Apparatus and method for selectively modifying position information of throttle lever in aircraft

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for selectively modifying position information of a throttle lever. The method is implemented by a device configured to receive position information indicative of a current position of a throttle lever. The method includes determining (304) that a predefined situation is encountered when a flight condition associated with the predefined situation is validated, and obtaining (306), for each encountered predefined situation, a category, a duration, and an expected position of a throttle lever. The method comprises modifying (312) the received location information by replacing the received location information with the expected location when the flight condition and the validity condition of the category are simultaneously validated for the obtained duration; and in the event of modification, transmitting the modified position information to a control device of the propulsion engine. Therefore, the thrust of the engine can be automatically influenced when the situation is needed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of controlling aircraft propulsion engines and, more particularly, to a method for selectively modifying information representative of the position of a throttle lever of a propulsion engine in order to influence thrust calculations when predefined situations are encountered. Background Art

[0002] Each aircraft propulsion engine is associated with a throttle lever, the physical position of which allows the device for controlling the propulsion engine to calculate the thrust of the propulsion engine. According to a first operating mode, referred to as manual mode, the thrust of the propulsion engine is determined according to the physical position of the throttle lever. According to a second operating mode, referred to as automatic thrust mode, the thrust of the propulsion engine is determined as a function of other parameters, but must not exceed a maximum threshold value determined by the physical position of the throttle lever.

[0003] The situation can be improved. It is worthwhile to provide a solution that allows to influence the thrust calculation when the situation requires and when the crew does not act on the throttle lever in the way expected for the situation encountered. It is worthwhile to provide a solution that can be easily integrated into existing systems without modifying existing equipment, such as equipment for controlling propulsion engines. Summary of the invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to propose a method for automatically modifying position information of a throttle lever associated with a propulsion engine, the method being implemented by a device configured to receive position information representing the current position of the throttle lever, the method comprising the following steps: when a condition, referred to as a flight condition, associated with a predefined situation from a list of predefined situations is verified, determining that the predefined situation is encountered, wherein each predefined situation represents a flight situation in which it is considered necessary to actuate the throttle lever; for each predefined situation encountered, obtaining a category associated with the predefined situation, wherein each predefined situation is associated with a category of the predefined categories and each category represents a predefined driving situation, and obtaining a category associated with the predefined situation encountered a predefined activation duration associated with the encountered predefined situation and an expected predefined position of the throttle stick in the predefined situation encountered; evaluating a condition associated with the obtained category, called a validity condition; when the flight condition associated with the encountered predefined situation and the validity condition of the category associated with the predefined situation are verified simultaneously for a duration at least equal to the obtained predefined activation duration, modifying the received position information by replacing the current position of the throttle stick with the obtained expected predefined position of the throttle stick; and sending the modified position information to a control device for controlling the propulsion engine in the case of modification, otherwise sending the received position information to a control device for controlling the propulsion engine.

[0005] Thus, when the situation requires, in other words when an actuation of the throttle is deemed necessary in the flight situation, and when the pilot does not perform this actuation, it is possible to automatically modify the position information and therefore automatically influence the thrust of the propulsion engines, without having to modify the equipment for controlling the propulsion engines.

[0006] According to a particular embodiment, the predefined categories include a first category having a validity condition verified when the crew member was previously declared unfit, and the activation duration associated with each first category predefined situation is zero.

[0007] In a particular embodiment, the predefined categories include a second category having a validity condition verified when the crew has not previously declared unfit, and the activation duration associated with each second category predefined situation is dependent on the predefined situation.

[0008] According to a particular embodiment, the predefined categories include a third category having a validity condition that is always verified, and the activation duration associated with each third category predefined situation is zero.

[0009] According to a specific embodiment, the expected predefined position of the throttle stick associated with at least one predefined situation from the list of predefined situations includes a first predefined position and a second predefined position, and modifying the received position information by replacing the current position of the throttle stick with the obtained expected predefined position of the throttle stick includes performing a first modification of the position information by replacing the current position of the throttle stick with the first predefined position, and performing a second modification of the position information by replacing the current position of the throttle stick with the second predefined position, wherein the second modification of the position information is performed after a predefined time associated with the predefined situation has passed since the first modification.

[0010] The invention also relates to a device for automatically modifying position information of a throttle lever of a propulsion engine of an aircraft, wherein the automatic selective modification device comprises an electronic circuit system configured to receive position information representative of the current position of the throttle lever. The device includes an electronic circuit system configured to perform the following operations: when a condition called a flight condition associated with a predefined situation from a list of predefined situations is verified, determine that the predefined situation is encountered, wherein each predefined situation represents a flight situation in which it is considered necessary to actuate the throttle lever; for each predefined situation encountered, obtain a category related to the predefined situation, wherein each predefined situation is associated with a category in the predefined categories and each category represents a predefined driving situation, and obtain a predefined activation duration associated with the encountered predefined situation and an expected predefined position of the throttle lever in the encountered predefined situation; evaluate a condition called a validity condition associated with the obtained category; when the flight condition associated with the encountered predefined situation and the validity condition of the category associated with the predefined situation are simultaneously verified for a duration at least equal to the obtained predefined activation duration, modify the received position information by replacing the current position of the throttle lever with the obtained expected predefined position of the throttle lever; and send the modified position information to a control device for controlling a propulsion engine in the case of modification, otherwise send the received position information to a control device for controlling a propulsion engine.

[0011] The present invention also proposes a computer program that can be stored on a medium and / or downloaded from a communication network so as to be read by a processor. The computer program includes instructions for implementing the method mentioned above in any of its embodiments above when the program is executed by the processor. The present invention also relates to an information storage medium storing such a computer program. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The above and other features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following description of at least one embodiment, wherein the description is provided with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0013] [ Figure 1 ] schematically illustrates an aircraft including an automatic selective modification device for controlling a system for propulsion engines;

[0014] [ Figure 2 ] schematically illustrates a system for controlling a propulsion engine of an aircraft;

[0015] [ Figure 3 ] schematically illustrates a method for selectively modifying information representing a throttle lever position of a propulsion engine; and

[0016] [ Figure 4] schematically illustrates an example of a hardware platform for implementing an automatic modification device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Figure 1 An aircraft A comprising a device for automatic selective modification of a system 1 for controlling propulsion engines is schematically illustrated.

[0018] See also Figure 2 , a system 1 for controlling a propulsion engine of an aircraft A comprises a throttle lever 11, a device 12 for controlling the propulsion engine and a device 13 for managing an automatic thrust mode. The throttle lever 11 is actuated by the crew in order to change its position. Whenever the throttle lever 11 is actuated, the throttle lever 11 transmits position information representing the current position of the throttle lever 11. The control device 12 receives the position information representing the position of the throttle lever 11 and is configured to determine the thrust of the propulsion engine by taking into account the received position information. In a first operating mode, referred to as manual mode, the control device 12 determines the thrust according to the received position information. In a second operating mode, referred to as automatic thrust mode, the thrust is determined by the management device 13 and transmitted to the control device 12 via a communication link. The control device 12 determines a maximum thrust threshold according to the received position information, wherein the maximum thrust threshold is a threshold that must not be exceeded. In other words, when the management device 13 transmits a thrust value greater than the maximum thrust threshold to the control device 12 , the control device 12 limits the thrust to the maximum thrust threshold.

[0019] The device 13 for managing the automatic thrust mode is configured to determine the thrust of the propulsion engine according to the parameters of the aircraft A. The control system 1 further comprises an automatic selective modification device 100. The automatic selective modification device 100 is configured to receive from the throttle lever 11 each item of position information transmitted by the throttle lever 11. The automatic selective modification device 100 is also configured to conditionally modify the received position information and to send the modified position information to the propulsion engine control device 12 in case of modification, otherwise to send the received position information.

[0020] When a predefined situation from the list of predefined situations is detected, and when the predefined situation is maintained for an activation threshold duration associated with the detected predefined situation, and when the validity condition of the category associated with the predefined situation is still met during the activation threshold duration, conditional modification of the received location information is performed by the automatic selective modification device 100.

[0021] To this end, the automatic selective modification device 100 evaluates, for each predefined situation from the list of predefined situations, a condition called a flight condition associated with the predefined situation. When the flight condition associated with one of the predefined situations is verified, the predefined situation is encountered and detected. Then, the automatic selective modification device 100 obtains the category associated with the encountered predefined situation from the predefined categories and evaluates the condition called a validity condition associated with the category. The automatic selective modification device 100 also obtains, for each predefined situation encountered, a predefined activation duration associated with the detected predefined situation and an expected predefined position of the throttle lever 11 in the detected predefined situation. Each information item associated with the encountered predefined situation, such as a category, a predefined activation duration or an expected predefined position of the throttle lever 11, can be obtained, for example, by means of a request in a database based on the information item representing the detected predefined situation. When the flight conditions and the validity conditions of the category associated with the encountered predefined situation are verified simultaneously for a duration at least equal to the obtained predefined activation duration, the automatic selective modification device 100 modifies the received position information originating from the throttle stick 11 by replacing the current position of the throttle stick 11 with the expected predefined position of the throttle stick 11 associated with the detected predefined situation.

[0022] Each predefined position of the throttle lever 11 defines the thrust of the propulsion engine. Therefore, if the position information is modified by the automatic selective modification device 100, when the manual mode is activated, the control device 12 calculates the thrust according to the predefined position of the throttle lever 11 associated with the detected predefined situation, and when the automatic thrust mode is activated, the control device 12 calculates the maximum thrust threshold according to the predefined position of the throttle lever 11 associated with the detected predefined situation.

[0023] Examples of predefined positions are, in ascending order of associated thrust, an idle position, a climb position, a maximum continuous thrust position and a maximum available thrust position. According to one embodiment, there is a predefined number of expected predefined positions for the throttle lever 11 .

[0024] Each predefined situation represents a predetermined flight situation or flight scenario, in which actuation of the throttle lever 11 is considered necessary to reach the desired predefined position. Each flight condition depends on the flight parameters and on the current position of the throttle lever 11. An example of a predefined situation is a failure of a propulsion engine controlled by the control system 1. A flight condition for detecting this example is that an engine failure is detected and the current position of the throttle lever 11 is different from the idle position. Another example of a predefined situation is the need for a go-around, the associated flight condition being that the need for a go-around is detected and the current position of the throttle lever 11 is different from the maximum available thrust position.

[0025] Each predefined situation is associated with a predefined category, and each predefined category represents a driving situation. The predefined categories each define the urgency for actuating the throttle lever 11, which depends on the predefined situation and the qualifications of the crew. According to a preferred embodiment, the first category corresponds to crew incapacitation. The validity condition of the first category is that the crew must first be declared unfit. When the crew cannot physically actuate the throttle lever 11, for example, when the crew is not in the cockpit during physiological rest or when the crew is physically incapacitated, the crew is declared unfit. The second category corresponds to the crew declared fit, and no emergency is associated with the predefined situation. As long as the crew is not declared unfit, the validity condition of the second category is verified. The third category corresponds to an emergency, regardless of whether the crew is fit. The validity condition of the third category is always verified.

[0026] In order to verify the validity conditions of the categories, the automatic selective modification device 100 retrieves data, for example from the FMS (Flight Management System) or more generally from the avionics of the aircraft A in order to determine whether a manual action has been performed in the cockpit. For example, as long as a manual action is detected at a time interval lower than a predetermined period of time, or when the incapacity indicator is deactivated or even when a movement is detected in the cockpit by a camera, the crew is declared fit, and then the second and third categories apply. However, when no manual action is detected within a predetermined period of time, or when the crew itself activates the crew incapacity indicator, for example, before the crew's absence, or even when the camera has not detected a movement in the cockpit within a predetermined period of time, the crew is declared unfit. Then the first and third categories apply.

[0027] Furthermore, the predefined activation duration depends on the predefined situation and the category encountered. For example, each predefined situation of the first category is associated with a predefined activation duration of zero, so that when the crew has previously been declared unfit, a predefined situation requiring actuation of the throttle lever 11 will cause the position information to be modified without delay. Similarly, each predefined situation of the third category is associated with a predefined activation duration of zero, so that when the predefined situation requires an emergency actuation of the throttle lever 11, the position information is modified without delay. However, each predefined situation of the second category is associated with a predefined activation duration that changes according to the predefined situation considered, and is preferably non-zero, so that the crew who has been declared fit can actuate the throttle lever 11 before the position information is automatically modified.

[0028] For example, the above-mentioned predefined engine failure situation is associated with a first category of predefined situations, then the associated activation duration is zero. According to another example, the predefined engine failure situation is associated with a second category of predefined situations, wherein a non-zero activation duration is, for example, equal to 4 minutes. The predefined position of the throttle lever 11 is the idle position.

[0029] For example, the predefined go-around requirement situation is associated with a first category predefined situation with zero activation duration. According to another example of a first category predefined situation, the flight condition is reaching a lower altitude threshold during landing when the current position of the throttle lever 11 is different from the idle position. The associated predefined position is the idle position, which allows the air brakes to be deployed when the aircraft A touches the ground.

[0030] According to another example of a first category of predefined situations, the flight conditions are such that the aircraft A is in a taxiing phase and the associated predefined position is an idle position, which allows the aircraft A to be automatically stopped when the crew is incapacitated.

[0031] Examples of second category predefined situations are described below. According to a first example, the flight conditions are such that an upper altitude threshold is reached during a takeoff or go-around operation. The associated predefined position is a climb position with an associated non-zero activation duration. This allows aircraft A to reduce thrust, and according to a specific embodiment, the automatic thrust mode may also be engaged. According to a second example, the flight conditions are such that an engine failure is detected on another propulsion engine, and the associated predefined position is a maximum continuous thrust position with an associated non-zero activation duration. This compensates for the thrust loss due to another engine failure. According to a third example, in the context of an "economic" takeoff, in other words, in a takeoff with a thrust less than the maximum available thrust, when the temperature threshold is not reached, the associated predefined position is a maximum available thrust position with, for example, a non-zero associated activation duration of 8 seconds. This ensures a safe takeoff when the conditions required for an economic takeoff are not met.

[0032] Examples of predefined situations of the third category are described below. According to a first example, the flight condition is such that a takeoff rejection is activated, which corresponds to a situation in which takeoff must be aborted, and such that the position of the throttle lever 11 is different from the idle position. The predefined position is the idle position and the activation duration is zero. According to a second example, the flight condition defined in the takeoff scenario is such that a fault is detected on another propulsion engine and a first speed threshold, called the flight engagement threshold, is exceeded. The associated predefined position is the maximum available thrust position and the activation duration is zero. According to a third example, the flight condition is such that the deployment of the thrust reverser is detected during the flight phase, in other words, landing and taxiing are excluded. The associated predefined position is the idle position with an activation duration of zero. This ensures the stability of the aircraft A. According to a fourth example, the flight condition is such that the angle of attack of the aircraft A is greater than the predefined angle threshold, which reflects the risk of stalling, and the position of the throttle lever 11 is not the maximum value. The associated predefined position is the maximum available thrust position and the activation duration is zero. This allows the aircraft A to accelerate in order to prevent stalling.

[0033] According to a particular embodiment, each propulsion engine of the aircraft A is composed of Figure 1 The control system 1 shown controls the aircraft A, so that it comprises as many automatic selective modification devices 100 as propulsion engines.

[0034] Reference Figure 3 , the method for conditionally modifying the information representing the position of the throttle lever 11 implemented by the automatic selective modification device 100 includes the following steps.

[0035] In a first step 300 , the method is initialized, for example when the automatic selective modification device 100 is switched on or when the propulsion engine is switched on.

[0036] In a subsequent step 302, the automatic selective modification device 100 evaluates, for each predefined situation in the list of predefined situations, the flight conditions associated with said predefined situation. For example, the automatic selective modification device 100 monitors the parameters of the aircraft A and compares them with each flight condition associated with the predefined situation in the list.

[0037] In the following step 304, the automatic selective modification device 100 determines whether a predefined situation has been encountered and detected. When the automatic selective modification device 100 determines that the flight conditions associated with one of the predefined situations are verified, then said predefined situation has been encountered and detected. If this is the case, step 306 is executed. Otherwise, when no predefined situation has been detected, the method returns to step 302.

[0038] In step 306, the automatic selective modification device 100 obtains information associated with the detected predefined situation, namely the category, the predefined activation duration and the predefined position of the throttle lever 11 expected in the predefined situation encountered. According to one example, the automatic selective modification device 100 polls a database storing all associated information for each predefined situation, thereby retrieving the associated information. The automatic selective modification device 100 also obtains or retrieves the validity condition of the obtained category.

[0039] In a subsequent step 308, the automatic selective modification device 100 determines whether the category associated with the predefined situation under consideration is applicable, in other words, whether the validity condition of the category is satisfied. If this is the case, step 310 is executed if the category is applicable. Otherwise, the method 300 returns to step 302.

[0040] For example, for a first category of predefined situations, the automatic selective modification device 100 verifies whether the crew member has been previously declared unfit. If so, the first category applies and step 310 is executed. For a second category of predefined situations, the automatic selective modification device 100 verifies that the crew member has not been previously declared unfit, and if the crew member has not been declared unfit, it continues with step 310, otherwise it returns to step 302. For a third category of predefined situations, the automatic selective modification device 100 considers that the validity condition is still to be verified and then necessarily proceeds to step 310. In step 310, the automatic selective modification device 100 determines whether a predefined activation duration associated with the detected predefined situation has elapsed since the predefined situation under consideration was detected. If so, step 312 is executed. If not, step 311 is executed.

[0041] In step 311, the automatic selective modification device 100 determines whether the flight condition associated with the predefined situation is still verified. If yes, the method returns to step 308. If not, the method returns to step 302. Thus, for the second category of predefined situations, if the crew has actuated the throttle lever 11 as deemed necessary in the predefined situation under consideration, and the flight condition is no longer verified, it is no longer necessary to automatically modify the position information of the throttle lever 11.

[0042] In step 312, the automatic selective modification device 100 modifies the information representing the current position of the throttle lever 11 received from the throttle lever 11 by replacing the current position of the throttle lever 11 with the expected predefined position of the throttle lever 11 under the detected predefined situation, and then transmits the modified information representing the predefined position to the control device 12.

[0043] The method then returns to step 302 .

[0044] Figure 4 An example of a hardware platform for implementing the automatic selective modification device 100 in the form of an electronic circuit system is schematically illustrated.

[0045] The hardware platform includes: a processor or CPU (Central Processing Unit) 401; a RAM (Random Access Memory) 402; a ROM (Read Only Memory) or EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) 403, such as a flash memory, a storage unit such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 404, or a storage medium reader such as an SD (Secure Digital) card reader; and an I / f interface manager 405, connected via a communication bus 410. The I / f interface manager 405 allows the automatic selective modification device 100 to interact with the throttle lever 11, the control device 12, and equipment on the aircraft A (such as sensors and avionics) in order to receive predefined parameter values.

[0046] The processor 401 can execute instructions loaded from the read-only memory 403, external memory, storage medium (such as SD card) or communication network into the random access memory 402. When the hardware platform is powered on, the processor 401 can read instructions from the RAM 402 and execute the instructions. These instructions form a computer program that enables the processor 401 to implement some or all of the steps, methods and operations described herein.

[0047] Therefore, all or some of the steps, methods and functions described herein may be implemented in software form by a set of instructions executed by a programmable machine (e.g., a DSP (digital signal processor) type processor or a microcontroller), or may be implemented in hardware form by a machine or a dedicated electronic component (chip) or a set of dedicated electronic components (chip set) (e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) component). In general, the automatic selective modification device 100 includes an electronic circuit system adapted and configured to implement the functions, methods and steps described herein.

Claims

1. A method for selectively and automatically modifying position information of a throttle lever (11) associated with an aircraft propulsion engine, the method being implemented by a device (100) configured to receive position information representing the current position of the throttle lever (11), the method being characterized in that it comprises the following steps: - determining (304) that a predefined situation from a list of predefined situations is encountered when a condition called a flight condition associated with said predefined situation is verified, wherein each predefined situation represents a flight situation in which it is considered necessary to actuate said throttle lever; - obtaining (306) for each predefined situation encountered a category associated with the predefined situation, wherein each predefined situation is associated with one of the predefined categories and each category represents a predefined driving situation, and obtaining (306) a predefined activation duration associated with the predefined situation encountered and an expected predefined position of the throttle lever (11) in the predefined situation encountered; - evaluating ( 308 ) a condition, called validity condition, associated with the obtained category; - when the flight conditions associated with the encountered predefined situation and the validity conditions of the category associated with said predefined situation are verified simultaneously for a duration at least equal to the obtained predefined activation duration, modifying (312) the received position information by replacing the current position of said throttle lever (11) with the obtained expected predefined position of said throttle lever (11); as well as - in the case of modification, sending the modified position information to the control device (12) for controlling the propulsion engine, otherwise sending the received position information to the control device (12) for controlling the propulsion engine.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The predefined categories include a first category having a validity condition verified when the crew member was previously declared unfit, and wherein an activation duration associated with each first category predefined situation is zero.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The predefined categories include a second category having a validity condition verified when the crew member has not been previously declared unfit, and the activation duration associated with each second category predefined situation depends on the predefined situation.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The predefined categories include a third category having a validity condition that is always verified, and the activation duration associated with each third category predefined scenario is zero.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The expected predefined position of the throttle lever (11) associated with at least one predefined situation from the list of predefined situations comprises a first predefined position and a second predefined position, and wherein modifying the received position information by replacing the current position of the throttle lever (11) with the obtained expected predefined position of the throttle lever (11) comprises: - performing a first modification of the position information by replacing the current position of the throttle stick with the first predefined position; and - after a predefined time associated with the predefined situation has elapsed, performing a second modification of the position information by replacing the current position of the throttle stick with the second predefined position.

6. A device (100) for selectively and automatically modifying position information of a throttle lever (11) of an aircraft propulsion engine, the automatic selective modification device (100) comprising an electronic circuit system, the electronic circuit system being configured to receive position information representing the current position of the throttle lever (11), the automatic selective modification device (100) being characterized in that it comprises an electronic circuit system configured to perform the following operations: - determining (304) that a predefined situation in a list of predefined situations is encountered when a condition called a flight condition associated with said predefined situation is verified, wherein each predefined situation represents a flight situation in which it is considered necessary to actuate said throttle lever; - obtaining (306) for each predefined situation encountered a category associated with the predefined situation, wherein each predefined situation is associated with one of the predefined categories and each category represents a predefined driving situation, and obtaining (306) a predefined activation duration associated with the predefined situation encountered and an expected predefined position of the throttle lever (11) in the predefined situation encountered; - evaluating ( 308 ) a condition, called validity condition, associated with the obtained category; - modifying (312) the received position information by replacing the current position of the throttle stick (11) with the obtained expected predefined position of the throttle stick (11), when the flight condition associated with the encountered predefined situation and the validity condition of the category associated with the predefined situation are verified simultaneously for a duration at least equal to the obtained predefined activation duration; and - in the case of modification, the modified position information is sent to the control device (12) for controlling the propulsion engine; otherwise, the received position information is sent to the control device (12) for controlling the propulsion engine.

7. An aircraft (A) comprising an automatic selective modification device (100) according to claim 6.

8. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor (301) to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 5.

9. A storage medium storing a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5.

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