US 5,285,381 A · Multiple control-point control system and method of use

Abstract

A control system for rapid fault tolerant control of a multiple control-point apparatus is disclosed. The system comprises: a host subsystem acting as a user interface; a plurality of control-point actuators; a master controller subsystem which receives initialization data from the host terminal and which generates behavior commands; and a control-point controller subsystem which receives behavior commands from the master controller subsystem and generates control-point actuator commands. The control-point controller subsystem is made fault tolerant by using a plurality of control-point processors connected to control-point interfaces through a programmable crossbar switch such that if any of the control-point processors develops a fault, the crossbar switch will connect one of the other control-point processors to the control-point interface previously serviced by the faulty control-point processors. The master controller subsystem can be made fault tolerant by including an odd number of at least three master processors in the master controller subsystem such that each master processor runs a common control program in parallel with every other master processor and the master control output for each master processor is compared with the other master control outputs to generate the output common to the majority of master processors as the majority control output.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A control system for rapid fault tolerant control of a multiple control-point apparatus, comprising:

a. a host subsystem acting as a user interface;
b. a plurality of control-point actuators, wherein the control-point actuators are located on or within the multiple control-point apparatus;
c. a master controller subsystem, which receives initialization data from the host subsystem and generates apparatus behavior commands;
d. a control-point controller subsystem, which receives apparatus behavior commands from the master controller subsystem and generates control-point actuator commands, comprising:
i) a plurality of control-point processors, wherein each control-point processor receives the behavior commands addressed to it and generates control-point actuator commands corresponding to the behavior commands;
ii) a plurality of control-point interfaces, which transmit control-point actuator commands generated by the plurality of control-point controllers to the plurality of control-point actuators and transmit control-point position information from the plurality of control-point actuators to the plurality of control-point controllers for use in generating control-point actuator commands;
and
iii) a programmable crossbar switch capable of connecting any control-point processor to any control-point interface, so that if any one control-point processor develops a fault, the crossbar switch will connect another control-point processor to the control-point interface previously controlled by the faulty control-point processor.

5 more elements

In a control system for rapid fault tolerant control of a multiple control-point apparatus, comprising a host subsystem acting as a user interface;

a plurality of control-point actuators, wherein the control-point actuators are located on or within the apparatus;
a master controller subsystem which receives initialization data from the host terminal and generates apparatus behavior commands;
a control-point controller subsystem which recieves apparatus behavior commands from the master controller subsystem and generates control-point actuator commands;
and a plurality of control-point interfaces which transmit control-point actuator commands from the control-point controller to the plurality of control-point actuators and transmits control-point position information from the plurality of control-point actuators to the control-point controller subsystem for use in generating control-point actuator commands, the improvement comprising:
a. means for providing apparatus behavior commands that are fault tolerant, comprising:
i) an odd number of at least three master processors located in the master controller subsystem, wherein each master processor runs a common control program in parallel with every other master processor and wherein each master processor generates a master control output;
and
ii) means for generating a majority master control output, comprising:
A) means for determining which master control output is common to the majority of master processors to identify the majority control output;
and
B) means for outputting the majority control output;
and
b. means for providing control-point actuator commands that are fault tolerant, comprising:
i) a plurality of control-point controller processors located in the control-point controller subsystem, wherein each control-point processor receives the behavior commands addressed to it and generates control-point actuator commands;
and
ii) a programmable crossbar switch capable of connecting any control-point processor to any control-point interface.

13 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Multiple control-point control system and method of use

Life of this patent

Multiple control-point control system and method of use

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims16