Methods and apparatuses for autonomous flight termination

• US 8,868,258 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2012
• Issued: 10/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alliant Techsystems Incorporated (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Inventors: Papadopoulos, George B., DeVries, Derek R., Thomas, Steven W., Van Dixhorn, Timothy J., Dedon, Charles L., Weigel, Charles L
• Primary Examiner(s): MARC-COLEMAN, MARTHE Y
• Application Number:
  US13/567,794
• Publication Number:
  US 20140067164A1
• Time in Patent Office: 806 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/4, 701/500, 701/14, 701/16, 701/408, 701/412
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: B64G 1/002 Launch systems
• CPC Class Codes: B64G 1/52 Protection, safety or emergency devices; Survival aids
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 10/48 Range-reducing, destabilising or braking arrangements, e.g. impact-braking arrangements; Fall-retarding means, e.g. balloons, rockets for braking or fall-retardingF42B10/34 takes precedence

Abstract

A flight safety assembly onboard an aerial vehicle includes a first sensor configured to sense first information related to flight of the aerial vehicle and a second sensor configured to sense second information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle. A sensor input is adapted to receive third information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle. A processor is operably coupled to the first sensor, the second sensor, and the sensor input. The processor is configured to determine three independent instantaneous impact points for the aerial vehicle by independently analyzing each of the first information, the second information and the third information. The processor is also configured to generate three independent onboard flight termination indicators for each of the three independent instantaneous impact points that intersects with a region to be protected.

Claims

1. A flight safety assembly onboard an aerial vehicle, comprising:

a first sensor configured to sense first information related to flight of the aerial vehicle;

a second sensor configured to sense second information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle;

a sensor input adapted to receive third information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle; and

a processor operably coupled to the first sensor, the second sensor, and the sensor input, and configured to;

determine three independent instantaneous impact points for the aerial vehicle by independently analyzing each of the first information, the second information and the third information; and

generate three independent onboard flight termination indicators for each of the three independent instantaneous impact points that intersects with a region to be protected.

2. The flight safety assembly of claim 1, wherein the first sensor comprises a combination of a global positioning system and an inertial management unit and the second sensor includes a second global positioning system.

3. The flight safety assembly of claim 2, further comprising a third sensor external to the flight safety assembly and configured to generate the third information for the sensor input from at least one of a third global positioning system and a second inertial management unit.

4. The flight safety assembly of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to repeat the determining and generating a plurality of times and the aerial vehicle further comprises a termination mechanism operably coupled to the flight safety assembly and configured to terminate the flight of the aerial vehicle if at least one of the three independent onboard flight termination indicators is active for the plurality of times.

5. The flight safety assembly of claim 4, wherein the termination mechanism is configured to terminate the flight by at least one of activating an explosive onboard the aerial vehicle and disabling propulsion of the aerial vehicle.

6. The flight safety assembly of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine when a flight has been completed successfully and place the flight safety assembly in a safe mode.

7. A method for determining safety parameters of an aerial vehicle, comprising:

sensing first information related to flight of the aerial vehicle and sensing second information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle using one or more sensors;

receiving third information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle from a sensor input;

determining three independent instantaneous impact points for the aerial vehicle by independently analyzing each of the first information, the second information and the third information; and

generating three independent onboard flight termination indicators for each of the independent instantaneous impact points that intersects with a region to be protected.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein:

sensing the first information comprises a combination of sensing a global positioning system location and sensing inertial parameters responsive to motion of the aerial vehicle; and

sensing the second information comprises sensing a second global positioning system location.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the third information is received from at least one of sensing a third global positioning system location and sensing second inertial parameters responsive to the motion of the aerial vehicle.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

repeating determining the three independent instantaneous impact points and generating the three independent onboard flight termination indicators a plurality of times; and

terminating the flight of the aerial vehicle if at least one of the three independent onboard flight termination indicators is active for the plurality of times.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein terminating the flight of the aerial vehicle comprises at least one of activating an explosive onboard the aerial vehicle and disabling propulsion of the aerial vehicle.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining when a flight has been completed successfully and placing the flight safety assembly in a safe mode.

13. A flight safety system for an aerial vehicle, comprising:

two autonomous flight safety assemblies onboard the aerial vehicle, each of the two autonomous flight safety assemblies comprising;

a first sensor configured to sense first information related to flight of the aerial vehicle;

a second sensor configured to sense second information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle; and

a processor operably coupled to the first sensor and the second sensor and configured to;

analyze the first information to determine a first projected flight path of the aerial vehicle;

analyze the second information to determine a second projected flight path of the aerial vehicle; and

generate an onboard flight termination signal if at least one of the first projected flight path and the second projected flight path indicates that the aerial vehicle will leave a safe window or violate a boundary that designates a keep-in or keep-out zone or area.

14. The flight safety system of claim 13, wherein each of the two autonomous flight safety assemblies further comprises a sensor input operably coupled to the processor and a sensor output operably coupled to one of the first sensor or the second sensor, and the sensor input of from each of the two autonomous flight safety assemblies is coupled to the sensor output of the other of the two autonomous flight safety assemblies.

15. The flight safety system of claim 14, wherein the processor in each of the two autonomous flight safety assemblies is further configured to:

analyze third information from the sensor input to determine a third projected flight path of the aerial vehicle; and

generate the onboard flight termination signal if at least one of the first projected flight path, the second projected flight path, and the third projected flight path indicates that the aerial vehicle will leave the safe window.

16. The flight safety system of claim 13, wherein the first sensor comprises a combination of a global positioning system and an inertial management unit and the second sensor includes a second global positioning system.

17. The flight safety system of claim 13, further comprising a termination mechanism operably coupled to the two autonomous flight safety assemblies and configured to terminate the flight of the aerial vehicle if the onboard flight termination signal from at least one of the two autonomous flight safety assemblies is asserted.

18. The flight safety system of claim 17, wherein the termination mechanism is configured to terminate the flight by at least one of activating an explosive onboard the aerial vehicle and disabling propulsion of the aerial vehicle.

19. A flight safety system for an aerial vehicle, comprising:

a first sensor configured to sense first information related to flight of the aerial vehicle;

a second sensor configured to sense second information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle;

a third sensor configured to sense third information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle;

a fourth sensor configured to sense fourth information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle;

a first processor operably coupled to the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor and configured to;

analyze the first information, the second information, and the third information to determine a first projected flight path of the aerial vehicle;

determine if the first projected flight path remains within a safe window; and

generate a first onboard flight termination signal responsive to the determining; and

a second processor operably coupled to the second sensor, the third sensor, and the fourth sensor and configured to;

analyze the second information, the third information, and the fourth information to determine a second projected flight path of the aerial vehicle;

determine if the second projected flight path remains within the safe window; and

generate a second onboard flight termination signal responsive to the determining.

20. The flight safety system of claim 19, wherein:

the first sensor and the third sensor each comprises a combination of a global positioning system and an inertial management unit; and

the second sensor and the fourth sensor each includes an additional global positioning system.

21. The flight safety system of claim 19, further comprising a termination mechanism operably coupled to the first processor and the second processor and configured to terminate the flight of the aerial vehicle if at least one of the first onboard flight termination signal and the second onboard flight termination signal is asserted.

22. The flight safety system of claim 21, wherein the termination mechanism is configured to terminate the flight by at least one of activating an explosive onboard the aerial vehicle and disabling propulsion of the aerial vehicle.

23. A method for determining safety parameters of an aerial vehicle, comprising:

developing at least two independent analysis paths of a flight path of the aerial vehicle, wherein each of the at least two independent analysis paths are performed onboard the aerial vehicle and include the acts of;

sensing one or more parameters related to the flight of the aerial vehicle; and

determining a projected flight path of the aerial vehicle with one or more processors responsive to the one or more parameters; and

generating an onboard flight termination signal if at least one of the at least two independent analysis paths indicate the aerial vehicle will leave a safe window.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising terminating the flight of the aerial vehicle responsive to the onboard flight termination signal by at least one of activating an explosive onboard the aerial vehicle and disabling propulsion of the aerial vehicle.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein sensing the one or more parameters comprises sensing a global positioning system location and sensing inertial parameters responsive to motion of the aerial vehicle in one of the at least two independent paths and sensing a second GPS location in another of the at least two independent paths.

26. A method for determining safety parameters of an aerial vehicle, comprising:

sensing first information related to flight of the aerial vehicle;

sensing second information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle;

sensing third information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle;

sensing fourth information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle;

analyzing the first information, the second information, and the third information with one or more processors to determine a first projected flight path of the aerial vehicle;

analyzing the second information, the third information, and the fourth information with at least one of the one or more processors to determine a second projected flight path of the aerial vehicle;

generating a first onboard flight termination signal if the first projected flight path indicates the aerial vehicle will leave a safe window; and

generating a second onboard flight termination signal if the second projected flight path indicates the aerial vehicle will leave the safe window.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising terminating the flight of the aerial vehicle if at least one of the first onboard flight termination signal and the second onboard flight termination signal is asserted.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein:

sensing the first information and sensing the third information each comprises a combination of sensing a global positioning system location and sensing inertial parameters responsive to motion of the aerial vehicle; and

sensing the second information and sensing the fourth information each comprises sensing an additional global positioning system location.

29. A method for determining safety parameters of an aerial vehicle, comprising:

analyzing a flight path of the aerial vehicle onboard the aerial vehicle, comprising;

sensing at least two parameters related to the flight of the aerial vehicle with one or more sensors;

determining a projected flight path of the aerial vehicle responsive to the at least two parameters; and

analyzing the projected flight path relative to a safe window;

generating an onboard flight termination indicator if the analyzing the projected flight path indicates the aerial vehicle will leave the safe window;

repeating analyzing the flight path and generating the onboard flight termination indicator a plurality of times; and

generating an onboard flight termination signal if the onboard flight termination indicator is active for the plurality of times.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein determining the projected flight path of the aerial vehicle comprises determining an instantaneous impact point of the aerial vehicle if the aerial vehicle loses propulsion.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising terminating flight of the aerial vehicle if the instantaneous impact point is in violation of at least one of a range safety boundary, failure to achieve a satisfactory proper orbit, or a violation of a flight safety rule.

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising terminating flight of the aerial vehicle responsive to the onboard flight termination signal by activating an explosive onboard the aerial vehicle.

33. The method of claim 29, further comprising terminating flight of the aerial vehicle responsive to the onboard flight termination signal by disabling propulsion of the aerial vehicle.

34. The method of claim 29, wherein sensing at least two parameters comprises sensing a global positioning system location and sensing inertial parameters responsive to motion of the aerial vehicle.

35. A flight safety assembly onboard an aerial vehicle, comprising:

a first sensor configured to sense first information related to flight of the aerial vehicle;

a second sensor configured to sense second information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle;

a memory configured to store the first information in a first region and the second information in a second region; and

a processor operably coupled to the first sensor, the second sensor, and the memory, the processor configured for;

performing computing instructions using the first information to determine a first instantaneous impact point for the aerial vehicle and generate a first onboard flight termination indicator if the first instantaneous impact point intersects with a region to be protected; and

performing the computing instructions using the second information to determine a second instantaneous impact point for the aerial vehicle and generate a second onboard flight termination indicator if the second instantaneous impact point intersects with the region to be protected.

36. The flight safety assembly of claim 35, wherein:

performing the computing instructions using the first information uses computing instructions in a first code region of the memory; and

performing the computing instructions using the second information uses computing instructions in a second code region of the memory.

37. The flight safety assembly of claim 35, wherein the processor is further configured for:

repeating, a plurality of times, performing the computing instructions using the first information to determine the first instantaneous impact point and performing the computing instructions using the second information to determine the second instantaneous impact point; and

terminating the flight of the aerial vehicle if at least one of the first onboard flight termination indicator and the second onboard flight termination indicator is active for the plurality of times.

38. The flight safety assembly of claim 35, further comprising a termination mechanism operably coupled to the processor and configured to terminate the flight of the aerial vehicle if at least one of the first onboard flight termination indicator and the second onboard flight termination indicator is active.

39. The flight safety assembly of claim 38, wherein the termination mechanism is configured to terminate the flight by at least one of activating an explosive onboard the aerial vehicle and disabling propulsion of the aerial vehicle.

40. The flight safety assembly of claim 35, wherein the first sensor comprises a combination of a global positioning system and an inertial management unit and the second sensor includes a second global positioning system.

41. The flight safety assembly of claim 40, further comprising a third sensor external to the flight safety assembly and configured to generate third information for a sensor input from at least one of a third global positioning system and a second inertial management unit and wherein the processor is further configured for performing computing instructions using the third information to determine a third instantaneous impact point for the aerial vehicle and generate a third onboard flight termination indicator if the third instantaneous impact point intersects with the region to be protected.

42. A method for determining safety parameters of an aerial vehicle, comprising:

receiving sensor information from at least two different sensors, each sensor for sensing one or more parameters related to flight of the aerial vehicle;

storing the sensor information from the at least two different sensors in at least two corresponding and independent regions of a memory;

processing the sensor information in a first of the independent regions of the memory to;

determine a first projected flight path of the aerial vehicle; and

generate a first onboard flight termination signal if the first projected flight path indicates that the aerial vehicle will leave a safe window; and

processing the sensor information in a second of the independent regions of the memory to;

determine a second projected flight path of the aerial vehicle; and

generate a second onboard flight termination signal if the second projected flight path indicates that the aerial vehicle will leave the safe window.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein:

processing the sensor information in the first of the independent regions uses computing instructions in a first code region of the memory; and

processing the sensor information in the second of the independent regions uses computing instructions in a second code region of the memory.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein:

receiving the sensor information from a first of the at least two different sensors comprises receiving a combination of a global positioning system location and inertial parameters responsive to motion of the aerial vehicle; and

receiving the sensor information from a second of the at least two different sensors comprises receiving a second global positioning system location.

45. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

receiving third sensor information from a third sensor for sensing one or more parameters related to the flight of the aerial vehicle; and

storing the third sensor information in a corresponding and third independent region of the memory;

wherein processing the sensor information comprises also processing the third sensor information.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein receiving the third sensor information comprises receiving at least one of a global positioning system location and inertial parameters responsive to motion of the aerial vehicle.

47. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

repeating, a plurality of times, the acts of receiving the sensor information, storing the sensor information, processing the sensor information in the first of the independent regions to generate the first onboard flight termination signal, and processing the sensor information in the second of the independent regions to generate the second onboard flight termination signal; and

terminating the flight of the aerial vehicle if at least one of the first onboard flight termination signal and the second onboard flight termination signal is active for the plurality of times.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein terminating the flight of the aerial vehicle comprises at least one of activating an explosive onboard the aerial vehicle and disabling propulsion of the aerial vehicle.

49. A method for determining safety parameters of an aerial vehicle, comprising:

receiving sensor information from at least two different sensors, each sensor for sensing one or more parameters related to flight of the aerial vehicle;

storing the sensor information from the at least two different sensors in a memory; and

processing the sensor information with at least two code segments in independent address spaces of the memory wherein each of the at least two code segments;

analyzes the sensor information to determine a projected flight path of the aerial vehicle;

determines if the projected flight path of the aerial vehicle is within a safe window; and

generates an onboard flight termination signal if the aerial vehicle will leave the safe window.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein:

storing the sensor information from the at least two different sensors in at least two corresponding and independent regions of the memory; and

processing the sensor information with the at least two code segments comprises processing information in one of the independent regions of the memory with one of the at least two code segments and processing information in another of the independent regions of the memory with another of the at least two code segments.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein receiving the sensor information from the at least two different sensors comprises receiving first sensor information from a combination of a global positioning system and an inertial management unit and receiving second sensor information from a second global positioning system.

52. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

receiving third sensor information from a third sensor for sensing one or more parameters related to the flight of the aerial vehicle; and

storing the third sensor information in a corresponding and third independent region of the memory;

wherein processing the sensor information comprises also processing the third sensor information.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein receiving the third sensor information comprises receiving at least one of a global positioning system location and inertial parameters responsive to motion of the aerial vehicle.

54. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

repeating processing the sensor information to generate the onboard flight termination signal a plurality of times; and

terminating the flight of the aerial vehicle if the onboard flight termination signal is active for the plurality of times.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein terminating the flight of the aerial vehicle comprises at least one of activating an explosive onboard the aerial vehicle and disabling propulsion of the aerial vehicle.