Multi-axis serially redundant single channel, multi-path fly-by wire flight control system

• US 9,533,751 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2014
• Issued: 01/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Canada Limited Partnership, Bombardier Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Bombardier Incorporated
• Inventors: Lin, Shu, Smith, Timothy, De Serres, Pierre
• Primary Examiner(s): Bollinger, David H
• Application Number:
  US14/324,831
• Publication Number:
  US 20140324254A1
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/4, 244/221, 244/228, 244/237
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 13/503 Fly-by-Wire
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 19/00 Aircraft control not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 9/03 with multiple-channel loop, i.e. redundant control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0077 using redundant signals or controls

Abstract

A multi-axis serially redundant, single channel, multi-path fly-by-wire control system comprising: serially redundant flight control computers in a single channel where only one “primary” flight control computer is active and controlling at any given time; a matrix of parallel flight control surface controllers including stabilizer motor control units (SMCU) and actuator electronics control modules (AECM) define multiple control paths within the single channel, each implemented with dissimilar hardware and which each control the movement of a distributed set of flight control surfaces on the aircraft in response to flight control surface commands of the primary flight control computer; and a set of (pilot and co-pilot) controls and aircraft surface/reference/navigation sensors and systems which provide input to a primary flight control computer and are used to generate the flight control surface commands to control the aircraft in flight in accordance with the control law algorithms implemented in the flight control computers.

Claims

1. A multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of an aircraft, the system comprising:

at least one flight control surface for controlling a pitch directional axis of the aircraft;

at least one flight control surface for controlling a roll directional axis of the aircraft;

at least one flight control surface for controlling a yaw directional axis of the aircraft;

a plurality of input controls each capable of generating a signal indicative of a commanded position of a corresponding control;

a plurality of control paths, each control path controlling at least one of the flight control surfaces and comprising a plurality of flight surface controllers; and

a plurality of flight control computers coupled to at least one flight surface controller of each controller path that each generates flight surface commands according to predetermined flight control algorithms in part as a function of the signals, wherein only one of said plurality of flight control computers is an active primary flight control computer at any given time with the remaining computers of said plurality running in standby.

2. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of flight surface controllers includes at least three actuator control modules, each having at least two submodules, and at least two servo motor control units.

3. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 2, wherein each of said actuator control modules is capable of controlling a subset of flight control surfaces sufficient to comprehensively control the aircraft by adjusting the attitude of the aircraft in the roll, pitch, and yaw directional axes.

4. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 3, wherein the at least one flight control surface for controlling the pitch directional axis includes at least two elevators each being controlled by at least two elevator actuators, and at least one horizontal stabilizer trim being controlled by at least one actuator.

5. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 4, wherein one of the at least two elevator actuators for each of the at least two elevators is allocated to a first actuator control module and to each of the servo motor control units, and the other of the at least two elevator actuators for each of the at least two elevators is allocated to a respective second actuator control module and third actuator control module, and wherein the at least one actuator of the at least one horizontal stabilizer trim is allocated to each of the servo motor control units.

6. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 3, wherein the at least one flight control surface for controlling the roll directional axis includes at least two ailerons each being controlled by at least two aileron actuators, and at least two pairs of multifunction spoilers (MFS), each pair being controlled by a pair of MFS actuators.

7. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 6, wherein one of the at least two aileron actuators for each of the at least two ailerons is allocated to a first actuator control module and to each of the servo motor control units, and the other of the at least two aileron actuators for each of the at least two ailerons is allocated to a second actuator control module, and wherein one pair of the MFS actuators is allocated to the first actuator control module, another pair of the MFS actuators is allocated to the second actuator control module, and another two pairs of the MFS actuators are allocated to a third actuator control module.

8. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 3, wherein the at least one flight control surface for controlling the yaw directional axis includes at least one rudder controlled by any one of a plurality of rudder actuators.

9. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 8, wherein each of the at least three actuator control modules is allocated to at least one rudder actuator.

10. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 2, wherein hardware of one of the at least two submodules is at least partially dissimilar to the hardware of the other one of the at least two submodules.

11. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 2, further comprising at least three direct current (DC) power sources and at least two alternating current (AC) power sources, wherein each of the at least three DC power sources is allocated to at least two of the actuator control module submodules such that the at least two submodules for each actuator control module is powered by a different DC power source, and wherein each of the at least two servo motor control units is powered by one of the at least two AC power sources.

12. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 11, further comprising at least three hydraulic power sources, wherein each of the at least three actuator control modules is allocated a different hydraulic power source.

13. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 12 wherein one of the at least three hydraulic power sources is more failure tolerant than the other of the at least three hydraulic power sources, and is allocated to each of the servo motor control units.

14. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 2, wherein hardware of each of the at least two servo motor control units is at least partially dissimilar to the hardware of the other of the at least two servo motor control units.

15. A method of individually controlling the position of a set of flight control surfaces on an aircraft that comprises a plurality of control paths, each control path controlling at least one of the flight control surfaces and comprising a plurality of flight surface controllers, said method comprising:

allocating to each of the plurality of flight surface controllers a subset of the set of flight control surfaces;

providing signals indicative of a command from at least one of a plurality of cockpit controls to each of a plurality of flight control computers via at least one of said plurality of flight control surface controllers that receives at least one of the signals, which flight control computers are each capable of generating flight surface commands according to predetermined flight control algorithms as a function of the cockpit control signals, the plurality of flight control computers being coupled to at least one flight surface controller of each control path;

designating only one flight control computer of said plurality of flight computers as a primary flight computer, with the others of said plurality running in a standby mode;

transmitting said flight surface commands from the primary flight control computer along at least one of said control paths to at least one flight control surface controller.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of flight surface controllers includes at least three actuator control modules, each having at least two submodules, and at least two servo motor control units.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein a subset of flight control surfaces for controlling a pitch directional axis of the aircraft includes at least two elevators each being controlled by at least two actuators, and at least one horizontal stabilizer trim being controller by at least one actuator, and the allocating step includes:

allocating one of the at least two elevator actuators for each of the at least two elevators to a first actuator control module and to each of the servo motor control units;

allocating the other of the at least two elevator actuators for each of the at least two elevators to a respective second actuator control module and third actuator control module; and

allocating the at least one actuator of the at least one horizontal stabilizer trim is allocated to each of the servo motor control units.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein a subset of flight control surfaces for controlling a roll directional axis of the aircraft includes at least two ailerons each being controlled by at least two aileron actuators, and at least two pairs of multifunction spoilers (MFS), each pair being controlled by a pair of MFS actuators, and wherein the allocating step includes:

allocating one of the at least two aileron actuators for each of the at least two ailerons to a first actuator control module and to each of the servo motor control units;

allocating the other of the at least two aileron actuators for each of the at least two ailerons to a second actuator control module; and

allocating one pair of the MFS actuators to the first actuator control module, another pair of the MFS actuators to the second actuator control module, and another two pairs of the MFS actuators to a third actuator control module.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein a subset of flight control surfaces for controlling a yaw directional axis of the aircraft includes at least one rudder controlled by any one of a plurality of rudder actuators, and wherein the allocating step includes allocating to each of the at least three actuator control modules at least one of the plurality of rudder actuators.

20. A multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system of an aircraft, the system comprising:

flight control surfaces for controlling a pitch directional axis of the aircraft, the flight control surfaces including at least two elevators each being controlled by at least two actuators, and at least one horizontal stabilizer trim being controller by at least one actuator;

flight control surfaces for controlling a roll directional axis of the aircraft, the flight control surfaces including at least two ailerons each being controlled by at least two aileron actuators, and at least two pairs of multifunction spoilers (MFS), each pair being controlled by a pair of MFS actuators;

flight control surfaces for controlling a yaw directional axis of the aircraft, the flight control surfaces including at least one rudder controlled by any one of a plurality of rudder actuators;

a plurality of input controls each capable of generating a signal indicative of a commanded position of a corresponding control;

a plurality of control paths, each control path controlling at least one of the flight control surfaces and including a plurality of flight surface controllers that includes at least three actuator control modules, each having at least two submodules, and at least two servo motor control units; and

a plurality of flight control computers coupled to the at least one flight control surface controller of each control path, which flight control computers each generate flight surface commands according to predetermined flight control algorithms in part as a function of the cockpit control signals, only one of said plurality of flight control computers is an active primary flight control computer at any given time, the remaining computers of said plurality running in standby;

wherein one of the at least two elevator actuators for each of the at least two elevators is allocated to a first actuator control module and to each of the servo motor control units, and the other of the at least two elevator actuators for each of the at least two elevators is allocated to a respective second actuator control module and a third actuator control module, and wherein the at least one actuator of the at least one horizontal stabilizer trim is allocated to each of the servo motor control units;

wherein one of the at least two aileron actuators for each of the at least two ailerons is allocated to a first actuator control module and to each of the servo motor control units, and the other of the at least two aileron actuators for each of the at least two ailerons is allocated to a second actuator control module, and wherein one pair of the MFS actuators is allocated to the first actuator control module, another pair of the MFS actuators is allocated to the second actuator control module, and another two pairs of the MFS actuators are allocated to a third actuator control module; and

wherein each of the at least three actuator control modules is allocated to at least one rudder actuator.