Methods and systems for controlling an engine system of a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12286935-B2
Application number	US-202318176777-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 1, 2023
Priority date	Mar 17, 2022
Publication date	Apr 29, 2025
Grant date	Apr 29, 2025

Abstract

Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for controlling an engine system of a vehicle comprising: determining an operating condition of the vehicle; determining one or more contextual conditions relevant to the vehicle; selecting, based upon both the determined operating condition and the determined one or more contextual conditions, a control profile for the engine system from a directory comprising a plurality of control profiles having different control characteristics; applying the selected control profile to a controller of the engine system; and controlling the engine system with the controller in accordance with the selected control profile. Also disclosed are an engine control system, a gas turbine engine, and an aircraft.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A computer-implemented method for controlling an engine system of a vehicle comprising:
determining an operating condition of the vehicle;
determining one or more contextual conditions relevant to the vehicle;
receiving, at a control system of the vehicle, mission prediction information comprising an expected operating conditions of the vehicle during an upcoming mission and a plurality of expected contextual conditions during the upcoming mission;
automatically accessing a library of control profiles, creating a shortlist of control profiles from the library based upon the expected operating conditions and the expected contextual conditions;
populating a directory of control profiles with the shortlisted plurality of control profiles;
selecting, based upon both the determined operating condition and the determined one or more contextual conditions, a control profile for the engine system from the directory;
applying the selected control profile to a controller of the engine system; and
controlling the engine system with the controller in accordance with the selected control profile.

2. The computer-implemented method for controlling an engine system according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is an aircraft and wherein the engine system is an aircraft engine system.

3. The computer-implemented method for controlling an aircraft engine system according to claim 2 , wherein determining the operating condition of the aircraft comprises:
receiving an operating condition signal indicative of the operating condition; and/or
automatically determining the operating condition of the aircraft based upon one or more of the airspeed, altitude, maneuvers, location, elapsed flight time, rate of ascent or descent, and/or orientation of the aircraft.

4. The computer-implemented method for controlling an aircraft engine system according to claim 2 , wherein determining the one or more contextual conditions relevant to the aircraft comprises:
receiving a contextual condition signal indicative of one or more contextual conditions; and/or
automatically determining the one or more contextual conditions based upon one or more of an elapsed flight time, flight plan, ambient weather, ambient temperature, ambient wind speed, ambient wind direction, service interval, elapsed time since last service, remaining fuel level, component health, distance from intended landing location, and air traffic control alerts.

5. The computer-implemented method for controlling an engine system according to claim 1 , wherein selecting a control profile based upon the determined operating condition and one or more contextual conditions comprises:
determining required control characteristics based upon the determined operating condition and one or more contextual conditions, and
selecting from the directory, a control profile that is configured to provide required control characteristics.

6. The computer-implemented method for controlling an engine system according to claim 1 , wherein the directory of control profiles comprises:
a default profile having a plurality of default control characteristics, and
a plurality of context profiles having at least one control characteristic differing from the default control characteristics.

7. The computer-implemented method for controlling an engine system according to claim 1 , wherein controlling the vehicle engine system comprises a control regime having one or more control variables, and wherein each control profile comprises specific values for the one or more control variables.

8. The computer-implemented method for controlling an engine system according to claim 7 , wherein the control regime comprises proportional, integral, and derivative control and wherein the control variables are the proportional, integral, and derivative control constants.

9. The computer-implemented method for controlling an engine system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
re-determining the operating condition of the vehicle;
re-determining the one or more contextual conditions relevant to the vehicle;
selecting, based upon both the re-determined operating condition and the re-determined one or more contextual conditions, an updated control profile for the vehicle engine system from a directory comprising a plurality of control profiles having different control characteristics; and
if the updated control profile is different from the current control profile,
applying the updated control profile to the controller of the vehicle engine system; and
controlling the vehicle engine system with the controller in accordance with the updated control profile.

10. The computer-implemented method for controlling an engine system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying the shortlist of control profiles to a human operator of the vehicle, and permitting the human operator to approve or edit the shortlist of control profiles.

11. The computer-implemented method for controlling an engine system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
recording control data while controlling the vehicle engine system with the controller in accordance with the selected control profile;
assessing the control data to determine whether the selected control profile provides the required control characteristics for the relevant operating condition and one or more contextual conditions; and
if the required control characteristics are not provided:
determining an alternative control profile for the relevant operating condition and one or more contextual conditions or
determining alterations to the selected control profile to provide the required control characteristics.

12. The computer-implemented method for controlling an engine system according to claim 1 , wherein the control is of the engine propulsion system.

13. An engine control system for a vehicle comprising:
a controller configured to control an engine system of a vehicle, wherein the controller is configured to:
determine an operating condition of the vehicle and determine one or more contextual conditions relevant to the vehicle;
receive mission prediction information comprising an expected operating conditions of the vehicle during an upcoming mission and a plurality of expected contextual conditions during the upcoming mission;
automatically access a library of control profiles an create a shortlist of control profiles from the library based upon the expected operating conditions and the expected contextual conditions; and
populating a directory of control profiles with the shortlisted plurality of control profiles;
select, based upon the determined operating condition and one or more contextual conditions, a control profile from the directory;
apply the selected control profile; and
control the engine system in accordance with the selected control profile.

14. The engine control system according to claim 13 , the engine control system configured to implement a computer-implemented method for controlling the engine system of the vehicle comprising:
determining an operating condition of the vehicle;
determining one or more contextual conditions relevant to the vehicle;
selecting, based upon both the determined operating condition and the determined one or more contextual conditions, a control profile for the engine system from a directory comprising a plurality of control profiles having different control characteristics;
applying the selected control profile to a controller of the engine system;
and controlling the engine system with the controller in accordance with the selected control profile.

15. The engine

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Plc

Inventors

• Wall Derek S
• Mustafa Asad
• Johnson Robert
• Wieland Jonathan

Classifications

• F05D2270/706

  proportional-integral-differential · CPC title

• F05D2270/051

  Thrust · CPC title

• F05D2220/323

  for aircraft propulsion, e.g. jet engines · CPC title

• F05D2270/44

  active, predictive, or anticipative · CPC title

• F05D2260/82

  Forecasts · CPC title