Aircraft Position Control for Tracking Moving Deck Landing Points
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rotorcrafts face challenges in repeatedly landing and taking off on a deck with large motion, as they fail to follow the deck's movement, leading to operational limitations.
Innovation Solution
An aircraft position control system that includes a camera, navigation device, and control unit to calculate and adjust the aircraft's position relative to a target landing point, even when the target point is moving due to motion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the rotorcraft hovers at a predetermined position without following deck movement, then the landing stability is improved, but the operational frequency and flexibility are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The control system dynamically adapts between two modes: stable hovering mode for large deck motions and active tracking mode for smaller motions. The system transitions between these modes based on real-time deck motion conditions, allowing both stability when needed and frequent operations when possible
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the control parameter from fixed position holding to dynamic target point tracking based on deck motion magnitude. When deck motion is within acceptable limits, the target landing point is updated to follow deck movement, enabling more frequent landings
2Reliability
If the rotorcraft waits for deck motion to decrease before landing, then the landing safety is improved, but the waiting time and operational efficiency are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculation of the target landing point based on predicted deck motion, allowing the rotorcraft to proactively adjust its approach trajectory rather than reactively waiting for motion to decrease. This reduces waiting time while maintaining safety
3Device complexity
If the aircraft uses conventional position control without motion compensation, then the control system complexity is reduced, but the ability to follow moving target landing point is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a target landing point calculation unit as an intermediary that translates deck motion information into adjusted target coordinates. This mediator layer enables motion compensation without requiring complex direct control of all aircraft degrees of freedom
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from deck motion sensors to continuously update the target landing point position, creating a closed-loop control that adapts to moving conditions while maintaining manageable system complexity
Data Source
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AI summary
An aircraft position control system to make a position of an aircraft follow movement of a target landing point due to motion includes a motion quantity estimation processing unit that estimates a motion quantity of the target landing point, based on attitude correction acceleration for correcting attitude of the aircraft and a relative position between the aircraft and the target landing point, and a target information generation unit that outputs a target relative position between the aircraft and the target landing point to be achieved and target relative velocity between the aircraft and the target landing point to be achieved, based on the estimated motion quantity.