Compound wing aircraft yaw control method, control system, flight device and storage medium

By using a tail thruster-assisted yaw control system to monitor the rotor motor status and adjust its speed in real time, the problem of decreased aircraft control performance caused by rotor motor failure was solved, and stable flight of the aircraft was achieved.

CN122239728APending Publication Date: 2026-06-19AUTOFLIGHT (KUNSHAN) CO LTD

Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Applications(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
AUTOFLIGHT (KUNSHAN) CO LTD
Filing Date
2024-12-18
Publication Date
2026-06-19

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Abstract

This application relates to the field of compound wing aircraft technology, and discloses a yaw control method and control system, flight equipment, and storage medium for compound wing aircraft. The yaw control method of this application includes: acquiring real-time rotor motor health status information, and activating a tail thrust control strategy of the tail thrust motor based on the rotor motor health status information to achieve active yaw of the aircraft and maintain the aircraft's current flight speed. In this embodiment, the yaw control method of the compound wing aircraft uses the tail thrust motor to assist yaw control when the rotor motor fails, reducing the control burden on the rotor motor and thus improving handling performance.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of compound wing aircraft technology, and in particular to a yaw control method, control system, flight equipment and storage medium for compound wing aircraft. Background Technology

[0002] Existing aircraft technologies mainly categorize them into fixed-wing aircraft, compound-wing aircraft, and compound-wing aircraft. In practical applications, fixed-wing and compound-wing aircraft each have their advantages and disadvantages. Fixed-wing aircraft are characterized by long endurance and high-altitude flight, and are widely used in surveying, geology, petroleum, agriculture, and forestry. Compound-wing aircraft, on the other hand, can take off and land vertically and hover, making them primarily suitable for low-altitude, low-speed operations requiring vertical takeoff and landing and hovering.

[0003] Existing compound wing aircraft, while possessing both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and fixed-wing flight modes, face challenges. For example, in VTOL mode, the multi-rotor motors of existing aircraft need to provide sufficient lift and yaw torque. If one or more rotor motors fail, it may affect the control performance of the lift, yaw, and other channels, and may even prevent the aircraft from flying normally. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this application is to provide a yaw control method, control system, flight equipment and storage medium for a compound wing aircraft. The yaw control method of this embodiment uses a tail thrust motor to assist yaw control when the rotor motor fails, thereby reducing the control burden of the rotor motor and improving handling performance.

[0005] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application provides a yaw control method for a compound wing aircraft. The aircraft includes multiple rotor motors and at least two tail thrust motors. The method includes: acquiring real-time health status information of the rotor motors, and activating a tail thrust control strategy for the tail thrust motors based on the rotor motor health status information to achieve active yaw of the aircraft and maintain the current flight speed of the aircraft.

[0006] This application also provides a yaw control system for a compound wing aircraft, including a rotor motor failure detection module for determining whether the rotor motor has failed based on the rotor motor's health status information; a rotor motor power distribution module for reducing the power output weight ratio of the rotor motor in the aircraft's yaw control channel after the rotor motor fails; and a tail thrust motor power control module for calculating the rotational speed of the at least two tail thrust motors based on the reduced yaw amount of the rotor motor.

[0007] This application also provides a flight device, including: a yaw control system as described above, at least one processor, and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor, wherein the memory is executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to execute any of the yaw control methods described above.

[0008] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions for causing a processor to execute any of the above-described yaw control methods.

[0009] Optionally, when the tail thruster control strategy of the tail thruster motor is activated, the rotor control strategy of the rotor motor is also executed simultaneously.

[0010] Optionally, the rotor motor health status information includes at least one or more of the following: motor speed information, motor temperature information, and motor communication information; the motor health status information is used to determine whether one or more of the plurality of rotor motors have failed.

[0011] Optionally, the rotor control strategy includes: after determining that one or more of the multiple rotor motors have failed based on the rotor motor health status information, adjusting the power output weight ratio of the rotor motor in multiple aircraft control channels, wherein the aircraft control channels include at least an aircraft yaw control channel, an aircraft roll control channel, an aircraft pitch control channel, and an aircraft lift control channel.

[0012] Optionally, adjusting the power output weight ratio of the rotor motor in multiple aircraft control channels includes: reducing the power output weight ratio of the rotor motor in the aircraft yaw control channel.

[0013] Optionally, the tail thrust control strategy for activating the tail thrust motor includes: controlling the rotational speed of the at least two tail thrust motors to generate yaw torque, thereby compensating for the reduction in yaw control by the rotor motor, achieving normal yaw control at the current speed and maintaining the current flight speed of the aircraft.

[0014] Optionally, controlling the rotational speed of the at least two tail thrusters includes: controlling the at least two tail thrusters to rotate in multiple directions, and / or controlling the at least two tail thrusters to generate a speed difference.

[0015] The yaw control method for compound wing aircraft in this embodiment uses a tail thruster to assist yaw control when the rotor motor fails, thereby reducing the control burden on the rotor motor and improving handling performance. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1The diagram shown is a flowchart illustrating the yaw control method for a compound wing aircraft according to the first embodiment of this application.

[0017] Figure 2 This is another flowchart illustrating the yaw control method for a compound wing aircraft according to the first embodiment of this application.

[0018] Figure 3 The diagram shown is a structural schematic of the compound wing aircraft according to the first embodiment of this application.

[0019] Figure 4 The image shown is a rear view of the compound wing aircraft according to the first embodiment of this application;

[0020] Figure 5 The diagram shown is a structural schematic of another type of compound wing aircraft according to the first embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 6 Shown is a rear view of another type of compound wing aircraft according to the first embodiment of this application;

[0022] Figure 7 The diagram shown is a structural schematic of the yaw control system of the compound wing aircraft according to the second embodiment of this application.

[0023] Figure 8 The diagram shown is a structural schematic of the flight equipment according to the third embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The following embodiments further illustrate the technical solutions of this application. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely for explaining this application. Furthermore, it should be noted that, for ease of description, only the parts relevant to this application are shown in the accompanying drawings, not all of them.

[0025] The terms used in this specification to describe the various embodiments are to be understood not only in their commonly defined meanings, but also, by their specific definitions in this specification, to include structures, materials, or actions that extend beyond their commonly defined meanings. Therefore, if an element is to be understood in the context of this specification to include more than one meaning, its use in the claims must be understood to apply universally to all possible meanings supported by the specification and by its own terminology.

[0026] The term "aircraft" is defined as an air transport system of any size having at least one lift propeller as its propulsion source. The term "aircraft" can include both "manned" and "unmanned" air transport systems. A manned aircraft can mean an air transport system carrying one or more human passengers, none of whom have control over the aircraft. A manned aircraft can also mean an air transport system carrying one or more human passengers, some of whom, or one of whom, has partial or full control over the aircraft. An unmanned aircraft can mean an air transport system that does not carry any human passengers and flies autonomously or is remotely controlled by someone at a distance.

[0027] The term "compound wing aircraft" is defined as an air transport system of any size that has at least one propeller as its propulsion source. The term "compound wing aircraft" can include both "manned" and "unmanned" air transport systems. A manned compound wing aircraft can refer to an air transport system carrying one or more human passengers, none of whom have control over the compound wing aircraft. A manned compound wing aircraft can also refer to an air transport system carrying one or more human passengers, some of whom, or one of whom, has partial or full control over the compound wing aircraft. An unmanned compound wing aircraft can refer to an air transport system that does not carry any human passengers and flies autonomously or is remotely controlled by someone at a distance.

[0028] The first embodiment of this application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, such as Figure 1 As shown, the yaw control method for a compound wing aircraft according to the first embodiment of this application includes the following steps:

[0029] Step 101: Obtain the health status information of the rotor motor in real time.

[0030] Compound wing aircraft often employ distributed electric propulsion, and their flight modes include multi-rotor mode and fixed-wing mode. In the embodiments of this application, the compound wing aircraft uses multiple rotor motors and at least two tail thrust motors. The rotor motors can be, for example, 8, 10 or more, and the tail thrust motors can be, for example, 2, 3 or more. The rotor motors are used to provide lift, yaw control, roll and pitch control, etc. in multi-rotor mode, and the tail thrust motors are used to control airspeed and altitude in fixed-wing mode.

[0031] In this embodiment, as Figure 3 and Figure 4As shown, there are 8 rotor motors 10 and 2 tail thrust motors 20. In multi-rotor mode, if one or more of the rotor motors 10 fail, such as due to motor overload or propeller damage, the health status of the rotor motors 10 can be monitored in real time to determine the cause of failure. The motor health status information includes at least one or more of the following: motor speed information, motor temperature information, and motor communication information. Motor health status information is used to determine whether the rotor motors 10 have failed. Motor speed information indicates whether the rotor motor is operating at its rated speed. Motor temperature information indicates whether the motor temperature is within the allowable operating range; for example, motor overload or cooling system failure can cause abnormal temperature increases. Motor communication information is used to determine whether the motor control terminal is communicating normally with the system.

[0032] Step 102: Activate the tail thrust control strategy of the tail thrust motor based on the rotor motor health status information to achieve active yaw of the aircraft and maintain the current flight speed of the aircraft.

[0033] When the health status information of rotor motor 10 is abnormal, the yaw control of rotor motor 10 will be reduced accordingly. At this time, the tail thrust control strategy of tail thrust motor 20 can be activated. This control strategy can be manually activated by ground control station personnel, or it can be activated automatically by the system's artificial intelligence.

[0034] Specifically, the tail thrust control strategy of the tail thrust motor 20 is initiated, including: controlling the rotational speed of the two tail thrust motors 20 to generate yaw torque, thereby compensating for the reduction in yaw control by the rotor motor 10, realizing yaw control of the aircraft and maintaining the current flight speed of the aircraft.

[0035] Controlling the rotational speed of the two tail thrusters 20 specifically includes: controlling the two tail thrusters 20 to rotate in multiple directions, and / or controlling the two tail thrusters 20 to generate a speed difference. In one embodiment, the two tail thrusters 20 are controlled to rotate in opposite directions to generate a yawing torque, thereby achieving yawing. In another embodiment, the two tail thrusters 20 are controlled to generate a speed difference in the same direction to generate a yawing torque, thereby achieving yawing.

[0036] In one embodiment, such as Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, there are 10 rotor motors (10 motors). Compared to 8 motors, 10 motors increase the aircraft's power, enhance redundancy, and improve safety. There are 3 tail thrusters (20 motors). The 3 tail thrusters (20 motors) increase the redundancy of the control vector. The yaw torque required by the system is borne by the 3 tail thrusters (20 motors), which can reduce the power output burden of each tail thruster (20 motors) and can also cope with the possibility of failure of one of the motors.

[0037] Step 103: When starting the tail thruster control strategy of the tail thruster motor, the rotor control strategy of the rotor motor is executed simultaneously.

[0038] Specifically, the rotor control strategy includes: after determining that one or more of the rotor motors 10 have failed based on the health status information of the rotor motors 10, adjusting the power output weight ratio of the rotor motors 10 in multiple aircraft control channels. The aircraft control channels include at least the aircraft yaw control channel, the aircraft roll control channel, the aircraft pitch control channel, and the aircraft lift control channel. Adjusting the power output weight ratio of the rotor motors 10 in the multiple aircraft control channels specifically includes: reducing the power output weight ratio of the rotor motors 10 in the aircraft yaw control channel.

[0039] By reducing the power output weight ratio of the rotor motor 10 in the aircraft's yaw control channel, the system allocates the remaining power output to the aircraft's roll control channel, pitch control channel, and lift control channel, preventing power shortages due to motor failure and thus improving the aircraft's handling performance and ensuring flight safety. In one embodiment, the rotor motor 10 does not output any power in the yaw control channel.

[0040] In one embodiment, the tail thrust motor 20 of the aircraft needs to provide axial thrust to the nose at the same time. In this case, the required yaw torque and axial thrust to the nose can be converted into the thrust of multiple tail thrust motors 20, thereby calculating the required speed of each tail thrust motor 20, so as to realize the active yaw of the aircraft and maintain the current flight speed of the aircraft.

[0041] In one embodiment, such as in fixed-wing mode, the aircraft can actively yaw by controlling the rotational speed of each tail thruster 20 to create a speed difference.

[0042] The yaw control method for compound wing aircraft in this embodiment uses a tail thruster to assist yaw control when the rotor motor fails, thereby reducing the control burden on the rotor motor and improving handling performance.

[0043] The second embodiment of this application discloses a yaw control system for a compound wing aircraft, including a rotor motor failure detection module, a rotor motor power distribution module, and a tail thrust motor power control module.

[0044] like Figure 7 As shown, the rotor motor failure detection module 210 is used to determine whether the rotor motor has failed based on the rotor motor health status information. The rotor motor power distribution module 220 is used to reduce the power output weight ratio of the rotor motor 10 in the aircraft yaw control channel after the rotor motor 10 fails. The tail thruster motor power control module 230 is used to calculate the rotational speed of at least two tail thrusters 20 based on the reduced yaw amount of the rotor motor 10.

[0045] In this embodiment, the yaw control system of the compound wing aircraft uses a tail thruster to assist yaw control when the rotor motor fails, thereby reducing the control burden on the rotor motor and improving handling performance.

[0046] The third embodiment of this application discloses a flight device, which includes the above-described compound wing aircraft yaw control system, at least one processor, and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor, wherein the memory is executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to execute the yaw control method of the above embodiment.

[0047] In one embodiment, Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a flight device provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The device in this embodiment is illustrated using a computer as an example. Figure 8 As shown, the flight equipment provided in this embodiment of the invention includes: a data monitoring system 310, a processor 320, a memory 330, an input device 340, and an output device 350. The processor 320 in this flight equipment can be one or more. Figure 8 Taking a processor 320 as an example, the processor 320, memory 330, input device 340, and output device 350 in the flight equipment can be connected via a bus or other means. Figure 8 Taking the example of a connection between China and Israel via a bus.

[0048] The memory 330 in the flight device serves as a computer-readable storage medium, capable of storing one or more programs. These programs can be software programs, computer-executable programs, and modules, such as the program instructions / modules corresponding to the embodiments of this invention or the provided data monitoring method (e.g., ...). Figure 7 The yaw control system shown includes: a rotor motor failure detection module 210, a rotor motor power distribution module 220, and a tail thruster motor power control module 230. The processor 320 executes various functions and data processing of the cloud server by running software programs, instructions, and modules stored in the memory 330, thereby realizing the data monitoring method in the above method embodiment.

[0049] The memory 330 may include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store the operating system and applications required for at least one function; the data storage area may store data created based on the use of the device, etc. Furthermore, the memory 330 may include high-speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid-state storage device. In some instances, the memory 330 may further include memory remotely located relative to the processor 320, which can be connected to the device via a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the Internet, corporate intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

[0050] Input device 340 can be used to receive numeric or character information input by the user to generate key signal inputs related to user settings and function control of the terminal device. Output device 350 may include display devices such as a display screen.

[0051] Furthermore, when one or more programs included in the aforementioned flight equipment are executed by one or more processors 320, the programs perform the following operations: acquire the current vibration data of the target flight equipment in real time; determine the abnormal protection strategy of the target flight equipment based on the current vibration data; and control the target flight equipment to perform corresponding operations according to the abnormal protection strategy.

[0052] This invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon. When the program is executed by a processor, it implements the yaw control method provided in this invention. The method includes: acquiring rotor motor health status information in real time, and activating a tail thrust control strategy of the tail thrust motor according to the rotor motor health status information, so as to realize active yaw of the aircraft and maintain the current flight speed of the aircraft.

[0053] The computer storage medium of this invention can be any combination of one or more computer-readable media. A computer-readable medium can be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. For example, a computer-readable storage medium can be, but is not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media (a non-exhaustive list) include: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage device, magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof. In this document, a computer-readable storage medium can be any tangible medium that contains or stores a program that can be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0054] Computer-readable signal media may include data signals propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, carrying computer-readable program code. Such propagated data signals may take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. Computer-readable signal media may also be any computer-readable medium other than computer-readable storage media, capable of sending, propagating, or transmitting programs for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0055] Program code contained on a computer-readable medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to wireless, wire, optical fiber, RF, etc., or any suitable combination thereof.

[0056] Computer program code for performing the operations of this invention can be written in one or more programming languages ​​or a combination thereof. Programming languages ​​include object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java, Smalltalk, and C++, as well as conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as C or similar languages. The program code can be executed entirely on the user's computer, partially on the user's computer, as a standalone software package, partially on the user's computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In cases involving remote computers, the remote computer can be connected to the user's computer via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or it can be connected to an external computer (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0057] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and effects of this application. Any person skilled in the art can modify or alter the above embodiments without departing from the purpose of this application. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or alterations made by those skilled in the art without departing from the purpose disclosed in this application should still be covered by the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A yaw control method for a compound wing aircraft, the compound wing aircraft comprising multiple rotor motors and at least two tail thrust motors, characterized in that, The method includes: acquiring the health status information of the rotor motor in real time, and activating the tail thrust control strategy of the tail thrust motor according to the health status information of the rotor motor, so as to realize the active yaw of the aircraft and maintain the current flight speed of the aircraft.

2. The yaw control method for a compound wing aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the tail thrust control strategy of the tail thrust motor is activated, the rotor control strategy of the rotor motor is executed simultaneously.

3. The yaw control method for a compound wing aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that, The rotor motor health status information includes at least one or more of the following: motor speed information, motor temperature information, and motor communication information; the motor health status information is used to determine whether one or more of the plurality of rotor motors have failed.

4. The yaw control method for a compound wing aircraft according to claim 2, characterized in that, The rotor control strategy includes: after determining that one or more of the rotor motors have failed based on the rotor motor health status information, adjusting the power output weight ratio of the rotor motor in multiple aircraft control channels. The aircraft control channels include at least an aircraft yaw control channel, an aircraft roll control channel, an aircraft pitch control channel, and an aircraft lift control channel.

5. The yaw control method for a compound wing aircraft according to claim 4, characterized in that, The adjustment of the power output weight ratio of the rotor motor in multiple aircraft control channels includes: reducing the power output weight ratio of the rotor motor in the aircraft yaw control channel.

6. The yaw control method for a compound wing aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tail thrust control strategy for activating the tail thrust motors includes: controlling the rotational speed of the at least two tail thrust motors to generate yaw torque, thereby compensating for the reduction in yaw control by the rotor motors, achieving normal yaw control at the current speed and maintaining the current flight speed of the aircraft.

7. The yaw control method for a compound wing aircraft according to claim 6, characterized in that, Controlling the rotational speed of the at least two tail thrusters includes: controlling the at least two tail thrusters to rotate in multiple directions, and / or controlling the at least two tail thrusters to generate a speed difference.

8. A yaw control system for a compound wing aircraft, the compound wing aircraft comprising multiple rotor motors and at least two tail thrust motors, characterized in that, include: The rotor motor failure detection module is used to determine whether the rotor motor has failed based on the rotor motor health status information; the rotor motor power distribution module is used to reduce the power output weight ratio of the rotor motor on the yaw control channel of the aircraft after the rotor motor fails. The tail thruster motor power control module is used to calculate the rotational speed of the at least two tail thrusters based on the reduced yaw amount of the rotor motor.

9. A flight device, characterized in that, include: The yaw control system of claim 8, comprising at least one processor and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor, wherein the memory is executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to execute the yaw control method of any one of claims 1-7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions that cause a processor to execute the yaw control method according to any one of claims 1-7.