Method and apparatus for tracking center of gravity of air vehicle
First Claim
1. An apparatus for tracking a center of gravity of an air vehicle, comprising:
- a primary set of sensor assemblies oriented for dynamically measuring at least one flight parameter and generating primary signals corresponding thereto, the primary set being adapted for measuring the flight parameter along three mutually orthogonal axes of an aircraft;
a redundant set of sensor assemblies oriented for dynamically measuring the same flight parameter as the primary set of sensor assemblies and generating redundant signals corresponding thereto, the redundant set being adapted for measuring the flight parameter along the same three mutually orthogonal axes of the aircraft as the primary set of sensor assemblies;
a signal processor connected to the primary and redundant sensor assemblies, the signal processor having;
signal sampling means for sampling the primary and redundant signals from the sensor assemblies at predetermined time intervals;
center of gravity processing means for forming a primary estimate of the center of gravity of the aircraft from the primary signals, means for forming at least one redundant estimate of the center of gravity from the redundant signals, and means for filtering out unreliable sensor signals and combining the primary and at least one redundant estimates to obtain a corrected estimate of the center of gravity at the predetermined time intervals; and
guidance and control parameter processing means for dynamically calculating guidance and control parameters from the corrected center of gravity at the predetermined time intervals; and
means for high speed communication of the calculated guidance and control parameters to a flight guidance and control processor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The method and apparatus for tracking a center of gravity (COG) of an air vehicle provides a precise calculation and updating of the COG by disposing a plurality of acceleration measuring devices on a circumference of one or more rings in a manner that establishes redundancy in acceleration measurement. A multivariable time-space adaptive technique is provided within a high speed digital signal processor (DSP) to calculate and update the position of the COG. The system provides the capability of executing a procedure that reduces dispersion in estimating angular velocities and lateral accelerations of a moving vehicle and corrects the vehicle'"'"'s estimated angular velocities and lateral accelerations. In addition, a consistency check of the measured values from the acceleration measuring devices is performed to assist in fault detection and isolation of a faulty accelerometer in the system.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus for tracking a center of gravity of an air vehicle, comprising:
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a primary set of sensor assemblies oriented for dynamically measuring at least one flight parameter and generating primary signals corresponding thereto, the primary set being adapted for measuring the flight parameter along three mutually orthogonal axes of an aircraft; a redundant set of sensor assemblies oriented for dynamically measuring the same flight parameter as the primary set of sensor assemblies and generating redundant signals corresponding thereto, the redundant set being adapted for measuring the flight parameter along the same three mutually orthogonal axes of the aircraft as the primary set of sensor assemblies; a signal processor connected to the primary and redundant sensor assemblies, the signal processor having; signal sampling means for sampling the primary and redundant signals from the sensor assemblies at predetermined time intervals; center of gravity processing means for forming a primary estimate of the center of gravity of the aircraft from the primary signals, means for forming at least one redundant estimate of the center of gravity from the redundant signals, and means for filtering out unreliable sensor signals and combining the primary and at least one redundant estimates to obtain a corrected estimate of the center of gravity at the predetermined time intervals; and guidance and control parameter processing means for dynamically calculating guidance and control parameters from the corrected center of gravity at the predetermined time intervals; and means for high speed communication of the calculated guidance and control parameters to a flight guidance and control processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for tracking a flight vehicle'"'"'s center of gravity during flight, comprising the steps of:
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mounting a primary set of sensor assemblies in the flight vehicle in an orientation for dynamically measuring at least one flight parameter and generating primary signals corresponding thereto, the primary set being adapted for measuring the flight parameter along three mutually orthogonal axes of an aircraft; mounting a redundant set of sensor assemblies in the flight vehicle in an orientation for dynamically measuring the same flight parameter as the primary set of sensor assemblies and generating redundant signals corresponding thereto, the redundant set being adapted for measuring the flight parameter along the same three mutually orthogonal axes of the aircraft as the primary set of sensor assemblies; sampling the primary and redundant signals from the sensor assemblies with a signal processor at predetermined time intervals; forming a primary estimate of the center of gravity of the aircraft from the primary signals; forming at least one redundant estimate of the center of gravity from the redundant signals; filtering out unreliable sensor signals; combining the primary and at least one redundant estimates to obtain a corrected estimate of the center of gravity at the predetermined time intervals; and dynamically calculating guidance and control parameters from the corrected center of gravity at the predetermined time intervals. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification