Aeronautics and astronautics – Aircraft control – Automatic
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-14
2002-09-03
Barefoot, Galen L. (Department: 3644)
Aeronautics and astronautics
Aircraft control
Automatic
C244S221000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06443399
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to aircraft electronics, and more particularly to an integrated modular avionics package that integrates a flight control module.
2. Background Information
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a typical airplane includes fuselage
110
, which holds the passengers and the cargo; wings
112
, which provide the lift needed to fly the airplane; vertical stabilizer
114
and horizontal stabilizers
116
, which are used to ensure a stable flight; and engines
118
, which provide the thrust needed to propel the airplane forward.
To guide an airplane, one must rely on flight control surfaces that are placed on wings
112
, horizontal stabilizers
116
, and vertical stabilizers
114
. The primary flight control surfaces on an airplane include the ailerons
100
, the elevators
102
, and the rudder
104
. Ailerons
100
are located on the trailing edges of the wings of the airplane and control the roll of the airplane. Rolling of an airplane is depicted in FIG.
2
A. Elevators
102
are located on the horizontal stabilizer of an airplane and control the pitch of the airplane. Pitching of an airplane is depicted in FIG.
2
B. Rudder
104
is located on the vertical stabilizer and controls the yaw of the airplane. Yawing of an airplane is illustrated in FIG.
2
C.
Also present on the wings of an airplane are spoilers
106
, flaps
120
, and slats
122
, collectively known as secondary flight control surfaces. Spoilers
106
are located on the wings and perform a variety of different functions, including assisting in the control of vertical flight path, acting as air brakes to control the forward speed of the airplane, and acting as ground spoilers to reduce wing lift to help maintain contact between the landing gear and the runway when braking.
Flaps
120
and slats
122
are located on the wings of an airplane to change the lift and drag forces effecting an airplane, with flaps
120
at the trailing edge of wing
112
and slats
122
at the leading edge of wing
112
. When flaps
120
and slats
122
are extended the shape of the wing changes to provide more lift. With an increased lift, the airplane is able to fly at lower speeds, thus simplifying both the landing procedure and the take-off procedure.
The primary flight control surfaces described above are operated by a pilot located in the cockpit of the airplane. Rudder
104
is typically controlled by a pair of rudder pedals operated by the pilot's feet. Ailerons
100
are controlled by adjusting a control stick to the left or right. Moving the control stick to the left typically controls the left aileron to rise and the right aileron to go down, causing the airplane to roll to the left. Elevator
102
is controlled by adjusting a control wheel or control stick to the front or back.
In most smaller airplanes, there is a direct mechanical linkage between the pilot's controls and the moveable surfaces. In most larger airplanes, there may be cables or wires connecting the pilot's controls to the hydraulic actuators used to move the primary control surfaces. In newer planes, a system called “fly-by-wire” has been developed.
In a typical, prior art, fly-by-wire airplane, electronic sensors are attached to the pilot's controls. These sensors transmit electronic data to various flight control computers (“FCC”). A system known as the actuator control electronics (“ACE”) receives the electronic signals from the flight control computer and move hydraulic actuators based on the received signals. Each hydraulic actuator is coupled to a moveable primary control surface such that movement of the actuator moves the primary control surface.
The fly-by-wire concept results in a savings of weight as there is no longer a need for heavy linkages, cables, pulleys, and brackets running throughout the airplane to control the actuators, only electrical wiring to the FCC and the ACE. Furthermore, this concept may result in a smoother flight, with less effort needed by the pilot.
During aircraft operation, the pilot of the airplane may need certain pieces of data to assist in flying the airplane. This data includes air speed, altitude, weather, location, heading and other navigational data. The data is generated by sensors located in various parts of the aircraft. The systems used to generate and report this and other information management data is generally termed “avionics.” The term “avionics” also encompasses auto-pilot functions, which allow a computer to make inputs to the pilot's controls. In modern fly-by-wire airplanes, the avionics systems may be placed in a cabinet in order to share, for example, power supplies, processors, memory, operating systems, utility software, hardware, built-in test equipment, and input/output ports. This grouping of avionics is known in the art as integrated modular avionics (“IMA”).
The IMA gathers and process data for a number of functions, including, but not limited to, flight management, displays, navigation, central maintenance, airplane condition monitoring, flight deck communications, thrust management, digital flight data, engine data interface, automatic flight, automatic throttle, and data conversion.
The original concept behind the IMA was the elimination of the need for line replaceable units (LRU) for each subsystem, each with its own power supply, processor, chassis, operating system, utility software, input/output ports, and built-in test units. Each of these functions were shared by the IMA, resulting in a great weight savings.
In a typical fly-by-wire controlled airplane, the movements of the control stick must be translated into the appropriate electronic instructions that can be executed by the ACE. In the prior art, this translation was performed by the FCC. The prior art separated the FCC from the IMA and combined the FCC with the ACE.
When a new airplane is designed and built, and before it can be flown with passengers, it must be certified. In the United States, the Federal Aviation Regulations (“FAR”) govern the certification of planes. The FAR regulates potential problems that may occur in an airplane and divides components into various categories depending on the criticality of the component. For example, a Category A component is a component that, if it fails, results in loss of aircraft. A Category A component is also known as a Critical component. A Category B component is a less important component: failure of a Category B component may result in the loss of life, but not the loss of the entire airplane. Components in Categories C, D, and E are even less critical: failure any of those components results in no loss of life.
Critical components can be broken up into full-time critical and part-time critical components. A component is considered full-time critical if it is critical (i.e., loss of airplane can result if the component fails) in every flight for the duration of each flight. A system is considered part-time critical if it is critical for only a short period of time during each flight. For example, stall protection is critical at low altitudes because stall protection lowers the nose of the airplane, which can result in the loss of the airplane at low altitude. However, stall protection at cruising altitude is not critical because lowering the pitch of the airplane at 31,000 feet is not inherently dangerous. A system is also considered part-time critical if the condition or system is critical but does not happen in every flight (for example, the loss of an engine).
For full-time critical components operated by software, “similar redundancy” (also known as “design diversity”) is standard. In similar redundancy, two computing systems are employed in the airplane that are similar, but not identical, to each other. For example, two computing channels could be used, with each computing channel having a different CPU and different software. In the alternative, the same CPU might be used for each computing path, but different software (for example, developed by a separate group of programmers) would be
Todd John
Yount Larry
Barefoot Galen L.
Honeywell International , Inc.
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