Automatic piloting device for aerodynes
First Claim
1. An automatic piloting device for an aerodyne using at least one digital computer receiving information from a set of sensors and controlling actuators acting on flight control surfaces of said aerodyne, said computer comprising at least one autonomous Computing module having hardware and software resources comprising:
- a means for controlling piloting of said aerodyne according to any one of three piloting axes (pitch, roll, yaw),means for determining the piloting axis for which said computing module controls piloting and for making said computing module specific to this piloting axis,means for monitoring the piloting of said aerodyne according to any one of the three piloting axis, and when a failure is detected, for disabling piloting according to the monitored piloting axis, and for recentering the actuators corresponding to the monitored piloting axis, andmeans for determining the monitored piloting axis.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The device embodying the invention uses at least one digital computer receiving information from a set of sensors and controlling actuators acting on the flight control surfaces, the computer comprising an autonomous means for monitoring the service quality thereof, for disconnecting the device and for recentering the actuators subsequent to detection of a failure. It applies notably to the automatic piloting of a helicopter.
23 Citations
18 Claims
-
1. An automatic piloting device for an aerodyne using at least one digital computer receiving information from a set of sensors and controlling actuators acting on flight control surfaces of said aerodyne, said computer comprising at least one autonomous Computing module having hardware and software resources comprising:
-
a means for controlling piloting of said aerodyne according to any one of three piloting axes (pitch, roll, yaw), means for determining the piloting axis for which said computing module controls piloting and for making said computing module specific to this piloting axis, means for monitoring the piloting of said aerodyne according to any one of the three piloting axis, and when a failure is detected, for disabling piloting according to the monitored piloting axis, and for recentering the actuators corresponding to the monitored piloting axis, and means for determining the monitored piloting axis. - View Dependent Claims (18)
-
-
2. An automatic piloting device for an aerodyne comprising at least one digital computer receiving information from sensors and controlling actuators acting on flight control surfaces of said aerodyne, said actuators corresponding to each piloting axis comprising a series thrustor and a trim thrustor enabling recentering of the position of said series thrustor, said computer comprising at least two identical autonomous computing modules each being connected to two sets of sensors and actuators corresponding respectively to two of three piloting axes (pitch, roll, yaw), each computing module having hardware and software resources comprising:
-
a series thrustor and trim thrustor command function for controlling piloting according to any one of said three piloting axes through the series thrustor and the trim thrustor corresponding to said piloting axis, a means for determining a controlled piloting axis corresponding to the actuators and sensors to which said computing module is connected and according to which said computing module controls piloting, and means for making said computing module specific to this controlled piloting axis, a series thrustor monitoring and recentering function for monitoring piloting of said aerodyne according to any one of said piloting axis, and when a failure is detected, for disabling piloting according to the monitored piloting axis and for recentering the series thrustor corresponding to the monitored piloting axis, and means for determining said monitored piloting axis according to which the other computing module performs piloting control, and corresponding to the actuators controlled by said other module, a digital heart comprising notably a microprocessor controlled by software so as to control piloting of said aerodyne according to any one of the piloting axes and to monitor piloting of said aerodyne according to any one of said piloting axes, a power control circuit for directly controlling the actuators corresponding to any one of said piloting axes, a feed circuit, an I/O management circuit, and a filtering and protection circuit for protection against the effects of lightning and electromagnetic radiation. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
-
-
3. An automatic piloting device for an aerodyne comprising at least one digital computer receiving information from sensors and controlling actuators acting on flight control surfaces of said aerodyne, said computer comprising at least two autonomous computing modules connected to two respective sets of sensors and actuators corresponding respectively to two of three piloting axes (pitch, roll, yaw), each computing module having hardware and software resources comprising:
-
a means for controlling piloting of said aerodyne according to any one of said three piloting axes, and a means for determining the piloting axis according to which said computing module controls piloting and for making said computing module specific to this axis, at least a first one of said two computing modules being connected to the set of sensors and actuators connected to a second one of said two computing modules, said first computing module further comprising a means for monitoring piloting control performed by the second computing module, and when a failure is detected, for disconnecting said second computing module and for recentering the actuators controlled by said second computing module. - View Dependent Claims (4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17)
-
-
5. An automatic piloting device for an aerodyne comprising at least one digital computer receiving information from sensors and controlling actuators acting on flight control surfaces for piloting said aerodyne according to at least one of three piloting axes (pitch, roll, yaw), said actuators corresponding to each piloting axis comprising a series thrustor and a trim thrustor enabling recentering of the position of said series thrustor, said computer comprising at least one autonomous computing module having hardware and software resources comprising:
-
a series thrustor and trim thrustor command function for controlling piloting according to any one of said three piloting axes through the series thrustor and the trim thrustor corresponding to said piloting axis, means for detecting the piloting axis for which said computing module controls piloting and for making said computing module Specific to this piloting axis, a series thrustor monitoring and recentering function for monitoring piloting of said aerodyne according to any one of said piloting axis, and when a failure is detected, for disabling piloting according to the monitored piloting axis and for recentering the series thrustor corresponding to the monitored piloting axis, and means for detecting the monitored piloting axis,
-
Specification