Autonomous Flight Safety System for Aerial Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current flight termination systems rely on human intervention to monitor and decide on flight path deviations, which can be slow and inefficient, particularly in critical situations where rapid decision-making is necessary to ensure safety and prevent hazards.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous flight safety system onboard the aerial vehicle, utilizing multiple sensors and processors to independently analyze flight data and generate flight termination signals, allowing for real-time autonomous decision-making and termination of the flight if safety boundaries are violated.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If human intervention is used to monitor and decide on flight path deviations, then decision-making can be made with human judgment, but the response time is slow and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The flight safety assembly performs autonomous flight termination decisions without human intervention. The processor automatically analyzes flight data from multiple sensors, determines instantaneous impact points, and generates termination signals when safety boundaries are violated, enabling the system to serve itself in critical decision-making
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical human decision-making process with an automated electronic system. The processor substitutes human judgment with algorithm-based analysis of sensor data, eliminating the time delay associated with human reaction while maintaining reliable termination decisions through programmed safety criteria
2Reliability
If multiple sensors and independent analysis paths are used, then measurement reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the flight safety function into multiple independent analysis paths, each processing data from specific sensors separately. This segmentation allows parallel processing of different sensor inputs (accelerometer, GPS, barometer) through distinct computational routes, improving reliability through diversity while organizing complexity into manageable modular segments
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements three independent analysis paths when two might suffice for redundancy. This excessive action provides enhanced reliability by ensuring that even if one or two paths fail, the third can still make a safe termination decision, prioritizing safety over minimal complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A flight safety assembly onboard an aerial vehicle includes a first sensor configured to sense first information related to flight of the aerial vehicle and a second sensor configured to sense second information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle. A sensor input is adapted to receive third information related to the flight of the aerial vehicle. A processor is operably coupled to the first sensor, the second sensor, and the sensor input. The processor is configured to determine three independent instantaneous impact points for the aerial vehicle by independently analyzing each of the first information, the second information and the third information. The processor is also configured to generate three independent onboard flight termination indicators for each of the three independent instantaneous impact points that intersects with a region to be protected.