Actuator control electronic unit, fly-by-wire flight control system and control method

Abstract

The invention discloses an actuator control electronic unit, a fly-by-wire control system and a control method. An actuator control electronics (ACE) architecture may include a normal mode partition and a direct mode partition. The normal mode partition of the ACE processes a normal mode / auxiliary mode control surface control instruction transmitted by the FCM and transmits the normal mode / auxiliary mode control surface control instruction to the ACE direct mode partition, and the ACE direct mode partition verifies the normal mode / auxiliary mode control surface control instruction; and an effective normal mode / auxiliary mode control surface control instruction or an effective direct mode control surface control instruction is transmitted to a remote control unit (REU), so that the ACE common mode fault problem in a flight control system can be avoided as far as possible.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of aircraft flight control, and more particularly to actuator control electronic units, fly-by-wire flight control systems, and control methods. Background Technology

[0002] The flight control system is a complex and critical system on an aircraft, essential for its safety. According to airworthiness regulations, a single failure, regardless of probability, cannot lead to catastrophic consequences. For fly-by-wire flight control systems employing hardware redundancy, a common-mode problem—a fault that simultaneously causes both the main control system and the redundant systems to malfunction—can potentially lead to the failure of the entire flight control system. Common-mode problems compromise the independence of the redundant architecture; therefore, the potential safety hazards caused by common-mode problems leading to flight control system failure must be addressed.

[0003] In one fly-by-wire flight control system architecture, a triple-redundant FCM (Flight Control Module) and a quadruple-redundant ACE (Actuator Control Electronics Unit) are employed. The flight control actuators and power system are configured on four control channels, where the actuators typically operate actively without a backup computer. In another fly-by-wire flight control system architecture, the main and secondary computers employ complex redundancy configurations and fault reconfiguration logic. Typically, one actuator operates actively while the other is bypassed or damped. Currently, these flight control system architectures suffer from drawbacks such as complex redundancy / reconfiguration relationships or weak backup capabilities. Furthermore, the buses connecting the computational control unit and the back-end actuator control electronics in these architectures are of the same type, potentially leading to the risk of bus common-mode operation.

[0004] To mitigate common-mode issues, a common approach is to back up the common-mode objects. Current mainstream fly-by-wire flight control system backup schemes can generally be divided into two categories. One type uses additional analog cables to drive the actuators. This approach adds analog signal links, including cables for servo valves, solenoid valves, linear variable differential sensor signals, etc., significantly impacting aircraft cable weight and installation. The other type adds a backup system architecture independent of the main control channel. This uses additional power and buses to provide power and control signal transmission links to the remote controller of the remote actuators to drive them. This approach adds additional power and bus transmission links, and requires additional interfaces and control logic in the remote controller, increasing controller size and complexity. Furthermore, the backup system increases coupling with the main system, introducing additional uncertainties.

[0005] Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved actuator control electronics unit, a fly-by-wire flight control system, and a control method. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This invention proposes an actuator control electronic unit, a fly-by-wire flight control system, and a control method.

[0007] On one hand, an actuator control electronics (ACE) architecture is proposed, which includes a normal mode partition and a direct mode partition with dissimilar designs. For example, different partitions of the ACE use different chips and / or different programming languages ​​to implement their respective functions. The normal mode partition of the ACE processes the normal mode / auxiliary mode control surface commands transmitted by the FCM and passes them to the ACE direct mode partition. The ACE direct mode partition verifies the normal mode / auxiliary mode control surface commands and passes the valid normal mode / auxiliary mode control surface commands or the valid direct mode control surface commands to the remote control electronics (REU), which can minimize the occurrence of ACE common-mode failure problems in the flight control system.

[0008] On the other hand, the fly-by-wire flight control system's actuator control electronics (ACE), remote control electronics (REU), and / or transmission lines can employ a dissimilar design. Each flight control module (FCM) connects to multiple (e.g., four) dissimilar actuator control electronics (ACEs). Based on command validity, the dissimilar actuator control electronics (ACEs) transmit normal / auxiliary mode control commands or direct mode control commands to the REU via dissimilar interfaces. The remote control electronics (REUs) are designed with interfaces matching the corresponding ACEs, achieving dissimilar command transmission buses, and receiving control commands to control the aircraft's control surfaces. Each configuration of remote control electronics (REUs) can utilize different chips and / or different programming languages ​​to implement the corresponding functions.

[0009] In one embodiment of the present invention, an actuator control electronic unit is provided, comprising: a normal mode partition, wherein the normal mode partition calculates control surface commands in normal or auxiliary mode from a flight control module (FCM); and a direct mode partition, wherein the direct mode partition calculates direct mode control surface commands based on control inputs and sensor data. The direct mode partition and the normal mode partition are implemented in separate hardware. The normal mode partition transmits the calculated control surface commands in normal or auxiliary mode to the direct mode partition. The direct mode partition determines the validity of the control surface commands in normal or auxiliary mode and the direct mode control commands, and outputs valid control surface commands to a remote electronic unit (REU) to control control surface movement.

[0010] On one hand, the normal mode partition generates a normal mode partition validity signal indicating whether the normal mode partition is working properly, and transmits the normal mode partition validity signal to the direct mode partition, wherein the direct mode partition determines whether the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is valid based on the normal mode partition validity signal; and the direct mode partition generates a direct mode partition validity signal indicating whether the direct mode partition is working properly, and determines whether the direct mode control surface command is valid based on the direct mode partition validity signal.

[0011] On one hand, the actuator control electronics unit also includes an input / output (I / O) interface that transmits signals between the normal mode partition and the direct mode partition and external devices.

[0012] On one hand, the normal mode partition has a higher priority than the direct mode partition. If the direct mode partition determines that the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is valid, then the direct mode partition outputs the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode to the remote electronic unit (REU) via the input / output interface to control the control surface movement. If the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is invalid, then the direct mode partition determines the validity of the direct mode control surface command. If the direct mode control command is valid, then the direct mode partition outputs the direct mode control surface command to the remote electronic unit (REU) via the input / output interface to control the control surface movement. If the direct mode partition determines that the direct mode control surface command is invalid, then the direct mode partition reports a fault to the flight control module (FCM) via the input / output interface.

[0013] In one respect, the direct mode partition and the normal mode partition are implemented using dissimilar hardware and / or programming languages.

[0014] In one embodiment of the present invention, a fly-by-wire flight control system is provided, comprising a plurality of actuator control electronic units, one or more of which include actuator control electronic units as described in any of the preceding claims, at least two of the plurality of actuator control electronic units having dissimilar configurations; and at least two remote electronic units (REUs) respectively connected to the at least two actuator control electronic units, the at least two remote electronic units controlling the same aircraft control surfaces, and the at least two remote electronic units having dissimilar configurations.

[0015] In one aspect, the fly-by-wire flight control system further includes at least two transmission lines connecting the at least two actuator control electronic units to the at least two remote electronic units, wherein the at least two transmission lines have a dissimilar configuration.

[0016] In one embodiment of the present invention, a control method for an actuator control electronic unit is provided, comprising: in a normal mode partition of the actuator control electronic unit, calculating control surface commands in normal mode or auxiliary mode from a flight control module (FCM); transmitting the calculated control surface commands in normal mode or auxiliary mode from the normal mode partition to a direct mode partition of the actuator control electronic unit, wherein the direct mode partition and the normal mode partition are implemented using separate hardware; in the direct mode partition, calculating direct mode control surface commands based on control inputs and sensor data; and in the direct mode partition, determining the validity of the control surface commands in normal mode or auxiliary mode and the direct mode control surface commands, and outputting valid control surface commands to a remote electronic unit (REU) to control control surface movement.

[0017] In one aspect, the control method further includes: generating a normal mode partition validity signal in the normal mode partition indicating whether the normal mode partition is working properly, transmitting the normal mode partition validity signal to the direct mode partition, and determining whether the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is valid based on the normal mode partition validity signal in the direct mode partition; and generating a direct mode partition validity signal in the direct mode partition indicating whether the direct mode partition is working properly, and determining whether the direct mode control surface command is valid based on the direct mode partition validity signal.

[0018] In one aspect, the control method further includes transmitting signals between the normal mode partition and the direct mode partition and an external device via an input / output (I / O) interface.

[0019] In one aspect, the normal mode partition has a higher priority than the direct mode partition, and the control method further includes: if the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is valid, then outputting the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode from the direct mode partition to the remote electronic unit (REU) via the input / output interface to control the control surface movement; if the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is invalid, then determining the validity of the direct mode control surface command in the direct mode partition; if the direct mode control surface command is valid, then outputting the direct mode control surface command from the direct mode partition to the remote electronic unit (REU) via the input / output interface to control the control surface movement; and if the direct mode partition determines that the direct mode control surface command is invalid, then reporting a fault from the direct mode partition to the flight control module (FCM) via the input / output interface.

[0020] In one respect, the direct mode partition and the normal mode partition are implemented using dissimilar hardware and / or programming languages.

[0021] The fly-by-wire flight control system according to the present invention has at least the following advantages:

[0022] 1. The bus and power links in the original distributed flight control system can be reused. The system upgrade can be achieved by replacing the actuator control electronic unit (ACE) without adding extra transmission cables, interfaces and equipment, minimizing the impact on the original flight control system control loop.

[0023] 2. It avoids the shortcomings of traditional flight control system architecture, such as complex redundancy / reconfiguration relationships or weak backup capabilities;

[0024] 3. It solved the common mode problem that caused the entire flight control system to fail due to the failure of the control electronics, and also solved the common mode problem of bus transmission. Attached Figure Description

[0025] Figure 1 This is an architecture diagram of a fly-by-wire flight control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of an actuator control electronic unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of a fly-by-wire flight control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0028] The present invention will be further described below with reference to specific embodiments and accompanying drawings, but this should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 1 This is an architectural diagram of a fly-by-wire flight control system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] The fly-by-wire flight control system 100 includes a flight control module (FCM) 101, which may have multiple computers for calculating and outputting control surface commands required for the aircraft's main control surfaces in normal and auxiliary modes. For example, the FCM 101 can process pilot inputs (such as joystick, rudder pedals, etc.) and autopilot commands, calculate and output control signals to manipulate the aircraft's control surfaces (such as ailerons, elevators, rudder, etc.).

[0031] The fly-by-wire flight control system 100 also includes multiple actuator control electronic units (ACEs) 102, 103, etc. Each ACE receives electrical signal commands (such as joystick displacement) from the FCM 101 or the pilot, decodes, verifies, and filters the signals to ensure the accuracy of the commands, and outputs control signals to the remote electronic unit (REU). The REU drives the corresponding actuators to manipulate the control surfaces (such as ailerons, elevators, and rudders) to control the flight attitude, such as pitch, roll, and yaw.

[0032] According to one embodiment of the present invention, each ACE may include an input / output (I / O) interface, a normal mode partition, and a direct mode partition. The I / O interface is used to receive and transmit signals to and from the ACE, and to transmit signals between the normal mode partition and the direct mode partition and external devices. The normal mode partition and the direct mode partition can exchange signals via an internal bus.

[0033] In normal / auxiliary mode, the ACE's normal mode partition calculates the actuator position commands issued by the FCM. In direct mode, the ACE's direct mode partition directly calculates the actuator position commands based on the collected external data. Actuator position commands (referred to as control commands) in normal / auxiliary mode or direct mode are output to the back-end remote control unit (REU) via the bus to control the control surface movement. The FCM 101 can monitor whether the actuator control electronics unit (ACE) is malfunctioning.

[0034] The sensor signals generated by the external sensor device 107 are transmitted to the ACE for data transmission and control command calculation. The external sensor device 107 may include a direct mode sensor, a pitch control command sensor, a roll control command sensor, and a yaw control command sensor, etc.

[0035] Figure 1The diagram shows four ACEs connected to the left inner (LIB) elevator REU, left outer (LOB) elevator REU, right inner (RIB) elevator REU, and right outer (ROB) elevator REU, respectively. The LIB REU controls the left elevator inner actuator, the LOB REU controls the left elevator outer actuator, the RIB REU controls the right elevator inner actuator, and the ROB REU controls the right elevator outer actuator. In other embodiments, different numbers of ACEs and different numbers of REUs can be used; the invention is not limited in this respect.

[0036] In one embodiment, some or all of the ACEs may adopt a similar structure, such as using the same or similar hardware structure and the same or similar software.

[0037] In another embodiment, some or all of the ACEs may employ dissimilar structures, such as dissimilar hardware structures and / or dissimilar software (or programming languages). The remote electronic unit (REU) and the corresponding transmission lines may also employ dissimilar designs.

[0038] For example, ACE 102 can be a Type A ACE, and ACE 103 can be a Type B ACE. Both Type A ACE 102 and Type B ACE 103 are connected to the Flight Control Module (FCM) 101 to select and verify the control surface commands for normal / auxiliary modes, and simultaneously calculate the control surface commands in direct mode. After completing the command selection, the generated control surface commands are output to the corresponding remote control electronic unit (REU) through Type A bus 105 and Type B bus 106, respectively.

[0039] In one embodiment, each control surface of the aileron and elevator is controlled by two REUs (one for Type A and one for Type B), the rudder is controlled by three REUs (two for Type A and one for Type B), and the spoiler is controlled by a single REU (two configurations are distributed across the entire spoiler control surface, with the same configuration for the same pair of spoilers on the left and right sides).

[0040] The control surface commands generated by the Type A ACE 102 and Type B ACE 103 are output to the back-end remote control electronic unit (REU) via the corresponding Type A and Type B buses. The dissimilar Type A and Type B REUs receive the control surface commands from their respective dissimilar ACEs and control the movement of the corresponding aircraft control surfaces according to the received control surface commands to achieve aircraft attitude control.

[0041] Two remote control electronic units (REUs) for a single aircraft control surface receive control commands from ACE 102 (Type A) and ACE 103 (Type B), respectively, and control the movement of the corresponding control surfaces according to the received commands to achieve aircraft attitude control. In one embodiment, each main control surface (aileron, rudder, and elevator) can be configured with two actuators, each controlled by a single REU, operating in a master-master configuration. If one REU fails, another REU with a different configuration can still take over control, satisfying the common-mode requirement.

[0042] In this embodiment, the Type A ACE 102 and the Type B ACE 103 adopt dissimilar design configurations. That is, the Type A ACE 102 uses an A1 type chip for the normal mode partition and an A2 type chip for the direct mode partition; the Type B ACE 103 uses a B1 type chip for the normal mode partition and a B2 type chip for the direct mode partition. In addition to the different chip types, the programming languages ​​for implementing the functions of different partitions are also different. This ensures that no ACE common mode failure problem will occur in the flight control system of the present invention.

[0043] In this embodiment, the A-type bus 105 and the B-type bus 106 adopt a dissimilar configuration, and the output interfaces of the corresponding actuator control electronic unit A-type ACE 102 and actuator control electronic unit B-type ACE 103 are also dissimilar, thereby ensuring that bus common mode failure problems are reduced or avoided in the flight control system of the present invention.

[0044] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of an actuator control electronic unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] In one embodiment of the invention, the actuator control electronics unit (ACE) 200 may include an input / output (I / O) interface 212, a normal mode partition 214, and a direct mode partition 216. The ACE 200 can be connected to external devices, such as an FCM 201, an external sensor device, or a REU 220, via the I / O interface 212 through various transmission buses. The I / O interface 212 is connected to the normal mode partition 214 via a first internal bus 217, and the I / O interface 212 is connected to the direct mode partition 216 via a second internal bus 218. The normal mode partition 214 is connected to the direct mode partition 216 via a third internal bus 219.

[0046] I / O interface 212 is used to receive and transmit signals to and from actuator control electronics unit 200, and to transmit signals between normal mode partition 214 and direct mode partition 216 and external devices. For example, I / O 212 can receive control signals from FCM 101, transmit signals to FCM 101, receive sensor signals (e.g., from external sensor device 107), transmit control signals to REU 220, receive feedback signals from REU 220, etc.

[0047] The normal mode partition 214 of the ACE 200 processes normal mode / auxiliary mode control surface commands received from the FCM 201, while the direct mode partition 216 of the ACE 200 calculates direct mode control surface commands based on the control inputs and sensor data. The normal mode partition 214 and the direct mode partition 216 are implemented in separate hardware, for example, using separate chips. The normal mode partition 214 and the direct mode partition 216 can employ dissimilar designs, such as dissimilar hardware and / or programming languages.

[0048] In one embodiment of the present invention, the validity of the normal mode / auxiliary mode control surface command and the direct mode control surface command is determined by the ACE direct mode partition 216. Specifically, the I / O interface transmits the control surface command in normal mode / auxiliary mode from the FCM to the ACE normal mode partition via the first internal bus 217. The ACE normal mode partition calculates the control surface command and transmits the calculated control surface command to the ACE direct mode partition 216 via the third internal bus 219.

[0049] The ACE direct mode partition 216 determines whether the normal / auxiliary mode control surface commands received from the ACE normal mode partition 214 are valid. If the normal / auxiliary mode control surface commands are valid, the ACE direct mode partition 216 transmits the commands to the remote electronic unit REU 220 via I / O interface 212 to manipulate the control surface movement. In one embodiment, the ACE normal mode partition sends a validity signal to the direct mode partition to indicate whether the ACE normal mode partition is in normal working condition (i.e., valid or invalid). The ACE direct mode partition 216 can determine whether the normal / auxiliary mode control commands received from the ACE normal mode partition 214 are valid based on the validity signal from the normal mode partition. If the validity signal indicates that the normal mode partition is invalid, or if no validity signal from the normal mode partition is received, the normal / auxiliary mode control surface commands are considered invalid.

[0050] If the normal / auxiliary mode control surface command is invalid, the ACE direct mode partition 216 determines whether the direct mode control surface command generated by the ACE direct mode partition 216 itself is valid. In one embodiment, the ACE direct mode partition can generate a validity signal to indicate whether the ACE direct mode partition is in normal working condition (i.e., valid or invalid). The ACE direct mode partition 216 can determine whether the direct mode control command is valid based on the validity signal of the direct mode partition. If the direct mode control command is valid, the ACE direct mode partition 216 transmits the direct mode control command to the REU 220 via the I / O interface 212 to manipulate the control surface movement. If the direct mode control command is invalid, the ACE direct mode partition 216 reports a fault to the FCM via the I / O interface 212.

[0051] In one embodiment, the normal mode partition has a higher priority than the direct mode partition. Therefore, valid normal mode / auxiliary mode control commands are passed to the REU first, and valid direct mode control commands are only passed to the REU if the normal mode / auxiliary mode control commands are invalid.

[0052] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the ACE normal mode partition 214 and the ACE direct mode partition 216 may adopt a dissimilar design (hardware and / or software dissimilar), and the two only share the I / O interface 212, which significantly reduces the probability of common mode failure in the ACE.

[0053] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of a fly-by-wire flight control method 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The fly-by-wire flight control method 300 can be derived from, for example... Figure 1 The fly-by-wire flight control system and / or shown Figure 2 This is achieved through an actuator control electronic unit (ACE) 200. In one embodiment of the present invention, the instruction selection logic of the ACE is implemented as follows.

[0054] Method 300 may begin at step 301.

[0055] In step 302, the Flight Control Module (FCM) calculates and generates control surface commands in normal or auxiliary mode. The FCM can send the control surface commands in normal or auxiliary mode to the I / O interface of the Actuator Control Electronics Unit (ACE), and the I / O interface transmits the FCM's control surface commands to the ACE's normal mode partition.

[0056] In step 304, the ACE normal mode partition processes the control surface commands sent by the flight control module (FCM), calculates the control surface commands, and transmits the calculated control surface commands to the ACE direct mode partition.

[0057] In step 311, the direct mode partition calculates the direct mode control surface command based on the control input and sensor data. Step 311 may be performed concurrently with step 304, sequentially, or overlapping in time.

[0058] In step 306, the actuator control electronic unit (ACE) in direct mode determines whether the control surface command output by the normal mode partition is valid.

[0059] If the control surface command of the normal mode partition is valid, then in step 310, the ACE direct mode partition outputs valid normal mode / auxiliary mode control surface commands to the back-end remote control electronic REU via the I / O interface.

[0060] If the output signal of the normal mode partition is invalid, in step 312, the ACE direct mode partition determines whether the direct mode control command generated by the direct mode partition is valid. If the direct mode control command is valid, in step 314, the ACE direct mode partition outputs a valid direct mode control command to the back-end remote control electronic unit (REU). If the direct mode control command is invalid, in step 316, the ACE direct mode partition reports a fault to the FCM via the I / O interface.

[0061] The method can end at step 320.

[0062] The actuator control electronic unit, fly-by-wire flight control system, and control method proposed in this invention effectively solve the common mode problem in fly-by-wire flight control.

[0063] On the one hand, an actuator control electronic unit (ACE) architecture is proposed, which includes normal mode partitioning and direct mode partitioning of dissimilar designs, which can minimize the occurrence of ACE common mode failures in flight control systems.

[0064] On the other hand, a fly-by-wire flight control system and its control method based on a dissimilar architecture are proposed. By employing multi-level dissimilar design features in the actuator control electronics (ACE), bus transmission, and remote control electronics (REU), the risk of common-mode problems is avoided. This scheme can achieve the following technical effects:

[0065] 1) The use of a dissimilar actuator control electronic unit (ACE) avoids the disadvantages of complex redundancy / reconfiguration relationships or weak backup capabilities in traditional flight control system architectures.

[0066] 2) Compared with the original system, only the non-similar actuator control electronic unit ACE is replaced, which preserves the original system architecture features to the greatest extent and does not add additional cables, interfaces, equipment, etc.

[0067] 3) Using dissimilar data transmission interfaces can mitigate the risk of common-mode transmission on the bus.

[0068] Compared to the traditional flight control architecture that uses a main computer + secondary computer + backup computer for common mode mitigation, the architecture design of this invention can meet the common mode mitigation requirements using only a main computer + secondary computer, thus reducing system complexity.

[0069] The various steps and modules of the methods and apparatus described above can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. If implemented in hardware, the various illustrative steps, modules, and circuits described in connection with this disclosure can be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic components, hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor can be a processor, microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine, etc. If implemented in software, the various illustrative steps and modules described in connection with this disclosure can be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium or transmitted. Software modules implementing the various operations of this disclosure can reside in a storage medium, such as RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, cloud storage, etc. The storage medium can be coupled to a processor so that the processor can read and write information from / to the storage medium and execute the corresponding program modules to implement the various steps of this disclosure.

[0070] The numerical values ​​given in the various embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. In practice, the specific parameters of each component and various thresholds can be appropriately set as needed, and are not limited to the specific values ​​given as examples herein. Furthermore, as a whole technical solution, there are other components or steps not listed in the claims or specification of this invention. Moreover, a single name for a component does not preclude other names for that component.

[0071] It should also be noted that these embodiments may be described as processes depicted as flowcharts, flow diagrams, structure diagrams, or block diagrams. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of these operations can be executed in parallel or concurrently. Furthermore, the order of these operations can be rearranged.

[0072] The disclosed methods, apparatuses, and systems should not be limited in any way. Rather, this disclosure covers all novel and non-obvious features and aspects of the various disclosed embodiments (individually and in various combinations and sub-combinations of each other). The disclosed methods, apparatuses, and systems are not limited to any particular aspect or feature or combination thereof, and no disclosed embodiment is required to have any one or more specific advantages or to solve any particular or all technical problems.

[0073] The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. The specific embodiments described above are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can make many other forms under the guidance of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims. All of these forms are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An actuator control electronic unit, characterized in that, include: Normal mode partitioning, wherein the normal mode partitioning resolves control surface commands from the flight control module (FCM) in normal or auxiliary mode; The direct mode partition calculates direct mode control surface commands based on manipulation inputs and sensor data. The direct mode partition and the normal mode partition are implemented using separate hardware. The normal mode partition transmits the calculated control surface commands in normal or auxiliary mode to the direct mode partition. The direct mode partition determines the validity of the control surface commands in normal or auxiliary mode and the control surface commands in direct mode, and outputs valid control surface commands to the remote electronic unit (REU) to control the control surface movement.

2. The actuator control electronic unit as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The normal mode partition generates a normal mode partition validity signal indicating whether the normal mode partition is working properly, and transmits the normal mode partition validity signal to the direct mode partition, wherein the direct mode partition determines whether the control surface commands in the normal mode or auxiliary mode are valid based on the normal mode partition validity signal; and The direct mode partition generates a direct mode partition validity signal indicating whether the direct mode partition is working properly, and determines whether the direct mode control surface command is valid based on the direct mode partition validity signal.

3. The actuator control electronic unit as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: An input / output (I / O) interface that transmits signals between the normal mode partition and the direct mode partition and external devices.

4. The actuator control electronic unit as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The normal mode partition has a higher priority than the direct mode partition. If the direct mode partition determines that the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is valid, the direct mode partition outputs the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode to the remote electronic unit (REU) via the input / output interface to control the control surface movement. If the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is invalid, the direct mode partition determines the validity of the direct mode control surface command. If the direct mode control surface command is valid, the direct mode partition outputs the direct mode control surface command to the remote electronic unit (REU) via the input / output interface to control the control surface movement. If the direct mode partition determines that the direct mode control surface command is invalid, the direct mode partition reports the fault to the flight control module (FCM) via the input / output interface.

5. The actuator control electronic unit as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The direct mode partition and the normal mode partition are implemented using dissimilar hardware and / or programming languages.

6. A fly-by-wire flight control system, characterized in that, include: A plurality of actuator control electronic units, one or more of the plurality of actuator control electronic units including the actuator control electronic unit as described in any one of claims 1-5, wherein at least two of the plurality of actuator control electronic units have dissimilar configurations. At least two remote electronic units (REUs) are respectively connected to the at least two actuator control electronic units, the at least two remote electronic units control the same aircraft control surfaces, and the at least two remote electronic units have dissimilar configurations.

7. The fly-by-wire flight control system as described in claim 6, characterized in that, Also includes: The at least two actuator control electronics are connected to at least two transmission lines of the at least two remote electronics, wherein the at least two transmission lines have a dissimilar configuration.

8. A control method for an actuator control electronic unit, characterized in that, include: In the normal mode partition of the actuator control electronics unit, control surface commands from the flight control module (FCM) in normal or auxiliary mode are calculated. The calculated control commands for the control surfaces in normal or auxiliary modes are transmitted from the normal mode partition to the direct mode partition of the actuator control electronics unit. The direct mode partition and the normal mode partition are implemented using separate hardware. In the direct mode partition, direct mode control commands are calculated based on the manipulation inputs and sensor data; as well as In the direct mode partition, the validity of the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode and the control surface command in the direct mode are determined, and the valid control surface command is output to the remote electronic unit (REU) to control the control surface movement.

9. The control method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, Also includes: In the normal mode partition, a normal mode partition validity signal is generated to indicate whether the normal mode partition is working properly. The normal mode partition validity signal is transmitted to the direct mode partition. In the direct mode partition, the validity of the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is determined based on the normal mode partition validity signal. as well as A direct mode partition validity signal is generated in the direct mode partition to indicate whether the direct mode partition is working properly, and the validity of the direct mode control surface command is determined based on the direct mode partition validity signal.

10. The control method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, Also includes: Signals are transmitted between the normal mode partition and the direct mode partition and external devices via input / output (I / O) interfaces.

11. The control method as described in claim 10, characterized in that, The normal mode partition has a higher priority than the direct mode partition, and the control method further includes: If the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is valid, the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is output from the direct mode partition to the remote electronic unit (REU) via the input / output interface to control the control surface movement. If the control surface command in the normal mode or auxiliary mode is invalid, the validity of the direct mode control surface command is determined in the direct mode partition. If the direct-mode control surface command is valid, the direct-mode control surface command is output from the direct-mode partition to the remote electronic unit (REU) via the input / output interface to control the control surface movement; and If the direct mode partition determines that the direct mode control surface command is invalid, the fault is reported from the direct mode partition to the flight control module (FCM) via the input / output interface.

12. The control method as described in claim 8, characterized in that: The direct mode partition and the normal mode partition are implemented using dissimilar hardware and / or programming languages.

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