Method of automatically controlling a rotary wing aircraft having at least one propulsion propeller, an autopilot device, and an aircraft
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of automatically piloting a rotary wing aircraft having at least one propulsion propeller provided with a plurality of propulsion propeller blades configured to contribute to propulsion of the aircraft, a rotary wing independently operable from the propulsion propeller and having a main rotor provided with a plurality of main rotor blades, an adjustment mechanism having a servo-control arrangement configured to adjust pitch of the main rotor blades, a collective control system connected to the adjustment mechanism and configured to control a collective pitch of the main rotor blades via the adjustment mechanism, and a cyclic control system connected to the adjustment mechanism and configured to control a cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades via the adjustment mechanism, the method comprising:
- operating by a pilot the propulsion propeller to adjust a longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft;
while the pilot is operating the propulsion propeller to adjust the longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft, automatically controlling, by a processor unit, (i) the collective control system to control the collective pitch of the main rotor blades so as to control a vertical air speed of the aircraft such that the main rotor blades have a collective pitch in which an aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft is maintained equal to a reference angle of attack (α
*) and automatically controlling, by the processor unit, (ii) the cyclic control system to control the cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades such that the main rotor blades have a cyclic pitch in which a longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft is maintained at a reference longitudinal attitude (θ
*);
operating by the pilot the cyclic control system to modify the cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades to adjust the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft;
while the pilot is operating the cyclic control system to adjust the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft, automatically controlling, by the processor unit, the collective control system to control the collective pitch of the main rotor blades to control the vertical air speed of the aircraft such that the main rotor blades have a collective pitch in which the aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft is maintained equal to the reference angle of attack (α
*) and servo-controlling automatically, by the processor unit, the reference longitudinal attitude (θ
*) to a current value of the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft; and
wherein the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft is equal to the sum of the aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft and an air-path slope of the aircraft, the air-path slope is dependent on the vertical air speed of the aircraft and a true air speed of the aircraft, and the true air speed of the aircraft is dependent on the longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft.
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Abstract
An autopilot device (10) and method for automatically piloting a rotary wing aircraft (1), having at least one propulsion propeller (2), said rotary wing comprising at least one rotor (3) with a plurality of blades (3′), said device comprising a processor unit (15) co-operating with at least one collective control system (7) for controlling the collective pitch of said blades (3′). The device includes engagement means (20) connected to the processor unit (15) for engaging an assisted mode of piloting for maintaining an angle of attack, said processor unit (15) automatically controlling the collective pitch of the blades (3′) when the assisted mode of piloting for maintaining an angle of attack is engaged by controlling said collective control system to maintain an aerodynamic angle of attack (α) of the aircraft at a reference angle of attack (α*).
53 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of automatically piloting a rotary wing aircraft having at least one propulsion propeller provided with a plurality of propulsion propeller blades configured to contribute to propulsion of the aircraft, a rotary wing independently operable from the propulsion propeller and having a main rotor provided with a plurality of main rotor blades, an adjustment mechanism having a servo-control arrangement configured to adjust pitch of the main rotor blades, a collective control system connected to the adjustment mechanism and configured to control a collective pitch of the main rotor blades via the adjustment mechanism, and a cyclic control system connected to the adjustment mechanism and configured to control a cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades via the adjustment mechanism, the method comprising:
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operating by a pilot the propulsion propeller to adjust a longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft; while the pilot is operating the propulsion propeller to adjust the longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft, automatically controlling, by a processor unit, (i) the collective control system to control the collective pitch of the main rotor blades so as to control a vertical air speed of the aircraft such that the main rotor blades have a collective pitch in which an aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft is maintained equal to a reference angle of attack (α
*) and automatically controlling, by the processor unit, (ii) the cyclic control system to control the cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades such that the main rotor blades have a cyclic pitch in which a longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft is maintained at a reference longitudinal attitude (θ
*);operating by the pilot the cyclic control system to modify the cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades to adjust the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft;while the pilot is operating the cyclic control system to adjust the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft, automatically controlling, by the processor unit, the collective control system to control the collective pitch of the main rotor blades to control the vertical air speed of the aircraft such that the main rotor blades have a collective pitch in which the aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft is maintained equal to the reference angle of attack (α
*) and servo-controlling automatically, by the processor unit, the reference longitudinal attitude (θ
*) to a current value of the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft; andwherein the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft is equal to the sum of the aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft and an air-path slope of the aircraft, the air-path slope is dependent on the vertical air speed of the aircraft and a true air speed of the aircraft, and the true air speed of the aircraft is dependent on the longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An autopilot device for automatically piloting a rotary wing aircraft having at least one propulsion propeller provided with a plurality of propulsion propeller blades configured to contribute to propulsion of the aircraft, a rotary wing independently operable from the propulsion propeller and having a main rotor with a plurality of main rotor blades, an adjustment mechanism having a servo-control arrangement configured to adjust pitch of the main rotor blades, a collective control system connected to the adjustment mechanism and configured to control a collective pitch of the main rotor blades via the adjustment mechanism, and a cyclic control system connected to the adjustment mechanism and configured to control a cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades via the adjustment mechanism, the device comprising:
-
a processor unit configured to automatically control the collective control system to control a collective pitch of the main rotor blades; an automatic system configured to automatically control the cyclic control system to control a cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades; wherein while a pilot is operating the propulsion propeller to adjust a longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft, the processor unit is configured to automatically control (i) the collective control system to control the collective pitch of the main rotor blades so as to control a vertical air speed of the aircraft such that the main rotor blades have a collective pitch in which an aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft is maintained at a reference angle of attack (α
*) and to automatically control (ii) the cyclic control system to control the cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades such that the main rotor blades have a cyclic pitch in which a longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft is maintained at a reference longitudinal attitude (θ
*);wherein while the pilot is operating the cyclic control system to modify the cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades to adjust the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft, the processor unit is configured to automatically control the collective control system to control the collective pitch of the main rotor blades to control the vertical air speed of the aircraft such that the main rotor blades have a collective pitch in which the aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft is maintained equal to the reference angle of attack (α
*) and to servo-control automatically the reference longitudinal attitude (θ
*) to a current value of the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft andwherein the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft is equal to the sum of the aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft and an air-path slope of the aircraft, the air-path slope is dependent on the vertical air speed of the aircraft and a true air speed of the aircraft, and the true air speed of the aircraft is dependent on the longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of automatically piloting a rotary wing aircraft having at least one propulsion propeller provided with a plurality of propulsion propeller blades configured to contribute to propulsion of the aircraft, a rotary wing independently operable from the propulsion propeller and having a main rotor provided with a plurality of main rotor blades, an adjustment mechanism having a servo-control arrangement configured to adjust pitch of the main rotor blades, a collective control system connected to the adjustment mechanism and configured to control a collective pitch of the main rotor blades via the adjustment mechanism, and a cyclic control system connected to the adjustment mechanism and configured to control a cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades via the adjustment mechanism, the method comprising:
-
operating by a pilot the propulsion propeller to adjust a longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft; while the pilot is operating the propulsion propeller to adjust the longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft, automatically controlling, by a processor unit, the collective control system to control the collective pitch of the main rotor blades so as to control a vertical air speed of the aircraft such that the main rotor blades have a collective pitch in which an aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft is maintained equal to a reference angle of attack (α
*);operating by the pilot the cyclic control system to adjust the cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades to adjust a longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraftwhile the pilot is operating the cyclic control system to adjust the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft, automatically controlling, by the processor unit, the collective control system to control the collective pitch of the main rotor blades so as to control the vertical air speed of the aircraft such that the main rotor blades have a collective pitch in which the aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft is maintained equal to the reference angle of attack (α
*);automatically setting, by the processor unit, a value of the reference angle of attack (α
*) to be equal to a current value of the aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft at the moment that the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft or the longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft is adjusted by the pilot;while the pilot is operating the cyclic control system so as to adjust the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft, servo-controlling automatically, by the processor unit, a reference longitudinal attitude (θ
*) of the aircraft to a current value of the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft and, when the pilot is no longer acting on the cyclic control system, maintaining, by the processor unit, the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft at the reference longitudinal attitude (θ
*) of the aircraft; andwherein the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft is equal to the sum of the aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft and an air-path slope of the aircraft, the air-path slope is dependent on the vertical air speed of the aircraft and a true air speed of the aircraft, and the true air speed of the aircraft is dependent on the longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A method of automatically piloting a rotary wing aircraft having at least one propulsion propeller provided with a plurality of propulsion propeller blades configured to contribute to propulsion of the aircraft, a rotary wing independently operable from the propulsion propeller and having a main rotor provided with a plurality of main rotor blades, an adjustment mechanism having a servo-control arrangement configured to adjust pitch of the main rotor blades, a collective control system connected to the adjustment mechanism and configured to control a collective pitch of the main rotor blades via the adjustment mechanism, and a cyclic control system connected to the adjustment mechanism and configured to control a cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades via the adjustment mechanism, the method comprising:
-
operating by a pilot the propulsion propeller to adjust a longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft; while the pilot is operating the propulsion propeller to adjust the longitudinal forward speed of the aircraft, automatically controlling, by a processor unit, the collective control system to control the collective pitch of the main rotor blades so as to control a vertical air speed of the aircraft such that the main rotor blades have a collective pitch in which an aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft is maintained equal to a reference angle of attack (α
*);operating by the pilot the cyclic control system for controlling a cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades to modify a longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft;while the pilot is operating the cyclic control system for controlling the cyclic pitch of the main rotor blades so as to modify the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft, servo-controlling automatically, by the processor unit, a reference longitudinal attitude (θ
*) of the aircraft to a current value of the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft and, when the pilot is no longer acting on the cyclic control system, maintaining, by the processor unit, the longitudinal attitude (θ
) of the aircraft at the reference longitudinal attitude (θ
*) of the aircraft; andwherein the processor unit automatically controls the collective pitch of the main rotor blades so as to control the vertical air speed of the aircraft in such a manner as to maintain the aerodynamic angle of attack (α
) of the aircraft equal to the reference angle of attack (α
*) by application of the following relationship;
α
*=θ
−
arc sin(VZ/TAS)where “
VZ”
represents the vertical air speed of the aircraft, “
TAS”
represents the true air speed of the aircraft, “
θ
”
represents a current longitudinal attitude, and “
α
*”
represents the reference angle of attack.
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Specification
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Current AssigneeAirbus Helicopters
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Original AssigneeAirbus Helicopters
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InventorsEglin, Paul
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Primary Examiner(s)Badawi, Medhat
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Application NumberUS13/543,957Publication NumberTime in Patent Office2,199 DaysField of Search244181, 244185, 244186, 244 1713, 244 1725, 701 3, 701 5, 701 6, 701 7, 701 11, 701 14US Class CurrentCPC Class CodesB64C 27/22 Compound rotorcraft, i.e. a...B64C 27/57 automatic or condition resp...B64D 45/00 Aircraft indicators or prot...G05D 1/0858 specially adapted for verti...
