SYNTHESIS OF BANK AND PITCH SIGNALS UTILIZING RATE AND ACCELERATION INPUT PARAMETERS

• US 3,809,867 A
• Filed: 12/18/1972
• Issued: 05/07/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Edwin R. Hattendorf
• Original Assignee: Edwin R. Hattendorf
• Inventors: Hattendorf, Edwin R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ruggiero, Joseph F.
• Application Number:
  US05/316,214
• Time in Patent Office: 505 Days
• Field of Search: 235/150.2,150.26,150.27 294/77G,77E,77R,77B
• US Class Current: 701/4
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 43/02 for indicating aircraft speed or stalling conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0808 specially adapted for aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G06G 7/78 for direction-finding, locating, distance or velocity measuring, or navigation systems

Abstract

A signal development means for synthesizing bank and pitch attitude signals from rate gyro and accelerometer inputs.

Claims

1. A system for synthesizing the roll attitude of an in-flight aircraft comprising first means for measuring the roll rate and yaw rate of said aircraft, said first means comprising a rate gyro mounted at a predetermined angle with respect to the transverse axis of said aircraft and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said aircraft, second means for measuring the side slip of said aircraft, low-pass filter means for filtering the output of said rate gyro to remove major error components therefrom, signal summation means for combining the outputs of said second means and said low-pass filter means into a combined signal said combined signal being a synthesized measurement of the roll attitude of said aircraft.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said second means comprises an accelerometer.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein said filtering means comprises a low pass filter and said predetermined angle is substantially 30*.

4. The system of claim 2 comprising a signal rate deriving means, switching means, a first position of said switching means connecting the output of said filtering means to said signal summation means, a second position of said switching means disconnecting said afore-defined connection and connecting the output of said accelerometer to said rate deriving means, the output of said rate deriving means being connected to said signal summation means, and means responsive to failure of said rate gyro to effect said second position of said switching means.

5. A system for synthesizing the pitch attitude of an in-flight aircraft comprising first means for measuring the longitudinal acceleration of said aircraft, second means for measuring the rate of change of pitch of said aircraft, signal combining means, the outputs from said first and second means being applied to said signal combining means, low pass filtering means having a long time constant receiving the output of said signal combining means, and the output of said low pass filtering means comprising said signal proportion to the pitch attitude of said aircraft.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the outputs from said first and second means are passed through respective first and second signal translating means as inputs to said signal combining means.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said low pass filtering means has a transfer function of 1/( Upsilon S + 1), said first signal translating means has a gain factor equal to 1/g, where g is the acceleration of gravity, and said second signal translating means has a gain factor equal to Upsilon .