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US 10,921,826 B2Granted
Method for vehicle contingency planning
AssigneeSkyryse, Inc.
InventorsMark Groden, Mitch Adler, Jonathan Reeves, Nur Harell, Christopher Ward
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method, preferably including: sampling inputs, determining aircraft conditions, and/or acting based on the aircraft conditions. A method, preferably including: sampling inputs, determining input reliability, determining guidance, and/or controlling aircraft operation. A method, preferably including: operating the vehicle, planning for contingencies, detecting undesired flight conditions, and/or reacting to undesired flight conditions. A system, preferably an aircraft such as a rotorcraft, configured to implement the method.
Claims21
A method of aircraft operation, comprising:
- determining a safety corridor based on a terrain and a noise threshold, the safety corridor comprising a three-dimensional corridor above the terrain;
- flying an aircraft in a powered flight mode, comprising at a propulsion system of the aircraft, propelling the aircraft within the safety corridor;
- while flying the aircraft in the powered flight mode, determining aircraft state data associated with the aircraft, the aircraft state data comprising an aircraft position;
- while flying the aircraft in the powered flight mode, based on the aircraft state data, determining a contingency plan associated with an undesired aircraft condition, the undesired aircraft condition comprising failure of a propulsion system of the aircraft, wherein determining the contingency plan comprises:
- selecting an emergency landing site;
- and
- based on the emergency landing site, determining a set of control instructions associated with a set of flight control elements of the aircraft, wherein the set of flight control elements comprises at least one flight control surface and at least one actuator, wherein the contingency plan is updated continuously based on the aircraft state data while flying the aircraft, wherein the set of control instructions are associated with controlling the aircraft to fly toward the emergency landing site;
- after determining the contingency plan, determining information indicative of the undesired aircraft condition;
- based on the information, determining that the aircraft is undergoing the undesired aircraft condition;
- and
- in response to determining that the aircraft is undergoing the undesired aircraft condition, autonomously controlling the aircraft to fly outside of the safety corridor based on the contingency plan and thereby changing the aircraft state data, comprising controlling the set of flight control elements according to the set of control instructions.
8 more elements
A method of rotorcraft operation, comprising:
- determining a safety corridor based on a terrain and a noise threshold, the safety corridor comprising a three-dimensional corridor above the terrain;
- flying a rotorcraft in a powered flight mode, comprising, at a propulsion system of the aircraft, propelling the aircraft within the safety corridor, wherein the rotorcraft is propelled by a rotor;
- while flying the rotorcraft in the powered flight mode, determining rotorcraft state data associated with the rotorcraft;
- while flying the rotorcraft in the powered flight mode, based on the rotorcraft state data, determining a contingency plan associated with a propulsion failure condition, wherein determining the contingency plan comprises determining an emergency landing site and a plan to perform an unpowered landing at the emergency landing site, wherein the contingency plan is continuously updated while flying the rotorcraft;
- determining information indicative of the propulsion failure condition;
- based on the information, determining that the rotorcraft is undergoing the propulsion failure condition;
- and
- in response to determining that the rotorcraft is undergoing the propulsion failure condition, autonomously controlling the rotorcraft based on the contingency plan, comprising:
- modifying the safety corridor based on the plan to perform the unpowered landing at the emergency landing site;
- autonomously operating the rotorcraft in autorotation within the modified safety corridor, wherein operating the rotorcraft comprises actuating at least one control surface using at least one actuator;
- and
- autonomously performing the unpowered landing at the emergency landing site while the rotorcraft is in autorotation.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.