Flight Control System
First Claim
1. A process for operating a powered control surface of an aircraft, the aircraft having a powered control surface operated by a powered actuator and an unpowered control surface operated by a pilot of the aircraft using a control means, wherein the control means are mechanically coupled to the unpowered control surface so that aerodynamic forces acting on the unpowered control surface are exerted on the control means, the process comprising the steps of:
- operating the control means to position the unpowered control surface with a desired deflection;
measuring a force signal representing the force applied to the control means by a pilot in response to aerodynamic forces acting on the unpowered control surface at the desired deflection;
converting the force signal into a desired powered control surface deflection; and
operating the powered actuator to position the powered control surface at the desired powered control surface deflection.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for a controlling an aircraft with flight control surfaces that are controlled both manually and by a computing device is disclosed. The present invention improves overall flight control operation by reducing the mechanical flight control surface components while providing sufficient back-up control capability in the event of either a mechanical or power-related failure. Through the present invention, natural feedback is provided to the operator from the mechanical flight control surface which operates independent of computer-aided flight control surfaces. Further, through the present invention, force input signals received from the pilot are filtered to improve the operation of the computer-aided flight control surfaces.
19 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A process for operating a powered control surface of an aircraft, the aircraft having a powered control surface operated by a powered actuator and an unpowered control surface operated by a pilot of the aircraft using a control means, wherein the control means are mechanically coupled to the unpowered control surface so that aerodynamic forces acting on the unpowered control surface are exerted on the control means, the process comprising the steps of:
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operating the control means to position the unpowered control surface with a desired deflection; measuring a force signal representing the force applied to the control means by a pilot in response to aerodynamic forces acting on the unpowered control surface at the desired deflection; converting the force signal into a desired powered control surface deflection; and operating the powered actuator to position the powered control surface at the desired powered control surface deflection. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A flight control system for an aircraft comprising:
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control means for receiving control input from a pilot; a first control surface mechanically coupled to the control means without any powered actuators and operated by the control means to a desired deflection; a second control surface operated by powered actuators; a force sensor coupled to the control means for measuring a force applied to the control means by a pilot; and a computing device configured to receive the measured force, apply a control law to the measured force, and operate the powered actuators to position the second control surface in response to the control law; wherein the control law comprises the steps of; measuring a force signal representing the force applied to the control means by a pilot in response to aerodynamic forces acting on the unpowered control surface at the desired deflection; selecting a filter to generate a desired aircraft response; applying the filter to the force signal to produce the desired powered control surface deflection, wherein the filter is a second order filter that models a mass-spring-damper system; and operating the powered actuator to position the powered control surface at the desired powered control surface deflection. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification