Pitot Tube Blockage Detection and Synthetic Pressure Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft pitot tubes can become blocked due to ice, debris, or other factors, leading to inaccurate airspeed measurements, which can result in unwarranted pilot alerts and potentially dangerous maneuvers.
Innovation Solution
A flight control system architecture that includes a common mode pneumatic event detector to differentiate between actual and estimated pressure signals from pitot tubes, allowing for the use of synthetic pressure data during blockages to prevent unnecessary alerts and ensuring accurate airspeed calculations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If pitot tubes are used to measure pressure for airspeed determination, then airspeed data can be obtained, but inaccurate measurements occur when pitot tubes are blocked by ice or debris
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a common mode pneumatic event detector as an intermediary component that monitors pitot tube pressure signals and identifies blockage conditions. When a blockage is detected, the system switches to using estimated pressure data from alternative sources, thereby mediating between the unreliable pitot tube measurements and the need for accurate airspeed determination
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter source for pressure data by switching between actual pitot tube pressure measurements and estimated pressure values. When blockage is detected, the parameter source changes from direct measurement to estimation, maintaining measurement reliability under varying operational conditions
2Reliability
If the system switches to estimated pressure data when blockages are detected, then accurate airspeed calculations can be maintained, but system complexity increases due to additional detection and switching mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of common mode pneumatic events continuously during flight. By detecting blockage conditions early and switching to estimated pressure data before inaccurate measurements affect airspeed calculations, the system maintains reliability without requiring complex real-time correction mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses estimated pressure data as a copy or alternative representation of the actual pressure when pitot tubes are blocked. This estimated copy allows the airspeed calculation system to continue functioning accurately without directly processing the corrupted pitot tube signals
Data Source
AI summary
An example system includes a common mode pneumatic event detector to detect a common mode pneumatic event at pitot tubes of an aircraft, a latch, a relay switch in communication with the latch, and a latch controller to set the latch in a first state to cause the latch to output a first latch signal, the relay switch to output a first pressure signal in response to the first latch signal, the first pressure signal based on pressure data from the pitot tubes, and set the latch in a second state to cause the latch to output a second latch signal based on the detection of the common mode pneumatic event. The relay switch is to output a second pressure signal in response to the second latch signal. The second pressure signal includes estimated pressure data.