Distributed flight control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10901434-B2
Application number	US-201815955454-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 17, 2018
Priority date	Dec 22, 2016
Publication date	Jan 26, 2021
Grant date	Jan 26, 2021

Abstract

A set of commands for each of a plurality of actuators to alter an aircraft's state responsive to one or more inputs is produced. The set of commands is provided to fewer than all actuators comprising the plurality of actuators.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flight control system, comprising:
a lower level flight computer configured to:
determine instructions for one or more actuators associated with the lower level flight computer to achieve a desired attitude or rate of attitude change responsive to input received from at least one of an upper level flight computer and a pilot, wherein the input indicates the desired attitude or the rate of attitude change;
produce a set of commands for each of the plurality of actuators to alter a position of a respective actuator based on the determined instructions; and
provide the set of commands to the respective actuator without providing the set of commands to another actuator,
wherein the lower level flight computer is communicatively decoupled from other lower level flight computers, and is configured to control directly and individually the respective actuator of the plurality of actuators,
wherein each of the other lower level flight computers are associated with one or more corresponding other actuators and provide corresponding instructions to control the one or more corresponding other actuators to achieve the desired attitude or rate of attitude change.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the upper level flight computer and the pilot performs position control of an aircraft.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the upper level flight computer and the pilot performs velocity control of an aircraft.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the upper level flight computer reduces instructions into a set of simple commands.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lower level flight computer receives inputs from another processor configured to handle high level flight instructions.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lower level flight computer receives inputs from the upper level flight computer in an automatic mode and receives inputs from pilot controls in a pilot control mode.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein an actuator of the plurality of actuators reports a status to the upper level flight computer.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is provided in a multicopter aircraft.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lower level flight computer is configured to determine a speed for a rotor.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lower level flight computer is configured to determine a tilt angle of a flap.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lower level flight computer is configured to:
calculate a difference between the desired attitude and an actual attitude; and
minimize the difference.

12. A flight control system, comprising:
an upper level flight computer configured to:
determine at least one of a velocity and position for an aircraft based on a received input;
determine at least one of a desired attitude and a desired rate of attitude change based on the received input;
provide the determined at least one of the attitude and the rate of attitude change to a lower level flight computer, wherein the lower level flight computer is communicatively decoupled from other lower level flight computers, and is configured to control directly and individually a respective actuator of a plurality of actuators and configured to:
determine instructions for one or more actuators associated with the lower level flight computer responsive to the least one of the attitude and the rate of attitude;
produce a set of commands for each of the plurality of actuators to alter a position of the respective actuator based on the determined instructions; and
provide the set of commands to the respective actuator without providing the set of commands to another actuator,
wherein each of the other lower level flight computers are associated with one or more corresponding other actuators and provide corresponding instructions to control the one or more corresponding other actuators to achieve the desired attitude or rate of attitude change.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the received input includes at least one of a latitude and a longitude.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the received input includes an instruction to avoid at least one location.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the received input includes an instruction to avoid specific weather conditions.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the received input includes an instruction to fly over areas with low population density.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the received input includes an instruction to take a shortest path.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the received input includes an instruction to take a specific flight trajectory.

Assignees

• Kitty Hawk Corp

Inventors

• Cutler Mark Johnson
• Reichert Todd
• Jackson James

Classifications

• B64U2201/10

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

• B64U10/10

  Rotorcrafts · CPC title

• B64U50/19

  using electrically powered motors · CPC title

• B64U10/16

  with five or more distinct rotor axes, e.g. octocopters · CPC title

• G05D1/485

  Control of rate of change of altitude or depth · CPC title