4951 results about "Rudder" patented technology

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.

A propelling and driving system for boats having an outboard rudder propeller. The system provides the boat with reliable and comparatively good maneuverability. The system comprises at least two rudder propellers, each having driving motors configured in the form of a permanent magnet-excited synchronous machine. The stator winding of each synchronous machine has three winding phases connected to a three-phase alternating current, which are connected to the supply system of the boat. A modular controlling and regulating device comprising standardized modules is provided for each of the rudder propellers.

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.

The present invention is directed to the manufacture of and the use of an aerodynamic flow control device having a compact array of a plurality of fluidic actuators in planar, curved, circular and annular configurations. The compact array of fluidic actuators of the invention may be designed to produce oscillating or pulsed jets at the exit ports with frequencies in the range of 1-22 kHz. They may be integrally manufactured along with the wing sections, flaps, tail and rudder of airplane, the inlet or exit geometries of a jet engine. When supplied with a source of fluid such as air, these arrays of actuators produce a set of fluid jets of random phase of high velocity and influence the main stream of air over the subject surface. The beneficial effects of modifying flow using the present invention include increased lift, reduced drag, improved performance and noise reduction in jet engines.

An apparatus and method using GPS for dynamically adjusting side-to-side positioning of a farm implement along a geographical path. The apparatus includes a global positioning system (GPS) antenna disposed on the farm implement, a GPS receiver coupled to the GPS antenna for determining a location of the GPS antenna, and a dual guidance computer for comparing the location to stored geographical coordinates of a desired path or providing a guide signal for offsetting the lateral position of an adjustable hitch or angling a wheel or ground rudder in a steerable implement for guiding the implement along the path; and a range extent signal for maintaining the offset of the hitch or steering angle of the implement within its dynamic range.

The invention provides a model ship based autonomous navigation control simulation system and method of an under-actuated unmanned ship. The whole system is arranged on a model ship, and the model ship is arranged in a simulated navigation channel; the system comprises an environment sensing sub system, a path programming sub system and a motion control sub system; the environment sensing sub system collects the navigation state of the model ship and simulates environment factor information; according to the navigation state of the model ship and the simulated environment factor information, the path programming sub system carries out navigation programming to obtain the tracking route, the set speed and the set course; and the motion control system combines a course tracking model, a path tracking model, the route deviation, the course deviation and the speed deviation to calculate the rudder angle and propeller rotating speed instruction needed in next navigation of the model ship and control a steering engine and a propeller. According to the invention, simulation experiments are carried out on the model ship, an instance is provided for operation and control experiments of large ships, important guarantee is provided for safe navigation of large ships in inland rivers, and the system reduces the difficult and cost of experiments of the large ships.

The composite rotating fixed-wing aircraft consists of the coaxial counter-paddle, reverse gear, engine output shaft, engine with a starter-generator, wings, tail blades, landing device, culvert, steering gear, fairing, fuselage, motor, motor drive shaft, wing control unit of small angle of attack, aileron rudder surface, and tailplane rudder surface. Co-axial counter-blade is located in the upper part of the aircraft, which connects with the engine output shaft; the reverse gear is installed between the co-axial counter-propellers; the motor connects with motor drive shaft powered by the starter-generator of the engine; the wings are located on both sides of aircraft and connect with the fuselage; the tail blades are located at the aircraft tail, which are installed behinde motor drive shaft; the landing device is located under the lower part of the fuselage and fixed with it; the culvert connects with the landing device; the fairing is installed in the culvert and connects with the steering gear; the wing control unit of small angle of attack is installed on the wing. The aircraft design method has six steps with strict scientific idea; this invention has a wide range of practical value and application prospect.

A floating, semi-submerged, tethered device that supports a horizontal axis turbine and power generation equipment for extracting kinetic energy from a tidal stream or ocean current. A submerged body (1) is supported by surface piercing struts (2) of small water plane area (FIG. 6). The device is tethered to the seabed by a spread of mooring lines (12) that are deployed both into and away from the direction of the tidal current. A horizontal axis turbine (4) harnesses energy from the water flow and drives a generator housed within the body. A horizontal strut hydrofoil (24) corrects the trim of the device when subject to varying loads from the mooring system and can also be used to dampen pitch motion. Rudder flaps in the struts (25) can be used to counteract roll motion. Power is exported from the device to the seabed by an umbilical (17). A thrusters (22) can be used to constrain the rotation of the device about its mooring system to prevent excessive twist building up between the mooring lines and the power export umbilical.

The invention provides a tiltrotor controlled by a double-propeller vertical duct. The tiltrotor, using the design of parallel twin-rotor and conventional aerodynamic configuration, consists of a fuselage, straight wings, rotors, a nacelle, an aileron, a vertical empennage, a rudder, an elevator, a horizontal empennage, a duct end cover, a vertical duct, an undercarriage, a power and decelerationsystem, a propeller power input shaft, a lower propeller, an upper propeller, louver-type slipstream sheets, a propeller gearing and collective-pitch controlling device, a propeller gear box supporting structure, a duct end cover driving device, a duct end cover motion slide rail and a slipstream sheet controlling device. Compared with the cyclic pitch control mode, the tiltrotor of the inventionsimplifies the operations during the vertical flight and the flight conversion and improves the reliability by using the structure of the double-propeller vertical duct to control the vertical flightand the conversion of the flight mode, and the tiltrotor has the advantages of long control force arm, high control efficiency and simple structure. Therefore, the tiltrotor constitutes a novel aircraft with significant development potential and promising future.

The present invention relates to a method of the 3D track simulation for a miniature aircraft under urban surroundings and belongs to the field of the 3D real-time route navigation technology for a miniature aircraft. The following modules are set in a computer: a map digitalized module, which digitalizes the 3D model of urban surroundings including threat points, buildings, the departure and target points of a miniature aircraft that is inputted by the graphical user interface (GUI), map parameters and the coordinate of a candidate navigation point composed of the 3D model of urban surroundings and the map parameters; a flight path programming module, which inputs the data from the map digitalized module, calculates the overall route index that takes the flight resource consumption rate and the survival rate into consideration, figures out the most feasible route using network optimizing algorithm under the condition of taking barriers into consideration, and then smooths the bevel at turnings and generates a realtime flight orbit; a data-collecting module, which collects the coordinate values of the aircraft positions and postures outputted by the flight path programming module and forms a posture coordinate value including orthogonal coordinate variables X, Y and Z, a pitch angle h, a yawing angle p and a roll angle r. The present invention saves flight resources and improves flights simultaneously.

An unmanned aerial vehicle adapted for hover and short/vertical take-off and landing (S/VTOL) is disclosed. The vehicle comprises: a body having an aspect-ratio less than two and having therein a payload volume, at least one propeller located forward of the body, at least one rudder. The body may have an inverse Zimmerman planform which provides lift as air flows across the body in horizontal flight/fixed wing mode, and further adapted such that during hover and/or short/vertical take-off and landing (S/VTOL) the vehicle operates as a rotorcraft with the body oriented with the at least one propeller substantially above the body. The vehicle is suited to a method of inspection, such as power line inspection where large distances can be analysed efficiently by flying in fixed wing mode, but by transitioning to hover mode allows detailed inspection of selected areas.

The wave powered (WP) propulsion systems developed in great amount for boats are not in use because of small effectiveness caused by rocking process reducing propellor stroke relatively water. Submarines and special quasi-dipped watercrafts deprived of this disadvantage. Their bodies keeps stable the propellors mounted on conning towers or special props owing to the body's great mass. This factor multiplies the WP propellor effectiveness meeting Navy and Merchant fleet requirements. The invention includes designs of: spare WP propulsion plant embedded into submarine diving rudders or folded into pockets of the submarine sail, quasi-dipped watercraft carrying multiple foil WP propulsion system, quasi-dipped tug towing submerged tank, self optimized foil propellor. Experiences with submarine models equipped by the WP propellers have shown excellent results. Expected velocities for submarine 4-7 knots, for the quasi-dipped watercraft 5-15 knots. The folded spare WP propulsion plant does not interrupt submarine functioning.

An amphibious vehicle for traversing a body of water or solid terrain such as a layer of ice floating atop the body of water. The vehicle includes a floatable boat hull having an elongate aperture there-through, and a snowmobile for traveling over the solid terrain received in the opening and sealed to the hull in water impervious relation. The snowmobile includes an endless drive track for supporting the hull in spaced relation with solid terrain being traversed and for rearwardly propelling water in the body of water to forwardly propel the vehicle over solid terrain or through the water, and a pair of skis which support the front of the hull in spaced relation with the solid terrain being traversed and include upturned forward ends mounting upstanding rudders for steering the boat hull as the vehicle traverses a body of water. The hull includes upwardly extending, downwardly opening pockets for receiving the front upturned ends of the skis and stabilizing arms which are coupled between the frame and the skis. Upwardly inclined guides are provided on the underside of the hull for upwardly guiding the skis out of the water onto the ice floating on the water as the vehicle exits the water and moves onto the ice.

The invention discloses a special-purpose unmanned helicopter obstacle-avoidance system for mountain-area electrical network routing inspection and a work flow thereof. The special-purpose unmanned helicopter evadible system comprises an on-board signal acquisition module and an on-board obstacle-avoidance analysis module in a flight control system. The on-board signal acquisition module comprises a millimeter wave radar ranging sensor. The millimeter wave radar ranging sensor is connected to a signal pre-processing module and is used for transforming analog signals into digital signals, and transmitting the environmental information to the on-board obstacle-avoidance analysis module by a communication port. Corresponding instructions are transmitted to a control computer of the flight control system by the on-board obstacle-avoidance analysis module. Corresponding instructions are transmitted to an unmanned helicopter rudder control system by the control computer of the flight control system. The special-purpose unmanned helicopter obstacle-avoidance system avoids artificial intervention, ensures that the unmanned helicopter with the special-purpose unmanned helicopter obstacle-avoidance system can keep a safe distance to an electric power circuit at any time under complex mountain area terrain conditions, and prevents that the unmanned helicopter crashes the electric power circuit and other barriers because of sharp-edged gust disturbance or GPS errors.

A modular submersible video viewing system. The system includes a viewing monitor, multi-conductor cable and camera that store at a portable housing and deploy for underwater viewing. The camera can be submersed for stationary viewing, towed from a watercraft or manipulated with an operator pole. The camera can be secured with clips or bottom support plates in various orientations or be secured to a swivel coupler and steering guide and/or pole. A rudder, ballast weight (with or without a keel), lens' sunshield, lights and/or lenses and filters are optionally mountable to the camera. In one portable assembly, a cable spool mounts to a carry case that stores the system components. In another portable assembly, the viewing monitor, battery and attendant control circuitry are mounted in a monitor housing having an integral sunshield. A handle and a pair of cable wrap arms contain the cable. A recess at the monitor housing supports the camera. The housing can be supported on the floor or from a wall bracket to permit viewing through the sunshield. In another portable assembly, the sunshield can be detached from the housing.

The present invention is a 2 passenger aircraft capable of vertical and conventional takeoffs and landings, called a jyrodyne. The jyrodyne comprises a central fuselage with biplane-type wings arranged in a negative stagger arrangement, a horizontal ducted fan inlet shroud located at the center of gravity in the top biplane wing, a rotor mounted in the shroud, outrigger wing support landing gear, a forward mounted canard wing and passenger compartment, a multiple vane-type air deflector system for control and stability in VTOL mode, a separate tractor propulsion system for forward flight, and a full-span T-tail. Wingtip extensions on the two main wings extend aft to attach to the T-tail. The powerplants consist of two four cylinder two-stroke reciprocating internal combustion engines. Power from the engines is distributed between the ducted fan and tractor propeller through the use of a drivetrain incorporating two pneumatic clutches, controlled by an automotive style footpedal to the left of the rudder pedals. When depressed, power is transmitted to the ducted fan for vertical lift. When released, power is transmitted to the tractor propeller for forward flight. The aircraft can also takeoff and land in the conventional manner with a much larger payload, and is easily converted to amphibious usage. Landing gear is a bicycle arrangement with outriggers. The aircraft combines twin engines, heavy-duty landing gear, controlled-collapse crashworthy seats with a low stall speed and high resistance to stalls to eliminate any region of the flight regime where an engine or drivetrain failure could cause an uncontrollable crash.