Aircraft control system with integrated modular architecture

• US 8,600,584 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2010
• Issued: 12/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS (Airbus SE)
• Inventors: Fervel, Marc, Lecanu, Arnaud, Maussion, Antoine, Aubert, Jean-Jacques
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dunn, Alex C
• Application Number:
  US13/255,406
• Publication Number:
  US 20120109424A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,364 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 13/505 having duplication or stand-by provisions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

An aircraft control system in which a plurality of elementary control systems, corresponding to different aircraft functions, can share one or more sensors due to a common AFDX network. The transmission of commands is carried out via AFDX messages sent to network-subscribed actuators. Advantageously, the computers of the different elementary control systems installed in the avionics bay include generic computers hosting software specific to execution of respective functions thereof (IMA architecture).

Claims

1. An aircraft control system of an aircraft comprising:

a first control system configured to control a first function of the aircraft; and

a second control system, different from the first control system, configured to control a second function of the aircraft different from the first function,

wherein

the first control system includes at least one first computer and a first set of first sensors and first actuators, the first computer being configured to receive measurements from the first sensors and to control the first actuators of the first set,

the second control system includes at least one second computer and a second set of second sensors and second actuators, the second computer being configured to receive measurements from the second sensors and to control the second actuators of the second set,

the first and second computers, the first and second sensors, and the first and second actuators of the first and second sets subscribe to a same Avionics Full Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX) network, and

the first and second sets have at least one shared sensor.

2. The aircraft control system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second computers each include a control channel and a monitoring channel, each channel being associated with software specific to a function performed by a corresponding one of the first computer and the second computer, housed by a generic computer, the specific software of the first channel being different from the specific software of the second channel.

3. The aircraft control system according to claim 1, wherein the first control system is a primary flight control system configured to control ailerons, elevators, vertical stabilizers, and spoilers of the aircraft.

4. The aircraft control system according to claim 3, wherein the second control system is a secondary flight control system configured to control slats and flaps of the aircraft.

5. The aircraft control system according to claim 4, wherein the secondary flight control system includes the second sensors, and the second sensors measure respective output amplitudes of the flaps, measurements provided by the second sensors being sent to the AFDX network using electronic control modules of the primary flight control system, and the electronic control modules being configured to control actuators of aircraft spoilers of the aircraft.

6. The aircraft control system according to claim 3, wherein the second control system is a propulsion control system, configured to control respective speeds of aircraft engines.

7. The aircraft control system according to claim 6, wherein the second computer is configured to receive, in a manual mode, a thrust reference from a manual thrust control member or, in an automatic mode, from the first computer, and to deduce therefrom an engine speed reference before sending the engine speed reference to a control unit of one of said aircraft engines of the aircraft.

8. The aircraft control system according to claim 4, wherein the second control system is a braking control system of the aircraft.

9. The aircraft control system according to claim 8, wherein the braking system includes the second sensors, the second sensors being speed sensors and torque sensors mounted on a landing gear of the aircraft, respective speed and torque measurements provided by the second sensors being acquired and formatted in a form of AFDX messages by data concentrators before being transmitted to the second computer via the AFDX network.

10. The aircraft control system according to claim 9, wherein the speed measurements are sent to the first computer by the data concentrators, via the AFDX network, the first computer determining an output order for spoilers as a function of the measured speed and braking information, in a manual mode by brake pedals, and in an automatic mode by an automatic braking unit.

11. The aircraft control system according to claim 4, wherein the second control system is a steering system for at least a front wheel of the aircraft.

12. The aircraft control system according to claim 11, wherein the first and second computers receive deflection information provided by at least one of a rudder bar and control rods of a piloting station and, in a manual mode, the second computer determines a deflection angle of the front wheel and sends the determined deflection angle, via the AFDX network, to a steering control unit, and, in an automatic piloting mode, the first computer determines a command of the rudder bar, sends the command of the rudder bar, via the AFDX network, to the second computer, and the second computer deduces the deflection angle therefrom and transmits the deduced deflection angle to the steering control unit.

13. The aircraft control system according to claim 4, wherein the second control system is a hydraulic control system of the aircraft, configured to start and stop at least one electric pump mounted on a hydraulic circuit.

14. The aircraft control system according to claim 13, wherein the hydraulic control system includes at least one contactor subscribing to the AFDX network and is configured to start/stop the at least one electric pump, and a pressure sensor is mounted on the hydraulic circuit, pressure measurements provided by the pressure sensor being acquired and formatted in a form of AFDX messages by a data concentrator, and then sent to the first and second computers via the AFDX network.

15. An aircraft comprising an aircraft control system according to claim 1.

16. The aircraft control system according to claim 1, wherein each said sensor of the first and second sets is an actuator sensor configured to sense a characteristic of a corresponding actuator and to output signals regarding the sensed characteristic to a corresponding one of the first and second computers via the AFDX network.

17. The aircraft control system according to claim 1, wherein the AFDX network includes:

a pair of frame switches; and

a plurality of micro-switches, each said micro-switch being coupled in the AFDX network to only one of said frame switches and at least one of one or more of the actuators and one or more of the sensors of the first or second set.

18. The aircraft control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a pair of frame switches; and

a plurality of micro-switches,

wherein an architecture of the AFDX network is such that a command from one of the first computer and the second computer does not pass through more than one of said frame switches and more than one of said micro-switches to reach a subscribing terminal coupled to the one micro-switch.