Flight control system especially suited for VTOL vehicles
First Claim
1. An aircraft flight control system having plural control subsystems with redundancies organized so as to provide continued but degraded control power over critical aircraft flight operating parameters even if any one complete control subsystem catastrophically fails, said system comprising:
- a plurality of pilot controlled input sensors associated with each of a plurality of degrees of freedom in aircraft flight movement;
a plurality of aircraft flight control actuators associated with each of the plurality of degrees of freedom in aircraft flight movement;
a plurality of aircraft flight state sensors associated with each of a plurality of aircraft flight state conditions including at least altitude and speed;
the plural control subsystems, each having at least one control computer subsystem connected to;
(a) receive inputs from at least one of said pilot controlled input sensors for each of said plurality of degrees of freedom, (b) receive inputs from at least one of said flight state sensors for each of said plurality of aircraft flight conditions, and (c) provide outputs to at least one of said flight control actuators associated with each of said plural degrees of freedom;
said inputs and outputs to the control computer subsystem of each of said plural control subsystems being selected such that a catastrophic and complete failure of any one of said plural control subsystems causes continued control power over critical aircraft flight parameters by remaining unfailed ones of said plural control subsystems, degraded to less than 100% of total available control power, but sufficient to permit controlled aircraft descent to a landing.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Flight control systems have plural control subsystems with redundancies organized so as to provide continued but degraded control power over critical aircraft flight operating parameters even if any one complete control subsystem catastrophically fails. One example described in detail for a VTOL craft includes four groups of controls, each group comprising inputs relating to six degrees of freedom of the vehicle, at least one control computer and a plurality of actuators; each group utilizing 25% of required flight control power for the vehicle.
172 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An aircraft flight control system having plural control subsystems with redundancies organized so as to provide continued but degraded control power over critical aircraft flight operating parameters even if any one complete control subsystem catastrophically fails, said system comprising:
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a plurality of pilot controlled input sensors associated with each of a plurality of degrees of freedom in aircraft flight movement; a plurality of aircraft flight control actuators associated with each of the plurality of degrees of freedom in aircraft flight movement; a plurality of aircraft flight state sensors associated with each of a plurality of aircraft flight state conditions including at least altitude and speed; the plural control subsystems, each having at least one control computer subsystem connected to;
(a) receive inputs from at least one of said pilot controlled input sensors for each of said plurality of degrees of freedom, (b) receive inputs from at least one of said flight state sensors for each of said plurality of aircraft flight conditions, and (c) provide outputs to at least one of said flight control actuators associated with each of said plural degrees of freedom;said inputs and outputs to the control computer subsystem of each of said plural control subsystems being selected such that a catastrophic and complete failure of any one of said plural control subsystems causes continued control power over critical aircraft flight parameters by remaining unfailed ones of said plural control subsystems, degraded to less than 100% of total available control power, but sufficient to permit controlled aircraft descent to a landing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for providing aircraft flight control utilizing plural control subsystems with redundancies organized so as to provide continued but degraded control power over critical aircraft flight operating parameters even if any one complete control subsystem catastrophically fails, said method comprising:
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providing a plurality of pilot controlled input sensors associated with each of a plurality of degrees of freedom in aircraft flight movement; providing a plurality of aircraft flight control actuators associated with each of a plurality of degrees of freedom in aircraft flight movement; providing a plurality of aircraft flight state sensors associated with each of a plurality of aircraft flight state conditions including at least altitude and speed; providing each of the plural control subsystems with at least one control computer subsystem, and connecting the at least one control computer subsystem in each of the plural control subsystems so as to;
(a) receive inputs from at least one of said pilot controlled input sensors for each of said plurality of degrees of freedom, (b) receive inputs from at least one of said flight state sensors for each of said plurality of aircraft flight conditions, and (c) provide outputs to at least one of said flight control actuators associated with each of said plural degrees of freedom;selecting said inputs and outputs to the control computer subsystem of each of said plural control subsystems such that a catastrophic and complete failure of any one of said plural control subsystems causes continued control power over critical aircraft flight parameters by remaining unfailed ones of said plural control subsystems, degraded to less than 100% of total available control power, but sufficient to permit controlled aircraft descent to a landing. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification