Personal Aircraft With Multiple Rotors for VTOL Redundancy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing VTOL aircraft, such as helicopters, have mechanically complex rotors that are prone to failure, require frequent maintenance, and lack redundancy, leading to safety and payload limitations.
Innovation Solution
A personal aircraft design with multiple fixed-orientation rotors providing vertical thrust, tandem wings for lift and control, and independent electric motors for each rotor, along with protective shielding and efficient propeller systems, ensuring redundancy and compactness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If helicopter rotors are used to provide both vertical and horizontal thrust, then VTOL capability is achieved, but the mechanical complexity increases and reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The aircraft uses multiple independent rotor assemblies (at least three) instead of a single complex rotor system. Each rotor assembly is independently controllable, dividing the thrust generation function into separate units that can operate autonomously, thereby improving reliability through redundancy while maintaining VTOL capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical rotor control systems with electronic control of multiple simpler rotor assemblies. Each rotor assembly uses direct-drive electric motors without mechanical transmissions, substituting mechanical complexity with electronic control systems to improve reliability
2Force
If large rotors are used to provide vertical thrust, then lift capability is improved, but the risk of hitting obstacles increases and safety decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using one or two large rotors, the aircraft employs multiple smaller rotor assemblies distributed across the airframe. This segmentation reduces the size and exposure of individual rotors, lowering the risk of obstacle collisions while collectively providing sufficient vertical lift through combined thrust from all rotors
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor assemblies are positioned in three-dimensional space around the aircraft body rather than concentrated in one location. This spatial distribution allows the rotors to be positioned in protected areas or orientations that minimize obstacle contact risk while maintaining effective lift generation
3Ease of operation
If mechanically complex rotor systems are used for control, then flight control capability is improved, but maintenance requirements increase and ease of repair worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates complex mechanical transmission systems (gearboxes, linkages) from each rotor assembly by using direct-drive electric motors. This substitution of mechanical systems with electrical systems simplifies the structure, reduces maintenance needs, and improves ease of repair while maintaining precise flight control capability through electronic control
Solution Approach 2:
The control system transitions from mechanical adjustment of blade pitch to electronic control of motor speed and thrust. By changing the control parameter from mechanical blade angle adjustment to electrical motor control, the system achieves comparable flight control capability with significantly reduced mechanical complexity and maintenance requirements
4Object-generated harmful factors
If low-speed rotor rotation is used to reduce noise, then community noise is reduced, but transmission weight increases and payload capacity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical transmission systems with direct-drive electric motors for each rotor assembly. This eliminates the need for heavy gearboxes and transmissions that would be required to reduce rotor speed, allowing the rotors to operate at optimal speeds for noise reduction without the penalty of heavy mechanical transmission components
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes from mechanical speed reduction through transmissions to direct electrical motor control at optimal rotation speeds. By using electric motors that can directly operate at noise-reducing speeds without mechanical gear reduction, the patent eliminates transmission weight while maintaining the ability to control rotor speed for noise mitigation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design achieves safe, efficient, and compact vertical takeoff and landing with robust control, minimizing maintenance needs and reducing community noise, while maintaining flight stability and payload capacity.
Implementation Method 1
The rotors are attached to the airframe in fixed, non-planar orientations. The orientations of rotors provide lateral and, in some embodiments, fore and aft control of aircraft without requiring a change of attitude, and minimize disturbances to the flow when the aircraft is cruising.
Implementation Method 2
The aircraft has tandem wings at the front and rear of the vehicle. The wings provide lift and control during cruise, and one or more propellers provide forward thrust.
Data Source
AI summary
A safe, quiet, easy to control, efficient, and compact aircraft configuration is enabled through the combination of multiple vertical lift rotor assemblies, tandem wings, and forward thrust propellers. The vertical lift rotor assemblies, in combination with a front and rear wing, permits a balancing of the center of lift with the center of gravity for both vertical and horizontal flight. This wing and multiple rotor system has the ability to tolerate a relatively large variation of the payload weight for hover, transition, or cruise flight while also providing vertical thrust redundancy. The propulsion system uses multiple lift rotor assemblies and forward thrust propellers of a small enough size to be shielded from potential blade strike and provide increased perceived and real safety to the passengers. Using multiple independent rotor assemblies provides redundancy and the elimination of single point failure modes that can make the vehicle non-operable in flight.