Braking control system for an aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10081346-B2
Application number	US-201615205783-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 8, 2016
Priority date	Jul 8, 2015
Publication date	Sep 25, 2018
Grant date	Sep 25, 2018

Abstract

A braking control system for an aircraft having braking wheels, the braking control system being configured to receive input of signals from sensors representative of a plurality of measured aircraft parameters, and to output a plurality of brake commands to brakes associated with the braking wheels, wherein the braking control system includes a health monitoring system for determining the operability and/or reliability of the sensor signals and/or of the braking wheels, and a task manager for automatically self-reconfiguring the braking control system so as to change the manner in which the braking control system utilises the input signals in the event that the health monitoring system judges a failure of one or more of the braking wheels or sensor signals. Also a method for operating an aircraft having a plurality of braking wheels.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An aircraft braking system for braking an aircraft, comprising:
a plurality of braking wheels and brakes applied to the braking wheels, and
a braking control system configured to receive input of sensor signals from sensors representative of a plurality of measured aircraft parameters, and to output a plurality of brake commands to the brakes associated with the braking wheels according to a brake torque distribution, wherein the braking control system includes:
a health monitoring system configured to determine an operability and/or a reliability of the sensor signals and/or of the braking wheels, and
a task manager configured to automatically reconfigure the braking control system so as to change the manner in which the braking control system utilizes the sensor signals in the event that the health monitoring system judges a failure of one or more of the braking wheels or sensor signals;
wherein the braking control system is further configured to control a prioritization of the brake torque distribution among the available braking wheels to prioritize at least one prioritization criteria over at least one other prioritization criteria in response to detected events under normal and failure conditions, wherein the prioritization criteria include at least two of a group comprising: brake torque equalization; maximum total braking force; asymmetric braking; brake temperature scatter; load control; undercarriage loading; wear rates of braking components; performance variations between brakes due to temperature difference; aircraft turn-around time (TAT); reduced pilot and control system workload.

2. The aircraft braking system according to claim 1 , wherein the aircraft parameters include one or more of: aircraft speed, aircraft longitudinal braking force, wheel brake torque, wheel brake temperature, wheel brake pressure, or aircraft weight.

3. The aircraft braking system according to claim 1 , further configured to receive a total braking force commanded to be developed, in use, by the available braking wheels of the aircraft.

4. The aircraft braking system according to claim 3 , wherein the braking control system is configured to minimize error between the commanded braking force and the actual braking force developed, in use, by the braking wheels.

5. The aircraft braking system according to claim 1 , further configured to prioritize equalizing the torque applied by the brake actuators to the available braking wheels over at least one other of the prioritization criteria.

6. The aircraft braking system according to claim 1 , further configured to prioritize equalizing the brake temperature of the available braking wheels over at least one other of the prioritization criteria.

7. The aircraft braking system according to claim 1 , further configured to optimize usage of the available braking wheels by trading the prioritization of brake torque equalization against reducing brake temperature scatter.

8. The aircraft braking system according to claim 1 , further configured to estimate a brake gain of each braking wheel based upon input signals representative of the brake torque and brake pressure for that wheel.

9. The aircraft braking system according to claim 1 , further configured to estimate a runway-tire friction coefficient based upon input signals representative of the aircraft weight and either the total braking torque or the aircraft longitudinal braking force developed in use.

10. The aircraft braking system according to claim 1 , wherein the input signals from the sensors are representative of real-time measured aircraft parameters to provide closed-loop braking control.

11. The aircraft braking system according to claim 10 , wherein at least some of the input signals are estimates of some aircraft parameters based upon other measured aircraft parameters to provide open-loop braking control, and wherein the system automatically reverts to open-loop control when closed-loop control is unavailable or is unreliable.

12. The aircraft braking system according to claim 1 , wherein at least some of the input signals are estimates of some aircraft parameters based upon other measured aircraft parameters to provide open-loop braking control.

13. The aircraft braking system according to claim 1 , wherein one or more functions of the system are selectively enabled without disrupting continuous operation of the braking system.

14. The aircraft braking system according to claim 13 , wherein the one or more functions are enabled by a pilot-controlled input and/or automatically based upon aircraft operating conditions.

15. A method for operating an aircraft having a plurality of braking wheels, the method comprising:
receiving input of sensor signals from sensors representative of a plurality of measured aircraft parameters,
outputting a plurality of brake commands to brakes associated with the braking wheels according to a brake torque distribution,
determining the operability and/or reliability of the sensor signals and/or of the braking wheels;
automatically self-reconfiguring the manner in which the input sensor signals are utilized in the event that a failure of one or more of the braking wheels or sensor signals is determined, and
controlling the prioritization of the brake torque distribution among the available braking wheels to prioritize at least one of the following prioritization criteria over at least one other of the prioritization criteria in response to detected events under normal and failure conditions, wherein the prioritization criteria comprises: brake torque equalization; maximum total braking force; asymmetric braking; brake temperature scatter; load control; undercarriage loading; wear rates of braking components; performance variations between brakes due to temperature difference; aircraft turn-around time (TAT); reduced pilot and control system workload.

16. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising receiving a total braking force commanded to be developed, in use, by the available braking wheels of the aircraft, and minimizing any error between the commanded braking force and the actual braking force developed, in use, by the braking wheels.

17. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising prioritizing equalizing the torque applied by the brake actuators to the available braking wheels; and/or equalizing the brake temperature of the available braking wheels; and/or optimizing usage of the available braking wheels by trading brake torque equalization against reducing brake temperature scatter over at least one other of the prioritization criteria.

18. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising estimating a brake gain of each braking wheel based upon input signals representative of the brake torque and brake pressure for that wheel.

19. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising estimating a runway-tire friction coefficient based upon input signals representative of the aircraft weight and either the total braking torque or the aircraft longitudinal braking force developed in use.

20. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the input signals from the sensors are representative of real-time measured aircraft parameters to provide closed-loop braking control.

Assignees

• Airbus Operations Ltd
• Airbus Operations Sas
• Airbus Operations Sas

Inventors

• Romana Louis-Emmanuel
• Gama Miguel Angel
• Damiani Andrea

Classifications

• B60T8/172

  Determining control parameters used in the regulation, e.g. by calculations involving measured or detected parameters {(B60T8/17551 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B60T17/221 Primary

  Procedure or apparatus for checking or keeping in a correct functioning condition of brake systems (hydraulic pressure systems in general F15B19/00, F15B21/04; testing structures or apparatus G01M) · CPC title

• B60T17/22

  Devices for monitoring or checking brake systems; Signal devices · CPC title

• B60T2270/402

  Back-up · CPC title

• B60T8/325

  Systems specially adapted for aircraft · CPC title