Rotorcraft Autorotation Control for Pilot-Assisted Emergencies

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Solution Overview

Problem

Pilots often misinterpret emergency situations or fail to perform correct corrective actions in time, leading to aviation accidents, as existing emergency management solutions rely heavily on visual and aural alerts and require accurate, memory-based pilot skills.

Innovation Solution

A system that determines and manages autorotation conditions for rotary wing aircraft, allowing non-user actions such as maintaining rotor RPM and airspeed, while enabling user control through universal vehicle control interfaces, to assist pilots in emergency situations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If automated autorotation control is implemented, then pilot error is reduced and safety is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovesafetyVSAvoiddevice complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables the aircraft to perform autorotation automatically without continuous pilot intervention. The flight control system monitors autorotation conditions and executes corrective actions autonomously, including maintaining rotor RPM and managing airspeed, thereby reducing reliance on pilot memory and manual操作的可靠性

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces manual mechanical control with an automated flight control system that uses sensors, processors, and actuators to monitor and adjust flight parameters. This substitution of mechanical pilot actions with an electronic control system reduces human error while managing the complexity through integrated software algorithms

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Difficulty of detecting and measuring

If visual and aural alerts are used, then emergency detection is improved, but response time is insufficient due to reliance on pilot memory

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveemergency detectionVSAvoidresponse time

Core Design Contradiction:

Difficulty of detecting and measuringVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system continuously monitors flight parameters such as rotor RPM, airspeed, and altitude, and provides real-time feedback to the pilot through visual and aural alerts. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures that emergency conditions are detected immediately and that the pilot receives timely information to initiate corrective actions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system prepares for emergencies by pre-configuring autorotation procedures and maintaining readiness to execute corrective actions automatically. The flight control system has pre-loaded autorotation logic that can be activated immediately upon detecting emergency conditions, eliminating the need for pilots to recall procedures under stress and reducing response time

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS20250019070A1Automated and user assisted autorotation for air vehicle

Publication Date: 2025.01.16 SKYRYSE INC

AI summary

An emergency module may determine the occurrence of an autorotation condition for a rotary wing air vehicle controlled by a user. The emergency module may, responsive to determining the occurrence of the autorotation condition, control the air vehicle to enter into an autorotation. The emergency module may perform one or more non-user actions during the autorotation to assist the user with the autorotation. The emergency module may, while performing the one or more non-user actions during the autorotation, allow the user to maneuver the air vehicle by interacting one or more control interfaces of the air vehicle.