor, a barometer, a gyroscope, or a global positioning system receiver.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the system further comprises at least one battery for powering the parachute deployment system, the at least one microcontroller unit, and the sensors.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the system further comprises a battery level measurement unit for measuring a level of the at least one battery.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least one microcontroller unit is configured to send an insufficient battery level alert and shut down the sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, and the parachute deployment system, when the at least one microcontroller unit detects a signal from the battery level measurement unit comprising data with the level of the at least one battery, wherein the level of the at least one battery indicates that the level of the at least one battery is insufficient for ensuring performance of at least one of:

internal sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, or the parachute deployment system.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one microcontroller unit is configured to:

determine whether the measurements are found to be within the predetermined normal range limits,

await for further measurements, when the at least one microcontroller determines that the measurements are within the predetermined normal range limits;

determine whether the measurements are found to be within the predetermined critical range limits, when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements are not within the predetermined normal range limits; and

check whether instructions for deploying the parachute are received, and the parachute is deployed, when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the instructions for deploying the parachute are received, when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements from the sensors are within the predetermined critical range limits.