1291 results about "Aircraft flight control system" patented technology

The present invention relates to a reduced scale industrial helicopter, with an integrated automatic flight control system, that includes core autopilot functions, GPS management, and full-function navigation systems. The autopilot technology includes rapid launch capability, real-time in-flight switching between one or more of a) remote control, b) autopilot-directed, c) ground station controlled, and d) home modes, and is upgradeable. The helicopter is used for high or low altitude surveillance, and can handle various payloads, including photographic missions. The helicopter may include onboard batteries and / or a unique battery unit disposed beneath the helicopter, and includes autonomous features such as automatic takeoff, automatic landing, safety return to home base, and predetermined mission plans.

An autonomous air vehicle comprises a flight control system and an automatic contingency generator for automatically determining a contingent air vehicle route for use by the flight control system in response to contingencies experienced by the air vehicle. A method of automatically determining the contingent air vehicle route is also provided.

A hover aircraft employs an air impeller engine having an air channel duct and a rotor with outer ends of its blades fixed to an annular impeller disk that is driven by magnetic induction elements arrayed in the air channel duct. The air-impeller engine is arranged vertically in the aircraft frame to provide vertical thrust for vertical takeoff and landing. Preferably, the air-impeller engine employs dual, coaxial, contra-rotating rotors for increased thrust and gyroscopic stability. An air vane assembly directs a portion of the air thrust output at a desired angle to provide a horizontal thrust component for flight maneuvering or translation movement. The aircraft can employ a single engine in an annular fuselage, two engines on a longitudinal fuselage chassis, three engines in a triangular arrangement for forward flight stability, or other multiple engine arrangements in a symmetric, balanced configuration. Other flight control mechanisms may be employed, including side winglets, an overhead wing, and / or air rudders or flaps. An integrated flight control system can be used to operate the various flight control mechanisms. Electric power is supplied to the magnetic induction drives by high-capacity lightweight batteries or fuel cells. The hover aircraft is especially well suited for applications requiring VTOL deployment, hover operation for quiet surveillance, maneuvering in close air spaces, and long duration flights for continuous surveillance of ground targets and important facilities requiring constant monitoring.

An aircraft including an airframe having a fuselage which extends longitudinally, and having fixed wings including a main wing, a horizontal tail wing and a vertical tail wing. A propeller-rotor torque transmission has a bevel gear which transmits the rotation of an input shaft simultaneously to a propeller shaft and to a rotor shaft. An engine gearbox supplies the above-mentioned input shaft with rotationalal motive power. The aircraft further includes a propeller collective pitch controller, a rotor collective pitch controller, an engine power controller which controls the output of the above-mentioned engine gearbox for the purpose of changing the rotational speed of the input shaft, and a flight control system having a directional (yaw) control system which controls the flight direction of the aircraft by controlling the positions of the above-mentioned control surfaces.

A method for using an unmanned aerial vehicle to install objects on wire and catenary structures is described. The method includes tagging the location, attaching the object to the UAV, navigating the UAV to the position, attaching the object, testing the attachment, releasing the object, inspecting the attachment, and returning the UAV to the ground. Sensors, flight control systems, means for attachment, and variations of embodiments of the methods, systems, and mechanical devices are described.

A VTOL vehicle including a fuselage with two foldable wings, two tiltable nacelles attached to the wings, a vertical stabilizer, a horizontal stabilizer, and two auxiliary thrusters. Each nacelle contains a system of vanes located at the rear opening thereof, and actuators are provided for extending and retracting the vanes in conjunction with nacelle tilting mechanisms to deflect the airflow over a predetermined range of angles from the horizontal. Each nacelle also contains two rotary engines, each of which directly drives a fan. The fans face each other and operate in counter-rotating directions at the same rotational speed. An alternative embodiment includes two additional nacelles attached to the fuselage instead of having the auxiliary thrusters. A redundant computerized flight control system maintains stability of the vehicle as it transitions from one flight mode to another.

The invention relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle autonomous obstacle detection system and method based on binocular vision. The unmanned aerial vehicle autonomous obstacle detection system and method based on the binocular vision are characterized in that the system comprises a binocular visual system, other sensor modules and a flight control system which are mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle; the method comprises the steps that the binocular visual system acquires visual information of the flight environment of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and obstacle information is obtained through processing; other sensor units acquire state information of the unmanned aerial vehicle; the flight control system receives the obstacle information and the state information of the unmanned aerial vehicle, establishes a flight path and generates a flight control instruction to send to the unmanned aerial vehicle; the unmanned aerial vehicle flies by avoiding obstacles according to the flight control instruction. According to the unmanned aerial vehicle autonomous obstacle detection system and method based on the binocular vision, the vision information is fused with other sensor information, the flight environment information is perceived, flight path control and path planning are conducted to avoid the obstacles, the problem of vision obstacle avoidance of the unmanned aerial vehicle is effectively solved, and the capacity of completing vision obstacle avoidance by means of a vehicle-mounted camera is achieved.

A seismometer having a hydrodynamically efficient shaped body containing a seismic sensor or source, having a propulsion unit located and a control unit for directional control of the propulsion unit for guiding the seismometer to and from an ocean floor. The seismometer can be deployed from a surface ship, helicopter or airplane. The seismometer or surface support vessel contains a navigation unit for directing the control unit to a desired location on the ocean bottom. The apparatus provides a storage device for storing seismic data sensed by the seismic sensor. The navigation system sends a responsive directional command to the apparatus based on the current location and the desired location. Upon arrival at the desired ocean bottom location, the propulsion system acts to couple the apparatus to the ocean floor. A flight control system manages a plurality of the seismometers during navigation to and from the a ocean bottom.

Embodiments of the invention relate to a flight control system for controlling an aircraft during flight. The flight control system may include a primary controller configured to receive an input from a pilot and to output a primary control signal and a primary transmission path connected to the primary controller and configured to relay the primary control signal. The flight control system may also include a backup controller configured to receive the input from the pilot and to output a backup control signal and a backup transmission path connected to the backup controller and configured to relay the backup control signal. Additionally, the flight control system may include an actuator having a remote electronics unit configured to receive the primary control signal and the backup control signal and to determine if the primary control signal is available and valid. The remote electronics unit may be configured to output an actuator command based on the primary control signal if the primary control signal is available and valid and to output the actuator command based on the backup control signal if the primary control signal is unavailable or invalid.

The present invention is directed to a system for converting a man-rated fly-by-wire (FBW) aircraft into a remote controlled unmanned airborne vehicle (UAV). The FBW aircraft includes a FBW flight control system (FBW-FCS) configured to control aircraft control surfaces disposed on the aircraft. The system includes a controller coupled to the FBW aircraft. The controller is configured to generate substantially real-time pilot control data from at least one aircraft maneuver command. The real-time pilot control data is generated in accordance with a predetermined control law. The at least one aircraft maneuver command is derived from at least one command telemetry signal received from a remote control system not disposed on the FBW aircraft or from a pre-programmed trajectory. An FBW-FCS interface system is coupled to the controller. The FBW-FCS interface system is configured to convert the substantially real-time pilot control data into substantially real-time simulated FBW-FCS pilot control signals. The substantially real-time simulated FBW-FCS pilot control signals are configured to direct the FBW-FCS such that the FBW aircraft performs in accordance with the at least one aircraft maneuver command.

The invention discloses a special photoelectric nacelle of a power patrol unmanned helicopter, which comprises an airborne part and a ground part, wherein the airborne part comprises a fixed part which is positioned in the upper part, a rotatable part which is positioned in the lower part and a servo control assembly; the rotatable part comprises a gyroscope stable rotating tower; the fixed part comprises an electronic control cabin; cables between the electronic control cabin and the gyroscope stable rotating tower are connected by a conducting slide ring which can support the gyroscope stable rotating tower to rotate by nx360 degrees; and the airborne part of the photoelectric nacelle is suspended on the helicopter by a vibration reducing device and communicated with a flight control system of the helicopter. The special photoelectric nacelle is a photoelectric task load with compact structure and high performance, can meet the requirement for remote power patrol, has self-stabilizing function and self-tracing function, can shoot a target to be traced from an image in real time, transmit the target to a ground control vehicle by a radio transmission system on an aerial carrier and is convenient for a patrol parson to directly master the scene condition to improve the efficiency of power patrol.

An aircraft (1) and a terrestrial station (40) for communicating with each other are provided. An airframe and a payload device of an aircraft is controlled from the terrestrial station. The aircraft (1) transmits data concerning a situation of the airframe, a situation of a flight, and a situation of the payload device to the terrestrial station (40). The terrestrial station (40) includes one monitor screen (56) for simultaneously displaying all the data transmitted from the aircraft and an operation panel.

A method of stabilizing a jet-powered tri-mode aircraft as the aircraft travels in a helicopter mode, a compound mode, and a fixed-wing mode is disclosed. The method includes receiving a plurality of velocity vector component values and velocity vector commands derived from either (1) a number of pilot operated controllers or (2) a commanded array of waypoints, which are used for fully automated flights, and a rotor speed reference value, which is decreased with increasing forward speed to unload the rotor, thereby permitting conditions for stopping the rotor in flight. Stabilization of the commanded velocity vector is achieved in all modes of flight using blended combinations of rotor swashplate controls and aerodynamic controls such as elevons, canards, rudders, and a horizontal tail. Stabilization to the commanded velocity vector includes a plurality of control constraints applied to the pilot stick controllers that prevent penetration of envelope limits.

The invention relates to a miniature unmanned helicopter auto flight control system which comprises an on-board control system, wherein, an on-board computer gets signals from sensors through a serial port, and exchanges data with a ground-based computer through on-board and ground wireless Ethernet access points; the on-board computer carries out serial communication with a digital signal processor to control a steering engine set of the unmanned helicopter; a remote control signal receiver outputs to the digital signal processor and then is connected with the on-board computer through a serial port, and an auto control signal and a ground remote control signal are accumulated to get a current steering engine control signal. And the auto flight control system also comprises a ground control system, wherein, the ground-based computer transmits flight control instructions to the on-board computer and receives and records flight data; through operating a ground helicopter remote controller, manual control instructions can be transmitted to the on-board remote control signal receiver via wireless radio frequency signals. The invention can improve the auto flight ability of the miniature unmanned helicopter, strengthen system reliability, expand the application range of the unmanned helicopter and enable the helicopter to complete given missions beyond the visual range.

The invention relates to a method and a system for a semi-physical simulation test of visual unmanned aerial vehicle flight control and belongs to the technical field of visual system simulation. The method includes building a dynamic model of an unmanned aerial vehicle system, initializing the dynamic model, enabling an unmanned aerial vehicle to fly along the track provided by the ground, feeding flight rudder quantity information to the dynamic model to be updated, driving a three-dimensional model of the unmanned aerial vehicle through the updated dynamic model to conduct simulation and outputting simulation image and data in real time. A system based on the method is further provided. The method and the system provide effective ways and development environment for design, experiments and verification of the flight control law, have the advantages of being simple, flexible, quick, vivid and real-time, improve simulation efficiency of a flight control system, reduce test risk and test cost of the unmanned aerial vehicle and shorten development period.

An aircraft load management system that determines the position of an aircraft cargo hook for display to an aircrew. The cargo hook positional information may alternatively or additionally be communicated directly to a flight control system and a winch control system to automate and coordinate flight control inputs with winch operation to actively position the cargo hook. Data transfer from the cargo through a data link system also provides the load management system with exact position of the cargo load connection points even prior to attachment of the cargo hook to the load. The load management system also includes anti-sway algorithms for active load stability inputs to the flight control system and to alter flight control laws and automatically compensate for C.G. excursions.

A device for programming industry standard autopilots by unskilled pilots. The effect of the invention is such that when the invention is employed in a flying body comprising an industry standard autopilot with a digital flight control system, the invention provides for the safe operation of any aircraft by an unskilled pilot. The device additionally affords skilled pilots a more rapid and simplified means of programming autopilots while in flight thus reducing a skilled pilot's cockpit workload for all aircraft flight and directional steering, way points, and aircraft flight functions reducing the possibility of pilot error so as to effect safer flight operations of an aircraft by affording a skilled pilot to direct aircraft steering and function while under continuous autopilot control.

The invention discloses a transmission line inspection system based on a multi-rotor unmanned aircraft, which comprises the multi-rotor unmanned aircraft and a ground support system, wherein the multi-rotor unmanned aircraft comprises an aircraft body, an airborne flight control system, an airborne task system and an airborne power supply for supplying power to all the electronic devices; the aircraft body comprises a body, an undercarriage fixedly connected below the body, and a plurality of rotor components which are symmetrically distributed on the periphery of the body; the airborne flight control system comprises a flight navigation and control part, a transmission line anti-collision warning and control part, and an airborne end used for remotely controlling a telemetry data chain; the airborne task system comprises a damping nacelle, an image acquiring device arranged on the damping nacelle, and the airborne end for a wireless image transmission chain; and the ground support system comprises a ground end for remotely controlling the telemetry data chain, a flight monitoring system, the ground end for a wireless image transmission chain, and an image monitoring system. The transmission line inspection system has a reasonable structure, is easily realized, and has high engineering application value.

The present invention provides computer implemented methodology that permits the safe landing and recovery of rotorcraft following engine failure. With this invention successful autorotations may be performed from well within the unsafe operating area of the height-velocity profile of a helicopter by employing the fast and robust real-time trajectory optimization algorithm that commands control motion through an intuitive pilot display, or directly in the case of autonomous rotorcraft. The algorithm generates optimal trajectories and control commands via the direct-collocation optimization method, solved using a nonlinear programming problem solver. The control inputs computed are collective pitch and aircraft pitch, which are easily tracked and manipulated by the pilot or converted to control actuator commands for automated operation during autorotation in the case of an autonomous rotorcraft. The formulation of the optimal control problem has been carefully tailored so the solutions resemble those of an expert pilot, accounting for the performance limitations of the rotorcraft and safety concerns.

A flight control system for aircraft, such as for a vehicle with a ducted fan propulsion system which also produces rotary moments and side forces for control purposes. The flight control system of the present invention is designed in a manner that will ensure the safety of the vehicle in event of a malfunction in any one of its channels and enable the flight to continue down to a safe landing.

The invention discloses a flying robot used for detecting transmission line insulator in the field of aircraft control and image transmission technique. The technical proposal is that the flying robot used for detecting the transmission line insulator consists of a three-axis aircraft or four-axis aircraft, a flying control system and an objective recognition system; the power part of the three-axis aircraft consists of three pairs of airscrews, three coaxial motors and three supporting arms; the power part of the four-axis aircraft consists of 4 direct-drive brushless motors and four airscrews; the flying control system consists of an on-board self-control system and a ground station control system; the objective recognition system consists of on-board mission load and a ground image processing system. By installing a precise navigation system on the flying robot, the flying robot exactly flies in the space above the insulator to be detected; by adopting the image gaining and transmission system, the zero-value insulator is exactly detected, the labor intensity is lightened, and the safety of the detection personnel is improved during the detection process.

Embodiments of the invention relate to a flight control system for controlling an aircraft in flight having a backup control system integrated into an active control stick. The actuated control stick may include a processing unit that includes independent and separate hardware and / or software dedicated to the primary control system and the backup control system. For the primary control system, the processing unit may receive a sensed primary control stick signal and communicate with a primary processor, which may be configured to generate a primary control signal. For the backup control system, the processing unit may receive a sensed backup control stick signal and generate a backup control signal. The processing unit may also generate tactile signal for use by the actuated control stick to adjust the feel of a pilot's control stick.

The invention discloses an ARM (advanced RISC (reduced instruction set computer) machines) and FPGA (field-programmable gate array) based navigation and autonomous flight control system for an unmanned helicopter. The system comprises a PC (personal computer), an integrated navigation subsystem, a power supply module and controllers, wherein the integrated navigation subsystem comprises a sensor group; the sensor group comprises a GPS (global positioning system), a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a magnetoresistive sensor, a barometric altimeter and a sonar altimeter; the controllers include a main controller and a steering engine controller; the main controller adopts an ARM microprocessor to operate the integrated navigation algorithm and flight control PID (proportion integration differentiation) algorithm and simultaneously completes data acquisition of the GPS, the barometric altimeter and the sonar altimeter; and the steering engine controller adopts an FPGA to realize data acquisition of the gyroscope, the accelerometer and the magnetoresistive sensor and transfers the data to the main controller via a concurrent bus to carry out attitude calculation and control operation on the unmanned helicopter. With the unmanned helicopter as a carrier, the hardware environment of a whole set of flight control system integrating study of the aircraft navigation and control theory problem, data acquisition, information transfer and embedded control is set up.

A flight control system is configured for controlling the flight of an aircraft utilizing a three control loop design to robustly increase system performance. An inner loop comprises an improved linear quadratic regulator (LQR) search method, and an outer loop comprises a classic feedback summary gain design. A third loop comprises a steady state trim search method.

An automated flight control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising a flight computer for managing functions related to a flight of the UAV, an application processor for managing functions on the UAV not related to flight, a flight data recorder to record data related to a flight of the UAV, an attitude and heading reference system, a global navigation satellite system receiver, a self-separation module for communicating with another aircraft for the purpose of avoiding a collision, and a wireless communications module for communicating with the remote system, wherein the automated flight control system is capable of receiving operational instructions via the wireless communications module from the remote system.

A unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) visual tracking method comprises the steps of obtaining image information of a region where a target object is located; identifying the target object, including acquiring target object information in the image information and determining the target object according to the target object information; positioning and visual tracking the successfully identified target object; and generating an abnormal prompt signal when the target object is not successfully identified or the positioning or visual tracking is abnormal, and actuating a prompt device according to the abnormal prompt signal to prompt the abnormality. The invention further relates to a UAV visual tracking apparatus and a UAV. The UAV visual tracking method can feed back clear and concise results of a visual tracking algorithm and a flight control system in time, thereby improving the visual tracking effect and user experience.

A micro unmanned aerial vehicle or drone (“UAV”) 10 is remotely controlled through an HMI, although this remote control is supplemented by and selectively suppressed by an on-board controller. The controller operates to control the generation of a sonar bubble that generally encapsulates the UAV. The sonar bubble, which may be ultrasonic in nature, is produced by a multiplicity of sonar lobes generated by specific sonar emitters associated with each axis of movement for the UAV. The emitters produce individual and beamformed sonar lobes that partially overlap to provide stereo or bioptic data in the form of individual echo responses detected by axis-specific sonar detectors. In this way, the on-board controller is able to interpret and then generate 3-D spatial imaging of the physical environment in which the UAV is currently moving or positioned. The controller is therefore able to plot relative and absolute movement of the UAV through the 3-D space by recording measurements from on-board gyroscopes, magnetometers and accelerometers. Data from the sonar bubble can therefore both proactively prevent collisions with objects by imposing a corrective instruction to rotors and other flight control system and can also assess and compensate for sensor drift.

The invention discloses a dual-redundancy autonomous flight control system for micro-miniature unmanned helicopters, which comprises an airborne control system and a ground remote control and remote measuring system, wherein the airborne control system acquires the flight data of a helicopter, controls the unmanned helicopter to fly in accordance with scheduled subjects according to a flight control algorithm, and sends the flight data and algorithm results to the ground remote control and remote measuring system through an airborne data transfer radio in the airborne control system; and the ground remote control and remote measuring system receives the data sent by the airborne control system, displays the data through a ground station so as to enable ground experimenters to know the flight and control states of the helicopter, and uploads a control instruction in real time through the ground station so as to adjust and change the flight subjects and control state of the helicopter. According to the invention, the autonomous capacity of small unmanned helicopters can be improved, and the reliability of the system can be increased; and especially, when a flight control computer has failures, the safety of a test platform can be ensured to the maximum extent.