Aircraft ground collision avoidance and autorecovery systems device

Claim 2

An aircraft ground collision avoidance system comprising: (a) means for computing a flyup, said flyup computing means receiving sensor signals which represent aircraft flight states and calculating preferred aircraft flyup altitudes at which an automatic aircraft flyup should be initiated, wherein each aircraft flyup altitude of said preferred aircraft flyup altitudes is calculated by determining the aircraft altitude which is lost (ΔZ) during a recovery maneuver due to a current aircraft flight state; and (b) means for automatically controlling an aircraft, said automatic aircraft controlling means receiving aircraft flight data and implementing an automatic aircraft flyup when said preferred aircraft flyup altitude is achieved, wherein said aircraft flight states and data include aircraft angle of attack and bank angle, said preferred aircraft flyup altitude is provided to said automatic aircraft controlling means by said flyup computing means.

Claim 3

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 1 wherein the flyup computing means utilizes aircraft speed and angle of attack to determine flyup altitudes.

Claim 4

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 2 wherein the flyup computing means also utilizes aircraft bank angle to determine flyup altitudes.

Claim 5

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 3 wherein the flyup computing means also utilizes aircraft roll rate to determine flyup altitudes.

Claim 6

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 2 wherein the flyup computing means also considers aircraft sensor lag to determine flyup altitudes, wherein aircraft sensor lag is characterized by the time which elapses between a change in an aircraft flight state and a sensor response to that change.

Claim 7

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 1 wherein the flyup computing means compensates for non-idle aircraft engine power settings when determining aircraft flyup altitudes.

Claim 8

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 1 wherein said automatic aircraft controlling means further comprises angle of attack and roll rate limiters for preventing overloading of aircraft structures during an automatic aircraft flyup.

Claim 9

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 1 wherein said automatic aircraft controlling means includes an autopilot, said automatic aircraft controlling means also monitors aircraft load factors and further includes means for limiting load, said load limiting means prevents overloading of the aircraft structures during autorecovery which limits operation of said autopilot so as to prevent said autopilot from implementing an automatic flyup in a manner which would exceed predetermined aircraft load limit, said predetermined aircraft load limit being stored in said flyup computing means.

Claim 10

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 1 wherein the aircraft altitude calculated to be lost (ΔZ) is equal to the sum of: Δz.sub.1 +Δz.sub.2 +Δz.sub.3 and is used by the flyup computing means to determine when to initiate a flyup and wherein: Δz 1 accounts for altitude lost during a wings level dive to level flight while maintaining a constant load factor; Δz 2 accounts for the amount of time required for an aircraft to attain a desired pullup load factor; and Δz 3 accounts for correcting initial bank angle during a flyup.

Claim 11

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 9 wherein ΔZ further is equal to the sum including Δz 4 which accounts for aircraft roll rate at flyup initiation.

Claim 12

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 9 wherein ΔZ further is equal to the sum including Δz 5 which accounts for sensor lags in determining a flyup initiation, wherein aircraft sensor lag is characterized by the time which elapses between a change in an aircraft flight state and a sensor response to that change.

Claim 13

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 9 wherein ΔZ further is equal to the sum including Δz 6 which adjusts for aircraft non-idle power settings.

Claim 14

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 9 further comprising an autothrottle for adjusting airspeed to provide aircraft flyup with a minimum turn radius when the flyup computing means initiate an automatic flyup.

Claim 15

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 1 wherein the aircraft altitude calculated to be lost (ΔZ) is equal to the sum of: Δz.sub.1 +Δz.sub.2 +Δz.sub.3 +Δz.sub.4 +Δz.sub.5 and is used by the flyup computing means to determine when to initiate a flyup and wherein: Δz 1 accounts for altitude lost during a wings level dive to level flight while maintaining a constant load factor; Δz 2 accounts for the amount of time required for an aircraft to attain a desired pullup load factor; Δz 3 accounts for correcting initial bank angle during a flyup; Δz 4 accounts for aircraft roll rate at flyup initiation; and Δz 5 accounts for sensor lags in determining a flyup initiation, wherein aircraft sensor lag is characterized by the time which elapses between a change in an aircraft flight state and a sensor response to that change.

Claim 16

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 14 wherein ΔZ further is equal to the sum including Δz 6 which adjusts for aircraft non-idle power settings.

Claim 17

The aircraft ground collision avoidance system of claim 13 further comprising an autothrottle for adjusting airspeed to provide aircraft flyup with a minimum turn radius when the flyup computing means initiate an automatic flyup.

Claim 20

The method of automatically avoiding aircraft ground collisions of claim 17 further comprising the steps of: monitoring aircraft bank angle in order to control aircraft elevator deflection during the automatic aircraft flyup; and monitoring aircraft pitch attitude in order to control aircraft aileron deflection during the automatic aircraft flyup.

Claim 21

The method of automatically avoiding aircraft ground collisions of claim 17 further comprising the step of: selectively combining pilot flight commands with the automatic flyup.

Claim 22

The method of automatically avoiding aircraft ground collisions of claim 17 wherein said step cf calculating the amount of aircraft altitude to be lost during a recovery maneuver is performed by said flight computer by calculating ΔZ, which is equal to the sum of: Δz.sub.1 +Δz.sub.2 +Δz.sub.3 wherein: Δz 1 accounts for altitude lost during a wings level dive to level flight while maintaining a constant load factor; Δz 2 accounts for the amount of time required for an aircraft to attain a desired pullup load factor; and Δz 3 accounts for correcting initial bank angle during a flyup.

Claim 23

The method of automatically avoiding aircraft ground collisions of claim 17 wherein the step of calculating the amount of aircraft altitude to be lost during a recovery maneuver is performed by said flight computer by calculating ΔZ, which is equal to the sum of: Δz.sub.1 +Δz.sub.2 +Δz.sub.3 +Δz.sub.4 +Δz.sub.5 wherein: Δz 1 accounts for altitude lost during a wings level dive to level flight while maintaining a constant load factor; Δz 2 accounts for the amount of time required for an aircraft to attain a desired pullup load factor; Δz 3 accounts for correcting initial bank angle during a flyup; Δz 4 accounts for aircraft roll rate at flyup initiation; and Δz 5 accounts for sensor lags in determining a flyup initiation, wherein aircraft sensor lag is characterized by the time which elapses between a change in an aircraft flight state and a sensor response to that change.

Claim 24

The method of automatically avoiding aircraft ground collisions of claim 21 wherein ΔZ further is equal to the sum includes Δz 6 which adjusts for aircraft non-idle power settings.

Claim 25

An autopilot for automatically performing an aircraft altitude recovery comprising: (a) an angle of attack limiter including an angle of attack detector, for producing an angle of attack signal that limits aircraft angle of attack to within an aircraft stall margin during aircraft altitude recovery; (b) a g-force limiter including a g-force detector for producing a signal that prevents overloading of aircraft structures during aircraft altitude recovery; (c) a bank angle recovery signal generating means including a bank angle detector, generating a signal for controlling aircraft elevators to promote aircraft altitude recovery; (d) an elevator summing junction for combining signals from said angle of attack limiter, said g-force limiter and said bank angle recovery generating means to provide a sum signal to control aircraft elevators to achieve aircraft recovery without exceeding aircraft flight capabilities; (e) a roll rate limiter including a roll rate detector, for providing a signal to eliminate excessive aircraft roll; and (f) an aileron summing junction for combining signals from said roll rate limiter and the bank angle detector to provide a sum signal to control aircraft ailerons to achieve level flight and aircraft altitude recovery.

Claim 26

An autopilot for automatically performing an aircraft altitude recovery comprising: (a) an angle of attack limiter including an angle of attack detector, for producing an angle of attack signal that limits aircraft angle of attack to within an aircraft stall margin during aircraft altitude recovery; (b) a g-force limiter including a g-force detector for producing a signal that prevents overloading of aircraft structures during aircraft altitude recovery; (c) a bank angle recovery signal generating means including a bank angle detector, generating a signal for controlling aircraft elevators to promote aircraft altitude recovery; (d) an elevator summing junction for combining signals from said angle of attack limiter, said g-force limiter and said bank angle recovery generating means to provide a sum signal to control aircraft elevators to achieve aircraft recovery without exceeding aircraft flight capabilities; (e) a roll rate limiter including a roll rate detector, for providing a signal to eliminate excessive aircraft roll; and (f) an aileron summing junction for combining signals from said roll rate limiter and the bank angle detector to provide a sum signal to control aircraft ailerons to achieve level flight and aircraft altitude recovery.

Claim 27

The autopilot for automatically performing an aircraft recovery maneuver of claim 23 further comprising pitch angle signal generating means for preventing an automatic bank angle adjustment by the aircraft ailerons at very high aircraft pitch angles.

Claim 28

The autopilot for automatically performing an aircraft altitude recovery maneuver of claim 23 further comprising manual control summing junctions for combining pilot commands with automatic control of the aircraft elevators and ailerons.

Claim 29

The autopilot for automatically performing an aircraft altitude recovery maneuver of claim 25 further comprising pilot command stick-force breakout limiters for preventing inadvertent pilot commands from influencing the autopilot during an autorecovery.