Rotorcraft Path Control That Blends Autopilot and Pilot Inputs
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current rotorcraft flight control systems face challenges in maintaining stable path-holding modes, especially in conditions where pilots have limited visibility or high workloads, leading to potential drifts and safety risks when transitioning between manual and automatic control.
Innovation Solution
A novel flight control method that combines human pilot inputs with autopilot commands using a hybrid path control system, allowing pilots to influence the flight path without disconnecting automatic guidance, by generating and combining path setpoints, autopilot commands, and human pilot commands to control actuators, ensuring continuous path stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the autopilot holds flight parameters to setpoints in basic modes, then flight stability is improved, but the system cannot respond to pilot inputs or handle sophisticated paths in higher modes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic mode switching between basic and higher autopilot modes, allowing the system to adapt its control strategy based on operational requirements. The calculation unit dynamically adjusts between holding flight parameters to setpoints (basic mode) and controlling sophisticated paths (higher mode), enabling both stability and versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of the autopilot by switching between different control modes. In basic modes, the system maintains flight parameters at setpoint values, while in higher modes, it transitions to path-following control with dynamic parameter adjustments, resolving the contradiction between stability and adaptability.
2Ease of operation
If the autopilot is deactivated when the pilot moves a manual control member, then manual control responsiveness is improved, but path holding capability is lost during pilot interaction
Solution Approach 1:
The calculation unit acts as an intermediary that combines autopilot commands with pilot inputs. Rather than completely deactivating the autopilot when the pilot moves control members, the system merges automatic path-holding commands with manual control inputs, maintaining both path holding capability and manual responsiveness simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges autopilot-generated path-holding commands with pilot-generated manual control commands into a unified control output. This combination allows the system to maintain path holding capability while responding to pilot inputs, eliminating the need to completely deactivate the autopilot during manual intervention.
3Device complexity
If there is a delay to reinitialize the path after pilot action, then control simplicity is improved, but path stability deteriorates during the time lapse
Solution Approach 1:
The calculation unit continuously generates and processes both autopilot and pilot commands without interruption or reinitialization delay. This continuous processing ensures that path holding capability is maintained throughout the entire control process, eliminating stability deterioration during transitions while keeping the system relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of controlling a path of a rotorcraft. The method comprises a step of generating a first path setpoint and a step of automatically generating a first autopilot command from the first path setpoint. The method comprises a step of generating a first pilot setpoint during which a movement of a control member is transformed into a first pilot setpoint, the first pilot setpoint and the first flight parameter being homogenous in that they are expressed in the same measurement unit. The method includes a step of generating a first human pilot command from the first pilot setpoint followed by a step of generating a path command by combining the first autopilot command and the human pilot command.