Aircraft Brake Controller Reconfiguration After Energy Supply Loss
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft braking systems face performance reduction when switching to backup or redundant energy supplies, leading to potential wheel lock and slip due to insufficient reactive forces, and existing anti-lock braking systems do not adequately address this issue.
Innovation Solution
A controller that intelligently determines performance changes by comparing current and predicted performance across different energy supply configurations, allowing reconfiguration to maintain or enhance braking performance by switching actuators to backup or redundant energy sources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the aircraft system switches to a backup energy supply, then the system maintains operational continuity, but the braking performance is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically reconfigures the energy supply architecture by uncoupling the first actuator from the failed first energy supply and coupling it to the second energy supply, allowing the system to adapt its configuration in response to failure conditions while maintaining operational continuity
Solution Approach 2:
The controller changes the system configuration parameters by modifying the coupling relationships between actuators and energy supplies, transitioning from a degraded state (first configuration) to an optimized state (second configuration) based on real-time performance assessment
2Productivity
If the aircraft system switches to a redundant energy supply, then the braking performance is maintained, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The second energy supply is designed to serve multiple functions: it acts as a backup for the first actuator and can also serve the second actuator, allowing a single redundant energy supply to maintain braking performance across multiple failure scenarios without proportionally increasing system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-configures alternative energy supply pathways during the design phase, establishing the coupling relationships between the second energy supply and both actuators before failures occur, enabling rapid reconfiguration without complex real-time decision-making
3Productivity
If the controller reconfigures the aircraft system, then the braking performance is optimized, but the control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller implements a feedback mechanism that monitors energy supply status and actuator performance, using this information to assess whether reconfiguration is necessary and to evaluate the potential performance impact before executing reconfiguration commands
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-diagnosis and self-reconfiguration by automatically detecting energy supply failures and autonomously determining the optimal configuration without requiring external intervention, reducing the complexity of external control systems
Data Source
AI summary
A controller for an aircraft system of an aircraft, the aircraft system including a first actuator and a first energy supply. The controller is configured to, when the aircraft system is configured in a first configuration, in which the first actuator is coupled to the first energy supply, determine that there is a loss of energy supplied to the first actuator from the first energy supply. The controller is configured to determine a change in performance achievable by reconfiguring the aircraft system from the first configuration to an alternative configuration, in which the first actuator is uncoupled from the first energy supply, and cause reconfiguration of the aircraft system from the first configuration to the alternative configuration, in the event that the change in performance determined by the controller is a gain in performance.