Distributed Flight Control with Decoupled Actuators for Failure Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated flight control systems face challenges in ensuring safety due to complexity and cost associated with implementing redundancy, particularly in systems that require multiple redundant components to prevent failures.
Innovation Solution
A distributed flight control system is implemented, where each actuator is controlled by a separate processor, allowing for redundancy to be physically built into the aircraft, enabling continued safe operation even if one or more actuators fail, by using a simple and cost-effective setup with decoupled flight computers that provide instructions independently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional redundant flight control systems are implemented, then safety and reliability are improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flight control system is divided into multiple independent flight control computers, each capable of independently controlling the aircraft. This segmentation allows redundancy without requiring a fully integrated complex system, as each computer operates autonomously with its own sensors and actuators, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining safety through distribution of control functions across separate units
Solution Approach 2:
Each flight control computer is designed with specific local capabilities to control particular aircraft functions independently. Rather than requiring all computers to handle all control functions simultaneously, each computer has specialized local quality that enables it to maintain specific flight parameters, reducing the complexity burden on any single computer while ensuring overall system reliability
2Reliability
If traditional redundant flight control systems are implemented, then safety and reliability are improved, but implementation cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the flight control system into independent computers that each handle specific control functions, the patent enables modular manufacturing and assembly. Each flight control computer can be developed, tested, and manufactured separately using commercial off-the-shelf components, significantly reducing development and implementation costs compared to traditional integrated redundant systems that require custom-built complex architectures
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs multiple relatively simple flight control computers that can be manufactured at lower cost using commercial components rather than expensive specialized redundant hardware. If one computer fails, the system can continue operating with the remaining computers, effectively treating individual computers as replaceable units rather than requiring expensive highly-reliable specialized components for each unit
3Reliability
If multiple redundant components are used, then reliability is improved, but the system becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the flight control system into separate independent computers, each with its own sensors and actuators. This segmentation means that redundancy is achieved through spatial distribution rather than through complex interconnections within a single system, reducing the complexity of component interactions while maintaining failure safety through physical and functional separation of control paths
Data Source
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Figure 3A
AI summary
A set of commands for each of a plurality of actuators to alter an aircraft's state responsive to one or more inputs is produced. The set of commands is provided to fewer than all actuators comprising the plurality of actuators.