System and a method for controlling rotorcraft rotors
AssigneeHyper Q Aerospace Holdings Pty Ltd
InventorPeter Batten
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure is directed to a method for controlling rotors of a rotorcraft system comprising the steps of: receiving air velocity data, first and second rotors rotational angular velocity data, external air temperature data and rotorcraft altitude data by the control module; calculating air velocity over the plurality of blades based on the received data using the control module; calculating, based on the calculated air velocity, if one or more retreating blades of one of the first and second counterrotating rotors are generating insufficient lift; and sending one or more actuation signals from the control module to the electric motor and/or actuators of the other of the first and second counterrotating rotors to maintain a predetermined amount of lift.
Claims18
A coaxial rotorcraft system of a rotorcraft, the system comprising:
- first and second counter-rotating rotors, each having a plurality of blades for generating lift when rotating;
- one or more electronically controlled electric motors operatively coupled to the first and second rotors;
- a plurality of electronically controlled actuators, each actuator operatively coupled to one or more of the plurality of blades and arranged to control the angle of attack of the one or more of the plurality of blades;
- a plurality of sensors on-board the rotorcraft;
- and
- a control module arranged to:
- receive rotorcraft air velocity data,
- first and second rotors angular velocity data,
- external air temperature data and rotorcraft altitude data;
- calculate air velocity over the plurality of blades;
- continuously analyse the received data;
- and generate, based on the analysed data, one or more actuation signals to control the one or more electric motors and/or the actuators in a manner such that a pre-determined lift is maintained when the plurality of blades are rotating,
- wherein the control module comprises a processing unit on-board the rotorcraft, the processing unit being connected to the plurality of sensors, the actuators and the electric motors via a high-speed communication link, and wherein the processing unit analyses the data and generates actuation signals which, in turn, are sent to the electric motors and/or the actuators in real-time.
A method for controlling rotorcraft rotors of a rotorcraft system of a rotorcraft, the rotorcraft system comprising first and second counter-rotating rotors, each having a plurality of blades for generating lift when rotating, one or more electronically controlled electric motors operatively coupled to the first and second rotors and a plurality of electrically controlled actuators, each actuator operatively coupled to one or more of the plurality of blades and arranged to control the angle of attack of the one or more of the plurality of blades, and a plurality of sensors on-board the rotorcraft, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving air velocity data, first and second rotors rotational angular velocity data, external air temperature data and rotorcraft altitude data from a control module of the rotorcraft system, the control module comprising a processing unit on-board the rotorcraft, the processing unit being connected to the plurality of sensors, actuators and electric motors of the rotorcraft system via a high-speed communication link;
- in real-time, using the processing unit to analyze the data by:
- calculating air velocity over the plurality of blades based on the received data;
- calculating, based on the calculated air velocity, if one or more retreating blades of one of the first and second counter-rotating rotors are generating, or will generate, insufficient lift;
- and
- in real-time, using the processing unit to generate and send one or more actuation signals from the control module to the electric motor and/or actuators of the other one of the first and second counterrotating rotors to compensate for or prevent insufficient lift.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.