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US 11,536,565 B2Granted
System and method for gimbal lock avoidance in an aircraft
AssigneeTextron Innovations Inc.
InventorSung Kyun Kim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotorcraft is described and includes an inertial measurement unit (“IMU”) sensor mounted to the rotorcraft, the IMU sensor oriented relative to the rotorcraft such that a roll attitude of the rotorcraft occurs about a Z-axis and has a range of ±90 degrees, a pitch attitude of the rotorcraft occurs about an X-axis and has a range of ±180 degrees, and a yaw attitude of the rotorcraft occurs about a Y-axis and has a range of ±180 degrees.
Claims10
A rotorcraft comprising:
- an integrated fuselage and wing comprising first and second ends;
- propulsion assemblies connected proximate the first and second wing ends;
- and
- an inertial measurement unit (“IMU”) sensor mounted to the integrated wing and fuselage and defining a roll attitude, a pitch attitude, and a yaw attitude of the rotorcraft, the IMU sensor oriented relative to the rotorcraft such that a roll attitude of the rotorcraft is defined by the IMU sensor to occur about a Z-axis of the rotorcraft and has a range of ±90 degrees, a pitch attitude of the rotorcraft is defined by the IMU sensor to occur about an X-axis of the rotorcraft and has a range of ±180 degrees thereby to prevent a gimbal lock situation that occurs when the pitch attitude of the rotorcraft is outside a range of approximately ±90 degrees, and a yaw attitude of the rotorcraft is defined by the IMU sensor to occur about a Y-axis of the rotorcraft and has a range of ±180 degrees;
- wherein the Z-axis of the rotorcraft extends normal to the integrated fuselage and wing, the X-axis of the rotorcraft extends parallel to a longitudinal axis of the integrated fuselage and wing, and the Y-axis of the rotorcraft extends perpendicular to the X-axis of the rotorcraft and the Z-axis of the rotorcraft.
2 more elements
A method comprising:
- mounting an inertial measurement unit (“IMU”) sensor to an aircraft;
- and
- updating the IMU sensor by:
- setting an updated pitch attitude of the IMU sensor to a previous positive roll attitude of the IMU sensor;
- setting an updated roll attitude of the IMU sensor to a previous negative pitch attitude of the IMU sensor;
- and
- setting an updated yaw attitude of the IMU sensor to a previous positive yaw attitude of the IMU sensor minus 90 degrees;
- such that the updated roll attitude of the rotorcraft is defined by the IMU sensor to occur about a Z-axis of the rotorcraft and has a range of ±90 degrees, the updated pitch attitude of the rotorcraft is defined by the IMU sensor to occur about an X-axis of the rotorcraft and has a range of ±180 degrees thereby to prevent a gimbal lock situation that occurs when an actual pitch attitude of the rotorcraft is outside a range of approximately ±90 degrees, and the updated yaw attitude of the rotorcraft is defined by the IMU sensor to occur about a Y-axis of the rotorcraft and has a range of ±180 degrees.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.