Back to results
US 10,983,534 B2Granted
Aircraft control system and method
AssigneeJoby Aero, Inc.
InventorsBlake English, JoeBen Bevirt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The unified command system and/or method includes an input mechanism, a flight processor that receives input from the input mechanism and translates the input into control output, and effectors that are actuated according to the control output. The system can optionally include: one or more sensors, a vehicle navigation system which determines a vehicle state and/or flight regime based on data from the one or more sensors, and a vehicle guidance system which determines a flightpath for the aircraft.
Claims14
A command method for a fly-by-wire (FBW) tiltrotor aircraft, the method comprising:
- providing the FBW tiltrotor aircraft, wherein a load distribution of the FBW tiltrotor aircraft generates a first net moment about a roll axis;
- wherein the load distribution of the FBW tiltrotor aircraft generates a second net moment about a pitch axis, the FBW tiltrotor aircraft comprising a plurality of effectors comprising:
- at least three rotors comprising a left rotor and a right rotor;
- and
- for each of the at least three rotors, a tilt mechanism configured to transform the rotor between a forward configuration and a hover configuration;
- determining a flight regime of the FBW tiltrotor aircraft, comprising one of:
- a forward regime, associated with arrangement of the at least three rotors in the forward configuration;
- and
- a hover regime, associated with arrangement of the at least three rotors in the hover configuration;
- receiving a set of input commands from a user at an inceptor, the set of input commands comprising:
- a first, second, third, and fourth angular position on a first, second, third, and fourth axis of the inceptor, respectively;
- based on the flight regime of the FBW tiltrotor aircraft, transforming the set of input commands into a set of desired aircraft responses, wherein:
- the first angular position maps to a desired pitch response in the forward regime and a desired vertical translation response in the hover regime;
- the second angular position maps to a desired speed response in the forward regime and a desired longitudinal translation response in the hover regime;
- the third angular position maps to a desired lateral translation response in the hover regime;
- and
- the fourth angular position maps to a desired heading rate response in the hover regime;
- based on the set of desired aircraft responses, determining a control output for the plurality of effectors of the FBW tiltrotor aircraft;
- and
- executing the control output by actuating at least one of the plurality of effectors.
17 more elements
A command method for an aircraft, comprising:
- determining a flight regime of the aircraft, the flight regime determined from a set of flight regimes comprising:
- a forward regime and a hover regime;
- receiving a set of input commands from a user at a first input mechanism, the set of input commands comprising:
- a first, second, and third angular position on a first axis, second axis, and third axis of the first input mechanism, respectively;
- based on the flight regime of the aircraft, mapping the set of input commands into a set of desired aircraft responses, wherein:
- the first angular position maps to a desired pitch response in the forward regime and a desired vertical translation response in the hover regime;
- the second angular position maps to a desired speed response in the forward regime and a desired longitudinal translation response in the hover regime;
- and
- the third angular position maps to a desired heading rate response in the hover regime and a desired roll response in the forward regime;
- based on the set of desired aircraft responses, determining a control output;
- and
- executing the control output by actuating a set of effectors of the aircraft, wherein the set of effectors comprises a rotor.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.