METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC AIRCRAFT ALIGNMENT

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The invention relates to the field of rotary-wing aircraft. STATE OF PRIOR ART

[0002] As is well known, an aircraft should preferably take off into the wind.

[0003] Indeed, taking off into the wind increases lift and consumes less energy, while being less energy-intensive (than a takeoff with a tailwind or crosswind).

[0004] Traditionally, for rotary-wing aircraft, turning into the wind is achieved by pivoting the aircraft on a trailer in the case of skid-equipped aircraft. Otherwise, for aircraft with wheeled landing gear, turning is accomplished using the propulsion engine and the rotary wing. This maneuver is delicate and very energy-intensive.

[0005] In this context, it is necessary to provide a guidance process that allows an aircraft to be automatically oriented into the wind for takeoff, while consuming little energy.

[0006] US patent 2008 / 283661 A1 discloses a helicopter resting on a mobile platform near a weather station located on a building. The weather station wirelessly transmits a weather signal representative of wind conditions, including speed and direction. A receiver on the mobile platform is designed to receive this weather signal and transmit it to a control unit on the platform. When a user wants the mobile platform to face into the wind, they use a transmitter to wirelessly send a "facing into the wind" signal to the control unit. Upon receiving the "facing into the wind" signal, the control unit is adapted to independently control each wheel of the mobile platform and move the platform in the required direction to align it with the wind. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] To this end, according to a first aspect, a method is proposed for the automatic orientation of an aircraft on the ground to take off into the wind. The aircraft comprises a cockpit, a plurality of landing gears each including an engine, at least one computer system including electronic circuitry to control the landing gear, and at least one manual control configured to transmit at least one instruction to the computer system. The method is implemented by the computer system and, when the activation control in the cockpit is activated, comprises the following steps: acquire wind direction and speed measurements around the aircraft; determine a direction and sense of a wind axis; command the landing gear motors to orient a longitudinal axis of the aircraft in a direction parallel to the direction of the wind axis and to orient the cockpit facing the direction of the wind axis; take off with the longitudinal axis of the aircraft in a direction parallel to the direction of the wind axis and with the cockpit facing the direction of the wind axis.

[0008] According to a specific provision, wind direction and speed measurements are acquired by sensors on board the aircraft.

[0009] Thus, in a particularly ingenious way, the method uses the landing gear motors to automatically orient the aircraft into the wind. This arrangement is especially advantageous because it allows the aircraft to be oriented without the need to use the in-flight propulsion engines (for example, a propeller or jet engine). Therefore, the method enables automated aircraft orientation with minimal energy consumption (landing gear motors are electric motors that consume significantly less energy than the engines used to propel the aircraft in flight). Furthermore, the method according to the invention allows for rapid and precise orientation of the aircraft into the wind.

[0010] Thus, the invention provides a guidance method enabling an aircraft to be automatically oriented into the wind for takeoff, while consuming little energy.

[0011] According to a specific arrangement, wind direction and speed measurements are acquired by external sensors positioned in a takeoff zone around the aircraft.

[0012] According to a specific arrangement, measurements acquired by on-board sensors and measurements acquired by external sensors are compared to determine wind direction and speed.

[0013] According to a particular provision, the engine control stage includes a phase consisting of controlling the roll, speed and stability of the aircraft when controlling the engines of the displacement systems.

[0014] According to an aspect not currently claimed, an aircraft landing gear is proposed for implementing the method according to the invention, the landing gear comprising a retraction member and a motor adapted to move the retraction member between a retracted position in which the landing gear is retracted and a deployed position in which the landing gear is extended, the landing gear being characterized in that it comprises a transmission selection member enabling the transmission of motion from the motor to a wheel of the landing gear to move the aircraft or enabling the transmission of motion from the motor to the retraction member.

[0015] According to another aspect which is not currently claimed, a computer system including electronic circuitry to control a landing gear is proposed.

[0016] According to another aspect which is not currently claimed, an aircraft comprising a rotary wing and including a computer system is proposed.

[0017] According to another aspect, a computer program product is proposed comprising program code instructions to command the takeoff of an aircraft according to the steps of the process according to the invention, when said instructions are executed by at least one processor.

[0018] According to another aspect, a non-transient storage medium is proposed on which is stored a computer program comprising program code instructions to command the takeoff of an aircraft according to the steps of the process according to the invention, when said instructions are read from said non-transient storage medium and executed by a processor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The features of the invention mentioned above, as well as others, will become clearer upon reading the following description of at least one exemplary embodiment, said description being made in relation to the accompanying drawings, among which: [ Fig. 1 ] schematically illustrates a method of automatic aircraft orientation on the ground; [ Fig. 2 ] schematically illustrates a portion of a landing gear; [ Fig. 3 [This schematically illustrates a computer system.] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF IMPLEMENTATION METHODS Automatic aircraft orientation method

[0020] With reference to the Fig. 1 According to a first aspect, a 100% automatic orientation process for an aircraft on the ground is proposed to take off into the wind.

[0021] In a known manner, the aircraft comprises a cockpit, a plurality of landing gear 2 each comprising an engine 4, at least one computer system 200 comprising electronic circuitry for piloting the landing gear 2 and at least one manual control configured to transmit at least one instruction to the computer system 200.

[0022] When the activation control in the cockpit is activated, process 100 is implemented by computer system 200.

[0023] Process 100 includes the following steps: acquire 101 wind direction and speed measurements around the aircraft; determine 102 a wind direction and sense; command 104 the landing gear 4 motors 2 to orient a longitudinal axis of the aircraft in a direction parallel to the direction of the wind direction and to orient the cockpit facing the direction of the wind direction; take off 106 with the longitudinal axis of the aircraft in a direction parallel to the direction of the wind direction and with the cockpit facing the direction of the wind direction.

[0024] Thus, in a particularly ingenious way, method 100 uses the landing gear motors 4 of the landing gear 2 to orient the aircraft into the wind. This arrangement is particularly advantageous because it allows the aircraft to be oriented without the need to use the propulsion engines in flight (for example, a propeller or jet engine). Therefore, method 100 enables automated aircraft orientation with minimal energy consumption (the landing gear motors 4 of the landing gear 2 are electric motors that consume significantly less energy than the engines used to propel the aircraft in flight). Furthermore, method 100 according to the invention allows for rapid and precise orientation of the aircraft into the wind.

[0025] More specifically, according to a particular arrangement, wind direction and speed measurements are acquired by sensors on board the aircraft.

[0026] According to another specific arrangement, wind direction and speed measurements are acquired by external sensors positioned in a takeoff area around the aircraft. Typically, these external sensors could be sensors from a heliport.

[0027] Advantageously, measurements acquired by onboard sensors and measurements acquired by external sensors are compared (phase 1011) to determine wind direction and speed. More specifically, according to a particular arrangement, the measurements acquired by the onboard and external sensors are filtered and weighted before being compared. This 1011 comparison of the acquired measurements is particularly advantageous because it allows for the elimination of potentially outliers (measurements that are too far removed from the other measurements).

[0028] According to a specific arrangement, step 104 of engine control 4 includes a phase 1041 for controlling the roll, speed, and stability of the aircraft during the control of the engines 4 of the propulsion systems. In other words, this phase ensures the aircraft's stability while it is rotating. This arrangement is particularly advantageous because the aircraft has multiple landing gears 2 and one engine 4 per landing gear 2. Therefore, controlling the aircraft's roll, speed, and stability is especially beneficial.

[0029] According to a specific provision, engine control step 104 includes a phase 1042 of automatic pre-flight tests performed on the aircraft. If the aircraft is a rotary-wing aircraft, the pre-flight tests are carried out while the wing is rotating. The nature of the pre-flight tests is known and will not be detailed in this document. Landing gear

[0030] According to another aspect, a landing gear 2 of an aircraft is proposed for the implementation of process 100.

[0031] As shown schematically on the Fig. 2The landing gear 2 includes one (or two) retraction mechanism(s) 6 and a motor 4 adapted to move the retraction mechanism 6 between a retracted position, in which the landing gear 2 is retracted, and a deployed position, in which the landing gear 2 is extended. Typically, the retraction mechanism 6 is a passive, active, or semi-active actuator. The actuator has two ends. One end of the actuator is connected to the aircraft fuselage, and the other end is connected to the wheel of the landing gear 2.

[0032] The electric motor 4 fixed on a wheel 8 causes a displacement of the second end, which allows the retraction member 6 to move between the retracted position and the deployed position.

[0033] In a particularly ingenious way, the landing gear 2 includes a transmission selector 10 allowing the transmission of motion from the motor 4 to a wheel of the landing gear 2 to move the aircraft or allowing the transmission of motion from the motor 4 to the retraction member 6. In other words, the selector 10 allows the transmission of motion from the electric motor 4 to the wheel 8 or to the retraction member 6. Typically, the selector 10 can be a mechanical or magnetic clutch.

[0034] Furthermore, according to the embodiment presented here, the landing gear 2 includes a reducer 12 (i.e. a gear train) interposed between the wheel 8 and the motor 4. The reducer 12 makes it possible to multiply the torque transmitted by the motor 4 to allow rotation of the wheel 8.

[0035] Thus, landing gear 2 allows the engine 4 to be shared for retracting / extending the landing gear and for turning the wheel to orient the aircraft into the wind.

[0036] In addition, according to the embodiment presented here, the landing gear 2 includes two braking devices 14 which allow the wheel of the landing gear 2 to be braked. Computer system

[0037] According to another aspect, a computer system is proposed comprising electronic circuitry configured to implement a process for the automatic orientation of an aircraft.

[0038] As shown schematically on the Fig. 3The computer system 200 may include, connected by a communication bus 210: a processor 201; a random access memory 202; a read-only memory 203, for example of type ROM (Read Only Memory) or EEPROM (Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory); a storage unit 204, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a storage media reader, such as an SD card reader (Secure Digital); and an input / output interface manager 205.

[0039] The processor 201 is capable of executing instructions loaded into RAM 202 from ROM 203, external memory, a storage medium (such as an SD card), or a communication network. When the computer system 200 is powered on, the processor 201 can read instructions from RAM 202 and execute them. These instructions form a computer program that allows the processor 201 to implement process 100 and the steps described herein.

[0040] All or part of the process 100 and the steps described above can thus be implemented in software form by executing a set of instructions by a programmable machine, for example a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) or a microcontroller, or implemented in hardware form by a dedicated machine or component, for example an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Generally, the computer system 200 includes electronic circuitry adapted and configured to implement, in software and / or hardware form, the processes and steps described above in relation to the computer system 200 in question. Aircraft

[0041] According to another aspect, an aircraft comprising a rotary wing and including the 200 computer system is proposed.

Claims

1. Method (100) for automatically orienting an aircraft on the ground to take off into the wind, the aircraft comprising a cockpit, a plurality of landing gears (2) each comprising a power unit (4), at least one computer system comprising electronic circuitry for controlling the landing gears (2) and at least one manual control configured to transmit at least one instruction to the computer system, the method being implemented by the computer system and being characterized in that, when the activation control present in the cockpit is activated, it involves performing the following steps: - acquisition (101) of measurements of the orientation and speed of the wind around the aircraft; - determination (102) of a direction and sense of the direction of a wind axis; - commanding (104) the landing gear power units (4) to orient a longitudinal axis of the aircraft in a direction parallel to the direction of the wind axis and to orient the cockpit so that it faces into the sense of the direction of the wind axis; - take-off (106) with the longitudinal axis of the aircraft in a direction parallel to the direction of the wind axis and with the cockpit facing into the sense of the direction of the wind axis.

2. Method (100) according to Claim 1, wherein the wind orientation and windspeed measurements are acquired (101) by sensors carried on board the aircraft.

3. Method (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wind orientation and windspeed measurements are acquired (101) by external sensors positioned on a take-off zone around the aircraft.

4. Method according to Claims 2 and 3 in combination, wherein the measurements acquired by on-board sensors and the measurements acquired (101) from the external sensors are compared (1011) to determine wind direction and windspeed.

5. Method (100) according to the preceding claims wherein the step of commanding (104) the power units (4) comprises a phase (1041) consisting in controlling the roll, speed and stability of the aircraft when commanding the power units of the movement systems.

6. Computer program product comprising program code instructions for controlling the take-off of an aircraft according to the steps of the method (100) according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, when said instructions are executed by at least one processor (201).

7. Non-transient storage medium on which is stored a computer program comprising program code instructions for controlling the take-off of an aircraft according to the steps of the method (100) according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, when said instructions are read from said non-transient storage medium and executed by a processor (201).