Textron Innovations Inc.

Stephen Yibum Chung

Russell C Peters

Andrew Vincent Louis

William Kyle Heironimus

Matthew Edward Louis

Grant Michael Beall

Eric Ricardo Gonzalez

Steven M Loveland

In one embodiment, a remote controller for a vehicle includes at least one control element for controlling operation of at least one aspect of the vehicle when the vehicle is in a remote-control mode; an actuator connected the at least one control element for controlling a position of the at least one control element when the vehicle is in an autonomous operations mode; and a processing system for receiving a first control signal from the vehicle indicative of a state of operation of the vehicle. In operation, the processing system generates a second control signal to the actuator to cause the actuator to control a position of the control element such that it corresponds to and indicates the state of operation of the vehicle.

Remote control unit having active feedback

A rotor system comprising a driveshaft; at least one motor for providing rotational energy for the driveshaft; an overrunning clutch connected to the motor and disposed around the driveshaft, wherein the overrunning clutch is rotated by the at least one motor; and a pump assembly associated with the at least one motor, the pump assembly comprising a large bore through which the driveshaft passes such that the pump assembly is arranged concentric to the driveshaft, the pump assembly further comprising a gerotor pump comprising inner and outer gerotor pump gears, wherein an inner bore of the gerotor pump engages and is driven by the overrunning clutch; and a cover disposed over the gerotor pump for providing a sump for the gerotor pump.

Electric drive system for rotorcraft

One embodiment is an electric drive system including a plurality of redundant motors, wherein power generated by the plurality of motors is used to drive a rotor system comprising a rotor shaft having a plurality of rotor blades connected thereto via a swashplate; a gear box associated with the plurality of redundant motors; a cyclic actuation system for controlling an individual pitch of the rotor blades connected to the swashplate; and at least one structural element for retaining the redundant motors, the gear box, and the cyclic actuation system together as a single integrated unit.

Electric drive system line replaceable unit with integrated cyclic actuation

One embodiment is an electric drive system for an aircraft including a motor, a gear box associated with the motor, and a cooling fan for drawing air into the unit across an electronic component to cool the electronic component and for expelling air into an oil cooler for cooling oil contained therein. The electric drive system further includes an oil distribution system for distributing oil cooled by the oil cooler to at least one motor and at least one gearbox, the distributed oil being used to cool the motor and the gearbox, a reservoir for collecting the distributed oil after it has been used to cool the motor and the gearbox, and at least one structural element for retaining the motor, gearbox, the cooling fan, the oil distribution system, and the reservoir together as a unit.

Electric drive system line replaceable unit with integrated thermal cooling

One embodiment is an electric drive system for an aircraft comprising a plurality of redundant motors, wherein power generated by the plurality of motors is used to drive a rotor system comprising a rotor shaft having a plurality of rotor blades connected thereto; a gear box associated with the plurality of redundant motors; a collective actuator for controlling a collective pitch of the rotor blades connected to the rotor shaft; and at least one structural element for retaining the redundant motors, the gear box, and the collective actuator together as a single integrated unit.

Electric drive system line replaceable unit with integrated collective actuation

A method for an aircraft may include determining a transition from an airplane mode to a helicopter mode for a propulsion system of the aircraft, wherein the propulsion system comprises a plurality of rotor blades; determining whether a descent rate condition is satisfied, wherein the descent rate condition is associated with a maximum allowable descent rate for the aircraft; and controlling a collective pitch angle for the plurality of rotor blades based on the descent rate condition.

System and method to provide descent rate limiting for an aircraft

One embodiment is a method including defining a maximum deflection for a first axis of a control surface axis of an aircraft; defining a maximum deflection for a second axis of the control surface; and creating a graphical representation of the maximum deflection for the first and second control surface axes. The method further includes determining an angle of rotation of a structure on which the control surface is carried, wherein the angle of rotation is relative to a body of the aircraft; rotating the graphical representation in accordance with the determined angle of rotation; calculating a distance between a point representing a selected combination of roll moment and yaw moment and each edge of the graphical representation; and calculating a control surface deflection based on the calculated distances.

Growing community of inventors

Keller, TX, United States of America

Stephen Yibum Chung