eVTOL Drive Maintenance Control Using Cumulative Load Thresholds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) face challenges in determining appropriate maintenance timings for their multiple electric drive systems, which may have different deterioration rates due to varying roles and operational conditions.
Innovation Solution
A controller and control device for eVTOLs that include a control unit, drive information detection unit, storage control unit, and maintenance necessity detection unit to manage and analyze drive history information for each electric drive system, determining individual maintenance needs based on cumulative load values and thresholds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If individual maintenance timing is determined for each electric drive system, then maintenance accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the maintenance management system into modular functional units: drive information detection unit, storage control unit, and maintenance necessity detection unit. Each unit handles specific tasks independently, allowing precise tracking of cumulative load values for each electric drive system without requiring complex integrated processing. This segmentation enables accurate individual maintenance timing determination while keeping the overall system manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device automatically monitors and accumulates drive history information for each electric drive system, comparing cumulative load values against predetermined thresholds to autonomously determine maintenance necessity. This self-service approach eliminates the need for manual maintenance scheduling and reduces operational complexity, as the system performs its own diagnostic assessments based on accumulated operational data.
2Reliability
If cumulative load values are monitored for each electric drive system, then maintenance reliability is improved, but information processing load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-establishes threshold values for cumulative load values corresponding to different maintenance conditions before operation begins. During runtime, the system only needs to compare current cumulative load values against these pre-set thresholds rather than performing complex real-time analysis. This preliminary preparation significantly reduces computational load while maintaining high reliability in maintenance determination, as the decision logic is simplified to straightforward threshold comparisons.
3Measurement precision
If drive history information is stored and analyzed, then maintenance precision is improved, but storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential drive history information needed for maintenance determination, specifically focusing on cumulative load values and their comparison against thresholds. Rather than storing and analyzing all possible operational parameters, the system isolates and monitors only the critical data elements that directly indicate maintenance necessity. This extraction approach maintains high detection precision while minimizing storage requirements by eliminating redundant information.
Data Source
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AI summary
An electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (100, 100a to 100d) with a plurality of electric drive systems (10, 10a to lOd) each including a drive motor (12) for turning a rotor (30) and a drive unit (11) for driving the drive motor includes: a drive information detection unit (55) that detects, for each of the plurality of electric drive systems, drive information including at least one of motor information serving as an indicator of the deterioration state of the drive motor and drive unit information serving as an indicator of the deterioration state of the drive unit; and a maintenance necessity detection unit (57) that detects the necessity or lack of necessity of maintenance on each of the plurality of electric drive systems based on the detected drive information.