Helicopter external hanging electrical monitoring system and method

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of airborne equipment, and particularly relates to a helicopter external hanging electrical monitoring system and method, and the system comprises a multifunctional display, an electromechanical management computer, a hanging throwing device, a cargo swing monitoring device, a throwing button, and a power supply. The hanging and putting device is used for hanging and putting goods; the putting button is used for controlling the hanging putting device; the other end of the electromechanical management computer is connected with the multifunctional display; the hanging throwing device feeds back the load and the self state of the goods to the electromechanical management computer, and the load and the self state are displayed on the multifunctional display; the cargo swing monitoring device is arranged on the belly and connected with the electromechanical management computer, and the cargo swing monitoring device is used for monitoring the swing state of the cargo and feeding back the swing state to the electromechanical management computer, and the swing state is displayed on the multifunctional displayer.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of airborne equipment, and in particular relates to a helicopter external hanging electrical monitoring system and method. Background Art

[0002] The characteristic of helicopter external sling flight is that it can transport large or heavy cargo through slings. This capability has important applications in plateau transportation, forest material transportation, etc. Since the safety, stability and maneuverability of helicopter external sling flight are subject to the stability of the suspended cargo, helicopter external sling flight is classified as one of the helicopter risk subjects.

[0003] When designing the external suspension system of traditional helicopters, only the suspension system power-on switch and cargo release button are set for the pilot in the cockpit. During suspension flight, a suspension monitor must be arranged near the suspension port in the rear cabin to check the swing status of the suspension in real time and report it to the pilot, which can easily cause information mistransmission and delay. Summary of the invention

[0004] Purpose of the invention: To design a helicopter external hanging electrical monitoring system and method, which is used in helicopter external hanging flight missions to monitor the load information, hook status, position information, video signal and other information of the external hanging cargo, so as to improve the control basis and flight safety of the external hanging flight.

[0005] Technical Solution

[0006] A helicopter external hanging monitoring system, including: a multi-function display, an electromechanical management computer, a hanging delivery device, a cargo swing monitoring device, a delivery button, and a power supply;

[0007] The hanging and dropping device is used for hanging and dropping of goods;

[0008] The release button is used to control the hanging release device;

[0009] One end of the electromechanical management computer is connected to the hanging delivery device, and the other end is connected to the multi-function display; the hanging delivery device feeds back the load of the cargo and its own status to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display;

[0010] The cargo swing monitoring device is arranged on the belly of the aircraft and connected to the electromechanical management computer. The cargo swing monitoring device is used to monitor the swing state of the cargo and feed it back to the electromechanical management computer for display on the multi-function display.

[0011] Furthermore, the hanging delivery device comprises: a hook unit, a delivery control box and a sling;

[0012] The hook unit is installed on the belly frame beam, and the cargo is hung on the hook unit through a sling;

[0013] The delivery control box is connected with the hook unit, the electromechanical management computer and the delivery button;

[0014] The delivery command of the delivery button is transmitted to the hook unit through the delivery control box, and the delivery control box also feeds back the load of the goods and its own status to the electromechanical management computer.

[0015] Furthermore, the release buttons include: a normal release button on the joystick and an emergency release button on the total torque lever.

[0016] Further, the hook unit includes: a hanging and releasing mechanism, a load monitoring unit, an in-place monitoring sensor, a normal release device and an emergency release device;

[0017] The hanging and releasing mechanism is a linkage mechanism, which consists of a rocker, a connecting rod, a locking rod, and a hook;

[0018] Normally, a motor is installed inside the dispenser. The output end of the motor is fixedly connected to the rocker of the hanging delivery mechanism. The motor rotates to control the rocker to rotate and open the hook.

[0019] The emergency launcher is equipped with an electric detonator and a steel pin installed on the upper part of the rocker. When the detonation occurs, the steel pin is pushed to rotate the rocker to open the hook.

[0020] The in-place monitoring sensor is arranged on the hanging delivery mechanism, and is used to monitor the opening and closing of the hanging delivery mechanism, and feed back the opening and closing status information to the delivery control box;

[0021] The load monitoring unit includes: a force sensor and an information processor;

[0022] The force sensor is used to monitor the load data borne by the hanging and releasing mechanism, and the information processor processes the load data output by the force sensor.

[0023] Further, the cargo swing monitoring device includes: a camera, N base stations, a cargo positioning tag, and a swing monitoring control box;

[0024] The camera is installed under the belly of the aircraft to collect real-time images of the cargo and feed them back to the swing monitoring control box;

[0025] N base stations are set under the belly of the aircraft, and the cargo positioning tag is set at the end of the sling; the base station sends a radio frequency signal to the cargo positioning tag, and the cargo positioning tag communicates back with the base station after receiving the radio frequency signal. The base station calculates the distance between the base station and the cargo positioning tag according to the return communication signal, and sends the distance data to the swing monitoring control box, N≥3.

[0026] Furthermore, there are four base stations, which are arranged in a rectangular shape with the hanging delivery device as the center.

[0027] A method for monitoring the external hanging of a helicopter, the process is as follows:

[0028] The delivery control box receives the load data, transmits the load data to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display; when the load data cannot be received for T1 consecutive time, it reports the fault to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display;

[0029] The delivery control box also calculates the delivery times according to the load data. When the load data is less than the empty load threshold for T2 consecutive times, the delivery times are accumulated by one. The delivery control box feeds back the delivery times to the electromechanical management computer and displays them on the multi-function display.

[0030] The delivery control box also feeds back the opening and closing information of the hanging delivery mechanism to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display;

[0031] The swing monitoring control box receives the distance information of the four base stations, calculates the position of the goods according to the distance information of the four base stations, describes the position of the goods in the form of (radial swing angle, circumferential swing angle), feeds back the position of the goods to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display;

[0032] The radial swing angle is the angle between the sling and the vertical direction;

[0033] The circumferential swing angle is the angle between the projection of the sling in the horizontal plane and the lateral rightward direction.

[0034] Furthermore, the delivery control box feeds back the power-on status of the hook unit to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display.

[0035] In summary, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0036] The present invention designs an electrical monitoring system and method for external hanging of a helicopter, so that the pilot can view the hanging load, hanging times, hook status, cargo swing angle, cargo position relative to the helicopter, cargo real-time picture and other information in the cockpit in real time, so that the pilot can intuitively understand the status of the cargo and the hook, and greatly improve the safety and operability of hanging flight. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Figure 1 This is the schematic diagram of the electrical monitoring system for the helicopter external suspension;

[0038] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a hook unit;

[0039] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the external hanging display interface;

[0040] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of radial swing angle;

[0041] Figure 5Schematic diagram of circumferential swing angle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] A helicopter external hanging electrical monitoring system, such as Figure 1 As shown, it includes: the external hanging display interface on the helicopter's multi-function display, the hanging release device, the cargo swing monitoring device, the normal release button on the joystick, the emergency release button on the total torque rod, the helicopter's electromechanical management system, the external hanging maintenance interface on the helicopter's multi-function display, and the helicopter's power supply system.

[0043] The external hanging display interface on the helicopter multi-function display is arranged on the main interface of the cockpit. It is the human-machine interaction interface between the helicopter external hanging electrical monitoring system described in this patent and the pilot in the cockpit, such as Figure 2 As shown, the external hanging display interface is designed with external hanging power-on information, hanging load information, hanging times information, hook status information, cargo video information, cargo swing angle information, and cargo position information.

[0044] The hanging and delivering device has the functions of hanging cargo, delivering cargo, monitoring hanging load, accumulating hanging times and monitoring faults.

[0045] The cargo swing monitoring device has the function of collecting cargo video images, cargo position information, and cargo swing angle information in real time.

[0046] The helicopter power system provides power to various devices and components.

[0047] The external suspension maintenance interface on the helicopter's multi-function display is used to display fault information of the suspension delivery device and the cargo swing monitoring device, providing data support for ground system inspection.

[0048] The helicopter electromechanical management system is used to process, receive and send interactive information with the hanging release device, cargo swing monitoring device, external hanging display interface and external hanging maintenance interface.

[0049] like Figure 1 As shown, the hanging delivery device consists of a cargo hook device, a delivery control box and a sling.

[0050] The cargo hanging function is realized by the cargo hook device, which is installed on the belly frame beam under the helicopter floor, and the cargo is hung under the cargo hook through a sling.

[0051] The cargo delivery function is realized by the normal delivery button on the joystick, the emergency delivery button on the total torque rod, the cargo hook device, the normal delivery button and the emergency delivery button on the delivery control box. Pressing any delivery button can make the cargo hook device deliver the cargo.

[0052] The functions of monitoring the hanging load, accumulating the number of hanging times and monitoring the fault are realized by the cargo hook device, the delivery control box, the helicopter electromechanical management system and the external hanging display interface on the helicopter multi-function display.

[0053] The cargo hook device is designed with a hanging and releasing mechanism, a load monitoring unit, a normal release device, and an emergency release device.

[0054] The hanging and releasing mechanism is a connecting rod mechanism, which is the load-bearing structure and actuating mechanism for hanging and releasing cargo.

[0055] After the normal delivery device obtains the normal delivery signal sent by the normal delivery button, the normal delivery device uses its internal motor to rotate and drive the hanging delivery mechanism rocker to rotate to deliver the cargo; when the helicopter performs an external hanging mission, the cargo is delivered through the normal delivery device first.

[0056] After the emergency release device receives the emergency release signal sent by the emergency release button, the electric detonator works, pushing the steel pin to rotate the rocker of the hanging release mechanism to release the cargo; when the helicopter is performing an external hanging mission, when the normal release fails or in an emergency, the emergency release device is used to release the cargo.

[0057] The load monitoring unit is designed with force sensors and information processors, which can monitor and process the hanging load information and fault information of the load monitoring unit, and send the hanging load and fault information to the delivery control box.

[0058] The delivery control box is installed on the cabin wall panel. It is the information processing and delivery control center of the hanging delivery device. It is designed with a backup normal delivery button, a backup emergency delivery button, and an information processing unit.

[0059] The normal delivery button, after the system is powered on, pressing the normal delivery button can start the normal delivery device to deliver the goods.

[0060] The emergency delivery button, after the system is powered on, pressing the emergency delivery button can start the emergency delivery device to deliver the goods.

[0061] The information processing unit is used to receive and send cargo delivery signals, process, receive and send external hanger power-on messages, hanger load information, hanger times information, hook status information, and transmit the above information to the helicopter electromechanical management system.

[0062] External hanging power-on information, hook status information, hanging load information, hanging times information, characterized by:

[0063] like Figure 1 , Figure 3As shown, when the suspension switch is powered on, the release control box sends a low-level signal (external suspension power-on signal) to the helicopter's electromechanical management system, and the electromechanical management computer sends the "external suspension power-on" information to the helicopter's multi-function display and displays it on the "external suspension" interface of the helicopter's multi-function display; when the suspension switch is not powered on, it is not displayed.

[0064] like Figure 1 , Figure 3 As shown, after the hanging switch is powered on, when the hook is opened, the cargo hook device sends a hook opening signal to the delivery control box. After receiving the signal, the delivery control box sends a low-level signal (hook opening signal) to the helicopter electromechanical management system. At this time, the electromechanical management computer sends a "hook status: unhooked" message to the helicopter multi-function display and displays it on the "external hanging" interface of the helicopter multi-function display; when the hook is not opened, the cargo hook device does not send a hook status signal, and the helicopter electromechanical management computer sends a "hook status: unhooked" message to the helicopter multi-function display and it is always displayed on the "external hanging" interface of the helicopter multi-function display.

[0065] like Figure 1 , Figure 3 As shown, when the hanging switch is powered on, the load monitoring unit in the cargo hook device receives the hanging load signal and the fault signal, and sends them to the delivery control box. The delivery control box completes the accumulation of hanging times by judging and processing the hanging load signal and the hook opening and closing signal, and sends the processed hanging load signal, hanging times signal and fault information to the helicopter electromechanical management system according to the predetermined communication protocol, and transmits them to the multi-function display for display.

[0066] “Suspension load” uses 6 digits to display the external suspension load value, only displays the integer digits, does not display the decimal places, and the unit is “N”.

[0067] “Hanging times” uses 4 digits to display the external hanging times, only displays the integer digits, does not display the decimal places, and the unit is “times”.

[0068] like Figure 1 As shown, the cargo swing monitoring device consists of 1 camera, 4 base stations, 1 cargo positioning tag, and 1 cargo swing monitoring control box; it is characterized in that the camera is installed under the belly of the aircraft, and can collect video images of the hanging cargo in real time, send it to the swing monitoring control box, and transmit it to the helicopter multi-function display through the helicopter electromechanical management system, and display it on the external hanging interface, so that the pilot can view the hanging cargo in real time.

[0069] The cargo swing monitoring device has four base stations installed under the belly of the aircraft, and the cargo positioning tag is installed at the end of the sling of the hanging delivery device. The four base stations transmit coded and modulated ultra-wideband radio frequency signals (UWB) to the cargo positioning tags installed. After receiving the signals, the cargo positioning tags transmit back to each base station. Each base station reads the propagation time of the signal in space according to the timestamp information carried in the return signal, measures the distance between the base station and the cargo positioning tag, and transmits the distance information measured by the four base stations to the swing monitoring control box.

[0070] The cargo swing monitoring device and the swing monitoring control box collect the distance information and calculate the cargo position and swing angle, and transmit the calculated results to the helicopter electromechanical management system, which sends them to the external hanging interface of the helicopter multi-function display for display.

[0071] The cargo swing position information is calibrated and transmitted by the polar coordinate values ​​of "radial swing angle" and "circumferential swing angle". The electromechanical management system sends the "radial swing angle" and "circumferential swing angle" to the multi-function display and converts them into dots to be displayed in the polar coordinate positioning diagram. The "radial swing angle" is the angle between the external cargo cable and the Z direction of the helicopter, such as Figure 3 As shown in the figure, the data range is (0~90)°, and the polar coordinate positioning diagram display range is (0~45)°. If the data is in the range of (45~90)°, the polar coordinate positioning diagram will display 45°; the "circumferential swing angle" is the angle between the external cargo cable and the Y positive direction of the helicopter on the XY plane projection, such as Figure 4 As shown, the data range is (0~360)°, and the polar coordinate positioning diagram display range is (0~360)°.

[0072] like Figure 3 As shown, the cargo position information in the external hanging interface on the helicopter multi-function display is displayed in polar coordinates; when designing the polar coordinates, the center of the external hanging cover is taken as the origin, and the X and Y directions of the fuselage are the coordinate axes of the coordinate system. The dotted concentric circle area with the radial swing angle as the radius is used as the reference graduation circle, the white area (0°≤radial swing angle≤20°), the yellow area (20°<radial swing angle≤30°), and the red area (radial swing angle>30°), the circumferential deflection angle takes the +X axis as the starting point and rotates counterclockwise. Different colored graduation circles are set according to the size of the radial swing angle to remind the pilot of the severity level of the impact of the cargo radial swing angle on the flight operation. The larger the swing angle, the worse the impact on the flight operation.

[0073] The cargo swing angle is displayed as a "radial swing angle" using two-digit characters, only showing the integer place without decimal places, the unit is "°", and the data display range is (0~90)°.

[0074] The swing monitoring control box collects "cargo swing monitoring device fault information" and sends it to the helicopter electromechanical management system, and transmits it to the "external hanging maintenance" interface of the helicopter multi-function display to provide data support for ground maintenance inspections.

Claims

1. A helicopter external hanging monitoring system, characterized in that: The system includes: Multi-function display, electromechanical management computer, hanging delivery device, cargo swing monitoring device, delivery button, power supply; The hanging and dropping device is used for hanging and dropping of goods; The release button is used to control the hanging release device; One end of the electromechanical management computer is connected to the hanging delivery device, and the other end is connected to the multi-function display; the hanging delivery device feeds back the load of the cargo and its own status to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display; The cargo swing monitoring device is arranged on the belly of the aircraft and connected to the electromechanical management computer. The cargo swing monitoring device is used to monitor the swing state of the cargo and feed it back to the electromechanical management computer for display on the multi-function display.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hanging delivery device includes: a hook unit, a delivery control box and a sling; The hook unit is installed on the belly frame beam, and the cargo is hung on the hook unit through a sling; The delivery control box is connected with the hook unit, the electromechanical management computer and the delivery button; The delivery command of the delivery button is transmitted to the hook unit through the delivery control box, and the delivery control box also feeds back the load of the goods and its own status to the electromechanical management computer.

3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The release buttons include: the normal release button on the joystick and the emergency release button on the total torque lever.

4. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The hook unit includes: a hanging and releasing mechanism, a load monitoring unit, an in-place monitoring sensor, a normal release device and an emergency release device; The hanging and releasing mechanism is a linkage mechanism, which consists of a rocker, a connecting rod, a locking rod, and a hook; A motor is installed inside the normal dispenser, and the output end of the motor is fixedly connected to the rocker of the hanging delivery mechanism. The motor rotates to control the rocker to rotate and open the hook; The emergency dispenser is equipped with an electric detonator and a steel pin installed on the upper part of the rocker. When the detonation occurs, the steel pin is pushed to rotate the rocker to open the hook. The in-place monitoring sensor is arranged on the hanging delivery mechanism, and is used to monitor the opening and closing of the hanging delivery mechanism, and feed back the opening and closing status information to the delivery control box; The load monitoring unit includes: a force sensor and an information processor; The force sensor is used to monitor the load data borne by the hanging and releasing mechanism, and the information processor processes and transmits the load data output by the force sensor.

5. The system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The cargo swing monitoring device includes: a camera, N base stations, a cargo positioning tag and a swing monitoring control box; The camera is installed under the belly of the aircraft to collect real-time images of the cargo and feed them back to the swing monitoring control box; N base stations are set under the belly of the aircraft, and the cargo positioning tag is set at the end of the sling; the base station sends a radio frequency signal to the cargo positioning tag, and the cargo positioning tag communicates back with the base station after receiving the radio frequency signal. The base station calculates the distance between the base station and the cargo positioning tag according to the return communication signal, and sends the distance data to the swing monitoring control box, N≥3.

6. The system according to claim 5, characterized in that: There are four base stations, arranged in a rectangular shape with the hanging delivery device as the center.

7. A method for monitoring external suspension of a helicopter, implemented based on any of the above-mentioned systems, characterized in that: The delivery control box receives the load data, transmits the load data to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display; when the load data cannot be received for T1 consecutive time, it reports the fault to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display; The delivery control box also calculates the delivery times according to the load data. When the load data is less than the empty load threshold for T2 consecutive times, the delivery times are accumulated by one. The delivery control box feeds back the delivery times to the electromechanical management computer and displays them on the multi-function display. The delivery control box also feeds back the opening and closing information of the hanging delivery mechanism to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display; The swing monitoring control box receives the distance information of the four base stations, calculates the position of the goods according to the distance information of the four base stations, describes the position of the goods in the form of (radial swing angle, circumferential swing angle), feeds back the position of the goods to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display; The radial swing angle is the angle between the sling and the vertical direction; The circumferential swing angle is the angle between the projection of the sling in the horizontal plane and the lateral rightward direction.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The method further comprises: the delivery control box feeds back the power-on status of the hook unit to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on a multi-function display.

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