A helicopter external slung electrical monitoring system and method
By designing an external sling electrical monitoring system for helicopters, the status of the sling cargo can be monitored in real time, solving the problems of information mistransmission and delay, and improving flight safety and maneuverability.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- CHINA HELICOPTER RES & DEV INST
- Filing Date
- 2024-10-15
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-29
AI Technical Summary
When helicopters are flying with external slings, the lack of a real-time monitoring system leads to miscommunication and delays, affecting flight safety and maneuverability.
Design a helicopter external sling electrical monitoring system, including a multi-function display, an electromechanical management computer, a sling deployment device, a cargo swing monitoring device, and a deployment button. The system monitors the load information, hook status, position information, and video signals of the sling cargo in real time, and displays and processes the information through the electromechanical management computer and the multi-function display.
This allows the pilot to monitor the sling status in real time from the cockpit, improving the safety and operability of sling flight.
Smart Images
Figure CN119348840B_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention belongs to the field of airborne equipment technology, and specifically relates to a helicopter externally mounted electrical monitoring system and method. Background Technology
[0002] The characteristic of helicopter external sling transport is that it transports large or heavy cargo through slings. This capability has important applications in high-altitude transportation and forestry material transportation. However, because the safety, stability, and maneuverability of helicopter external sling transport are limited by the stability of the suspended cargo, it is classified as one of the risk subjects for helicopters.
[0003] Traditional helicopter external sling load systems are designed with only a power switch for the sling load system and a cargo drop button for the pilot in the cockpit. During sling load flight, a sling load monitor must be stationed near the sling load port in the rear cabin to observe the swing status of the sling load in real time and relay the information to the pilot, which can easily lead to miscommunication and information delays. Summary of the Invention
[0004] Purpose of the invention: To design an electrical monitoring system and method for externally mounted helicopters, used in helicopter externally mounted flight missions to monitor information such as load information, hook status, position information, and video signals of externally mounted cargo, so as to improve the control basis and flight safety of externally mounted flights.
[0005] Technical solution
[0006] A helicopter external sling-mounted monitoring system includes: a multi-function display, an electromechanical management computer, a sling-mounting device, a cargo swing monitoring device, a deployment button, and a power supply;
[0007] The hanging and dropping device is used for hanging and dropping goods;
[0008] The delivery button is used to control the suspended delivery device;
[0009] The electromechanical management computer is connected to the hanging and delivery device at one end and to the multi-function display at the other end; the hanging and delivery device feeds back the load of the goods and its own status to the electromechanical management computer, which then displays the information on the multi-function display.
[0010] The cargo sway monitoring device is installed in the belly of the aircraft and connected to the electromechanical management computer. The cargo sway monitoring device is used to monitor the swaying state of the cargo and feed it back to the electromechanical management computer for display on the multi-function display.
[0011] Furthermore, the suspension and deployment device includes: a hook unit, a deployment control box, and slings;
[0012] The hook unit is installed on the frame beam of the fuselage, and the cargo is suspended from the hook unit by slings;
[0013] The dispensing control box is connected to the hook unit, electromechanical management computer, and dispensing button;
[0014] The release command from the release button is transmitted to the hook unit through the release control box. The release control box also feeds back the load of the goods and its own status to the electromechanical management computer.
[0015] Furthermore, the deployment buttons include: a normal deployment button on the control lever and an emergency deployment button on the torque lever.
[0016] Furthermore, the hook unit includes: a suspension and deployment mechanism, a load monitoring unit, a positioning monitoring sensor, a normal deployment device, and an emergency deployment device;
[0017] The suspension and deployment mechanism is a linkage mechanism, consisting of a rocker arm, a connecting rod, a locking rod, and a hook;
[0018] The normal dispenser contains a motor, the motor output of which is fixedly connected to the rocker arm of the suspension dispensing mechanism. The rotation of the motor controls the rotation of the rocker arm to open the hook.
[0019] The emergency dispenser contains an electric detonator and a steel pin, mounted on the upper part of a lever. Upon detonation, the steel pin is momentarily pushed, rotating the lever to open the hook.
[0020] The positioning monitoring sensor is installed on the suspended delivery mechanism to monitor the opening and closing of the suspended delivery mechanism and to 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] Force sensors are used to monitor the load data borne by the suspension and deployment mechanism, and information processors process the load data output by the force sensors.
[0023] Furthermore, the cargo sway monitoring device includes: a camera, N base stations, cargo positioning tags, and a sway monitoring control box;
[0024] The camera is installed under the belly of the aircraft to capture real-time images of the cargo and feed them back to the swing monitoring and control box.
[0025] N base stations are set under the fuselage, and cargo positioning tags are set at the ends of the slings. The base stations send radio frequency signals to the cargo positioning tags. After receiving the radio frequency signals, the cargo positioning tags communicate back with the base stations. The base stations calculate the distance between the base stations and the cargo positioning tags based on the back communication signals and send the distance data to the swing monitoring and control box. N≥3.
[0026] Furthermore, there are four base stations, arranged in a rectangular pattern with the hanging and delivery device at the center.
[0027] A method for externally mounted monitoring on a helicopter, the process of which is as follows:
[0028] The delivery control box receives load data and transmits it to the electromechanical management computer, which then displays it on the multifunction display. If load data cannot be received for a continuous time T1, the box reports a fault to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multifunction display.
[0029] The delivery control box also calculates the number of deliveries based on the load data. When the load data is less than the empty load threshold for a continuous T2 time, the number of deliveries is incremented by one. The delivery control box feeds back the number of deliveries to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display.
[0030] The dispensing control box also feeds back the opening and closing information of the suspended dispensing mechanism to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display screen;
[0031] The swing monitoring and control box receives distance information from four base stations, calculates the position of the goods based on the distance information from the four base stations, describes the position of the goods in terms of (radial swing angle and circumferential swing angle), and 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 onto 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] This invention designs an external sling load electrical monitoring system and method for helicopters, enabling pilots to view information such as sling load, number of sling loads, hook status, cargo swing angle, cargo position relative to the helicopter, and real-time cargo images in the cockpit in real time. This allows pilots to intuitively understand the status of the cargo and hook, greatly improving the safety and operability of sling load flights. Attached Figure Description
[0037] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of an externally mounted electrical monitoring system for helicopters;
[0038] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the hook unit;
[0039] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the externally mounted display interface;
[0040] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the radial swing angle;
[0041] Figure 5This is a schematic diagram of the circumferential swing angle. Detailed Implementation
[0042] A helicopter external sling electrical monitoring system, such as Figure 1 As shown, it includes: the external sling display interface on the helicopter's multi-function display, the sling release device, the cargo swing monitoring device, the normal release button on the control stick, the emergency release button on the master trip stick, the helicopter electromechanical management system, the external sling maintenance interface on the helicopter's multi-function display, and the helicopter power system.
[0043] The external sling display interface on the helicopter's multi-function display is located on the main cockpit interface and serves as the human-machine interface between the pilot and the helicopter's external sling electrical monitoring system as described in this patent. Figure 2 As shown, the external hanging display interface is designed to display information such as external hanging power status, hanging load, number of hanging cycles, hook status, cargo video, cargo swing angle, and cargo position.
[0044] The hoisting and delivery device has functions of hoisting goods, delivering goods, monitoring hoisting load, accumulating hoisting counts, and monitoring malfunctions.
[0045] The cargo sway monitoring device has the function of real-time acquisition of cargo video footage, cargo position information, and cargo sway angle information.
[0046] The helicopter's power system supplies power to all devices and components.
[0047] The external sling maintenance interface on the helicopter's multi-function display is used to show fault information of the sling-drop device and cargo sway monitoring device, providing data support for ground system inspections.
[0048] The helicopter electromechanical management system is used to process, receive, and send interactive information with the sling-drop device, cargo swing monitoring device, external sling display interface, and external sling maintenance interface.
[0049] like Figure 1 As shown, the hoisting and delivery device consists of a cargo hook device, a delivery control box, and slings.
[0050] The cargo slinging function is achieved by a cargo hook device, which is installed on the belly frame beam below the helicopter floor. The cargo is hung below the cargo hook by slings.
[0051] The cargo delivery function is achieved by the normal delivery button on the control lever, the emergency delivery button on the main torque lever, the cargo hook device, the normal delivery button and the emergency delivery button on the delivery control box. Pressing any of the delivery buttons will cause the cargo hook device to deliver the cargo.
[0052] The functions of monitoring the load, accumulating the number of times a load is lifted, and monitoring faults are implemented by the cargo hook device, the release control box, the helicopter electromechanical management system, and the external load display interface on the helicopter's multi-function display.
[0053] The cargo hook device is designed with a hoisting and launching mechanism, a load monitoring unit, a normal launcher, and an emergency launcher.
[0054] The hoisting and launching mechanism is a linkage mechanism, which is the load-bearing structure and actuation mechanism for hoisting and launching goods.
[0055] After receiving the normal delivery signal sent by the normal delivery button, the normal delivery device uses its internal motor to drive the hoisting delivery mechanism to rotate and deliver the cargo; when the helicopter is performing an external delivery mission, it will prioritize delivering cargo through the normal delivery device.
[0056] After receiving the emergency delivery signal from the emergency delivery button, the electric detonator activates, pushing the steel pin to rotate the hoisting delivery mechanism lever to deliver the cargo. When a helicopter is performing an external cargo mission, it can use the emergency delivery device to deliver the cargo in case of normal delivery failure or emergency.
[0057] The load monitoring unit is equipped with powerful sensors and an information processor, which can monitor and process the suspended load information and the fault information of the load monitoring unit, and send the suspended load and fault information to the deployment control box.
[0058] The deployment control box is installed on the cabin wall panel and serves as the information processing and deployment control center for the suspended deployment device. It is designed with backup normal deployment buttons, backup emergency deployment buttons, and an information processing unit.
[0059] The normal delivery button is activated when the system is powered on, and pressing the normal delivery button will start the normal delivery device to deliver goods.
[0060] The emergency delivery button, when pressed after the system is powered on, can activate the emergency delivery device to deliver goods.
[0061] The information processing unit is used to receive and send cargo delivery signals, process, receive and send external sling power-on messages, sling load information, sling count information, hook status information, and transmit the above information to the helicopter electromechanical management system.
[0062] External suspension power-on information, hook status information, suspension load information, and suspension count information are characterized by:
[0063] like Figure 1 , Figure 3As shown, when the sling switch is powered on, the deployment control box sends a low-level signal (external sling power-on signal) to the helicopter electromechanical management system. The electromechanical management computer then sends "external sling power-on" information to the helicopter multifunction display and displays it on the "external sling" interface of the helicopter multifunction display. When the sling switch is not powered on, no display is shown.
[0064] like Figure 1 , Figure 3 As shown, after the hoisting switch is powered on, when the hook is open, the cargo hook device sends a hook open signal to the deployment control box. After receiving the signal, the deployment control box sends a low-level signal (hook open signal) to the helicopter electromechanical management system. At this time, the electromechanical management computer sends "Hook status: Hook open" information to the helicopter multifunction display and displays it on the "External Attachment" interface of the helicopter multifunction display. When the hook is not open, the cargo hook device does not send a hook status signal, and the helicopter electromechanical management computer sends "Hook status: Hook not open" information to the helicopter multifunction display and displays it on the "External Attachment" interface of the helicopter multifunction display.
[0065] like Figure 1 , Figure 3 As shown, when the hoisting switch is powered on, the load monitoring unit in the cargo hook device receives the hoisting load signal and fault signal and sends them to the deployment control box. The deployment control box judges and processes the hoisting load signal and hook opening and closing signal, completes the hoisting count accumulation, and sends the processed hoisting load signal, hoisting count 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] The "Suspended Load" value is displayed using a 6-digit numeric character set, showing only the integer part and not the decimal part. The unit is "N".
[0067] The "Number of Hangings" is displayed using 4 numeric characters, showing only the integer part and not the decimal part. The unit is "times".
[0068] like Figure 1 As shown, the cargo swing monitoring device consists of one camera, four base stations, one cargo positioning tag, and one cargo swing monitoring control box. Its feature is that the camera is installed under the fuselage and can collect video images of the suspended cargo in real time, send them to the swing monitoring control box, and transmit them to the helicopter's multi-function display through the helicopter's electromechanical management system. The images are then displayed on the external sling interface for the pilot to view the suspended cargo in real time.
[0069] The cargo sway monitoring device consists of four base stations installed under the fuselage, with cargo positioning tags attached to the ends of the slings of the hoisting and deployment device. The four base stations transmit coded and modulated ultra-wideband (UWB) radio frequency signals to the cargo positioning tags. Upon receiving the signals, the cargo positioning tags communicate back to each base station. Each base station reads the signal's propagation time in space based on the timestamp information in the returned signals, 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 sway monitoring and control box.
[0070] The cargo sway monitoring device and sway monitoring control box collect distance information, calculate the cargo position and sway angle, and transmit the calculation results to the helicopter electromechanical management system. The electromechanical management system then sends the results to the external sling interface of the helicopter's multi-function display for display.
[0071] The cargo swing position information is calibrated and transmitted using polar coordinate values for the "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, where they are converted into dots and displayed on the polar coordinate positioning graph. The "radial swing angle" is the angle between the external cargo cable and the helicopter's Z-axis. Figure 3 As shown, the data range is (0~90)°, and the polar coordinate positioning diagram displays a range of (0~45)°. If the data is within 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 helicopter's positive Y-direction projection onto the XY plane. Figure 4 As shown, the data range is (0~360)°, and the polar coordinate positioning chart displays the range of (0~360)°.
[0072] like Figure 3 As shown, the cargo position information on the external sling interface of the helicopter's multi-function display is displayed in polar coordinates. In the polar coordinate design, the center of the external sling cover is used as the origin, and the X and Y directions of the aircraft are the coordinate axes of the coordinate system. A concentric circle area with a radial sway angle as its radius serves as the reference pitch circle: white area (0° ≤ radial sway angle ≤ 20°), yellow area (20° < radial sway angle ≤ 30°), and red area (radial sway angle > 30°). The circumferential sway angle rotates counterclockwise from the +X axis. Different colored pitch circles are set according to the size of the radial sway angle to remind the pilot of the severity level of the impact of the cargo's radial sway angle on flight operations; the larger the sway angle, the more severe the impact on flight operations.
[0073] The cargo sway angle is displayed as "radial sway angle" using two-digit numeric characters, showing only the integer part and not the decimal part, in "°", with a data display range of (0~90)°.
[0074] The swing monitoring and control box collects "cargo swing monitoring device fault information" and sends it to the helicopter electromechanical management system, and transmits it to the "external sling maintenance" interface of the helicopter multi-function display, providing data support for ground maintenance and inspection.
Claims
1. A helicopter external sling-mounted monitoring system, characterized in that: The system includes: Multifunctional 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 goods; The delivery button is used to control the suspended delivery device; The electromechanical management computer is connected to the hanging and delivery device at one end and to the multi-function display at the other end; the hanging and delivery device feeds back the load of the goods and its own status to the electromechanical management computer, which then displays the information on the multi-function display. The cargo sway monitoring device is installed in the belly of the machine and connected to the electromechanical management computer. The cargo sway monitoring device is used to monitor the swaying state of the cargo and feed it back to the electromechanical management computer for display on the multi-function display. The hanging and delivery device includes: a hook unit, a delivery control box, and slings; the hook unit is installed on the machine's belly frame beam, and the goods are suspended on the hook unit by the slings; the delivery control box is connected to 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; The deployment buttons include: the normal deployment button on the control lever and the emergency deployment button on the torque lever; The hook unit includes: a hoisting and launching mechanism, a load monitoring unit, a positioning monitoring sensor, a normal launcher, and an emergency launcher. The hoisting and launching mechanism is a linkage mechanism consisting of a rocker arm, a connecting rod, a locking rod, and a hook. The normal launcher has a motor inside, and the motor output is fixedly connected to the rocker arm of the hoisting and launching mechanism. The rotation of the motor controls the rotation of the rocker arm to open the hook. The emergency launcher has an electric detonator and a steel pin inside, which are installed on the upper part of the rocker arm. When detonated, the steel pin is pushed to rotate the rocker arm to open the hook. The positioning monitoring sensor is installed on the hoisting and launching mechanism to monitor the opening and closing of the hoisting and launching mechanism and to feed back the opening and closing status information to the launching 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 hoisting and launching mechanism, and the information processor processes and transmits the load data output by the force sensor.
2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cargo sway monitoring device includes: a camera, N base stations, cargo positioning tags, and a sway monitoring and control box; The camera is installed under the belly of the aircraft to capture real-time images of the cargo and feed them back to the swing monitoring and control box. N base stations are set under the fuselage, and cargo positioning tags are set at the ends of the slings. The base stations send radio frequency signals to the cargo positioning tags. After receiving the radio frequency signals, the cargo positioning tags communicate back with the base stations. The base stations calculate the distance between the base stations and the cargo positioning tags based on the back communication signals and send the distance data to the swing monitoring and control box. N≥3.
3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that: There are four base stations, arranged in a rectangular pattern with the hanging and delivery device at the center.
4. A helicopter external sling monitoring method, implemented based on the system according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that: The delivery control box receives load data and transmits it to the electromechanical management computer, which then displays it on the multifunction display. If load data cannot be received for a continuous time T1, the box reports a fault to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multifunction display. The delivery control box also calculates the number of deliveries based on the load data. When the load data is less than the empty load threshold for a continuous T2 time, the number of deliveries is incremented by one. The delivery control box feeds back the number of deliveries to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display. The dispensing control box also feeds back the opening and closing information of the suspended dispensing mechanism to the electromechanical management computer and displays it on the multi-function display screen; The swing monitoring and control box receives distance information from four base stations, calculates the position of the goods based on the distance information from the four base stations, describes the position of the goods in terms of radial swing angle and 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 onto the horizontal plane and the lateral rightward direction.
5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The method further includes: the delivery control box feeding back the power-on status of the hook unit to the electromechanical management computer and displaying it on a multi-function display.