Electric propulsion comprehensive control system and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention relates to an electric propulsion comprehensive control system and a control method thereof. The system comprises an electric propulsion control subsystem and at least two controlled subsystems, and the electric propulsion control subsystem is connected with the at least two controlled subsystems through a first communication unit so as to obtain state data of the at least two controlled subsystems. Generating a first control instruction for performing state control on the at least two controlled subsystems according to the state data; the electric propulsion control subsystem is further connected with the aircraft system through a second communication unit, reports the state data of the controlled subsystems to the aircraft system, receives a flight instruction of the aircraft system, and generates a second control instruction for performing state control on the at least two controlled subsystems based on the flight instruction. Data fusion and instruction center of the whole system are realized through integrated control, so that integrated unified collaborative management control is carried out on at least two controlled subsystems, interaction logic is simplified, delay is reduced, and the overall propulsion efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of aviation technology, and in particular to an integrated electric propulsion control system and its control method. Background Technology

[0002] With the aviation industry's transformation towards green and low-carbon development, electric aircraft have become an important direction for aviation technology development, and electric propulsion systems, as their core components, have received widespread attention.

[0003] Traditional electric aircraft propulsion systems generally adopt a distributed management architecture, with each subsystem (such as battery management system, motor controller, power distribution unit, etc.) operating independently and interacting through discrete communication.

[0004] However, the independent operation of each subsystem and the interaction through discrete communication will result in a lack of coordination between the subsystems, thus affecting the overall efficiency of the project. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Therefore, it is necessary to provide an integrated electric propulsion control system and its control method that can improve propulsion efficiency in response to the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0006] In a first aspect, this application provides an integrated electric propulsion control system for hybrid-electric or pure electric aircraft; the system includes an electric propulsion control subsystem and at least two controlled subsystems.

[0007] The electric propulsion control subsystem is connected to at least two controlled subsystems via a first communication unit. The electric propulsion control subsystem is used to acquire the status data of at least two controlled subsystems via the first communication unit, generate a first control command based on the status data, and perform status control on at least two controlled subsystems based on the first control command.

[0008] The electric propulsion control subsystem is connected to the aircraft system through a second communication unit. The electric propulsion control subsystem is used to report the status data of the controlled subsystem to the aircraft system through the second communication unit, receive flight commands from the aircraft system, parse the flight commands to generate second control commands, and perform status control on at least two of the controlled subsystems based on the second control commands.

[0009] The at least two controlled subsystems include a high-voltage power distribution system, and at least one of a power battery subsystem, an electric drive subsystem, a thermal management subsystem, and an onboard support subsystem.

[0010] In one embodiment, the electric propulsion control subsystem includes: a sensor assembly distributed in at least two of the controlled subsystems for collecting state data of at least two of the controlled subsystems; an electric propulsion control unit for acquiring the state data of the at least two controlled subsystems collected by the sensor assembly and generating a first control command based on the state data; and receiving flight commands from the aircraft system and parsing the flight commands to generate a second control command.

[0011] In one embodiment, the electric propulsion control unit includes: a data acquisition subunit, configured to acquire state data of at least two controlled subsystems collected by the sensor assembly, and perform analog-to-digital conversion on the state data to obtain a digital signal corresponding to the state data; a control subunit, configured to generate a first control command based on the digital signal processed by the data acquisition subunit; and to parse the flight command to generate a second control command.

[0012] In one embodiment, the first communication unit includes a communication cable; the control subunit sends the first control command or the second control command to at least two of the controlled subsystems via the communication cable to instruct the at least two controlled subsystems to execute the first control command or the second control command.

[0013] In one embodiment, the first communication unit further includes a shielded cable; the control subunit sends the first control command or the second control command to at least two of the controlled subsystems through the shielded cable to control the state of at least two of the controlled subsystems.

[0014] In one embodiment, the electric propulsion control unit includes at least two electric propulsion control units with identical configurations and connected to at least two communication networks. One of the at least two electric propulsion control units is a primary electric propulsion control unit, and the other electric propulsion control units in the at least two electric propulsion control units are backup electric propulsion control units. One of the at least two communication networks is a primary communication network, and the other communication networks in the at least two communication networks are backup communication networks.

[0015] In one embodiment, the at least two controlled subsystems are connected via power cables.

[0016] Secondly, this application provides a control method for an integrated electric propulsion control system, the method being used in hybrid-electric aircraft or pure electric aircraft; the method includes:

[0017] The system acquires status data of at least two controlled subsystems through a first communication unit, generates a first control command based on the status data, and performs status control on the at least two controlled subsystems based on the first control command.

[0018] The system reports the status data of the controlled subsystem to the aircraft system through the second communication unit, receives flight commands from the aircraft system, parses the flight commands to generate second control commands, and performs status control on at least two of the controlled subsystems based on the second control commands.

[0019] The at least two controlled subsystems include a high-voltage power distribution system, and at least one of a power battery subsystem, an electric drive subsystem, a thermal management subsystem, and an onboard support subsystem.

[0020] In one embodiment, the state control of at least two controlled subsystems based on the first control command includes: sending the first control command to at least two controlled subsystems via a communication cable to instruct at least two controlled subsystems to execute the first control command; or, sending the first control command to at least two controlled subsystems via a shielded cable to control the state of at least two controlled subsystems.

[0021] In one embodiment, parsing the flight command to generate a second control command, and performing state control on at least two controlled subsystems based on the second control command, includes: parsing the flight command, determining state change parameters for at least two controlled subsystems respectively, generating a second control command for the controlled subsystem based on the state change parameters of the controlled subsystem; sending the second control command to the controlled subsystem via a communication cable to instruct the controlled subsystem to execute the second control command; or, sending the second control command to the controlled subsystem via a shielded cable to control the state of the controlled subsystem.

[0022] Thirdly, this application also provides an electronic device, including a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program to implement the steps of the method described in the first aspect above.

[0023] Fourthly, this application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method described in the first aspect.

[0024] Fifthly, this application also provides a computer program product, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method described in the first aspect above.

[0025] The aforementioned integrated electric propulsion control system includes an electric propulsion control subsystem and at least two controlled subsystems. The electric propulsion control subsystem connects to the at least two controlled subsystems via a first communication unit, thereby acquiring status data from the at least two controlled subsystems, generating a first control command based on the status data, and performing status control on the at least two controlled subsystems based on the first control command. The electric propulsion control subsystem also connects to the aircraft system via a second communication unit, thereby reporting the status data of the controlled subsystems to the aircraft system, receiving flight commands from the aircraft system, parsing the flight commands to generate a second control command, and performing status control on the at least two controlled subsystems based on the second control command. It replaces decentralized management with integrated control, achieving system-wide data fusion and command centralization through the electric propulsion control subsystem, and acting as a gateway to the avionics network to perform integrated, unified, and collaborative management and control of the at least two controlled subsystems. This simplifies interaction logic, reduces latency, and thus improves overall propulsion efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0026] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or related technologies, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments of this application or related technologies will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0027] Figure 1 This is a structural block diagram of an electric propulsion integrated control system in one embodiment;

[0028] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the integrated electric propulsion control system in one embodiment;

[0029] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the redundant structure of an integrated electric propulsion control system in one embodiment;

[0030] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the electric propulsion control unit (EPCU) in one embodiment;

[0031] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating the control method of the integrated electric propulsion control system in another embodiment;

[0032] Figure 6 This is a diagram of the internal structure of an electronic device in one embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0033] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the following detailed description is provided in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the scope of this application.

[0034] It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," etc., used in this application can be used to describe various elements, but these elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the first element from the second element. The terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, used in this application, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. The term "multiple" used in this application refers to two or more. The term "and / or" used in this application refers to one of the embodiments, or any combination of multiple embodiments.

[0035] Because traditional subsystems operate independently and interact through discrete communication, there is a lack of coordination between them, making it difficult to achieve multi-dimensional collaborative optimization in energy flow, thermal management, and power distribution, resulting in reduced overall propulsion efficiency. Furthermore, the traditional point-to-point communication architecture cannot meet millisecond-level fault diagnosis requirements, and transmission delays exceeding 50ms for critical parameters can trigger cascading failures, leading to delayed fault response. Additionally, the bandwidth limitations of traditional bus protocols (such as CAN2.0 / Aerospace ARINC825 bus) make it difficult to add new devices and result in insufficient system topology reconfiguration capabilities, thus limiting scalability. Moreover, traditional architectures struggle to achieve multi-level fault isolation and dynamic reconfiguration, and a single point of failure in a high-voltage system can lead to complete system failure; therefore, there is also a lack of safety redundancy.

[0036] Based on this, this application provides an integrated electric propulsion control system, which can be used for the integrated management and control of the electric propulsion system of hybrid-electric aircraft or pure electric aircraft. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the electric propulsion integrated control system 100 includes an electric propulsion control subsystem 102 and at least two controlled subsystems 104. The electric propulsion control subsystem, serving as both the core control device and gateway device, integrates gateway functions and comprehensive control functions.

[0037] The electric propulsion control subsystem 102 is connected to at least two controlled subsystems 104 via a first communication unit. The electric propulsion control subsystem 102 is used to acquire status data from the at least two controlled subsystems 104 via the first communication unit, generate a first control command based on the status data, and perform status control on the at least two controlled subsystems 104 based on the first control command. That is, the electric propulsion control subsystem 102 can act as a data hub for the entire system, processing the status data of each controlled subsystem, and as a control center, generating commands.

[0038] In this embodiment, the electric propulsion control subsystem 102 is also connected to the aircraft system 200 via a second communication unit. The electric propulsion control subsystem 102 is also used to report the status data of the controlled subsystems to the aircraft system 200 via the second communication unit, receive flight commands from the aircraft system 200, parse the flight commands to generate second control commands, and perform status control on at least two controlled subsystems 104 based on the second control commands. That is, the electric propulsion control subsystem 102 can also act as a gateway to connect to the avionics network and as a control center to process and generate commands.

[0039] The at least two controlled subsystems may include a high-voltage power distribution system, and at least one of a power battery subsystem, an electric drive subsystem, a thermal management subsystem, and an onboard support subsystem. For example, the at least two controlled subsystems may include a high-voltage power distribution system, and one or more of a power battery subsystem, an electric drive subsystem, a thermal management subsystem, and an onboard support subsystem, thereby enabling integrated, unified, and coordinated management and control of the high-voltage power distribution system, and one or more of the power battery subsystem, electric drive subsystem, thermal management subsystem, and onboard support subsystem, to simplify interaction logic and reduce latency.

[0040] The aforementioned integrated electric propulsion control system includes an electric propulsion control subsystem and at least two controlled subsystems. The electric propulsion control subsystem connects to the at least two controlled subsystems via a first communication unit, thereby acquiring status data from the at least two controlled subsystems, generating a first control command based on the status data, and performing status control on the at least two controlled subsystems based on the first control command. The electric propulsion control subsystem also connects to the aircraft system via a second communication unit, thereby reporting the status data of the controlled subsystems to the aircraft system, receiving flight commands from the aircraft system, parsing the flight commands to generate a second control command, and performing status control on the at least two controlled subsystems based on the second control command. It replaces decentralized management with integrated control, achieving system-wide data fusion and command centralization through the electric propulsion control subsystem, and acting as a gateway to the avionics network to perform integrated, unified, and collaborative management and control of the at least two controlled subsystems. This simplifies interaction logic, reduces latency, and thus improves overall propulsion efficiency.

[0041] For example, the controlled subsystem may include a high-voltage power distribution system, a power battery subsystem, an electric drive subsystem, a thermal management subsystem, and an onboard support subsystem. Through the integrated control of these subsystems, the efficient collaborative operation of the electric propulsion integrated control system can be achieved, thereby improving the overall performance and reliability of the aircraft.

[0042] In an exemplary embodiment, the electric propulsion control subsystem includes sensor components and an electric propulsion control unit (EPCU). The sensor components are distributed across at least two controlled subsystems to collect status data from at least two controlled subsystems. This status data includes, but is not limited to, voltage, current, and temperature of the controlled subsystems. For example, if the controlled subsystem is a high-voltage power distribution system, the sensor components can be distributed in each high-voltage power distribution unit (PDU) of the high-voltage power distribution system to collect voltage, current, and temperature data from each PDU. If the controlled subsystem is an electric drive subsystem, the sensor components can be distributed in each propulsion motor and motor controller of the electric drive subsystem to collect bus voltage and current of each propulsion motor, as well as the real-time operating temperature of the motor controller. If the controlled subsystem is a power battery subsystem, the sensor components can be distributed in each battery pack of the power battery subsystem to collect output voltage, current, and temperature data from each battery pack. Similarly, for the controlled subsystem, which is a thermal management subsystem or an onboard support subsystem, sensor components are distributed within it to collect corresponding voltage, current, and temperature data.

[0043] The electric propulsion control unit (EPCU) is used to acquire status data of at least two controlled subsystems collected by the sensor assembly, and generate a first control command based on the status data; and to receive flight commands from the aircraft system and parse the flight commands to generate a second control command.

[0044] In this embodiment, the electric propulsion control unit (EPCU) serves as the control core of the integrated electric propulsion control system. It can receive and process data from the entire system and act as an external gateway, responsible for receiving instructions from avionics, flight control, and other systems. It also manages the high-voltage power distribution system, as well as the power battery subsystem, electric drive subsystem, thermal management subsystem, or onboard support subsystem, thereby achieving coordinated control of each controlled subsystem.

[0045] In one exemplary embodiment, such as Figure 2 As shown, the electric propulsion control unit (EPCU) comprises at least two EPCUs with identical configurations. One of the EPCUs is the primary EPCU, while the others serve as backup EPCUs. The EPCUs can be monitored via heartbeat; for example, if a backup EPCU detects a failure in the primary EPCU, it can automatically take over and replace it.

[0046] Specifically, at least two electric propulsion control units (EPCUs) can serve as external gateways for the integrated electric propulsion control system, connecting to the aircraft's avionics network, such as AFDX (Avionics Full Duplex Switched Ethernet Network) or TSN (Time-Sensitive Networking). Each electric propulsion control unit (EPCU) is networked with the main control modules of each controlled subsystem (e.g., the power battery subsystem mainly includes the power battery pack, whose main control module is the Battery Management System (BMS); the electric drive subsystem mainly includes the motor controller and propulsion motor, whose main control module is the core control system in the motor controller; the high-voltage power distribution system mainly includes power distribution units, control units, power conversion units, etc., whose main control module is the control unit; the thermal management subsystem mainly includes thermal management equipment, whose main control module is the thermal management control unit; the onboard support subsystem mainly includes onboard support equipment, whose main control module is the onboard support control unit) via a bus network, such as ARINC 825 (a higher-level CAN protocol developed specifically for aviation applications) or TTP (Time-Triggered Protocol). The EPCU can act as a host computer to receive, process, and store the status data of each controlled subsystem, and forward or process external signals and commands from avionics, flight control, etc., before sending them.

[0047] For example, the electric propulsion control subsystem can be connected to each controlled subsystem via a first communication unit. Figure 2 As shown, the first communication unit may include a communication cable and a shielded cable. The communication cable may be a CAN bus (as shown in the communication interface) for transmitting bus signals. For example, it may be used by the EPCU to transmit a first control command or a second control command to the main control module of each controlled subsystem. The shielded cable may be a shielded twisted pair for transmitting at least one of hard-wired signals and analog signals. For example, it may be used by sensor components distributed in each controlled subsystem to transmit status data of each controlled subsystem to the EPCU.

[0048] In one scenario, the EPCU can also transmit first and second control commands via shielded cables to directly control the main control modules of each controlled subsystem. For example, when the system experiences control requirements with high timing constraints, such as over-temperature alarms, power anomalies, or power distribution switching, the EPCU can quickly take action to directly control the on / off state of power distribution units such as high-power relays in the high-voltage power distribution system. This avoids communication delays, effectively prevents the risk of cascading failures, and ensures the safe and reliable operation of the system.

[0049] For example, aircraft systems (such as avionics systems and flight control systems) can send flight commands, such as speed, acceleration, and unloading control requirements, to the EPCU via a bus network. The EPCU parses the flight commands and converts them into control commands for controlled subsystems such as the battery subsystem and electric drive subsystem, then sends control signals through the internal bus of the electric propulsion integrated control system. For instance, the battery management system's BMS reports battery level, temperature, and cell voltage to the EPCU. The EPCU can adjust the discharge current limit according to flight control requirements, and the BMS executes the adjustment and reports any anomalies (such as over-temperature triggering power reduction). Similarly, the thermal management subsystem reports coolant temperature, pump speed, and other status data to the EPCU. The EPCU can dynamically adjust its heat dissipation power, such as fan speed, based on this data. When the aircraft needs to accelerate, the flight control system can send specific acceleration requirements to the EPCU. The EPCU processes these requirements logically and converts them into changes in motor speed, current, and other parameters, then sends the parameter change requirements to the motor controller for execution. The motor controller monitors key parameters of the motor (such as bus voltage, current, motor temperature, etc.) in real time and sends them to the EPCU periodically via the internal bus. While reporting these key parameters, the EPCU also provides the operating status flags of the motor controller, such as normal operation or fault status flags.

[0050] Through a dual control mechanism of the first and second communication units, it can both adjust in real time according to the state of each controlled subsystem and respond to the overall commands of the aircraft system, achieving an organic combination of local and global control. Using communication cables or shielded cables to send control commands allows for the selection of appropriate transmission methods based on actual needs, improving control flexibility and reliability. This control method effectively coordinates the working states of each controlled subsystem, achieving closed-loop control of each subsystem, optimizing the overall performance of the electric propulsion integrated control system, and providing strong support for the safe and efficient operation of hybrid-electric or pure electric aircraft.

[0051] The various controlled subsystems can be connected via at least one of power cables or low-voltage signal interfaces for power transmission and communication between them. Power cables are used to transmit high-voltage DC or AC power, such as between the power battery subsystem, high-voltage distribution electronics system, and electric drive subsystem. Furthermore, through unified management and optimized control by the EPCU, the system can allocate and utilize energy more efficiently, improving the reliability and safety of the entire propulsion system.

[0052] In one exemplary embodiment, such as Figure 3 As shown, the electric propulsion control unit (EPCU) comprises at least two EPCUs, which have identical configurations and are connected to at least two communication networks. One of the at least two communication networks is the primary communication network, and the other two communication networks are backup communication networks. The data transmitted on the two communication networks is identical.

[0053] In this embodiment, the communication network is taken as a CAN bus network (Controller Area Network, distributed real-time control serial communication network), including two CAN1 and CAN2 and two EPCUs (EPCU1 and EPCU2). The EPCUs act as host gateways, connected to all CAN bus networks. Each controlled subsystem (such as the power battery pack BMS of the power battery subsystem, the motor controller of the electric drive subsystem, the high-voltage power distribution unit of the high-voltage distribution system, the thermal management equipment of the thermal management subsystem, and the onboard support equipment of the onboard support subsystem, etc.) acts as slave devices, also connected to all CAN bus networks. The EPCUs are redundant with each other, and the CAN bus networks are also redundant with each other.

[0054] EPCU1 transmits identical data on both the primary and backup CAN networks (i.e., CAN bus network 1 and CAN bus network 2), and EPCU2 also transmits identical data on both networks. While the data content of EPCU1 and EPCU2 is identical, the CAN network identifiers differ. Therefore, the receiving device will receive four identical messages with different CAN network identifiers. To enable faster processing by the receiving device, the priority of the received content can be defined by pre-configuring a priority level. For example, if EPCU1 is the highest priority device, the processing priority of the four messages by the receiving device would be: EPCU1 of CAN1 > EPCU1 of CAN2 > EPCU2 of CAN1 > EPCU2 of CAN2. In other words, if the receiving device receives the EPCU1 transmission content from CAN1, it can process the data; if it does not receive the EPCU1 transmission content from CAN1, it can process the data based on the received EPCU1 transmission content from CAN2; if it does not receive either the EPCU1 or EPCU1 transmission content from CAN1, it can process the data based on the received EPCU2 transmission content from CAN1; and if it does not receive any of the EPCU1, EPCU1, or EPCU2 transmission contents from CAN1, it can process the data based on the received EPCU2 transmission content from CAN2. This multi-redundancy design significantly reduces the risk of system failure due to a single point of failure in the high-voltage system, ensuring high reliability of the EPCU.

[0055] In an exemplary embodiment, the electric propulsion control unit (EPCU) may further include a data acquisition subunit and a control subunit. The data acquisition subunit is used to acquire state data from at least two controlled subsystems collected by sensor components, and to perform analog-to-digital conversion on the state data to obtain digital signals corresponding to the state data. The control subunit is used to generate a first control command based on the digital signals processed by the data acquisition subunit; and to parse the flight commands to generate a second control command.

[0056] For example, if the first communication unit further includes a communication cable, the control subunit can send a first control command or a second control command to at least two controlled subsystems via the communication cable to instruct the at least two controlled subsystems to execute the first control command or the second control command.

[0057] For example, if the first communication unit further includes a shielded cable, the control subunit can also send a first control command or a second control command to at least two controlled subsystems through the shielded cable to directly control the state of at least two controlled subsystems.

[0058] Specifically, the internal structure of the electric propulsion control unit (EPCU) can be as follows: Figure 4 As shown, it may include components such as a main control chip, expansion (redundancy) chips, analog signals, digital signal acquisition circuits (i.e., data acquisition subunits), power supply chips, communication chips, and drive circuits. Among them, the main control chip and expansion (redundancy) chips, as control subunits, are used to run the main control program. After receiving various external signals transmitted by the acquisition circuit or communication chip, they perform logical judgments and output control signals or bus commands (such as the first control command or the second control command) to the controlled subsystems such as the motor controller and the power battery BMS, and report key information to the avionics and flight control systems.

[0059] In addition to receiving control commands from the aircraft system via the aircraft plug-in bus, the EPCU can also receive status data from the controlled subsystems, such as analog signals and digital signal acquisition circuits for the power battery subsystem and electric drive subsystem. After logical processing by the main control chip, control signal commands are output to each controlled subsystem or reported to the aircraft system.

[0060] Furthermore, the expansion chip serves as a backup redundancy for the main control chip or as an extension of input / output signals. It provides additional I / O ports (i.e., input / output interfaces) when the number of input and output control signals from the main control chip cannot meet control requirements, and also acts as a redundant backup for the main control chip to ensure the high reliability of the EPCU. The analog / digital signal acquisition circuit mainly consists of an ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter) / DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) sampling chip and peripheral circuits. It receives voltage and current sampling data and hard-wired control signals transmitted from sensor components and transmits the data to the main control chip for processing. The power supply chip mainly consists of a power module and peripheral circuits, used to convert external power supply into the chip's supply voltage. It should be noted that the power supply chip needs to consider multiple redundant power supplies. The communication chip and peripheral circuits can be selected according to design requirements, such as CAN communication, Ethernet communication, and other aviation communication standards. This embodiment does not limit this selection. The communication chip is used for data exchange between the EPCU and the avionics system (and flight control system, etc.), as well as communication with the controlled subsystems within the electric propulsion integrated control system. Redundant communication ensures the high reliability of the electric propulsion integrated control system. The drive circuit, controlled by the main control chip and extended control chips, is used to turn high-power devices in the high-voltage distribution system on or off, and to directly drive and control other controlled subsystems such as the BMS of the power battery subsystem and the motor controller of the electric drive subsystem, thereby improving control efficiency. In practical applications, the drive circuit can also be selected according to the electric propulsion system architecture design. If the high-voltage distribution system has a control unit, the EPCU can also interact with the control unit via bus / hardwired signals.

[0061] The aforementioned integrated electric propulsion control system centrally manages and controls multiple controlled subsystems through the electric propulsion control subsystem, achieving a high degree of system integration. Simultaneously, the system possesses two-way communication capabilities with the aircraft system, allowing for flexible adjustment of control strategies based on flight commands. The system employs redundant design, enhancing reliability. These features enable the system to effectively manage the electric propulsion systems of hybrid-electric or pure electric aircraft, thereby improving flight safety and propulsion efficiency.

[0062] Each module in the aforementioned integrated electric propulsion control system can be implemented entirely or partially through software, hardware, or a combination thereof. These modules can be embedded in or independent of the processor in a computer device, or stored in the computer device's memory as software, so that the processor can call and execute the corresponding operations of each module.

[0063] Based on the same inventive concept, this application also provides a control method for the aforementioned integrated electric propulsion control system. The solution provided by this method is similar to the implementation scheme described in the above system; therefore, specific limitations in one or more control method embodiments provided below can be found in the limitations of the integrated electric propulsion control system described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0064] In one exemplary embodiment, such as Figure 5 As shown, a control method for an integrated electric propulsion control system is provided. This method is used in hybrid-electric aircraft or pure electric aircraft. The method includes:

[0065] Step 502: Obtain status data of at least two controlled subsystems through the first communication unit, generate a first control command based on the status data, and perform status control on the at least two controlled subsystems based on the first control command.

[0066] The at least two controlled subsystems may include a high-voltage power distribution system, and at least one of a power battery subsystem, an electric drive subsystem, a thermal management subsystem, and an onboard support subsystem. For example, the at least two controlled subsystems may include a high-voltage power distribution system, and one or more of the power battery subsystem, electric drive subsystem, thermal management subsystem, and onboard support subsystem, thereby enabling integrated, unified, and coordinated management and control of the high-voltage power distribution system and one or more of the power battery subsystem, electric drive subsystem, thermal management subsystem, and onboard support subsystem to simplify interaction logic and reduce latency.

[0067] Specifically, the state data of at least two controlled subsystems can be obtained through the first communication unit, and a first control command can be generated based on the state data. The state control of the at least two controlled subsystems can be performed based on the first control command, thereby adjusting in real time according to the state of each controlled subsystem and realizing local control of each controlled subsystem.

[0068] Step 504: Report the status data of the controlled subsystem to the aircraft system through the second communication unit, receive the flight command from the aircraft system, parse the flight command to generate a second control command, and perform status control on at least two controlled subsystems based on the second control command.

[0069] Specifically, the system connects to the aircraft system via a second communication unit, thereby reporting the status data of the controlled subsystems to the aircraft system, receiving flight commands from the aircraft system, parsing the flight commands to generate second control commands, and performing status control on at least two controlled subsystems based on the second control commands. By responding to the overall commands of the aircraft system, it achieves an organic combination of local and global control, and realizes integrated, unified, and collaborative management and control of at least two controlled subsystems.

[0070] In an exemplary embodiment, state control of at least two controlled subsystems based on the first control command includes: sending the first control command to at least two controlled subsystems via a communication cable to instruct at least two controlled subsystems to execute the first control command; or sending the first control command to at least two controlled subsystems via a shielded cable to control the state of at least two controlled subsystems.

[0071] In an exemplary embodiment, parsing the flight command to generate a second control command, and performing state control on at least two controlled subsystems based on the second control command, includes: parsing the flight command to determine state change parameters for at least two controlled subsystems respectively; generating a second control command for the controlled subsystem based on the state change parameters; sending the second control command to the controlled subsystem via a communication cable to instruct the controlled subsystem to execute the second control command; or sending the second control command to the controlled subsystem via a shielded cable to control the state of the controlled subsystem.

[0072] It should be understood that although the steps in the flowcharts of the embodiments described above are shown sequentially according to the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless explicitly stated herein, there is no strict order restriction on the execution of these steps, and they can be executed in other orders. Moreover, at least some steps in the flowcharts of the embodiments described above may include multiple steps or multiple stages. These steps or stages are not necessarily completed at the same time, but can be executed at different times. The execution order of these steps or stages is not necessarily sequential, but can be performed alternately or in turn with other steps or at least some of the steps or stages in other steps. It is understood that the steps in different embodiments can be freely combined as needed, and all non-contradictory solutions formed by such combinations are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0073] In one exemplary embodiment, an electronic device is provided, the internal structure of which can be shown as follows: Figure 6 As shown, this electronic device includes a processor, memory, input / output interface, communication interface, display unit, and input device. The processor, memory, and input / output interface are connected via a system bus, and the communication interface, display unit, and input device are also connected to the system bus via the input / output interface. The processor provides computational and control capabilities. The memory includes a non-volatile storage medium and internal memory. The non-volatile storage medium stores the operating system and computer programs. The internal memory provides an environment for the operation of the operating system and computer programs stored in the non-volatile storage medium. The input / output interface is used for exchanging information between the processor and external devices. The communication interface is used for wired or wireless communication with external terminals; wireless communication can be achieved through Wi-Fi, mobile cellular networks, Near Field Communication (NFC), or other technologies. When the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements a control method for an integrated electric propulsion control system. The display unit is used to form a visually visible image and can be a display screen, projection device, or virtual reality imaging device. The display screen can be an LCD screen or an e-ink screen. The input device of the electronic device can be a touch layer covering the display screen, or buttons, trackballs, or touchpads set on the casing of the electronic device, or external keyboards, touchpads, or mice, etc.

[0074] Those skilled in the art will understand that Figure 6 The structure shown is merely a block diagram of a portion of the structure related to the present application and does not constitute a limitation on the electronic device to which the present application is applied. The specific electronic device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements.

[0075] In one exemplary embodiment, an electronic device is provided, including a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program to implement the steps in the above-described method embodiments.

[0076] In one embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the above method embodiments.

[0077] In one embodiment, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the above method embodiments.

[0078] It should be noted that the user information (including but not limited to user device information, user personal information, etc.) and data (including but not limited to data used for analysis, data stored, data displayed, etc.) involved in this application are all information and data authorized by the user or fully authorized by all parties, and the collection, use and processing of the relevant data must comply with relevant regulations.

[0079] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the processes in the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented by a computer program instructing related hardware. The computer program can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, it can include the processes of the embodiments of the above methods. Any references to memory, databases, or other media used in the embodiments provided in this application can include at least one of non-volatile memory and volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can include read-only memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory, optical memory, high-density embedded non-volatile memory, resistive random access memory (ReRAM), magnetic random access memory (MRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), phase change memory (PCM), graphene memory, etc. Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory, etc. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM can take many forms, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) or Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM). The databases involved in the embodiments provided in this application may include at least one type of relational database and non-relational database. Non-relational databases may include, but are not limited to, blockchain-based distributed databases. The processors involved in the embodiments provided in this application may be general-purpose processors, central processing units, graphics processing units, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, quantum computing-based data processing logic devices, artificial intelligence (AI) processors, etc., and are not limited to these.

[0080] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any way. For the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this application.

[0081] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementation methods of this application, and while the descriptions are specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of this patent application. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of this application, and these all fall within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An integrated electric propulsion control system, characterized in that, The system is used in hybrid-electric or all-electric aircraft; the system includes an electric propulsion control subsystem and at least two controlled subsystems. The electric propulsion control subsystem is connected to at least two controlled subsystems via a first communication unit. The electric propulsion control subsystem is used to acquire the status data of at least two controlled subsystems via the first communication unit, generate a first control command based on the status data, and perform status control on at least two controlled subsystems based on the first control command. The electric propulsion control subsystem is connected to the aircraft system through a second communication unit. The electric propulsion control subsystem is used to report the status data of the controlled subsystem to the aircraft system through the second communication unit, receive flight commands from the aircraft system, parse the flight commands to generate second control commands, and perform status control on at least two of the controlled subsystems based on the second control commands. The at least two controlled subsystems include a high-voltage power distribution system, and at least one of a power battery subsystem, an electric drive subsystem, a thermal management subsystem, and an onboard support subsystem.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The electric propulsion control subsystem includes: A sensor assembly, wherein the sensor assembly is distributed in at least two of the controlled subsystems, for collecting state data of at least two of the controlled subsystems; An electric propulsion control unit is configured to acquire state data of at least two controlled subsystems collected by the sensor assembly, and generate a first control command based on the state data; and to receive flight commands from the aircraft system and parse the flight commands to generate a second control command.

3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The electric propulsion control unit includes: The data acquisition subunit is used to acquire state data of at least two controlled subsystems collected by the sensor assembly, and to perform analog-to-digital conversion on the state data to obtain the digital signal corresponding to the state data. A control subunit is configured to generate the first control command based on the digital signal processed by the data acquisition subunit; and to parse the flight command to generate a second control command.

4. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first communication unit includes a communication cable; The control subunit sends the first control command or the second control command to at least two of the controlled subsystems via the communication cable, instructing at least two of the controlled subsystems to execute the first control command or the second control command.

5. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first communication unit also includes a shielded cable; The control subunit sends the first control command or the second control command to at least two of the controlled subsystems via the shielded cable to control the state of at least two of the controlled subsystems.

6. The system according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that, The electric propulsion control unit includes at least two electric propulsion control units, which have the same configuration and are connected to at least two communication networks. One of the at least two electric propulsion control units is the primary electric propulsion control unit, and the other electric propulsion control units in the at least two electric propulsion control units are backup electric propulsion control units. At least one of the two communication networks is the primary communication network, and the other two communication networks are backup communication networks.

7. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The at least two controlled subsystems are connected via power cables.

8. A control method for an integrated electric propulsion control system, characterized in that, The method is used in hybrid-electric aircraft or pure electric aircraft; the method includes: The system acquires status data of at least two controlled subsystems through a first communication unit, generates a first control command based on the status data, and performs status control on the at least two controlled subsystems based on the first control command. The system reports the status data of the controlled subsystem to the aircraft system through the second communication unit, receives flight commands from the aircraft system, parses the flight commands to generate second control commands, and performs status control on at least two of the controlled subsystems based on the second control commands. The at least two controlled subsystems include a high-voltage power distribution system, and at least one of a power battery subsystem, an electric drive subsystem, a thermal management subsystem, and an onboard support subsystem.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The state control of at least two controlled subsystems based on the first control command includes: The first control command is sent to at least two of the controlled subsystems via a communication cable to instruct the at least two controlled subsystems to execute the first control command; or, The first control command is sent to at least two of the controlled subsystems via shielded cables to control the state of at least two of the controlled subsystems.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The process of parsing the flight command to generate a second control command, and performing state control on at least two of the controlled subsystems based on the second control command, includes: The flight command is parsed to determine the state change parameters for at least two of the controlled subsystems, and a second control command for the controlled subsystem is generated based on the state change parameters of the controlled subsystems. The second control command is sent to the controlled subsystem via a communication cable to instruct the controlled subsystem to execute the second control command; or, the second control command is sent to the controlled subsystem via a shielded cable to control the state of the controlled subsystem.

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