Automatic take-off method and device for an airplane

• US 7,835,829 B2
• Filed: 12/03/2007
• Issued: 11/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus, Airbus France
• Inventors: Blondin, Vincent, Jacob, Armand, Jourdan, Christophe, Villaume, Fabrice
• Primary Examiner(s): Keith; Jack W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Khatib; Rami
• Application Number:
  US11/949,508
• Publication Number:
  US 20080135688A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,079 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/15, 244/75.1, 244/76.R, 244181-183, 244/190
• US Class Current: 701/15
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0661 specially adapted for take-off

Abstract

Automatic take-off method and device for an airplane. The device includes a device for automatically determining, using an elevation guidance objective, a vertical piloting objective which is expressed as rate of pitch, and a device for automatically determining, using the vertical piloting objective, deflection commands for elevators of the airplane.

Claims

1. An automatic take-off method for an airplane, whereby, for an elevation guidance of the airplane on a take-off, the following successive series A of steps is performed, automatically and repetitively, on said take-off, comprising:

A, a) determining an elevation guidance objective, using a flight management system, which represents an angular profile along the pitch axis of the airplane, said angular profile being expressed according to a first parameter;

A. b) measuring, using a standard trim device, the current value of said first parameter on the airplane;

A. c) from said elevation guidance objective and said measured current value of said first parameter, determining, using an automatic piloting device, a vertical piloting objective which is expressed as rate of pitch;

A. d) from said vertical piloting objective, determining, using a flight control computer, elevator deflection commands for the airplane; and

A. e) the determined elevator deflection commands are applied to operators of said elevators, wherein, in the step A. c), determining said vertical piloting objective QcPA from the following expression;

QcPA=k1·

(θ

c−

θ

eff)

in which;

k1 is a predetermined gain;

θ

c represents said angular profile which can be used to obtain optimized performance levels according to take-off conditions; and

θ

eff represents a measured current value of said first parameter,

wherein for a lateral guidance of the airplane on the take-off, the following successive series of steps B is performed, automatically and repetitively, on said take-off, comprising;

B. a) determining a lateral guidance objective which represents a particular guidance reference and which is expressed according to at least one second parameter;

B. b) measuring the current value of said second parameter on the airplane;

B. c) from said lateral guidance objective and said measured current value of said second parameter, determining a lateral piloting objective which is expressed as rate of yaw;

B. d) from said lateral piloting objective, determining actuation commands to control elements acting on the yaw of the airplane; and

B. e) applying said determined elevator actuation commands to operators of said elements,

wherein said guidance reference concerns a second parameter which is defined for the runway used by the airplane for the take-off,

wherein said second parameter is the heading of the runway, and

wherein, in the step B. c), said lateral piloting objective re is determined from the following expression;

rc=reff+[k2−

reff+k3·

(ψ

c−

ψ

eff)]/k4

in which;

k2, k3 and k4 are predetermined gains,

reff is a measured current value of the rate of yaw of the airplane,

ψ

c represents said guidance reference which corresponds to the geographic heading of the runway, and

ψ

eff is a measured current value of the heading of the airplane.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said angular profile is expressed as an angle of climb value.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said angular profile is expressed as a trim value.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the value of said angular profile is limited relative to the capabilities of the airplane to avoid a tailstrike on the take-off.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, on the take-off, at least one adjustable horizontal stabilizer of the airplane, on which are articulated said elevators, is brought to a fixed position which depends on the aircraft balance of the airplane.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the current speed of the airplane is measured, it is compared to a predetermined rotation speed, and at least the step A. e) is applied, when said current speed becomes greater than said rotation speed.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, when the airplane is moving on the take-off, the bank angle of the airplane is controlled automatically, by exclusively controlling ailerons of said airplane so as to keep the wings flat.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a characteristic sign illustrating said elevation guidance objective is displayed automatically on at least one display screen.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, for lateral guidance on the take-off, the airplane is guided manually by a pilot of the airplane using a rudder bar.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second parameter is the track.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said guidance reference ψ

c is determined from a predetermined magnetic heading of the runway and a calculated magnetic declination.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said guidance reference ψ

c is determined from geographic coordinates of the runway, obtained from an airport database.

13. An automatic take-off method for an airplane, whereby, for an elevation guidance of the airplane on a take-off, the following successive series A of steps is performed automatically and repetitively, on said take-off, comprising:

A. a) determining an elevation guidance objective, using a flight management system, which represents an angular profile along the pitch axis of the airplane, said angular profile being expressed according to a first parameter;

A. b) measuring, using a standard trim device, the current value of said first parameter on the airplane;

A. c) from said elevation guidance objective and said measured current value of said first parameter, determining, using an automatic piloting device, a vertical piloting objective which is expressed as rate of pitch;

A. d) from said vertical piloting objective, determining, using a flight control computer, elevator deflection commands for the airplane; and

A. e) the determined elevator deflection commands are applied to operators of said elevators, wherein, in the step A. c), determining said vertical piloting objective QcPA from the following expression;

QcPa=k1·

(θ

c−

θ

eff)

in which;

k1 is a predetermined gain;

θ

c represents said angular profile which can be used to obtain optimized performance levels according to take-off conditions; and

θ

eff represents a measured current value of said first parameter, wherein

for a lateral guidance of the airplane on the take-off, the following successive series of steps B is performed, automatically and repetitively, on said take-off, comprising;

B. a) determining a lateral guidance objective which represents a particular guidance reference and which is expressed according to at least one second parameter;

B. b) measuring the current value of said second parameter on the airplane;

B. c) from said lateral guidance objective and said measured current value of said second parameter, determining a lateral piloting objective which is expressed as rate of yaw;

B. d) from said lateral piloting objective, determining actuation commands to control elements acting on the yaw of the airplane; and

B. e) applying said determined elevator actuation commands to operators of said elements,

wherein, in the step B. c), said lateral piloting objective rc is determined from the following expressions;

rc=reff−

[Y3+(V2·

Δ

ψ

+2·

V1·

reff)]/Vground·

k5

Y3=k6·

[k7·

(k8·

[Yd−

Y]−

Vy)+(V1·

Δ

ψ

+Vground·

r)]

in which;

k5, k6, k7 and k8 are predetermined gains;

reff is a measured current value of the rate of yaw of the airplane;

V2 is a measured derivative of the longitudinal acceleration of the airplane;

V1 is a measured longitudinal acceleration of the airplane;

Vground is a measured ground speed of the airplane;

Δ

ψ

is a current heading clearance error;

Yd is a lateral position to be followed in a runway check-point;

Y is a lateral position of the airplane in the runway check-point; and

Vy is a lateral speed of the airplane in the runway cheek-point.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said lateral position Y and said lateral speed Vy are determined using a processing unit comprising a means of detecting a lateral alignment beam illustrating the axis of the runway.

15. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said lateral position Y and said lateral speed Vy are determined from the following expressions:

Y=ρ

AM·

sin(θ

AM−

QFU)

Vy=Vground·

sin(θ

AM−

QFU)

in which;

ρ

AM is the distance of the airplane from a threshold of the runway, the distance being calculated from measured coordinates of the airplane and geographic coordinates of said threshold of the runway;

θ

AM is a geographic heading of the airplane, which is calculated from measured coordinates of the airplane;

QFU is a calculated geographic heading of the runway;

sin represents the sine; and

Vground is a measured ground speed of the airplane.

16. An automatic take-off method for an airplane, whereby, for an elevation guidance of the airplane on a take-off, the following successive series A of steps is performed, automatically and repetitively, on said take-off, comprising:

A. a) determining an elevation guidance objective, using a flight management system, which represents an angular profile along the pitch axis of the airplane, said angular profile being expressed according to a first parameter;

A. b) measuring, using a standard trim device, the current value of said first parameter on the airplane;

A. c) from said elevation guidance objective and said measured current value of said first parameter, determining, using an automatic piloting device, a vertical piloting objective which is expressed as rate of pitch;

A. d) from said vertical piloting objective, determining, using a flight control computer, elevator deflection commands for the airplane; and

A. e) the determined elevator deflection commands are applied to operators of said following expression;

QcPA=k1·

(θ

c−

θ

eff)

in which;

k1 is a predetermined gain;

θ

c represents said angular profile which can be used to obtain optimized performance levels according to take-off conditions; and

θ

eff represents a measured current value of said first parameter,

wherein, for a lateral guidance of the airplane on the take-off, the following successive series of steps B is performed automatically and repetitively on said take-off, comprising;

B. a) determining a lateral guidance objective which represents a particular guidance reference and which is expressed according to at least one second parameter;

B. b) measuring the current value of said second parameter on the airplane;

B. c) from said lateral guidance objective and said measured current value of said second parameter, determining a lateral piloting objective which is expressed as rate of yaw;

B. d) from said lateral piloting objective, determining actuation commands to control elements acting on the yaw of the airplane; and

B. e) applying said determined elevator actuation commands to operators of said elements, and

wherein the alignment of the airplane is automatically monitored so as to ensure that it is on a runway authorized for the take-off.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein characteristic signs illustrating at least some of the following information are displayed automatically on at least one display screen:

said lateral guidance objective;

the piloting mode currently engaged on an automatic piloting device which handles the automatic elevation and lateral guidance of the airplane on the take-off; and

a reference lateral path.

18. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said actuation commands are applied to actuation device of a rudder and a nose wheel of the airplane.

19. The method as claimed in claim 16, further comprising enabling a pilot to manually guide the airplane, instead of an automatic guidance.

20. An automatic take-off device for an airplane, said device including a first automatic piloting assembly, comprising:

a first device configured for automatically determining an elevation guidance objective which represents an angular profile along the pitch axis of the airplane, said angular profile being expressed according to a first parameter;

a second device configured for to automatically measuring the current value of said first parameter on the airplane;

a third device configured for automatically determining, from said elevation guidance objective and said measured current value of said first parameter, a vertical piloting objective which is expressed as rate of pitch;

a fourth device configured for automatically determining, from said vertical piloting objective, deflection commands for elevators of the airplane; and

operators of said elevators, to which are automatically applied the deflection commands determined by said fourth device, wherein said third device includes a unit determining said vertical piloting objective QcPA, from the following expression;

QcPA=k1·

(θ

c−

θ

eff

in which;

k1 is a predetermined gain;

θ

c represents said angular profile which can be used to obtain optimized performance levels according to take-off conditions;

θ

eff represents the measured current value of said first parameter,

a second automatic piloting assembly which comprises;

a fifth device automatically determining a lateral guidance objective which represents a particular guidance reference and which is expressed according to at least one second parameter;

a sixth device automatically measuring the current value of said second parameter on the airplane;

a seventh device automatically determining, from said lateral guidance objective and said measured current value of said second parameter, a lateral piloting objective which is expressed as rate of yaw;

an eighth device automatically determining, from said lateral piloting objective, actuation commands for controlling elements acting on the yaw of the airplane; and

operators of said elements acting on the yaw of the airplane, to which are automatically applied the actuation commands determined by said eighth device,

wherein said guidance reference concerns a second parameter which is defined for the runway used by the airplane for the take-off,

wherein said second parameter is the heading of the runway, and

wherein said seventh device determines said lateral piloting objective re from the following expression;

rc=reff+[k2−

reff+k3·

(ψ

c−

ψ

eff)]/k4

in which;

k2, k3 and k4 are predetermined gains,

reff is a measured current value of the rate of yaw of the airplane,

ψ

c represents said guidance reference which corresponds to the geographic heading of the runway, and

ψ

eff is a measured current value of the heading of the airplane.

21. The device as claimed in claim 20, wherein said third device is part of an automatic piloting device.

22. The device as claimed in claim 21, wherein said first device is part of said automatic piloting device.

23. The device as claimed in claim 20, wherein said seventh device is part of an automatic piloting device.

24. The device as claimed in claim 23, wherein said fifth device is part of said automatic piloting device.

25. An airplane, comprising a device specified in claim 20.

26. An automatic take-off method for an airplane, whereby, for an elevation guidance of the airplane on a take-off, the following successive series A of steps is performed, automatically and repetitively, on said take-off, comprising:

A. a) determining an elevation guidance objective, using a flight management system, which represents an angular profile along the pitch axis of the airplane, said angular profile being expressed according to a first parameter;

A. b) measuring, using a standard trim device, the current value of said first parameter on the airplane;

A. c) from said elevation guidance objective and said measured current;

value of said first parameter, determining a vertical piloting objective, using an automatic piloting device, which is expressed as rate of pitch;

A. d) from said vertical piloting objective, determining, using a flight control computer, elevator deflection commands for the airplane; and

A. e) the duly determined deflection commands are applied to operators of said elevators, wherein, in the step A. c), determining said vertical piloting objective QcPA from the following expression;

QcPA=k1·

(θ

c−

θ

eff)

in which;

k1 is a predetermined gain;

θ

c represents said angular profile which can be used to obtain optimized performance levels according to take-off conditions; and

θ

eff represents a measured current value of said first parameter,

wherein, for a lateral guidance of the airplane on the take-off, the following successive series of steps B is performed, automatically and repetitively, on said take-off, comprising;

B. a) determining a lateral guidance objective which represents a particular guidance reference and which is expressed according to at least one second parameter;

B. b) measuring the current value of said second parameter on the airplane;

B. c) from said lateral guidance objective and said measured current value of said second parameter, determining a lateral piloting objective which is expressed as rate of yaw;

B. d) from said lateral piloting objective, determining actuation commands to control elements acting on the yaw of the airplane; and

B. e) applying said duly determined actuation commands to operators of said elements, wherein said guidance reference concerns a second parameter which is defined for the runway used by the airplane for the take-off wherein said second parameter is the heading of the runway,

wherein, in the step B. c), said lateral piloting objective rc is determined from the following expression;

rc=reff+[k2−

reff+k3·

(ψ

c−

ψ

eff)]/k4

in which;

k2, k3 and k4 are predetermined gains;

reff is a measured current value of the rate of yaw of the airplane;

ψ

e represents said guidance reference which corresponds to the geographic heading of the runway; and

ψ

eff is a measured current value of the heading of the airplane.