Fly-By-Wire Bus Architecture for Redundant Control Without Triplicate Wiring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern aircraft fly-by-wire systems require redundancy to ensure fail-operational capabilities, leading to increased wiring and costs, necessitating a solution that minimizes wiring and associated expenses while maintaining data integrity and reliability.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an asynchronous intermodule bus arrangement with distinct communication paths between flight control modules and actuation systems, utilizing Controller Area Network (CAN) buses and redundant actuator control modules, allows for independent communication paths and reduced physical electrical connections, achieving high availability and data integrity without triplicate bus connections or interfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If redundancy is implemented in fly-by-wire systems to ensure fail-operational capabilities, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and wiring quantity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple control modules share common communication bus arrangements (CAN buses) for data exchange, merging redundant communication paths into shared infrastructure. This allows fail-operational redundancy to be maintained while reducing the total quantity of wiring and interfaces compared to completely independent redundant systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication bus arrangement serves multiple functions: it provides data exchange between different control modules, supports redundant fail-operational capabilities, and enables cost-effective implementation by using standardized CAN bus protocols across the aircraft control system.
2Measurement precision
If data integrity is enhanced through additional wiring and circuitry, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Control modules exchange data through the communication bus arrangement with verification mechanisms that provide feedback on data integrity. This allows for error detection and correction without requiring additional dedicated wiring, maintaining data integrity while avoiding increased physical complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
Aircraft fly-by-wire systems and related vehicle electrical systems are provided. In one embodiment, an electrical system suitable for use with a control surface of a vehicle, such as an aircraft, is provided. The electrical system includes an asynchronous intermodule bus arrangement, a first vehicle control module, and a second vehicle control module. Each vehicle control module includes a respective interface arrangement to obtain and exchange data from different sensing arrangements with a first frequency, and a respective processing system to obtain the sensed data and determine actuator commands based on the sensed data with a lower frequency.