Flight-by-wire system comprising dissimilar design ACE and ACE reconstruction method

Abstract

The invention relates to a fly-by-wire flight control system comprising a dissimilar design ACE and an ACE reconstruction method. The fly-by-wire flight control system mainly comprises a plurality of ACEs with dissimilar designs, a plurality of FCMs, a plurality of remote control electronics and a plurality of signal processing units. The non-similar ACE design can alleviate the risk of ACE common mode. When one or some ACEs are invalid or enter a direct mode, the fly-by-wire flight control system can reconstruct the ACEs of non-similar design, the reconfiguration capability of the system under the ACE failure is enhanced, the control surface is controlled as much as possible, and the influence of a mixed mode is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of aircraft flight control, and in particular to a fly-by-wire flight control system including a non-similarly designed ACE and an ACE reconstruction method. Background Art

[0002] An existing fly-by-wire flight control system of a foreign aircraft uses three flight control modules (FCM), four actuator control electronics ACEs (Actuator Control Electronics) and multiple remote control electronics (REUs) to achieve aircraft flight control, where the four ACEs use the same configuration, and each ACE controls a quarter of the control surfaces.

[0003] When one ACE fails, one quarter of the actuator control is lost. When another ACE enters direct mode while the system is still in normal mode, a mixed mode will exist. The mixed mode will cause adverse effects such as force disputes on the control surfaces. Moreover, the four ACEs using the same configuration will have the risk of common mode. When the four ACEs fail, the system will be completely uncontrollable. A certain existing domestic model also uses a similar architecture design. It has demonstrated compliance with Article 25.1309 through the method of research and development assurance, and has not adopted a completely non-similar design or backup design.

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need for an improved fly-by-wire flight control system and a corresponding method thereof. Summary of the invention

[0005] This Summary is provided to introduce some concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0006] In view of the problems in the prior art, in order to enhance the reconstruction capability of the fly-by-wire flight control system when ACE fails or ACE is in direct mode to reduce the impact of the mixed mode and alleviate the common mode risk, the present invention proposes a non-similar flight control system architecture for alleviating the ACE common mode, and proposes a reconstruction method after ACE failure to control the control surfaces as much as possible and reduce the impact of the mixed mode.

[0007] Specifically, in one embodiment of the present invention, a fly-by-wire flight control system including actuator control electronics (ACE) of non-similar design is disclosed, the system comprising:

[0008] A plurality of ACEs, the plurality of ACEs having two different configurations and divided into two groups of ACEs according to the configurations, each ACE in each group of ACEs and a corresponding ACE in the other group of ACEs forming pairs as backup ACEs for each other;

[0009] a plurality of remotely controlled electronic REUs having a plurality of different configurations and arranged on each control surface to control corresponding actuators, such that at least two REUs of different configurations are arranged on each main control surface, each of the at least two REUs of different configurations being associated with one of the pairs of mutually backing-up ACEs and being controlled by one ACE or the other ACE of the pair of mutually backing-up ACEs; and

[0010] A plurality of flight control modules FCM, the plurality of FCM being configured to:

[0011] When confirming that the status signals of the multiple ACEs are normal, the multiple ACEs are normally controlled;

[0012] When it is confirmed that one of the multiple ACEs fails or enters a direct mode, a backup ACE of the ACE is activated to take over control of the corresponding REU;

[0013] In the case where more than one ACE of the same configuration among the plurality of ACEs is confirmed to have failed, activating backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs to take over control of the corresponding REU; and

[0014] In the event that more than one ACE of different configurations among the plurality of ACEs is confirmed to have failed:

[0015] If the more than one ACEs do not include the pairs of mutually backup ACEs, activating the backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs to take over the control of the corresponding REU;

[0016] If the more than one ACEs include one or more pairs of the pairs of mutually backup ACEs, it indicates that another REU on the main control surface where the REU controlled by the one or more pairs of mutually backup ACEs is located takes over the control of the main control surface through its corresponding actuator, and the pair of mutually backup ACEs associated with the other REU is not included in the one or more pairs of mutually backup ACEs.

[0017] In one embodiment of the present invention, the system further comprises:

[0018] A plurality of signal processing units are configured to perform processing on the cockpit signals and transmit the processed cockpit signals to the plurality of FCMs and the plurality of ACEs.

[0019] In one embodiment of the present invention, the system further comprises:

[0020] A front-side bus network for communication between the plurality of signal processing units, the plurality of FCMs, and the plurality of ACEs, comprising a default first front-side bus network and a backup second front-side bus network, so that when the first front-side bus network fails, the plurality of FCMs switch to using the second front-side bus network to communicate with the plurality of ACEs; and

[0021] The back-end bus network used for communication between the multiple ACEs and the multiple REUs includes a first back-end bus network and a second back-end bus network of different types, wherein the multiple ACEs always send instructions to the multiple REUs through the first back-end bus network and the second back-end bus network at the same time and the multiple REUs give priority to instructions on the first back-end bus network.

[0022] In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, each REU of the plurality of REUs has two bus network interfaces associated with the first backend bus network and the second backend bus network.

[0023] In one embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of FCMs are further configured to:

[0024] If two or more of the plurality of ACEs are confirmed to have entered the direct mode, causing the system to enter the direct mode; and

[0025] The system is caused to enter the direct mode when it is confirmed that one or more ACEs among the plurality of ACEs fail and another ACE enters the direct mode.

[0026] In one embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of FCMs are further configured to, when confirming that only one ACE is left valid, instruct the ACE to control at most half of the control surfaces to meet the minimum controllable configuration.

[0027] In one embodiment of the present invention, each ACE in the plurality of ACEs is configured to:

[0028] Outputting direct mode commands in the event that the FCM with which it communicates fails or is powered off; and

[0029] In the event of a communication failure with the corresponding FCM, a direct mode command is output and the corresponding FCM activates the backup ACE corresponding to the ACE.

[0030] In one embodiment of the present invention, the number of configurations in the plurality of REUs corresponds to the number of mutually backing-up ACE pairs in the pairs of mutually backing-up ACEs.

[0031] In another embodiment of the present invention, a method for ACE reconstruction performed at the fly-by-wire flight control system described in the above embodiment is disclosed, the method comprising:

[0032] When it is confirmed that one of the multiple ACEs fails or enters the direct mode, the backup ACE of the ACE is activated to take over the control of the corresponding REU;

[0033] In the case where more than one ACE of the same configuration among the plurality of ACEs is confirmed to have failed, activating backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs to take over control of the corresponding REU; and

[0034] In the event that more than one ACE of different configurations among the plurality of ACEs is confirmed to have failed:

[0035] If the more than one ACEs do not include the pairs of mutually backup ACEs, activating the backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs to take over the control of the corresponding REU;

[0036] If the more than one ACEs include one or more pairs of the pairs of mutually backup ACEs, it indicates that another REU on the main control surface where the REU controlled by the one or more pairs of mutually backup ACEs is located takes over the control of the main control surface through its corresponding actuator, and the pair of mutually backup ACEs associated with the other REU is not included in the one or more pairs of mutually backup ACEs.

[0037] In one embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises:

[0038] If two or more of the plurality of ACEs are confirmed to have entered the direct mode, the system is caused to enter the direct mode;

[0039] If it is confirmed that one or more ACEs of the plurality of ACEs fail and another ACE enters the direct mode, the system enters the direct mode; and

[0040] When it is confirmed that only one ACE is left valid, instruct the ACE to control at most half of the control surfaces to meet the minimum controllable configuration.

[0041] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a computer storage medium is also disclosed, which stores instructions for ACE reconstruction, including:

[0042] An instruction for activating a backup ACE of one of the plurality of ACEs to take over control of a corresponding REU when it is confirmed that the ACE fails or enters a direct mode;

[0043] Instructions for activating backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs of the same configuration among the plurality of ACEs to take over control of corresponding REUs when more than one ACEs of the same configuration among the plurality of ACEs are confirmed to have failed; and

[0044] Instructions for performing the following operations upon confirming that more than one ACE of different configurations in the plurality of ACEs have failed:

[0045] If the more than one ACEs do not include the pairs of mutually backup ACEs, activating the backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs to take over the control of the corresponding REU;

[0046] If the more than one ACEs include one or more pairs of the pairs of mutually backup ACEs, it indicates that another REU on the main control surface where the REU controlled by the one or more pairs of mutually backup ACEs is located takes over the control of the main control surface through its corresponding actuator, and the pair of mutually backup ACEs associated with the other REU is not included in the one or more pairs of mutually backup ACEs.

[0047] After studying the description of the specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, other aspects, features and embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Although features of the present invention may be discussed below with respect to certain embodiments and accompanying drawings, all embodiments of the present invention may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more embodiments may be discussed to have certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used according to the various embodiments of the present invention discussed herein. In a similar manner, although exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as device, system or method embodiments, it should be appreciated that such exemplary embodiments may be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0048] In order to understand in detail the manner in which the above-stated features of the present disclosure are used, a more particular description of the content briefly summarized above may be made with reference to various aspects, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted, however, that the accompanying drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of the present disclosure and are not to be considered limiting of its scope, as the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.

[0049] Figure 1 is a system architecture diagram of a fly-by-wire control system including a non-similar design ACE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0050] Figure 2 It is a logic diagram of ACE failure reconstruction according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0051] Figure 3 0 is a logic diagram of ACE reconstructed in direct mode according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0052] Figure 4 is a logic diagram of ACE instruction selection and output according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0053] Figure 5 A flow chart of a method for ACE reconstruction according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] The various embodiments will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings that form part of the present invention and illustrate various specific exemplary embodiments. However, the various embodiments can be implemented in many different forms and should not be interpreted as limiting the various embodiments set forth herein; on the contrary, these embodiments are provided to make the present disclosure thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of these embodiments to those of ordinary skill in the art. The various embodiments may be implemented in accordance with methods, systems, or devices. Therefore, these embodiments may be implemented in hardware, in full software, or in a combination of software and hardware. Therefore, the following specific embodiments are not limiting.

[0055] The steps in each flow chart may be performed by hardware (e.g., processor, engine, memory, circuit), software (e.g., operating system, application, driver, machine / processor executable instructions), or a combination thereof. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the methods involved in each embodiment may include more or fewer steps than shown.

[0056] In view of the technical problems in the prior art, the present invention relates to a fly-by-wire flight control system including a non-similar ACE and an ACE reconstruction method. The fly-by-wire flight control system in the present invention mainly includes multiple non-similar ACEs, multiple FCMs, multiple remote control electronic REUs and multiple signal processing units. The non-similar ACE design can alleviate the risk of ACE common mode. When one or some ACEs fail or enter direct mode, the fly-by-wire flight control system can reconstruct these non-similar ACEs, enhance the system's reconstruction capability under ACE failure, control the control surfaces as much as possible and reduce the impact of mixed modes. Various aspects of the present invention will be described in detail below.

[0057] Figure 1 is a system architecture diagram of a fly-by-wire control system including a non-similar design ACE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0058] like Figure 1 As shown, the fly-by-wire flight control system may include multiple FCMs, multiple ACEs, and multiple REUs. In one embodiment of the present invention, for the sake of simplicity, as an example rather than a limitation, Figure 1Three FCMs (as shown by reference numeral 1) and four ACEs (as shown by reference numeral 9) are shown. As can be understood by those skilled in the art, in other embodiments of the present invention, the fly-by-wire flight control system may also include other numbers of FCMs and other numbers of ACEs, rather than being limited to three FCMs and four ACEs. All of the four ACEs participate in the control of the control surfaces, and each ACE controls approximately one quarter of the control surfaces in a priority control manner.

[0059] In this embodiment, the four ACEs have two different configurations (A type and B type) and are divided into two groups of ACEs (i.e., A1, A2 and B1, B2) according to the configuration, and each ACE in each group of ACEs forms two pairs of mutually backed-up ACEs with a corresponding ACE in the other group of ACEs (i.e., A1 and B1 are a pair of mutually backed-up ACEs, and A2 and B2 are another pair of mutually backed-up ACEs). As can be understood by those skilled in the art, other embodiments of the present invention may also include six ACEs, which are divided into A1, A2, A3 and B1, B2, B3 according to the configuration, and form three pairs of mutually backed-up ACEs, i.e., A1 and B1, A2 and B2, A3 and B3, and may also include other even numbers of ACEs, and the grouping and pairing methods are similar.

[0060] In one embodiment of the present invention, in the normal mode or degraded mode of the system, the four ACEs can be configured to receive control law instructions from the corresponding FCM and transmit the instructions to the corresponding REU to control the actuator corresponding to the REU to drive the control surface movement, thereby achieving control of the aircraft attitude.

[0061] In one embodiment of the present invention, the system may further include a plurality of signal processing units (as shown in the reference numeral 3), which are configured to perform processing of cockpit signals in normal or degraded mode and transmit the processed cockpit signals to the plurality of FCMs and the plurality of ACEs. In this embodiment, the processing of cockpit signals may include demodulating, filtering, analog-to-digital conversion, and comparative monitoring of cockpit signals, RVDT signals, and switch signals, and forwarding the processed and integrated cockpit digital signals.

[0062] In another embodiment of the present invention, when the system enters the direct mode, these signal processing units 3 complete the connection with the cockpit equipment, complete the processing of the RVDT signal and the switch signal, including demodulation, filtering, analog-to-digital conversion and comparative monitoring, and send the processed and integrated cockpit digital signal to ACE through the front-end network bus (as shown in the figure mark 2) (including the front-end bus network 1 and the front-end bus network 2), ACE performs an integrity check on the received signal, and the result is used for direct mode control law calculation, and the generated control law instruction is output to the corresponding REU through the back-end network bus 1 (as shown in the figure mark 5) and the back-end network bus 2 (as shown in the figure mark 6), and the actuator corresponding to the REU is controlled to drive the movement of the control surface, thereby realizing the control of the aircraft attitude.

[0063] In one embodiment of the present invention, the front-end bus network can be used for communication between multiple signal processing units, multiple FCMs, and multiple ACEs, and includes a default front-end bus network 1 and a backup second front-end bus network 2, so that when the front-end bus network 1 fails, it can switch to using the front-end bus network 2 for communication.

[0064] In one embodiment of the present invention, the back-end bus network can be used for communication between multiple ACEs and multiple REUs, and includes different types of back-end bus networks 1 and second back-end bus networks 2. The ACE can always send control law instructions to the corresponding REU through the back-end bus network 1 and the second back-end bus network 2 at the same time, and the REU gives priority to the instructions on the back-end bus network 1. When there is only one valid instruction on a back-end bus network, the REU can select the valid instruction; when there are two valid instructions input, the REU can give priority to the normal mode instruction.

[0065] In one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 As shown, the multiple remote control electronic REUs (as shown by reference numeral 7) in the fly-by-wire flight control system of the present invention may have a variety of different configurations and may be arranged on each control surface to control the corresponding actuator, so that at least two REUs of different configurations are arranged on each main control surface. Figure 1 As shown, as an example but not limitation, the control surface may include a main control surface (including elevators, ailerons, and rudders), seven spoilers on each of the left and right wings, and a horizontal stabilizer (reference numeral 8 refers to the motor control electronics MCE). In each embodiment, the relationship between REU and the actuator may be one-to-one, the actuators may adopt master-master control or master-master-master control (rudder), the spoiler may adopt a single actuator (each spoiler is arranged with a single REU), and the actuator may be in the form of a hydraulic actuator but is not limited to a hydraulic actuator.

[0066] Each of the at least two REUs of different configurations is associated with one of the pairs of mutually backing up ACEs and is controlled by one or the other ACE of the pair of mutually backing up ACEs. Figure 1 As shown, each REU is associated with a pair of mutually backing up ACEs. For example, the four REUs on the left aileron can be associated with mutually backing up ACE pairs A1-B1, A2-B2, B1-A1, and B2-A2, respectively, that is, they are controlled by two ACEs in the corresponding mutually backing up ACE pairs, and each pair of mutually backing up ACEs can include a priority control ACE and a reconstruction control ACE. When the priority control ACE is not invalid and has not entered the direct mode, the priority control ACE controls the REU, and when the priority control ACE is invalid or enters the direct mode, the reconstruction control ACE can control the REU.

[0067] As can be understood by those skilled in the art, Figure 1 The connection correspondence between ACE and REU in the architecture diagram shown is not limited to the lines in the diagram. There are multiple connection relationships, which can be comprehensively considered based on factors such as the aircraft's minimum controllable configuration and energy configuration.

[0068] In one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 Each REU in the system may have two bus network interfaces associated with backend bus network 1 and backend bus network 2. The backend network buses may be of different types to avoid the risk of simultaneous bus failure.

[0069] In one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 The FCM in the example can be configured to control the four ACEs normally if the status signals of the four ACEs are confirmed to be normal. The FCM can also be configured to activate the backup ACE corresponding to the ACE to take over the control of the corresponding REU if one of the four ACEs is confirmed to be failed. For example, when an FCM confirms that A1 is failed, the FCM can activate the backup ACE of A1, that is, B1 of a different configuration, to obtain the reconstruction control of the REU that was originally controlled by A1 first.

[0070] In one embodiment of the present invention, the FCM may be further configured to activate backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs of the same configuration among the four ACEs to take over the control of the corresponding REUs when confirming that more than one ACE of the same configuration has failed. For example, when one or more FCMs confirm that A1 and A2 have failed, the one or more FCMs may respectively activate backup ACEs, i.e., B1 and B2 of different configurations, to obtain reconstruction control of the REUs originally controlled by A1 and A2 with priority.

[0071] In one embodiment of the present invention, the FCM may also be configured to, upon confirming that more than one ACE of different configurations among the four ACEs has failed: if the more than one ACEs do not include the pairs of mutually backup ACEs, activate the backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs to take over control of the corresponding REU. For example, when one or more FCMs confirm that A1 and B2 (A1 and B2 do not belong to a mutual backup ACE pair, that is, the failed more than one ACE does not include a mutual backup ACE pair) have failed, the one or more FCMs may respectively activate the backup ACEs of the two failed ACEs, namely B1 and A2, to obtain reconstruction control of the REU originally controlled by A1 and B2 in priority; if the more than one ACE includes one or more pairs of mutual backup ACEs among the pairs of mutual backup ACEs, then instruct another REU on the main rudder surface where the REU controlled by the one or more pairs of mutual backup ACEs is located to take over control of the main rudder surface through the actuator corresponding to it (by ensuring that one actuator is controllable to ensure that the main rudder surface is controllable (the prerequisite for the controllability of the main rudder surface may be that at least one actuator is controllable), wherein the pair of mutual backup ACEs associated with the other REU is not included in the one or more pairs of mutual backup ACEs.

[0072] For example, when one or more FCMs confirm that A1 and B1 have failed, the one or more FCMs may determine that A1 and B1 belong to a pair of mutually backup ACEs, that is, the more than one failed ACEs include a pair of mutually backup ACEs, and instruct the REU that is preferentially controlled and reconstructed by A1 and B1 or another REU that is not associated with the pair of mutually backup ACEs on the main control surface where the REU that is preferentially controlled and reconstructed by B1 and A1 is located to take over control of the main control surface through its corresponding actuator. In the above example, the REU that is preferentially controlled and reconfigured by A1 and B1 may be, for example, the left REU on the outer left aileron. At this time, the REU used to take over the control of the outer left aileron may be the right REU on the outer left aileron that is associated with the non-failed ACE pair A2 and B2 that serve as backup to each other (the outer left aileron is controlled by the actuator corresponding to the right REU); the REU that is preferentially controlled and reconfigured by B1 and A1 may be, for example, the left REU on the inner left aileron. At this time, the REU used to take over the control of the inner left aileron may be the right REU on the inner left aileron that is associated with the non-failed ACE pair B2 and A2 that serve as backup to each other (the inner left aileron is controlled by the actuator corresponding to the right REU).

[0073] In one embodiment of the present invention, REU may have multiple configurations, and the number of REU configurations corresponds to the number of ACE pairs that serve as backup for each other. Figure 1Two configurations are shown as examples, namely, one configuration associated with the mutually backup ACE pairs A1 and B1 and another configuration associated with the mutually backup ACE pairs A2 and B2. When two failed ACEs control the same REU (i.e., the REU is controlled by the failed pair of mutually backup ACEs (including priority control and reconstruction control)), then another REU of a different configuration on the main control surface where the REU is located (associated with the pair of mutually backup ACEs that have not failed) can take over the control of the main control surface through the actuator corresponding to the other REU (in other words, originally the two actuators on the main control surface simultaneously control the main control surface, and when the two mutually backup ACEs fail, the actuators corresponding to the REUs controlled by the two ACEs are in a follow-up state, and the main control surface is changed to be controlled solely by another actuator (the actuator is controlled by the pair of mutually backup ACEs that have not failed)). As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, when six ACEs (A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3) are included, the REU can have three different configurations, respectively associated with A1-B1, A2-B2, A3-B3, and so on.

[0074] In one embodiment of the present invention, the FCM may be further configured to instruct the ACE to control at most half of the control surfaces to meet the minimum controllable configuration when it is confirmed that only one ACE is left valid. The minimum controllable configuration may refer to but is not limited to ensuring that all main control surfaces and half of the spoilers are controllable. The minimum controllable configuration is well known in the art, so it will not be described in detail here.

[0075] The above are the ACE failure reconstruction operations performed by FCM to ensure that more (main) control surfaces are controllable in the event of ACE failure, thereby ensuring better flight quality. More specifically, Figure 2 A logical diagram of ACE failure reconstruction according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0076] like Figure 2 As shown, in Figure 1 In the exemplary embodiment shown including four ACEs, the FCM transmits instructions to the ACEs via the front-end network bus (switching to network bus 2 when network bus 1 fails), and all four ACEs participate in the control of the rudder surface.

[0077] When one of the ACEs fails, the failed ACE is cut off, and the corresponding backup ACE takes over control to ensure that all control surfaces can be controlled.

[0078] When two ACEs fail (two different configurations), if the two ACEs control different REUs, the corresponding other ACE takes over control to ensure that all actuators and rudder surfaces are controllable; if the two ACEs control the same REU, the other REU of the main rudder surface takes over control of the main rudder surface by controlling the corresponding actuator (that is, the other REU controls the main rudder surface alone through its corresponding actuator) to ensure that one actuator is controllable and the main rudder surface is controllable.

[0079] When two ACEs fail simultaneously due to common mode or other reasons (the same configuration, A1 and A2 fail or B1 and B2 fail), the corresponding other ACE takes over control to ensure that all control surfaces are controllable.

[0080] When three ACEs fail, all main control surfaces and half of the spoilers are guaranteed to be controllable.

[0081] Back to Figure 1 In one embodiment of the present invention, FCM can be configured to activate the backup ACE of an ACE to take over the control of the corresponding REU when confirming that an ACE enters the direct mode. In this embodiment, FCM can obtain a signal indicating whether each ACE is in the direct mode through the front-end network bus.

[0082] In one embodiment of the present invention, the FCM may also be configured to make the fly-by-wire flight control system enter the direct mode when it is confirmed that two or more ACEs enter the direct mode, and to reduce the fly-by-wire flight control system to the direct mode when it is confirmed that one or more ACEs fail and another ACE enters the direct mode. When the system enters the direct mode, the ACE selects the direct mode command to execute.

[0083] In another embodiment of the present invention, the ACE may be configured to output direct mode instructions when the FCM communicating with it fails or is powered off; and to output direct mode instructions when communication between the corresponding FCM fails and the corresponding FCM activates the backup ACE corresponding to the ACE.

[0084] The above is the ACE direct mode reconfiguration operation performed by FCM to alleviate the impact of the control surface force dispute and ensure better flight quality. More specifically, Figure 3 A logic diagram of ACE in direct mode reconfiguration according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0085] like Figure 3As shown, after ACE enters direct mode, the system performs reconstruction control. FCM obtains the signal of whether each ACE is in direct mode through the network bus: when FCM confirms that an ACE is in direct mode, it reconstructs the ACE, that is, another corresponding backup ACE takes over the control; when FCM receives that two or more ACEs enter direct mode, the system enters direct mode.

[0086] Figure 4 is a logic diagram of ACE instruction selection and output according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0087] like Figure 4 As shown, the ACE instruction output selection logic is as follows:

[0088] a) When the system is in normal mode, the FCM and ACE communicate normally and the ACE has not entered direct mode, the FCM controls the ACE to select normal mode instruction execution through the ACE enable signal;

[0089] b) When the system is in normal mode, the FCM and ACE communicate normally, but the ACE enters direct mode, the ACE outputs direct mode instructions, and the FCM activates the corresponding backup ACE to take over control;

[0090] c) When the system is in normal mode, the communication between FCM and ACE fails, ACE enters direct mode and outputs direct mode instructions, and FCM activates the corresponding backup ACE to take over control;

[0091] When the system enters direct mode, ACE selects direct mode instructions to execute.

[0092] The final command output of ACE is controlled by FCM. When FCM is valid, ACE receives the enable signal of FCM. If the FCM enable signal is 1, ACE outputs the control command, otherwise, ACE does not output the control command. When all FCMs fail, the ACE command output is not controlled by FCM, and the default output is direct mode control command. When the communication between ACE and FCM fails, ACE cannot receive the FCM failure status, ACE command output direct mode command, and FCM cannot receive the status of ACE, FCM will control the corresponding backup ACE to take over control.

[0093] Figure 5 A flow chart of a method 500 for ACE reconstruction according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0094] like Figure 5 As shown, the method 500 starts at step 502 , where, when it is confirmed that one ACE among the plurality of ACEs fails or enters the direct mode, the backup ACE of the ACE is activated to take over the control of the corresponding REU.

[0095] Then the method 500 proceeds to step 504 , where, if it is confirmed that more than one ACE of the same configuration among the plurality of ACEs fails, backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs are activated to take over the control of the corresponding REU.

[0096] Then, method 500 continues to step 506. When it is confirmed that more than one ACE of different configurations among the multiple ACEs has failed, if the more than one ACEs do not include the pairs of backup ACEs for each other, the backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs are activated to take over the control of the corresponding REU.

[0097] Finally, method 500 continues to step 508. When it is confirmed that more than one ACE of different configurations among the multiple ACEs has failed, if the more than one ACEs include one or more pairs of mutual backup ACEs among the pairs of mutual backup ACEs, then another REU on the main control surface where the REU controlled by the one or more pairs of mutual backup ACEs is located is instructed to take over the control of the main control surface through the actuator corresponding to it, and the pair of mutual backup ACEs associated with the other REU is not included in the one or more pairs of mutual backup ACEs.

[0098] After step 508 , method 500 ends.

[0099] In summary, the present invention proposes a fly-by-wire flight control system architecture with a non-similar design, which can alleviate the influence of common mode, has strong scalability and scalability, and can be used for complex civil aircraft as well as general aviation aircraft and electric vertical take-off and landing e-VTOL aircraft, etc.

[0100] Embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to block diagrams and / or the operating instructions of methods, systems, and computer program products according to embodiments of the present invention. Each function / action noted in the frame may occur in an order different from that shown in any flow chart. For example, depending on the function / action involved, two frames shown in succession may actually be performed substantially simultaneously, or these frames may sometimes be performed in an opposite order.

[0101] The above is only a preferred specific embodiment of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A fly-by-wire flight control system including actuator control electronics (ACE) of non-similar design, the system comprising: A plurality of ACEs, wherein the plurality of ACEs have two different configurations and are divided into two groups of ACEs according to the configurations, and each ACE in each group of ACEs forms pairs with a corresponding ACE in the other group of ACEs as backup ACEs for each other; a plurality of remotely controlled electronic REUs, the plurality of REUs having a plurality of different configurations and arranged on each control surface to control corresponding actuators, such that at least two REUs of different configurations are arranged on each main control surface, each of the at least two REUs of different configurations being associated with one of the pairs of mutually backing-up ACEs and being controlled by one ACE or the other ACE of the pair of mutually backing-up ACEs; and A plurality of flight control modules FCM, wherein the plurality of FCM are configured to: Normally controlling the multiple ACEs when confirming that the status signals of the multiple ACEs are normal; When it is confirmed that one of the plurality of ACEs fails or enters a direct mode, a backup ACE of the ACE is activated to take over control of a corresponding REU; When more than one ACE of the same configuration among the plurality of ACEs is confirmed to have failed, activating backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs to take over control of the corresponding REU; as well as In the event that more than one ACE of different configurations among the plurality of ACEs is confirmed to have failed: If the more than one ACEs do not include the pairs of ACEs that are backups of each other, The backup ACE of the more than one ACE is activated to take over the control of the corresponding REU. system; If the more than one ACEs include one or more pairs of ACEs that are mutually backed up, it is indicated that the one or more pairs of ACEs that are mutually backed up Another REU on the main control surface where the REU controlled by ACE is located takes over the control of the main control surface through its corresponding actuator, and a pair of mutually backed-up ACEs associated with the other REU are not included in the one or more pairs of mutually backed-up ACEs.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises: A plurality of signal processing units are configured to perform processing on cockpit signals and transmit the processed cockpit signals to the plurality of FCMs and the plurality of ACEs.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises: A front-side bus network for communication between the plurality of signal processing units, the plurality of FCMs and the plurality of ACEs, comprising a default first front-side bus network and a backup second front-side bus network, so that when the first front-side bus network fails, the plurality of FCMs switch to using the second front-side bus network to communicate with the plurality of ACEs; as well as The back-end bus network used for communication between the multiple ACEs and the multiple REUs includes a first back-end bus network and a second back-end bus network of different types, wherein the multiple ACEs always send instructions to the multiple REUs through the first back-end bus network and the second back-end bus network at the same time and the multiple REUs give priority to instructions on the first back-end bus network.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein each REU of the plurality of REUs has two bus network interfaces associated with a first back-end bus network and a second back-end bus network.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of FCMs are further configured to: If two or more of the plurality of ACEs are confirmed to enter direct mode, causing the system to enter direct mode; and The system is caused to enter the direct mode when it is confirmed that one or more ACEs among the plurality of ACEs fail and another ACE enters the direct mode.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of FCMs are further configured to instruct the ACE to control at most half of the control surfaces to meet the minimum controllable configuration if it is confirmed that only one ACE is left valid.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein each ACE of the plurality of ACEs is configured to: Outputting direct mode commands in the event that the FCM with which it communicates fails or is powered off; and In the event of a communication failure with the corresponding FCM, a direct mode command is output and the corresponding FCM activates a backup ACE corresponding to the ACE.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the number of configurations in the plurality of REUs corresponds to the number of mutually backing-up ACE pairs in the pairs of mutually backing-up ACEs.

9. A method for ACE reconstruction performed at the fly-by-wire flight control system of claim 1, the method comprising: When it is confirmed that one of the plurality of ACEs fails or enters a direct mode, a backup ACE of the ACE is activated to take over control of a corresponding REU; When more than one ACE of the same configuration among the plurality of ACEs is confirmed to have failed, activating backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs to take over control of the corresponding REU; as well as In the event that more than one ACE of different configurations among the plurality of ACEs is confirmed to have failed: If the more than one ACEs do not include the pairs of mutually backup ACEs, activating the backup ACEs of the more than one ACEs to take over the control of the corresponding REU; If the more than one ACEs include one or more pairs of mutual backup ACEs among the pairs of mutual backup ACEs, it indicates that another REU on the main control surface where the REU controlled by the one or more pairs of mutual backup ACEs is located takes over the control of the main control surface through its corresponding actuator, and the pair of mutual backup ACEs associated with the other REU is not included in the one or more pairs of mutual backup ACEs.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises: causing the system to enter the direct mode if two or more of the plurality of ACEs are confirmed to enter the direct mode; If it is confirmed that one or more ACEs of the plurality of ACEs fail and another ACE enters the direct mode, the system enters the direct mode; as well as When it is confirmed that only one ACE is left valid, the ACE is instructed to control at most half of the control surfaces to meet the minimum controllable configuration.

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