An aircraft includes a fuselage, a wing, a ducted fan and a controller. The wing and the ducted fan are coupled to the fuselage. The controller is operable to control the aircraft in a vertical flight mode, a horizontal flight more, and transition the aircraft from the vertical flight mode to the ho
An aircraft includes a fuselage, a wing, a ducted fan and a controller. The wing and the ducted fan are coupled to the fuselage. The controller is operable to control the aircraft in a vertical flight mode, a horizontal flight more, and transition the aircraft from the vertical flight mode to the horizontal flight mode.
대표청구항▼
1. An aircraft, comprising: a fuselage having a nose end and a second, opposing end defined as a tail end, a forward direction being defined as towards the nose end of the fuselage and an aft direction being defined as opposite to the forward direction;a wing coupled to the fuselage between the nose
1. An aircraft, comprising: a fuselage having a nose end and a second, opposing end defined as a tail end, a forward direction being defined as towards the nose end of the fuselage and an aft direction being defined as opposite to the forward direction;a wing coupled to the fuselage between the nose end and the tail end;a propulsion unit coupled to the fuselage and disposed aft of a trailing edge of the wing, the propulsion unit operable to provide directed thrust; anda controller operable to control the aircraft in: a vertical flight mode in which a first lifting force generated by the propulsion unit is greater than a second lifting force generated by the wing,a horizontal flight mode in which the second lifting force is greater than the first lifting force, anda transition flight mode in which the aircraft transitions from the vertical flight mode to the horizontal flight mode,wherein in the transition flight mode, the controller is operable to: determine a ground speed acceleration rate,accelerate the aircraft at the ground speed acceleration rate until a sensed airspeed exceeds a stall speed by a margin, andorient the aircraft based on trajectory commands by comparing sensor inputs to a desired orientation. 2. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the propulsion unit includes a ducted fan. 3. The aircraft of claim 2, wherein the propulsion unit includes a plurality of control vanes to provide the directed thrust. 4. The aircraft of claim 3, wherein the control vanes are movable to generate a rolling moment, a yaw moment, and a pitch moment. 5. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to generate commands for pitch, speed and roll based at least in part on sensory input values for speed, position and altitude. 6. The aircraft of claim 5, wherein the controller is operable to generate the commands for pitch, speed and roll based at least in part on the trajectory commands. 7. The aircraft of claim 6, wherein the trajectory commands include acceleration and courseline heading commands. 8. The aircraft of claim 6, wherein the controller is operable to determine Euler angle errors based on the sensory input values and the trajectory commands. 9. The aircraft of claim 8, wherein the controller is operable to determine body axis angle errors based on the Euler angle errors. 10. The aircraft of claim 9, wherein the controller is operable to direct the thrust of the propulsion unit based on the body axis angle errors. 11. The aircraft of claim 10, wherein the propulsion unit includes a plurality of control vanes, andthe controller is operable to direct the thrust of the propulsion unit by actuating the control vanes. 12. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to transition the aircraft from the vertical flight mode to the horizontal flight mode while maintaining altitude of the aircraft within 100 ft throughout the transition. 13. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to transition the aircraft from the horizontal flight mode to the vertical flight mode. 14. The aircraft of claim 13, wherein the controller is operable to transition the aircraft from the horizontal flight mode to the vertical flight mode while maintaining altitude of the aircraft within 100 ft throughout the transition. 15. The aircraft of claim 13, further comprising spoilers, wherein the controller is operable to deploy the spoilers in the transition from the horizontal flight mode to the vertical flight mode. 16. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein a center of gravity of the aircraft is disposed in a location such that the aircraft balances at rest in an orientation where the nose end is positioned over the duct. 17. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the wing includes ailerons. 18. A method of transitioning an aircraft that includes a fuselage, a propulsion unit and a wing, wherein the fuselage includes a nose end and a second, opposing end defined as a tail end, a forward direction is defined as towards the nose end of the fuselage, an aft direction is defined as opposite to the forward direction, the propulsion unit is coupled to the fuselage and disposed aft of a trailing edge of the wing, the propulsion unit is operable to provide a directed thrust, and the wing is coupled to the fuselage, the method comprising: flying the aircraft in a vertical flight mode in which a first lifting force generated by the propulsion unit is greater than a second lifting force generated by the wing;adjusting an output power of the propulsion unit and adjusting, using the directed thrust of the propulsion unit, a pitching moment of the aircraft to accelerate the aircraft in a horizontal direction, the adjusting including:determining a ground speed acceleration rate, accelerating the aircraft at the ground speed acceleration rate until a sensed airspeed exceeds a stall speed by a margin;flying the aircraft in a horizontal flight mode in which the second lifting force is greater than the first lifting force; andflying the aircraft at an orientation based on trajectory commands by comparing sensor inputs to a desired orientation. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the propulsion unit includes a ducted fan. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the propulsion unit includes a plurality of control vanes to provide the directed thrust, andthe adjusting includes adjusting a position of the control vanes. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the control vanes are movable to generate a rolling moment, a yaw moment, and a pitch moment. 22. The method of claim 18, further comprising determining commands for pitch, speed and roll based at least in part on sensory input values for speed, position and altitude. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the determining the commands for pitch, speed and roll is based at least in part on the trajectory commands. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the trajectory commands include acceleration and courseline heading commands. 25. The method of claim 23, further comprising determining Euler angle errors based on the sensory input values and the trajectory commands. 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising determining body axis angle errors based on the Euler angle errors. 27. The method of claim 26, further comprising directing the thrust of the propulsion unit based on the body axis angle errors. 28. The method of claim 18, wherein the flying the aircraft in the vertical flight mode, the adjusting, and the flying the aircraft in the horizontal mode are performed maintaining altitude of the aircraft within 100 feet. 29. The method of claim 18, further comprising adjusting, after the flying the aircraft in a horizontal flight, the output power and pitch moment of the controllable vanes to decelerate the aircraft in the horizontal direction until the first lifting force is greater than the second lifting force. 30. The method of claim 18, further comprising maintaining trim of the aircraft at any angle of attack between zero degrees and ninety degrees.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (2)
Wainfan Barnaby, Airplane with variable-incidence wing.
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