Aircraft attitude controller and wing system
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorAlexis Anthony Liberson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aircraft attitude controller configured to obtain information representative of an attitude of an aircraft is disclosed. On the basis of the information, the attitude controller is configured to control the attitude of the aircraft by actively controlling a position of a winglet at a distal end of a wing portion of a wing of the aircraft, relative to the wing portion, thereby to control an angle of incidence of the winglet.
Claims16
An aircraft attitude controller configured to:
- obtain information on any one or more of the following properties:
- a mass of the aircraft,
- a distribution of mass of the aircraft,
- a centre of gravity of the aircraft,
- an amount of fuel in the aircraft, and
- a fuel consumption of the aircraft;
- and,
- on the basis of the information, control an attitude of the aircraft by actively controlling a position of a winglet at a distal end of a wing portion of a wing of the aircraft, relative to the wing portion, thereby to control an angle of incidence of the winglet;
- wherein the aircraft attitude controller is configured to determine a target attitude of the aircraft;
- and,
- wherein the controlling the attitude of the aircraft comprises controlling the attitude of the aircraft to bring the attitude of the aircraft towards the target attitude of the aircraft.
A wing system for an aircraft, the wing system comprising at least a wing portion of a wing, a winglet at a distal end of the wing portion, and a controller, wherein a position of the winglet relative to the wing portion is variable to change an angle of incidence of the winglet, and
- wherein the controller is configured to:
- obtain information on any one or more of the following properties:
- a mass of the aircraft,
- a distribution of mass of the aircraft,
- a centre of gravity of the aircraft,
- an amount of fuel in the aircraft, and
- a fuel consumption of the aircraft, and,
- on the basis of the information,
- control the attitude of the aircraft by actively controlling the position of the winglet relative to the wing portion;
- wherein the controller is configured to determine a target attitude of the aircraft, and
- wherein the controlling the attitude of the aircraft comprises controlling the attitude of the aircraft to bring the attitude of the aircraft towards the target attitude of the aircraft.
A method of controlling an attitude of an aircraft, the method comprising:
- obtaining information on any one or more of the following properties:
- a mass of the aircraft,
- a distribution of mass of the aircraft,
- a centre of gravity of the aircraft,
- an amount of fuel in the aircraft, and
- a fuel consumption of the aircraft;
- and,
- on the basis of the information, controlling the attitude of the aircraft by controlling a position of a winglet at a distal end of a wing portion of a wing of the aircraft, relative to the wing portion, thereby to control an angle of incidence of the winglet;
- wherein the method comprises determining a target attitude of the aircraft, and
- wherein the controlling the attitude of the aircraft comprises controlling the attitude of the aircraft to bring the attitude of the aircraft towards the target attitude of the aircraft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.