Low-g alert
AssigneeEIT Co., Ltd.
InventorsJoe May, Christopher Murdock
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A warning system alerts a helicopter pilot that a low-G condition is imminent or occurring. The low-G alert employs an accelerometer to detect a vertical acceleration of the aircraft. Higher frequency vibrations in the output of the accelerometer are removed by a filter to provide a clean signal representing vertical acceleration of the aircraft. This signal is processed by a central processing unit (CPU) to perform a threshold detector function. The CPU is configured to detect the possibility of the onset or occurrence of a low-G event. Upon detection, the CPU triggers an audible alert to announce “Low-G. Pull aft.” or the like until the low-G event has been corrected or avoided.
Claims18
A low-G alert for rotary wing aircraft, comprising:
- at least one accelerometer for sensing a vertical acceleration of the rotary wing aircraft;
- signal processing means including a threshold detector detecting when the vertical acceleration reaches or exceeds a predetermined threshold that indicates an imminent or existing low-G event;
- and
- an output device which provides
- i) an indication that a low-G event is imminent or occurring, and
- ii) audio instructions of one or more corrective maneuvers to the low-G event for the pilot to take to avoid an accident.
A method of alerting a pilot of a rotary wing aircraft of an imminent or occurring low-G event, comprising steps of:
- sensing a vertical acceleration of the rotary wing aircraft with at least one accelerometer;
- detecting when the vertical acceleration reaches or exceeds a predetermined threshold that indicates an imminent or occurring low-G event;
- and
- providing with an output device
- i) an indication that a low-G event is imminent or occurring, and
- ii) audio instructions of one or more corrective maneuvers to the low-G event for the pilot to take to avoid an accident.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.