Flight termination for air vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10450077-B2
Application number	US-201615149019-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 6, 2016
Priority date	May 18, 2015
Publication date	Oct 22, 2019
Grant date	Oct 22, 2019

Abstract

The present disclosure refers to a method and a related system of flight termination for air vehicles. The method and the system of flight termination for air vehicles involve deploying a parachute for flight termination of an air vehicle. A flight termination system, which in turn comprises at least one microcontroller unit that is connected to at least one parachute deployment system for deploying an air vehicle's parachute when a major emergency is determined during an air vehicle's flight.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method of flight termination for an air vehicle, the method comprising:
sensing, by sensors of the air vehicle, measurements, wherein the sensors are connected to at least one microcontroller unit of the air vehicle;
sending an alert message, by the at least one microcontroller unit, when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements are within predetermined critical range limits;
deploying, with at least one parachute deployment system of the air vehicle, a parachute of the air vehicle for flight termination of the air vehicle, when the at least one microcontroller unit of the air vehicle determines that the measurements are not within predetermined normal range limits and not within the predetermined critical range limits, wherein the at least one microcontroller unit is connected to the at least one parachute deployment system; and
communicating, via a radio transmitter connected to the at least one microcontroller unit, between the at least one microcontroller unit with at least one of: a manual pilot located at least one of outside or inside the air vehicle; an autopilot located at least one of inside or outside the air vehicle; or a control station located outside the air vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensors comprise internal sensors.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the internal sensors comprise at least one of: an inertial measurement unit, a magnetometer, an altitude sensor, a barometer, a gyroscope, or a global positioning system receiver.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensors comprise external sensors.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the external sensors comprise sensors with which the air vehicle is conventionally equipped, which are located onboard the air vehicle.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the external sensors comprise sensors located outside the air vehicle, which are connected to the at least one microcontroller unit via a radio.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining, by the at least one microcontroller unit of the air vehicle, whether the measurements are found to be within the predetermined normal range limits;
when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements are within the predetermined normal range limits, awaiting for further measurements;
determining, by the at least one microcontroller unit, whether the measurements are found to be within the predetermined critical range limits, when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements are not within the predetermined normal range limits; and
when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that measurements are within the predetermined critical range limits: checking for reception of instructions for deploying the parachute,
deploying the parachute, if the instructions for deploying the parachute are received, and
awaiting detection of the further measurements, if the instructions for deploying the parachute are not received.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises assessing whether a level of at least one battery provided for powering the sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, and the parachute deployment system, is sufficient for ensuring performance of at least one of: the sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, or the parachute deployment system.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises emitting an insufficient battery level alert and shutting down the sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, and the parachute deployment system, when the at least one microcontroller unit of the air vehicle determines that the level of the at least one battery is not sufficient for ensuring performance of at least one of: the sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, or the parachute deployment system at any time during the flight.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprising powering, by at least one battery, the at least one microcontroller unit, the at least one parachute deployment system, and the sensors.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises measuring, by a battery level measurement unit, a level of the at least one battery.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the air vehicle is an unmanned air vehicle (UAV).

13. A system of flight termination for an air vehicle comprises:
a parachute;
at least one microcontroller unit connected to a parachute deployment system; and
sensors connected to the at least one microcontroller unit, wherein the sensors measure measurements comprising flight and air vehicle related variables,
wherein the at least one microcontroller unit sends an alert message, when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements are within predetermined critical range limits,
wherein the at least one microcontroller unit activates the parachute deployment system to deploy the parachute, when the at least one microcontroller unit determines that the measurements are not within predetermined normal range limits and not within the predetermined critical range limits; and
a radio transmitter, connected to the at least one microcontroller unit, for communication between the at least one microcontroller unit and at least one of: a manual pilot located at least one of outside or inside the air vehicle, an autopilot located at least one of inside or outside of the air vehicle, or a control station located outside of the air vehicle.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the sensors comprise external sensors, wherein the external sensors comprise at least one of: sensors with which the air vehicle is conventionally equipped, which are located onboard the air vehicle, or sensors located outside the air vehicle, which are connected to the at least one microcontroller unit via a radio.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the sensors comprise internal sensors, wherein the internal sensors comprise at least one of: an inertial measurement unit, a magnetometer, an altitude sensor, a barometer, a gyroscope, or a global positioning system receiver.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the sensors comprise external sensors, wherein the external sensors comprise at least one of: an inertial measurement unit, a magnetometer, an altitude sensor, a barometer, a gyroscope, or a global positioning system receiver.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the system further comprises at least one battery for powering the parachute deployment system, the at least one microcontroller unit, and the sensors.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the system further comprises a battery level measurement unit for measuring a level of the at least one battery.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the at least one microcontroller unit is configured to send an insufficient battery level alert and shut down the sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, and the parachute deployment system, when the at least one microcontroller unit detects a signal from the battery level measurement unit comprising data with the level of the at least one battery, wherein the level of the at least one battery indicates that the level of the at least one battery is insufficient for ensuring performance of at least one of: internal sensors, the at least one microcontroller unit, or the parachute deployment system.

20. The system of claim 13 , wherein the at least one microcontroller unit is configured to:
determine whether the measurements are found to be within the predeter

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Ferreyra Eduardo Gabriel
• Serrot Enrique Emilio
• Lemus Jose Luis
• Blanco Jose Antonio
• Lapena Nieves

Classifications

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · CPC title

• B64U2201/10

  autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] · CPC title

• B64D17/80

  in association with aircraft, e.g. for braking thereof · CPC title

• B64D25/00 Primary

  Emergency apparatus or devices, not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title