General distributed electric propulsion system control method

Abstract

The invention discloses a general distributed electric propulsion system control method. The method comprises the steps that 1, a system control unit collects state parameters of a driver operating a throttle lever, an operating lever and a flight operating pedal through sensors; receiving a control instruction of flight control through communication; reading system state information of the distributed electric propulsion system through a sensor and communication; step 2, the system control unit carries out comprehensive calculation according to the collected state parameters and control instructions to generate control instructions of each propulsion motor, and the control instructions of each propulsion motor comprise starting, stopping, propeller locking and target rotating speed instructions of NB propulsion motors; each propulsion motor control instruction is processed by the system control unit to generate a CAN communication instruction and PWM signal instructions with different frequencies; step 3, the system control unit sends each propulsion motor control instruction to a corresponding NB-path propulsion motor controller in a dissimilar dual-redundancy form; and step 4, the NB propulsion motor controllers receive respective propulsion motor control instructions in a non-similar dual-redundancy form. According to the technical scheme, the problem that the research and development cost of the distributed electric propulsion aircraft is increased due to the fact that existing research on the distributed electric propulsion aircraft mainly aims at various eVTOL aircrafts and the specific scheme provides a distributed electric propulsion control mode for one aircraft type is solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to, but is not limited to, the technical field of power systems for distributed electric propulsion aircraft, and in particular to a universal distributed electric propulsion system control method. Background Art

[0002] Due to the continued growth of air transport, aviation emissions of carbon oxides, nitrogen oxides, and noise have been increasing for a long time. To achieve my country's climate goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, new propulsion methods are needed. The adoption of electric propulsion technology can significantly reduce carbon oxides, nitrogen oxides, and noise emissions, promoting the goal of green environmental protection. Furthermore, the use of electric propulsion technology can improve energy efficiency and enhance flight economy.

[0003] Currently, turbofan engines utilize only about 40% of their fuel energy, while electric propulsion systems can utilize over 70% of their electrical energy. This means that electric propulsion technology has the potential to improve the overall efficiency of the system, reducing fuel consumption and, in turn, improving flight economy. Furthermore, thanks to its "scale-independence" nature (when a high-power electric motor is broken down into several smaller ones, the power density and efficiency of the entire system remain essentially unchanged), distributed electric propulsion power systems can integrate the aircraft's power system into the aircraft's aerodynamic layout, achieving an optimal fusion of aerodynamics, structure, and power to reduce weight and drag, thereby improving overall aircraft efficiency.

[0004] Currently, research on distributed electric propulsion aircraft mainly focuses on various types of eVTOL aircraft, with more attention paid to the overall design of the aircraft and less research on the control of the electric propulsion system. Usually, a distributed electric propulsion control form is provided for a certain type of aircraft, which leads to the problem of increased R&D costs for distributed electric propulsion aircraft. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Purpose of the present invention: In order to solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a universal distributed electric propulsion system control method to solve the problem that the existing research on distributed electric propulsion aircraft mainly focuses on various types of eVTOL aircraft, and the specific solution is to provide a distributed electric propulsion control form for one type of aircraft, which leads to increased research and development costs for distributed electric propulsion aircraft.

[0006] The technical solution of the present invention: The embodiment of the present invention provides a general distributed electric propulsion system control method, the general distributed electric propulsion system includes a distribution box and a system control unit electrically connected, N connected to the distribution box and the system control unit respectively A Power batteries and N B propulsion motor controllers, and N B The propulsion motor controllers are connected to N B propulsion motors, and NB The corresponding N connected propulsion motors B A propeller; the control method includes:

[0007] Step 1: The system control unit collects the state parameters of the pilot's throttle lever, joystick, and flight control pedals through sensors; receives control instructions from the flight control system through communication; and reads the system state information of the distributed electric propulsion system through sensors and communication;

[0008] Step 2: The system control unit performs comprehensive calculation based on the collected state parameters and control instructions to generate control instructions for each propulsion motor. Each propulsion motor control instruction includes N B Start, stop, lock and target speed instructions for each propulsion motor; each propulsion motor control instruction is processed by the system control unit to generate CAN communication instructions and PWM signal instructions of different frequencies;

[0009] Step 3: The system control unit sends the control instructions of each propulsion motor to the corresponding N in a non-similar dual redundant form. B Road propulsion motor controller;

[0010] Step 4, N B Each propulsion motor controller receives its own propulsion motor control instructions in a non-similar dual redundant form;

[0011] The non-similar dual-redundancy forms in step three and step four include a CAN communication form and an analog quantity acquisition form.

[0012] Optionally, in the general distributed electric propulsion system control method as described above,

[0013] The step three specifically includes:

[0014] On the one hand, the system control unit sends the control instructions of each propulsion motor to the corresponding N B On the other hand, the system control unit converts the different frequency PWM signal instructions corresponding to different propulsion motor control instructions into corresponding current signals and outputs them to the corresponding N B Road propulsion motor controller;

[0015] The fourth step specifically includes:

[0016] On the one hand, N B Each propulsion motor controller receives its own propulsion motor control instructions through the CAN communication network. On the other hand, N B Each propulsion motor controller collects current signals corresponding to different target speeds through conditioning circuits and AD sampling circuits, and calculates them into its own propulsion motor control instructions.

[0017] Optionally, in the general distributed electric propulsion system control method as described above,

[0018] Under normal circumstances, the distributed electric propulsion system adopts the propulsion motor control instructions received through CAN communication. When the propulsion control instructions cannot be received through CAN communication or the propulsion control instructions received through CAN communication are incorrect, the propulsion motor control instructions obtained through analog sampling calculation are adopted.

[0019] Optionally, in the general distributed electric propulsion system control method described above, the system control unit is connected to the 28V power supply, flight control, throttle stick, joystick, flight control pedals, and propulsion motor controller respectively;

[0020] The system control unit is configured to be powered by an external 28V power supply;

[0021] The flight control system and the system control unit are connected through a communication line. The information sent by the flight control system to the system control unit includes: start, stop, propeller lock commands, target speed instructions, fault injection instructions, and status parameter query instructions of each propulsion motor controller; the information sent by the system control unit to the flight control system includes: fault status, voltage, current, contactor status, and battery pack SOC of each component in the distributed electric propulsion system.

[0022] Optionally, in the general distributed electric propulsion system control method described above, when the propulsion motor control instruction is a propulsion motor target speed control instruction, step 2 includes:

[0023] The position information of the throttle stick, joystick, and flight control pedals is collected by sensors and sent to the system control unit. After passing through the conditioning circuit and sampling circuit inside the system control unit, it enters the core control chip of the system control unit. The core control chip calculates the position information of each joystick to form N B A propulsion motor target speed control command.

[0024] Optionally, in the general distributed electric propulsion system control method described above, the propulsion motor control instruction is a propulsion motor speed control instruction, and the aircraft is a fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft, and the propellers are symmetrically arranged on the wings, and the step 2 includes:

[0025] S21, based on the information from the throttle lever sensor, the system control unit processes the aircraft's power demand and then generates N B The target speed control instruction of the propulsion motor is speed1. in Indicates N B target speed of each propulsion motor;

[0026] S22, the sensor collects the flight control pedal position information and sends it to the system control unit, which calculates the flight control pedal position information and the aircraft's yaw requirement to generate N B The target speed control instruction of the propulsion motor is speed2. in Indicates N B target yaw speed for each propulsion motor;

[0027] S23, determining a target speed instruction to be sent to each propulsion motor controller based on whether the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft needs to adjust its yaw attitude.

[0028] Optionally, in the general distributed electric propulsion system control method described above, S23 includes:

[0029] When the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft needs to adjust the yaw attitude, speed1+speed2 is sent to the propulsion motor controller as the target speed instruction of the propulsion motor controller;

[0030] When the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft does not need to adjust the yaw attitude, speed1 is used as the target speed instruction of the propulsion motor controller and sent to the propulsion motor controller.

[0031] Optionally, in the general distributed electric propulsion system control method described above, the propulsion motor control instruction is a propulsion motor target speed control instruction, and the aircraft is an eVTOL aircraft other than a multi-rotor aircraft, wherein the two propellers are symmetrically arranged at the tail of the aircraft, and the thrust direction is consistent with the flight direction, and N B - The two propellers are arranged symmetrically along the fuselage centerline and the wing centerline, i.e. and For thrust propellers, For lift thrusters.

[0032] Optionally, in the general distributed electric propulsion system control method described above, step 2 includes:

[0033] SS21, the sensor collects the joystick information and sends it to the system control unit. The system control unit determines the aircraft's ascent power requirement according to the control law and generates N accordingly. B The target speed control instruction of the propulsion motor is speed3. in Indicates N B The target lift speed of each propulsion motor;

[0034] SS22, the sensor collects the throttle lever information and sends it to the system control unit. The system control unit determines the aircraft's level flight power requirement based on the control law and generates N accordingly. B The target speed control instruction of the propulsion motor is speed4. in Indicates N B The target thrust speed of each propulsion motor;

[0035] SS23, the sensor collects the flight control pedal information and sends it to the system control unit. The system control unit calculates the flight control pedal position information according to the control law, calculates the aircraft's yaw requirement, and then generates N B The target speed control instruction of the propulsion motor is speed5. in Indicates N B target yaw speed for each propulsion motor;

[0036] SS24, by judging the flight phase of the eVTOL aircraft, the system control unit calculates N according to the control law B The propulsion motor target speed of each propulsion motor is determined and sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller.

[0037] Optionally, in the general distributed electric propulsion system control method described above, the flight phases of the eVTOL aircraft include: vertical take-off phase, climb phase, cruise phase, descent phase, and landing phase; and the SS24 includes:

[0038] When it is determined that the eVTOL aircraft is in the vertical take-off or landing phase, As N B The target speed instruction of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller;

[0039] When it is determined that the eVTOL aircraft is in the climbing or descending phase, As N B The target speed instruction of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller;

[0040] When it is determined that the eVTOL aircraft is in the cruising phase, As N B The target speed instruction of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller;

[0041] In the process of generating the target speed command in the above five flight phases, when the aircraft needs to adjust the aircraft yaw attitude through the propeller, the speed5 is superimposed on the synthetic target speed as N B The target speed command of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller.

[0042] Beneficial effects of the present invention: The embodiment of the present invention provides a universal distributed electric propulsion system control method, which provides a universal control method for a universal distributed electric propulsion system, including: a system control unit collects state parameters of the driver's operation of the throttle lever, joystick, and flight control pedals through sensors; receives control instructions of the flight control through communication; reads system state information of the distributed electric propulsion system through sensors and communication; in step 2, the system control unit performs comprehensive calculations based on the collected state parameters and control instructions to generate control instructions for each propulsion motor, and each propulsion motor control instruction includes N B The start, stop, lock and target speed instructions of each propulsion motor are generated by the system control unit to generate CAN communication instructions and PWM signal instructions of different frequencies; Step 3, the system control unit sends the control instructions of each propulsion motor to the corresponding N in a non-similar dual redundant form. B Road propulsion motor controller; Step 4, N B Each propulsion motor controller receives its own propulsion motor control instruction through a non-similar dual-redundant form; it is particularly noted that the non-similar dual-redundant form in the above steps 3 and 4 in the technical solution of the present invention includes a CAN communication form and an analog quantity acquisition form. In addition, the technical solution provided by the present invention specifically proposes that when the propulsion motor control instruction is a propulsion motor target speed control instruction, N propulsion motors are generated for different types of distributed electric propulsion aircraft (i.e., fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft, and eVTOL aircraft other than multi-rotor aircraft). B The specific process of issuing a target speed control command for each propulsion motor further illustrates the versatility of the general control method provided by the present invention. Clearly, the control method provided by the embodiments of the present invention addresses the problem that existing research on distributed electric propulsion aircraft primarily focuses on various types of eVTOL aircraft, with specific solutions providing a distributed electric propulsion control form for a single aircraft type, which results in increased R&D costs for distributed electric propulsion aircraft. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the technical solution of the present invention and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present application, they are used to explain the technical solution of the present invention and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solution of the present invention.

[0044] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the external interface interconnection relationship of a system control unit in a distributed electric propulsion system in a general distributed electric propulsion system control method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of communication control of a propulsion motor controller in a distributed electric propulsion system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 3 The system control unit generates N in the embodiment of the present invention. B analog signal, and with N B A schematic diagram of the electrical connection between the road propulsion motor controller;

[0047] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the conversion process of the propulsion motor target speed command from generation by the system control unit to reception by the propulsion motor control unit in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0048] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the layout of propellers on the wings of a fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0049] Figure 6 This is a flow chart of generating a target speed command for a propulsion motor of a fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0050] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the layout of the propellers on the wings of the eVTOL aircraft in Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0051] Figure 8 This is a flow chart for generating a target speed command for the propulsion motor of an eVTOL aircraft in Embodiment 2 of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] To make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, unless there is a conflict, the embodiments and features in the embodiments of the present application can be combined with each other in any manner.

[0053] The aforementioned background technology demonstrates the crucial role of electric propulsion technology in reducing carbon oxides, nitrogen oxides, and noise emissions. Distributed electric propulsion systems can be integrated into the aircraft's aerodynamic layout, achieving an optimal fusion of aerodynamics, structure, and power to reduce weight and drag, thereby improving overall aircraft efficiency.

[0054] However, existing research on distributed electric propulsion aircraft mainly focuses on various types of eVTOL aircraft, and the specific plan is to provide a distributed electric propulsion control form for one type of aircraft, which leads to the problem of increased R&D costs for distributed electric propulsion aircraft.

[0055] In order to solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a universal distributed electric propulsion system control method, which has general applicability regardless of whether it is a light fixed-wing electric propulsion aircraft or an eVTOL aircraft.

[0056] The present invention provides the following specific embodiments that can be combined with each other. The same or similar concepts or processes may not be described in detail in some embodiments.

[0057] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the external interface interconnection relationship of a system control unit in a distributed electric propulsion system in a general distributed electric propulsion system control method provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0058] Whether it is a light fixed-wing electric propulsion aircraft or an eVTOL aircraft, a typical distributed electric propulsion system consists of: A Power battery, 1 power distribution box, 1 system control unit, N B propulsion motor controllers, N B propulsion motors and N B propeller or ducted fan; In the following embodiments of the present invention, N B Even numbers are explained.

[0059] The general distributed electric propulsion system control method provided by an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

[0060] Step 1: The system control unit collects the state parameters of the pilot's throttle lever, joystick, and flight control pedals through sensors; receives control instructions from the flight control system through communication; and reads the system state information of the distributed electric propulsion system through sensors and communication;

[0061] Step 2: The system control unit performs comprehensive calculations based on the collected state parameters and control instructions to generate control instructions for each propulsion motor. Each propulsion motor control instruction mainly includes N B Start, stop, lock and target speed instructions for each propulsion motor; each propulsion motor control instruction is processed by the system control unit to generate CAN communication instructions and PWM signal instructions of different frequencies;

[0062] Step 3: The system control unit sends the control instructions of each propulsion motor to the corresponding N in a non-similar dual redundant form. B Road propulsion motor controller;

[0063] Step 4, N B Each propulsion motor controller receives its own propulsion motor control instructions in a non-similar dual redundant form;

[0064] It should be noted that the non-similar dual redundancy forms in the above steps 3 and 4 in the embodiment of the present invention include CAN communication form and analog quantity acquisition form. The non-similar dual redundancy forms used in the above steps 3 and 4 are described below.

[0065] The non-similar dual redundancy forms used in step 3 above include:

[0066] On the one hand, based on the system control unit and N B The propulsion motor controllers form a CAN communication network. The communication network is as follows: Figure 2 The figure shows the communication control diagram of the propulsion motor controller in the distributed electric propulsion system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The system control unit sends the control instructions of each propulsion motor to the corresponding N B Road propulsion motor controller,

[0067] On the other hand, the system control unit is respectively connected to N B The propulsion motor controller is electrically connected to the Figure 3 As shown, the system control unit generates N in the embodiment of the present invention. B analog signal, and with N B The system control unit adjusts the different frequency PWM signal instructions corresponding to different propulsion motor control instructions into corresponding current signals, which are the control instructions for each propulsion motor, and sends each propulsion motor control instruction to the corresponding N B The conversion process from the system control unit to the propulsion motor controller is as follows: Figure 4 , which is a schematic diagram of the conversion process of the propulsion motor target speed instruction from being generated by the system control unit to being received by the propulsion motor control in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0068] Accordingly, the non-similar dual redundancy forms adopted in the above step 4 include:

[0069] On the one hand, N B Each propulsion motor controller receives its own propulsion motor control instructions through the CAN communication network. On the other hand, N B Each propulsion motor controller collects current signals corresponding to different target speeds through conditioning circuits and AD sampling circuits, and calculates them into its own propulsion motor control instructions.

[0070] It should be noted that under normal circumstances, the distributed electric propulsion system's propulsion motor controller uses propulsion motor control commands received via CAN communication. If CAN communication fails or the received propulsion control commands are incorrect, the propulsion motor controller uses propulsion motor control commands calculated through analog sampling. This method of control achieves dual-redundancy propulsion motor control.

[0071] In one implementation of the present invention, the main functions of the system control unit are to collect joystick signals from the aircraft pilot, receive control instructions from the flight control, collect system status information of the distributed electric propulsion system, and perform power supply control, fault protection, propulsion motor control, and status information reporting of the distributed electric propulsion system. This embodiment of the present invention designs an implementation scheme of the system control unit, such as Figure 1 As shown in the figure, the relationship between the external interfaces of the system control unit is also illustrated; the relationship between each interface is described in detail below.

[0072] The system control unit is powered by an external 28V power supply, which converts the 28V power supply into different voltage systems such as 3.3V and 5V to power the peripheral circuits and core board of the system control unit.

[0073] The flight control system and the system control unit are connected via a communication line. Information sent by the flight control system to the system control unit includes, but is not limited to, start, stop, and lock commands for each propulsion motor controller, target speed commands, fault injection commands, and status parameter query commands. Information sent by the system control unit to the flight control system includes, but is not limited to, the fault status of each component in the distributed electric propulsion system, voltage, current, contactor status, and battery pack SOC.

[0074] In one implementation of the embodiment of the present invention, when the propulsion motor control instruction is a propulsion motor target speed control instruction, the above step 2 includes:

[0075] The position information of the throttle stick, joystick, and flight control pedals is collected by sensors and sent to the system control unit. After passing through the conditioning circuit and sampling circuit inside the system control unit, it enters the core control chip of the system control unit. The core control chip calculates the position information of each joystick to form N B A propulsion motor target speed control command.

[0076] It should be noted that for different types of distributed electric propulsion aircraft, the process of generating the propulsion motor target speed control command and the association with the sensor information of the joystick are different. The following describes the process of generating the target speed control command for different types of distributed electric propulsion aircraft:

[0077] Implementation 1:

[0078] The propulsion motor control command is a propulsion motor speed control command, and the aircraft is a fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft. The main function of the propeller (propeller / ducted fan) of the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft is to control the flight speed. In addition, it also has the function of adjusting the flight yaw attitude, and each propeller is symmetrically arranged on the wing. Figure 5 As shown in FIG. 1 , it is a schematic diagram of the layout relationship of the propellers on the wings of the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft in embodiment 1 of the present invention. Figure 6 As shown, it is a flow chart of generating the target speed instruction of the propulsion motor of the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

[0079] like Figure 6 As shown in FIG, for a fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft, the process of generating propulsion motor control instructions includes:

[0080] S21, according to the throttle stick sensor information, through the system control unit's internal conditioning circuit and sampling circuit into the system control unit's internal core control chip, the core control chip processes to generate the aircraft's power demand, and then generates N B The target speed control instruction of the propulsion motor is speed1;

[0081] It should be noted that speed1 in this step is a B An array of elements, in Indicates N B The target speed of the propulsion motor; it should be noted that same.

[0082] S22, the sensor collects the flight control pedal position information and sends it to the system control unit. After passing through the system control unit's internal conditioning circuit and sampling circuit, it enters the system control unit's core control chip. The core control chip calculates the flight control pedal position information and the aircraft's yaw requirement, and then generates N B The target speed control instruction of the propulsion motor is speed2.

[0083] It should be noted that speed2 in this step is also a B An array of elements, in Indicates N B The target yaw speed for each propulsion motor.

[0084] The flow chart of the final propulsion motor speed control instruction is formed by the above two control instructions speed1 and speed2 as shown below Figure 6 shown.

[0085] In step S23, based on whether the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft needs to adjust its yaw attitude, the process of determining the target speed command to be sent to each propulsion motor controller is as follows:

[0086] If the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft needs to adjust its yaw attitude, speed1+speed2 is sent to the propulsion motor controller as the target speed instruction;

[0087] If the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft does not need to adjust the yaw attitude, speed1 is used as the target speed instruction of the propulsion motor controller and sent to the propulsion motor controller.

[0088] Implementation 2:

[0089] The propulsion motor control command is a propulsion motor speed control command, and the aircraft is an eVTOL aircraft other than a multi-rotor aircraft. The main function of the propeller / ducted fan of the eVTOL aircraft is to control the flight speed and flight altitude. In addition, it may also have the function of adjusting the flight yaw attitude, such as Figure 7 As shown in the figure, it is a schematic diagram of the layout relationship of the propellers on the wings of the eVTOL aircraft in the second embodiment of the present invention, wherein two propellers are symmetrically arranged at the tail of the aircraft, and the thrust direction is consistent with the flight direction. In addition, N B - Two propellers are arranged symmetrically along the fuselage centerline and the wing centerline; Figure 7 The shown one has N B Road propulsor eVTOL aircraft, which and For thrust propellers, For lift thrusters, such as Figure 8 As shown, it is a flow chart of generating the target speed instruction of the propulsion motor of the eVTOL aircraft in embodiment 2 of the present invention.

[0090] like Figure 8 As shown in Figure 2, for an eVTOL aircraft, the process of generating propulsion motor control commands includes:

[0091] SS21, the sensor collects the joystick information and sends it to the system control unit. After the conditioning circuit and sampling circuit inside the system control unit, it enters the core control chip of the system control unit. The core control chip determines the aircraft's ascent power requirement according to the control law and generates N accordingly. B The target speed control instruction of the propulsion motor is speed3;

[0092] The speed3 in this step is also a B An array of elements; in 0,0 means N B The target lift speed of each propulsion motor; it should be noted that The same in value.

[0093] SS22, the sensor collects the throttle lever information and sends it to the system control unit. After the internal conditioning circuit and sampling circuit of the system control unit, it enters the core control chip of the system control unit. The core control chip determines the power requirement of the aircraft in level flight according to the control law and generates N accordingly. BThe target speed control instruction of the propulsion motor is speed4;

[0094] The speed4 in this step is also a B An array of elements; in Indicates N B The target thrust speed of each propulsion motor; it should be noted that The same in value.

[0095] SS23, the sensor collects the flight control pedal information and sends it to the system control unit. After the internal conditioning circuit and sampling circuit of the system control unit, it enters the core control chip of the system control unit. The core control chip calculates the flight control pedal position information according to the control law, calculates the aircraft's yaw requirement, and then generates N B The target speed control instruction of the propulsion motor is speed5;

[0096] The speed5 in this step is also a B An array of elements; in Indicates N B The target yaw speed of each propulsion motor; it should be noted that the difference from the above SS22 is: Different in value.

[0097] SS24, by judging the flight phase of the eVTOL aircraft, the system control unit calculates N according to the control law B The propulsion motor target speed of each propulsion motor is determined and sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller.

[0098] like Figure 7 As shown in Figure 1, the typical flight profile of an eVTOL aircraft is: vertical takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, and landing. The implementation process of the propulsion motor speed control instructions in different flight phases is detailed as follows:

[0099] 1) Vertical take-off phase: As N B The target speed command of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller.

[0100] 2) Climbing stage: As N B The target speed command of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller.

[0101] 3) Cruise phase: As N B The target speed command of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller.

[0102] 4) Descending phase: Same as the climbing phase.

[0103] 5) Landing phase: Same as vertical takeoff phase.

[0104] During the above five flight phases, when the aircraft needs to adjust the yaw attitude through the propeller, the above synthetic target speed (speed3, speed3+speed4, speed4) is added with speed5 as N. B The target speed command of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller.

[0105] The embodiment of the present invention provides a universal distributed electric propulsion system control method, which provides a universal control method for a universal distributed electric propulsion system, including: a system control unit collects state parameters of the driver's operation of the throttle lever, joystick, and flight control pedals through sensors; receives control instructions of the flight control through communication; reads system state information of the distributed electric propulsion system through sensors and communication; in step 2, the system control unit performs comprehensive calculations based on the collected state parameters and control instructions to generate control instructions for each propulsion motor, and each propulsion motor control instruction includes N B The start, stop, lock and target speed instructions of each propulsion motor are generated by the system control unit to generate CAN communication instructions and PWM signal instructions of different frequencies; Step 3, the system control unit sends the control instructions of each propulsion motor to the corresponding N in a non-similar dual redundant form. B Road propulsion motor controller; Step 4, N B Each propulsion motor controller receives its own propulsion motor control instruction through a non-similar dual-redundant form; it is particularly noted that the non-similar dual-redundant form in the above steps 3 and 4 in the technical solution of the present invention includes a CAN communication form and an analog quantity acquisition form. In addition, the technical solution provided by the present invention specifically proposes that when the propulsion motor control instruction is a propulsion motor target speed control instruction, N propulsion motors are generated for different types of distributed electric propulsion aircraft (i.e., fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft, and eVTOL aircraft other than multi-rotor aircraft). B The specific process of issuing a target speed control command for each propulsion motor further illustrates the versatility of the general control method provided by the present invention. Clearly, the control method provided by the embodiments of the present invention addresses the problem that existing research on distributed electric propulsion aircraft primarily focuses on various types of eVTOL aircraft, with specific solutions providing a distributed electric propulsion control form for a single aircraft type, which results in increased R&D costs for distributed electric propulsion aircraft.

[0106] The specific implementation of the embodiment of the present invention is described as follows:

[0107] In an embodiment of the present invention, the power battery is composed of battery cells and BMS, which provides power for the entire distributed electric propulsion system. The distribution box is composed of contactors, intelligent contactors, solid-state power controllers, fuses, bus bars, current sensors, voltage sensors, etc., which distribute the power of the power battery to the various propulsion motor controllers. The system control unit receives the joystick signals and flight control instructions from the aircraft pilot, collects the state parameters of the electric propulsion system, and completes the functions of system power supply control, fault protection, system information reporting, propulsion motor control, etc. The propulsion motor controller inverts the high-voltage direct current from the distribution box into three-phase alternating current, drives the propulsion motor to rotate, and completes the fault protection of the propulsion motor and the propulsion motor controller. The propulsion motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy to drive the propeller or ducted fan. The propeller or ducted fan generates thrust / thrust / lift.

[0108] Each battery pack collects its own output voltage and current through the voltage sensor and current sensor, and sends the sensor output signal to the system control unit, which conditions and samples it to obtain N A The output voltage and current of each battery pack are used for battery and system fault protection. A The batteries and system control unit form a CAN communication network, N A Each battery pack reports its own status information to the system control unit through CAN communication. The status information includes but is not limited to: battery pack SOC, temperature, voltage, current, etc.

[0109] The coil control signals of all contactors / intelligent contactors in the distribution box come from the system control unit, and the contactor status is fed back to the system control unit through auxiliary contacts; the power supply, communication and digital control signals of the solid-state power controller also come from the system control unit, and the solid-state power controller status is fed back to the system control unit through communication.

[0110] The distribution box is equipped with voltage sensors and current sensors to collect the voltage and current on the busbar, and send the sensor output signal to the system control unit. After conditioning and sampling by the system control unit, the output voltage and current of the busbar are obtained for system fault protection.

[0111] The current sensor collects N B The current of the propulsion motor controller power supply channel is measured, and the sensor output signal is sent to the system control unit. After conditioning and sampling by the system control unit, N is obtained. B The current of each channel is used for system fault protection.

[0112] For N B propulsion motor controllers, on the one hand, the system control unit and N BThe propulsion motor controllers form a CAN communication network, and the system control unit sends N B The information sent by each propulsion motor controller includes but is not limited to: start / stop instructions, propulsion motor target speed control instructions, and status parameter query instructions; N B The information sent by each propulsion motor controller to the system control unit through this network includes but is not limited to: motor temperature, speed, current, controller temperature, and self-test results. On the other hand, the system control unit generates N B The analog quantities of each channel are connected to N B A propulsion motor controller is provided, which calculates the propulsion motor control instructions by sampling analog quantities.

[0113] Although the embodiments disclosed herein are as described above, the contents are merely provided to facilitate understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art may make any modifications and variations in the form and details of the embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. However, the scope of patent protection of the present invention shall remain subject to the scope defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A general distributed electric propulsion system control method, characterized in that: The general distributed electric propulsion system includes a power distribution box and a system control unit electrically connected, and N A Power batteries and N B propulsion motor controllers, and N B The propulsion motor controllers are connected to N B propulsion motors, and N B The corresponding N connected propulsion motors B A propeller; the control method comprises: Step 1: The system control unit collects the state parameters of the driver's throttle lever, joystick, and flight control pedals through sensors; receives the control instructions of the flight control through communication; and reads the system state information of the distributed electric propulsion system through sensors and communication; Step 2: The system control unit performs comprehensive calculations based on the collected state parameters and control instructions to generate control instructions for each propulsion motor. Each propulsion motor control instruction includes N B The start, stop, lock and target speed instructions of each propulsion motor; the control instructions of each propulsion motor are processed by the system control unit to generate CAN communication instructions and PWM signal instructions of different frequencies; Step 3: The system control unit sends each propulsion motor control command to the corresponding N in a non-similar dual redundant form. B Road propulsion motor controller; Step 4, N B Each propulsion motor controller receives its own propulsion motor control command in a non-similar dual redundant form; The non-similar dual redundant forms in step three and step four include a CAN communication form and an analog quantity acquisition form.

2. The general distributed electric propulsion system control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step three specifically includes: On the one hand, the system control unit sends each propulsion motor control command to the corresponding N through the CAN communication network. B On the other hand, the system control unit adjusts the different frequency PWM signal instructions corresponding to different propulsion motor control instructions into corresponding current signals and outputs them to the corresponding N B Road propulsion motor controller; The step 4 specifically includes: On the one hand, N B Each propulsion motor controller receives its own propulsion motor control command through the CAN communication network. On the other hand, N B Each propulsion motor controller collects current signals corresponding to different target speeds through conditioning circuits and AD sampling circuits, and calculates them into its own propulsion motor control instructions.

3. The general distributed electric propulsion system control method according to claim 2, characterized in that: In normal circumstances, the propulsion motor controller of the distributed electric propulsion system adopts the propulsion motor control instructions received through CAN communication. When the propulsion control instructions cannot be received through CAN communication or the propulsion control instructions received through CAN communication are erroneous, the propulsion motor control instructions obtained by analog quantity sampling and calculation are adopted.

4. The general distributed electric propulsion system control method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The system control unit is respectively connected to a 28V power supply, a flight control, a throttle lever, a joystick, a flight control pedal, and a propulsion motor controller; The system control unit is used to be powered by an external 28V power supply; The flight control system and the system control unit are connected via a communication line. The information sent by the flight control system to the system control unit includes: start, stop, propeller lock commands, target speed commands, fault injection commands, and status parameter query commands of each propulsion motor controller; the information sent by the system control unit to the flight control system includes: fault status, voltage, current, contactor status, and battery pack SOC of each component in the distributed electric propulsion system.

5. The general distributed electric propulsion system control method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: When the propulsion motor control instruction is a propulsion motor target speed control instruction, step 2 includes: The position information of the throttle lever, joystick, and flight control pedals is collected by sensors and sent to the system control unit. After passing through the conditioning circuit and sampling circuit inside the system control unit, it enters the core control chip of the system control unit. The core control chip calculates the position information of each operating lever to form N B A propulsion motor target speed control command.

6. The general distributed electric propulsion system control method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The propulsion motor control instruction is a propulsion motor speed control instruction, and the aircraft is a fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft, and each propeller is symmetrically arranged on the wing, and the step 2 includes: S21, based on the information from the throttle lever sensor, the system control unit processes the aircraft's power demand and generates N B The target speed control command of the propulsion motor is speed1. in Represents N B The target speed of each propulsion motor; S22, the sensor collects the flight control pedal position information and sends it to the system control unit, which calculates the flight control pedal position information and the aircraft yaw requirement to generate N B The target speed control command of the propulsion motor is speed2. in N B target yaw speed for each propulsion motor; S23, determining a target speed instruction that is ultimately sent to each propulsion motor controller according to whether the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft needs to adjust its yaw attitude.

7. The general distributed electric propulsion system control method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The S23 includes: When the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft needs to adjust the yaw attitude, speed1+speed2 is sent to the propulsion motor controller as the target speed instruction of the propulsion motor controller; When the fixed-wing distributed electric propulsion aircraft does not need to adjust the yaw attitude, speed1 is sent to the propulsion motor controller as the target speed instruction of the propulsion motor controller.

8. The general distributed electric propulsion system control method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The propulsion motor control instruction is a propulsion motor target speed control instruction, and the aircraft is an eVTOL aircraft other than a multi-rotor aircraft, wherein two propellers are symmetrically arranged at the tail of the aircraft, and the thrust direction is consistent with the flight direction, and N B - The two propellers are arranged symmetrically along the center axis of the fuselage and the center axis of the wing, that is and For thrust propellers, P1, P2, For lift thrusters.

9. The general distributed electric propulsion system control method according to claim 8, characterized in that: The second step comprises: SS21, the sensor collects the joystick information and sends it to the system control unit. The system control unit determines the aircraft's ascent power requirement according to the control law and generates N accordingly. B The target speed control command of the propulsion motor is speed3. where n1, n2, n3, ..., 0,0 means N B The target lift speed of each propulsion motor; SS22, the sensor collects the throttle lever information and sends it to the system control unit. The system control unit determines the aircraft's level flight power requirement based on the control law and generates N accordingly. B The target speed control command of the propulsion motor is speed4. where 0,0,0,…,0, N B The target thrust speed of each propulsion motor; SS23, the sensor collects the flight control pedal information and sends it to the system control unit. The system control unit calculates the flight control pedal position information according to the control law, calculates the aircraft's yaw demand, and then generates N B The target speed control command of the propulsion motor is speed5. where 0,0,0,…,0, N B target yaw speed for each propulsion motor; SS24, by judging the flight phase of the eVTOL aircraft, the system control unit calculates N according to the control law B The propulsion motor target speed of each propulsion motor is determined and sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller.

10. The general distributed electric propulsion system control method according to claim 9, characterized in that: The flight phases of the eVTOL aircraft include: vertical take-off phase, climbing phase, cruising phase, descending phase, and landing phase; the SS24 includes: When it is determined that the eVTOL aircraft is in the vertical take-off or landing phase, As N B The target speed command of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller; When it is determined that the eVTOL aircraft is in the climbing or descending phase, As N B The target speed command of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller; When the eVTOL aircraft is judged to be in the cruising phase, As N B The target speed command of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller; In the process of generating the target speed command in the above five flight stages, when the aircraft needs to adjust the aircraft yaw attitude through the thruster, speed5 is superimposed on the synthetic target speed as N. B The target speed command of each propulsion motor is sent to the corresponding propulsion motor controller.

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