Aircraft Position Control for Hovering Over Moving Landing Points

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing aircraft position control systems struggle to maintain accurate hovering over a target landing point, especially when the target is moving, due to drift components in acceleration measurements.

Innovation Solution

The system employs an acceleration correction processing unit, a complementary filter, and a smoothing processing unit to correct and smooth the relative coordinates of the aircraft, removing drift components and ensuring stable positioning.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Speed

If acceleration measurement is used for position control, then the aircraft can respond quickly to position adjustments, but drift components cause the position to deviate from the target landing point

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresponse speedVSAvoidposition accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines acceleration data from the accelerometer with velocity data from the Doppler navigation device and position data from the imaging device. By merging these multiple data sources through integration and filtering processes, the system achieves both fast response (from acceleration) and high position accuracy (from combined multi-sensor processing), resolving the contradiction between response speed and position accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously monitors the actual position of the aircraft using the imaging device and Doppler navigation, compares it with the target position, and uses this feedback to adjust the control commands. This closed-loop feedback mechanism corrects drift accumulation over time while maintaining responsive control, resolving the contradiction between fast response and long-term position accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Measurement precision

If Doppler navigation is used to measure velocity, then velocity accuracy is improved, but the system complexity increases due to correction processing

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevelocity accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an integration unit that acts as an intermediary between the Doppler navigation device and the control system. This unit performs the complex correction calculations by integrating corrected velocity over time to generate position information, thereby isolating the complexity of Doppler correction processing from the main control logic and simplifying the overall system architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Measurement precision

If image processing is used to acquire relative position, then position information is obtained, but processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveposition information accuracyVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary processing of imaging data by continuously tracking the target landing point and pre-calculating relative position information as the aircraft approaches. This preliminary action reduces the computational burden during critical landing phases, allowing the system to maintain high position accuracy while minimizing processing delays when rapid response is needed.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4227215B1Aircraft position control system, aircraft, and aircraft position control method
Publication Date: 2025.05.21 MITSUBISHI HEAVY IND LTD
  • EP4227215B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4227215B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP4227215B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

An aircraft position control system that keeps an aircraft at target coordinates in an inertial space with respect to a target landing point that moves includes an acceleration correction processing unit that, based on acceleration of the aircraft and an attitude of the aircraft, outputs first attitude correction acceleration for correcting the acceleration of the aircraft, a complementary filter that, based on the first attitude correction acceleration and inertial velocity of the aircraft, outputs second attitude correction acceleration in which a drift component included in the first attitude correction acceleration is removed, and a smoothing processing unit that, based on the second attitude correction acceleration and relative coordinates between the aircraft and the target landing point, outputs smoothed relative coordinates obtained by smoothing the relative coordinates.