Aircraft seat motion controller with tunable seat motion speed

A motion planner for use with a seat including movable components, actuators coupled to the movable components, and a seat controller operatively coupled to the actuators, the motion planner configured to be communicatively coupled to the seat controller and to an interface for selecting predefined sitting positions and predefined transition speeds for completing sitting position changes, and the motion planner including a processor configured to:

• receive a request for a sitting position change from the interface;
• retrieve from memory a motion plan corresponding to the requested sitting position change, the motion plan including a plurality of way points, wherein each way point includes definite positions of the actuators;
• receive a request for a transition speed associated with the requested sitting position change;
• and
• instruct the seat controller to operate the actuators to execute the requested sitting position change at the requested transition speed.

A method for seat motion control, comprising the steps of:

• providing a seat including actuators coupled to movable seat components;
• providing a seat controller operatively coupled to the actuators;
• providing a motion planner, including a processor, communicatively coupled to the seat controller;
• providing an interface operable for entering a sitting position change;
• receiving, by the motion planner, a request for a sitting position change from the interface;
• retrieving, by the motion planner, from memory a motion plan corresponding to the requested sitting position change, the motion plan including a plurality of way points, wherein each way point includes definite positions of the actuators;
• receiving, by the motion planner, a request for a transition speed associated with the requested sitting position change;
• and
• instructing, by the motion planner, the seat controller to operate the actuators to execute the requested sitting position change at the requested transition speed.