Interconnected Command Processors for Consolidated Flight Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing flight control systems in aircraft face challenges in ensuring reliable and responsive control due to potential failures or inefficiencies in communication between flight controllers and command processors, which can affect the safety and performance of aircraft operations.
Innovation Solution
A flight control system is designed with interconnected command processors that receive and consolidate multiple pilot command signals from different flight controllers, reducing the need for additional communication links and enhancing redundancy and responsiveness through consolidated command signal generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple separate communication links are used between flight controllers and command processors, then reliability is improved through redundancy, but device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates multiple communication links into a single integrated communication path. The command processor receives pilot command signals from multiple flight controllers through a unified communication interface, merging the previously separate communication channels. This reduces the number of physical communication links while maintaining the ability to process redundant command sources, thereby reducing system complexity and weight while preserving reliability through signal consolidation and validation logic.
2Reliability
If multiple separate communication links are used between flight controllers and command processors, then reliability is improved through redundancy, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple communication links into a single integrated communication path between flight controllers and the command processor. By consolidating the communication infrastructure, the physical weight of cables, connectors, and associated hardware is significantly reduced. The system maintains reliability by processing commands from multiple flight controllers through this single streamlined communication channel, using internal validation logic to ensure command integrity without requiring separate physical links for each controller.
3Speed
If command signals are processed separately without consolidation, then responsiveness is maintained, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the signal consolidation and validation functions from the individual flight controllers and centralizes them in a dedicated command processor. The command processor receives pilot command signals from multiple flight controllers, consolidates these signals, and generates a single unified output command. This extraction of processing complexity from the controllers to a specialized processor reduces the overall system complexity while maintaining fast responsiveness, as the consolidated processing occurs in a single optimized location rather than requiring coordination between multiple distributed processing units.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for controlling the operation of a component of an aircraft, such as an inverter used to provide electric energy to the aircraft's motor or an actuator used to control positioning of a control surface (e.g., an aileron, an elevator, a rudder, and/or the like) of the aircraft. In example embodiments, a command processor receives a first command pilot signal generated by a first flight controller component from the first flight controller component. The command processor receives a second command pilot signal generated by a second flight controller component from another command processor. The command processor may determine a consolidated command signal based on the two command signals. The command processor may control the operation of the component of the aircraft based on the consolidated command signal.