Combined unmanned aerial vehicle automatic deicing system

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of ice prevention and removal, and relates to a combined unmanned aerial vehicle automatic deicing system. The system comprises a deicing controller, and an icing detection subsystem, an engine air inlet channel anti-icing subsystem and a wing empennage airbag deicing subsystem which are connected with the deicing controller, the icing detection subsystem is used for detecting whether the unmanned aerial vehicle is iced or not and the icing degree and outputting an icing signal; the deicing controller controls whether the engine air inlet channel anti-icing subsystem and the wing empennage air bag deicing subsystem work or not according to icing signals output by the icing detection subsystem.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of aircraft anti-icing and deicing systems, and in particular relates to a combined unmanned aerial vehicle automatic deicing system. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of UAV technology, its application in various complex environments is becoming more and more extensive. However, when flying in cold and icy weather conditions, the surface of the UAV, especially the key parts such as the engine, wings, and tail, is prone to ice formation, which will not only increase flight resistance and reduce flight performance, but may also seriously affect flight safety. Traditional UAV deicing methods mostly rely on manual spraying of anti-icing fluid or simple electric heating deicing, which has defects such as high energy consumption and unstable effect. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop a low-power, automated UAV deicing system. Summary of the invention

[0003] Purpose of the invention: In order to solve the problems mentioned in the background technology, the present invention proposes to provide a combined UAV automatic de-icing system, which integrates ice detection, engine inlet lip electric heating de-icing, tail airbag de-icing and intelligent control technologies to automatically and efficiently remove surface ice for the UAV when encountering an icing weather environment, thereby ensuring flight safety.

[0004] The technical solution of the present invention:

[0005] A combined automatic deicing system for unmanned aerial vehicles, comprising a deicing controller and an ice detection subsystem connected thereto, an engine air inlet anti-icing subsystem, and a wing and tail airbag deicing subsystem;

[0006] Advantages: The combined deicing method can not only ensure the deicing function of the system, but also save system energy consumption and reduce costs.

[0007] The icing detection subsystem is used to detect whether the drone is frozen and the degree of icing, and output an icing signal;

[0008] The de-icing controller controls whether the engine inlet anti-icing subsystem and the wing and tail airbag de-icing subsystem are working according to the icing signal output by the icing detection subsystem.

[0009] Advantages: The icing signal from the icing detector is used to automatically control the engine inlet anti-icing subsystem and the wing and tail airbag de-icing subsystem, which reduces the burden on ground staff and makes system control more efficient and intelligent.

[0010] Furthermore, the ice detection subsystem includes a first ice detector and a second ice detector, which are respectively installed on both sides of the UAV nose for real-time monitoring of the ice condition on the surface of the UAV; the ice detector 1 and the ice detector 2 are connected to the de-icing controller via a hard-wire signal.

[0011] Advantages: The first ice detector and the second ice detector are set to avoid failure of one of them and loss of de-icing capability of the system.

[0012] Furthermore, the engine inlet lip anti-icing subsystem includes a first engine inlet lip heating pad and a second engine inlet lip heating pad, which are respectively installed on the left and right engine inlet lip surfaces of the UAV, and the first engine inlet lip heating pad and the second engine inlet lip heating pad are connected to the de-icing controller via a hard-wire signal.

[0013] Advantages: The left and right engine air intake lips adopt an anti-icing strategy to ensure that the surface of the engine air intake lips will not be frozen.

[0014] Further, the wing and tail airbag deicing subsystem includes a deicing integrated valve, a wing deicing boot, and a tail deicing boot;

[0015] The wing de-icing boots and tail de-icing boots are respectively arranged on the leading edge of the wing and the leading edge of the tail;

[0016] The input end of the de-icing integrated valve is connected to the left and right engine bleed air through a pipeline;

[0017] The A outlet and B outlet of the de-icing integrated valve are connected to the wing de-icing boot and the tail de-icing boot respectively;

[0018] The de-icing controller outputs a de-icing control signal to the de-icing integrated valve to control the periodic opening and closing of the A outlet and the B outlet of the de-icing integrated valve to perform wing de-icing and tail de-icing.

[0019] Advantages: The controller periodically controls the opening and closing of the A and B outlets of the integrated valve, which reduces the system air source energy consumption while ensuring the de-icing function of the wing and tail.

[0020] Furthermore, the de-icing integrated valve also has an air pressure regulating function, which regulates the engine bleed air pressure in the range of 30-260psig to 19±2psig. The de-icing integrated valve is connected to the de-icing controller via a hard-wire signal.

[0021] Advantages: The air pressure regulation function ensures that the downstream wing de-icing boots and tail de-icing boots are not broken.

[0022] Further, the system also includes: a drain valve;

[0023] The drain valve is set at the lowest point of the internal pipeline of the wing and tail airbag de-icing subsystem;

[0024] A heating component is integrated inside the drain valve, and the drain valve is connected to the de-icing controller;

[0025] The drain valve and heating assembly are controlled by the de-icing controller. They are hard-wired to the controller.

[0026] Advantages: The drain valve removes condensed water from the system pipes to prevent the condensed water from freezing and affecting the system's de-icing function.

[0027] Furthermore, the icing signal is a frequency signal.

[0028] Further, the system works as follows:

[0029] When the icing signal is lower than the first threshold, the drain valve is opened, the engine air intake anti-icing subsystem is turned on, and an icing warning signal is sent to the ground control terminal;

[0030] When the icing signal decreases from below the first threshold to below the second threshold, the wing and tail airbag deicing subsystem is turned on, and the deicing controller controls the A outlet and the B outlet of the deicing integrated valve to be opened periodically and in turn;

[0031] When the icing signal returns to normal from below the first threshold and after a delay of T1, the icing detection subsystem stops outputting the icing warning signal; the drain valve, engine inlet anti-icing subsystem, and wing and tail airbag de-icing subsystem are closed after the icing warning signal disappears. T1 is set to 60s.

[0032] Furthermore, exits A and B are opened alternately for tenths of T1 time within T1 time. The order of exit opening is exit A first and exit B last. T1 is set to 60S.

[0033] Further, the controller controls the drain valve to be closed when any one of the outlets A and B of the control integration valve is opened. The controller controls the drain valve to be opened when both the outlets A and B of the control integration valve are closed.

[0034] Beneficial Effects

[0035] The characteristic of the present invention is that it realizes the de-icing of the engine air inlet, wings and tail of the UAV in an icing environment by integrating multiple technologies such as ice detection, electric thermal anti-icing and airbag de-icing. It has the characteristics of low energy consumption, comprehensive coverage, efficient automation and intelligent control. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] Figure 1 A block diagram of the principle of a combined UAV automatic deicing system;

[0037] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of electric heating of engine intake lip;

[0038] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of wing and tail airbag de-icing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] like Figure 1As shown, a combined UAV automatic deicing system includes an ice detection system, an engine inlet lip electric heating anti-icing system and a tail airbag deicing system and a deicing controller.

[0040] Among them, the ice detector system includes ice detector 1 and ice detector 2, which are installed on both sides of the UAV nose respectively, and are used to monitor the ice condition on the surface of the UAV in real time. Ice detector 1 and ice detector 2 are connected to the de-icing controller through hard-wired signals. The ice detector senses the ice thickness and converts it into a frequency signal and sends it to the de-icing controller. Under normal circumstances, the output frequency of the ice detector is (40000±50) Hz. When encountering icing weather conditions, the output frequency of the ice detection will decrease as the ice thickness increases. When the de-icing controller detects that the frequency drops to 39800Hz, it sends an ice alarm signal to the avionics system through the 429 bus. When the de-icing controller detects that the frequency drops to 39600Hz, it outputs a heating control signal to ice detector 1 and ice detector 2 to remove the ice on the surface of the ice detector probe so that it has continuous detection capability. When the UAV flies out of the icing weather conditions, the output frequency of ice detector 1 and ice detector 2 returns to (40000±50)Hz, and the de-icing controller stops sending ice warning signals to the avionics system after a delay of 60s.

[0041] The engine inlet lip electric heating anti-icing system includes an engine inlet lip heating pad 1 and an engine inlet lip heating pad 2, which are respectively installed on the surface of the left and right engine inlet lips of the UAV. The engine inlet lip structure is complex in appearance and small in size. Considering that the broken ice may be swallowed by the engine after de-icing, the strategy adopted here is the anti-icing strategy, that is, to ensure that there is no ice on the surface of the engine inlet lip. The engine inlet lip heating pad 1 and the engine inlet lip heating pad 2 are connected to the de-icing controller through a hard-wired signal. When the de-icing controller detects that the frequency drops to 39800Hz, it automatically sends an icing alarm signal to the avionics system through the 429 bus, and immediately sends a heating control signal to the engine inlet lip heating pad 1 and the engine inlet lip heating pad 2, turning on the engine inlet lip anti-icing, and cutting off the heating of the engine inlet lip heating pad 1 and the engine inlet lip heating pad 2 until the icing alarm signal disappears.

[0042] The de-icing system for the wing and tail airbags includes a de-icing integrated valve, a drain valve, a wing de-icing boot, and a tail de-icing boot. The de-icing integrated valve is installed inside the wing and includes an inlet and two outlets (outlet A and outlet B). The inlet is connected to the engine bleed air through a pipeline, and the two outlets are connected to the wing de-icing boot and the tail de-icing boot respectively. The de-icing integrated valve has the function of regulating the engine bleed air, and can adjust the engine bleed air pressure in the range of 30-260psig to 19±2psig, and deliver it to the wing de-icing boot and the tail de-icing boot. The de-icing integrated valve is connected to the de-icing controller through a hard-wired signal. When the de-icing controller detects that the frequency drops to 39600Hz, it automatically outputs a de-icing control signal to the de-icing integrated valve. The A outlet and B outlet of the de-icing integrated valve will be periodically opened and closed to de-ice the wings and tail. The wing de-icing sleeve is installed on the leading edge of the UAV wing and is connected to the outlet of the de-icing integrated valve A through a pipeline. When the outlet of the de-icing integrated valve A is periodically opened and closed, the wing de-icing sleeve will expand and contract periodically accordingly, so that the ice layer on the wing surface is broken and blown away under the action of the airflow, thus achieving wing de-icing. The tail de-icing sleeve is installed on the leading edge of the UAV tail wing and is connected to the outlet of the de-icing integrated valve B through a pipeline. When the outlet of the de-icing integrated valve B is periodically opened and closed, the tail de-icing sleeve will expand and contract periodically accordingly, so that the ice layer on the tail surface is broken and blown away under the action of the airflow, thus achieving tail de-icing. The drain valve is installed downstream of the pipeline. When the pressure in the pipeline is lower than a certain value, it will automatically open to discharge the condensed water in the system. The drain valve is connected to the de-icing controller through a hard-wired signal. When the de-icing controller detects that the frequency drops to 39800Hz, it automatically sends a heating control signal to the drain valve to prevent the drain valve from being blocked by ice and unable to drain.

[0043] The de-icing controller is installed in the equipment cabin of the UAV, and is connected to the ice detection system, the engine inlet lip electric heating anti-icing system, and the tail airbag de-icing system through hard-wired signals, and is connected to the UAV avionics system through 429 bus signals. The de-icing controller receives and analyzes the ice warning signal from the ice detector. When:

[0044] 1) When the de-icing controller detects that the frequency of either ice detector 1 or ice detector 2 drops to 39800 Hz, it automatically sends an ice warning signal to the avionics system through the 429 bus.

[0045] 2) The frequencies of ice detector 1 and ice detector 2 return to (40000±50) Hz, and the de-icing controller stops sending ice warning signals to the avionics system after a delay of 60 seconds.

[0046] 3) When the de-icing controller detects that the frequency of either ice detector 1 or ice detector 2 drops to 39800 Hz, it immediately sends a heating control signal to the engine inlet lip heating pad 1 and the engine inlet lip heating pad 2 to start the engine inlet lip anti-icing, and cuts off the heating of the engine inlet lip heating pad 1 and the engine inlet lip heating pad 2 until the ice alarm signal disappears.

[0047] 4) When the de-icing controller detects that the frequency of either the de-icing detector 1 or the de-icing detector 2 drops to 39600Hz, it automatically outputs a de-icing control signal to the de-icing integrated valve, and the A and B outlets of the de-icing integrated valve will be periodically opened and closed to de-ice the wings and tail. When either the A or B outlet of the de-icing integrated valve is opened, the controller controls the drain valve to close. When both the A and B outlets of the de-icing integrated valve are closed, the controller controls the drain valve to open for drainage.

[0048] 5) When the de-icing controller detects that the frequency of either ice detector 1 or ice detector 2 drops to 39800 Hz, it automatically sends a heating control signal to the drain valve to prevent the drain valve from being blocked by ice and unable to drain water.

Claims

1. A combined UAV automatic deicing system, characterized in that: The system includes a de-icing controller and an ice detection subsystem connected thereto, an engine air inlet anti-icing subsystem, and a wing and tail airbag de-icing subsystem; The icing detection subsystem is used to detect whether the drone is frozen and the degree of icing, and output an icing signal; The de-icing controller controls whether the engine inlet anti-icing subsystem and the wing and tail airbag de-icing subsystem are working according to the icing signal output by the icing detection subsystem.

2. The combined unmanned aerial vehicle automatic deicing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ice detection subsystem includes a first ice detector and a second ice detector, which are respectively installed on both sides of the UAV nose and are used to monitor the ice conditions on the surface of the UAV in real time; the first ice detector and the second ice detector are connected to the de-icing controller through hard-wire signals.

3. The combined unmanned aerial vehicle automatic deicing system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The engine inlet anti-icing subsystem includes a first engine inlet lip heating pad and a second engine inlet lip heating pad, which are respectively installed on the surfaces of the left and right engine inlet lip of the UAV. The first engine inlet lip heating pad and the second engine inlet lip heating pad are connected to the de-icing controller through a hard-wire signal.

4. The combined unmanned aerial vehicle automatic deicing system according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The wing and tail airbag deicing subsystem includes a deicing integrated valve, wing deicing boots, and tail deicing boots; The wing de-icing boots and tail de-icing boots are respectively arranged on the leading edge of the wing and the leading edge of the tail; The input end of the de-icing integrated valve is connected to the left and right engine bleed air through a pipeline; The A outlet and B outlet of the de-icing integrated valve are connected to the wing de-icing boot and the tail de-icing boot respectively; The de-icing controller outputs a de-icing control signal to the de-icing integrated valve to control the periodic opening and closing of the A outlet and the B outlet of the de-icing integrated valve to perform wing de-icing and tail de-icing.

5. The combined UAV automatic deicing system according to claim 4 is characterized in that: The de-icing integrated valve also has an air pressure regulation function, which can adjust the engine bleed air pressure in the range of 30 to 260 psig to 19 ± 2 psig. The de-icing integrated valve is connected to the de-icing controller via a hard-wire signal.

6. The combined UAV automatic deicing system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The system further comprises: a drain valve; The drain valve is set at the lowest point of the internal pipeline of the wing and tail airbag de-icing subsystem; A heating component is integrated inside the drain valve, and the drain valve is connected to the de-icing controller; The drain valve and heating assembly are controlled by the de-icing controller and are hard-wired to the controller.

7. The combined UAV automatic deicing system according to claim 6 is characterized by: The icing signal is a frequency signal.

8. The combined UAV automatic deicing system according to claim 7 is characterized by: The working process is as follows: When the icing signal is lower than the first threshold, the drain valve is opened, the engine air intake anti-icing subsystem is turned on, and an icing warning signal is sent to the ground control terminal; When the icing signal decreases from below the first threshold to below the second threshold, the wing and tail airbag deicing subsystem is turned on, and the deicing controller controls the A outlet and the B outlet of the deicing integrated valve to be opened periodically and in turn; When the icing signal recovers from below the first threshold to the normal state and after a delay of T1, the icing detection subsystem stops outputting the icing warning signal; the drain valve, engine inlet anti-icing subsystem, and wing and tail airbag de-icing subsystem are closed after the icing warning signal disappears.

9. The combined UAV automatic deicing system according to claim 8, characterized in that: Exit A and Exit B are opened alternately within T1 for tenth of T1 time.

10. The combined UAV automatic deicing system according to claim 8, characterized in that: When the controller controls any one of the A outlet and the B outlet of the integrated valve to be opened, the controller controls the drain valve to be closed; when the controller controls the A outlet and the B outlet of the integrated valve to be closed at the same time, the controller controls the drain valve to be opened.

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