US 8,478,456 B2 · Variable bandwidth control actuation methods and apparatus

Abstract

Some embodiments relate to a method of controlling a flight of a flight vehicle according to a first mode of operation and changing the mode of operation to a second mode of operation having a different bandwidth than the first mode of operation. Other embodiments relate to a flight-control system for a flight vehicle configured to control a flight of a flight vehicle according to a first mode of operation and to control the flight of the flight vehicle according to a second mode of operation to use less energy than the first mode of operation. Other embodiments relate to a control actuation system configured to control positions of aerodynamic elements in a flight vehicle in response to commands from a guidance system according to a first mode of operation and to change the mode of operation to a second mode of operation having a different bandwidth than the first mode of operation.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A flight-control system for a flight vehicle configured to:

control a flight of a flight vehicle according to a first mode of operation;
control the flight of the flight vehicle according to a second mode of operation to use less energy than the first mode of operation,
wherein the first mode of operation is a performance mode of operation in which aerodynamic elements of the vehicle are controlled with a higher-bandwidth response, and
wherein the second mode of operation is an economy mode of operation in which the aerodynamic elements of the vehicle are controlled with a tower-bandwidth response;
receive guidance commands to guide the flight vehicle in flight;
pre-filter the guidance commands according to the performance mode of operation or the economy mode of operation to issue reference state commands;
issue state errors as a sum of the reference state commands and a feedback signal containing measurements of the physical states of the aerodynamic elements in a control loop;
and
act on the state errors to produce an actuating signal that controls the positions of the aerodynamic elements.

6 more elements

A method to control a flight of a flight vehicle comprising:

controlling a flight of a flight vehicle according to a performance mode of operation in which aerodynamic elements of the vehicle are controlled with a higher bandwidth response;
changing the mode of operation to an economy mode of operation in which the aerodynamic elements of the vehicle are controlled with a lower bandwidth response using less energy than the performance mode of operation when the flight vehicle is cruising;
receiving guidance commands to guide the flight vehicle in flight;
pre-filtering the guidance commands according to the performance mode of operation or the economy mode of operation to issue reference state commands;
issuing state errors as a sum of the reference state commands and a feedback signal containing measurements of the physical states of the aerodynamic elements in a control loop;
and
acting on the state errors to produce an actuating signal that controls the positions of the aerodynamic elements.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Variable bandwidth control actuation methods and apparatus

Life of this patent

Variable bandwidth control actuation methods and apparatus

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims18