Controlled flight of a multicopter experiencing a failure affecting an effector
First Claim
1. A method for operating a multicopter experiencing a failure during flight, the multicopter comprising,a body;
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in response to said identifying of said failure, using a control unit to carry out the steps of,computing an estimate of the orientation of a primary axis of said body with respect predefined reference frame, wherein said primary axis is an axis about which said multicopter rotates when flying;
computing an estimate of the angular velocity of said multicopter;
controlling one or more of said at least four effectors which are without a failure, based on said estimate of the orientation of the primary axis of said body with respect to said predefined reference frame and said estimate of the angular velocity of the multicopter,such that said one or more effectors collectively produce, a torque along said primary axis and a torque perpendicular to said primary axis, whereinthe torque along said primary axis causes said multicopter to rotate about said primary axis, andthe torque perpendicular to said primary axis causes said multicopter to move such that the orientation of said primary axis converges to a target orientation with respect to said predefined reference frame,and such that each of said one or more effectors individually produces a thrust force along said primary axis.
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Abstract
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for operating a multicopter experiencing a failure during flight, the multicopter comprising a body, and at least four effectors attached to the body, each operable to produce both a torque and a thrust force which can cause the multicopter to fly when not experiencing said failure. The method may comprise the step of identifying a failure wherein the failure affects the torque and/or thrust force produced by an effector, and in response to identifying a failure carrying out the following steps, (1) computing an estimate of the orientation of a primary axis of said body with respect to a predefined reference frame, wherein said primary axis is an axis about which said multicopter rotates when flying, (2) computing an estimate of the angular velocity of said multicopter, (3) controlling one or more of said at least four effectors based on said estimate of the orientation of the primary axis of said body with respect to said predefined reference frame and said estimate of the angular velocity of the multicopter. The step of controlling one or more of said at least four effectors may be performed such that (a) said one or more effectors collectively produce a torque along said primary axis and a torque perpendicular to said primary axis, wherein (i) the torque along said primary axis causes said multicopter to rotate about said primary axis, and (ii) the torque perpendicular to said primary axis causes said multicopter to move such that the orientation of said primary axis converges to a target orientation with respect to said predefined reference frame, and (b) such that said one or more effectors individually produce a thrust force along said primary axis.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for operating a multicopter experiencing a failure during flight, the multicopter comprising,
a body; - and
at least four effectors attached to the body, each configured to produce both a torque and a thrust force which can cause the multicopter to fly when not experiencing said failure, the method comprising the step of, identifying, using an evaluation unit, a failure wherein the failure affects the torque and/or the thrust force produced by an effector; in response to said identifying of said failure, using a control unit to carry out the steps of, computing an estimate of the orientation of a primary axis of said body with respect predefined reference frame, wherein said primary axis is an axis about which said multicopter rotates when flying; computing an estimate of the angular velocity of said multicopter; controlling one or more of said at least four effectors which are without a failure, based on said estimate of the orientation of the primary axis of said body with respect to said predefined reference frame and said estimate of the angular velocity of the multicopter, such that said one or more effectors collectively produce, a torque along said primary axis and a torque perpendicular to said primary axis, wherein the torque along said primary axis causes said multicopter to rotate about said primary axis, and the torque perpendicular to said primary axis causes said multicopter to move such that the orientation of said primary axis converges to a target orientation with respect to said predefined reference frame, and such that each of said one or more effectors individually produces a thrust force along said primary axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A multicopter comprising,
a body, at least four effectors attached to the body, each configured to produce both a torque and a thrust force which can cause the multicopter to fly when not experiencing a failure, a flight module configured such that it can carry out the method comprising tae steps of, identifying a failure wherein the failure affects the torque and/or the thrust force produced by an effector; -
in response to said identifying of said failure, carrying out the steps of, computing an estimate of the orientation of a primary axis of said body with respect to a predefined reference frame, wherein said primary axis is an axis about which said multicopter rotates when flying; computing an estimate of the angular velocity of said multicopter; controlling one or more of said at least four effectors which are without a failure, based on said estimate of the orientation of the primary axis of said body with respect to said predefined reference frame and said estimate of the angular velocity of the multicopter, such that said one or more effectors collectively produce, a torque along said primary axis and a torque perpendicular to said primary axis, wherein the torque along said primary axis causes said multicopter to rotate about said primary axis, and the torque perpendicular to said primary axis causes said multicopter to move such that the orientation of said primary axis converges to a target orientation with respect to said predefined reference frame, and such that each of said one or more effectors individually produces a thrust force along said primary axis. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification