Triplex Avionics Architecture With Majority Voting for Drone Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing avionics systems for drones lack a high level of safety, weight, volume, and cost compatibility, making them unsuitable for extended operations beyond visual range and in populated areas.
Innovation Solution
A computer system with three physically separate processing pathways, each equipped with internal and external sensors, performs navigation parameter estimation and validation, and command verification through majority voting to ensure high safety and reduced weight and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ATA architecture avionics are used to meet safety requirements, then safety level is improved, but weight, volume and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the avionics into three independent processing pathways (A, B, and C), each capable of autonomous operation. This segmentation allows the safety-critical functions to be distributed across multiple simpler units rather than requiring a single complex high-safety system, thereby reducing overall weight while maintaining safety through redundancy and voting mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the architectural parameter from centralized ATA-style avionics to a distributed triplex configuration with majority voting. This parameter change enables the system to achieve comparable safety levels with reduced weight by using simpler, lighter processing units that operate in parallel with validation through voting logic.
2Reliability
If ATA architecture avionics are used to meet safety requirements, then safety level is improved, but volume increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The avionics system is segmented into three independent processing pathways housed in a compact integrated unit. This segmentation enables volume reduction by distributing functions across smaller modular components rather than requiring a single large ATA-compliant avionics box, while maintaining safety through the triplex redundant architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the three independent processing pathways into a single integrated computer unit with shared housing and common voting logic. This merging reduces the total volume compared to three separate ATA-style avionics systems while maintaining the safety benefits of the triplex architecture through integrated design.
3Reliability
If ATA architecture avionics are used to meet safety requirements, then safety level is improved, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments safety-critical processing into three independent pathways using commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) components rather than expensive certified aviation components. This segmentation allows the use of lower-cost commercial technology while achieving safety through redundancy and majority voting, significantly reducing overall system cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs COTS components in the processing pathways that are less expensive than certified aviation components. These components can be replaced more easily and at lower cost, and the system achieves safety not through component certification but through the triplex redundant architecture with voting logic that compensates for potential component failures.
4Weight of moving object
If existing avionics solutions are used for drones, then SWAP-C requirements are met, but safety level is insufficient for extended operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the safety-critical functions into three independent processing pathways that can be implemented using lightweight COTS components. This segmentation enables the system to meet drone SWAP-C requirements while achieving high safety levels through the redundant triplex architecture and majority voting mechanisms that compensate for the use of less robust commercial components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the safety assurance parameter from component-level certification (required in traditional avionics) to system-level redundancy through triplex architecture. This parameter change allows the use of lightweight COTS components in drones while achieving the required safety level through the voting logic that validates outputs across three independent pathways.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer including a housing in which at least three processing pathways are integrated, each of which processing pathways includes: a first module arranged to acquire measurements produced by at least one sensor, to estimate navigation parameters and to check the validity of the navigation parameters by comparing them with those estimated by the other first modules; a second module arranged to generate commands on the basis of an aircraft trajectory setpoint and valid navigation parameters; a third module arranged to check the validity of the commands by comparing them with those estimated by the other second modules.