US-12625508-B2 - Control system and control method for flight vehicle

US12625508B2US 12625508 B2US12625508 B2US 12625508B2US-12625508-B2

Abstract

A control system for controlling a flight vehicle, includes the following elements. A first buffer, coupled to a motor unit of the flight vehicle. A second buffer, coupled to the motor unit. A master control unit, for generating a first actuation signal, the first actuation signal is selectively provided to the motor unit through the first buffer. A slave control unit, for generating a second actuation signal, the second actuation signal is selectively provided to the motor unit through the second buffer. A logic determination unit, for generating a switch control signal to control the first buffer and the second buffer to be turned ON or turned OFF. The master control unit and the slave control unit monitor each other for abnormality, when the master control unit is abnormal, the second actuation signal is provided to the motor unit in response to the switch control signal.

Inventors

Cheng-Ta Chen
YIN-LING KUO
Wen-Chuan Chen
Hu-Hsuan Tsui
Feng-Chi Lee
Ding-Huang Yeh
Chia-Ming Liang
Ya-Ting YANG

Assignees

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20231211

Claims (20)

1 . A control system, for controlling a flight vehicle, comprising: a first buffer, coupled to a motor unit of the flight vehicle; a second buffer, coupled to the motor unit; a master control unit, for generating a first actuation signal, the first actuation signal is selectively provided to the motor unit through the first buffer; a slave control unit, for generating a second actuation signal, the second actuation signal is selectively provided to the motor unit through the second buffer; and a logic determination unit, for generating a switch control signal to control the first buffer and the second buffer to be turned ON or turned OFF; wherein the master control unit and the slave control unit monitor each other for abnormality, when the master control unit is abnormal, the second actuation signal is provided to the motor unit in response to the switch control signal.
2 . The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the master control unit and the slave control unit are both flight management units (FMU) of the flight vehicle.
3 . The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the master control unit and the slave control unit are both 32-bit micro control units (MCU).
4 . The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the master control unit generates a first monitor signal to the slave control unit, and the slave control unit determines whether the master control unit is abnormal based on the first monitor signal.
5 . The control system according to claim 4 , wherein the master control unit generates a first control signal, and the first control signal is provided to the logic determination unit through a relay element and an inverter.
6 . The control system according to claim 5 , wherein the slave control unit provides a second control signal to the logic determination unit, when the slave control unit determines that the master control unit is abnormal, the logic determination unit changes a potential of the switch control signal in response to the second control signal.
7 . The control system according to claim 6 , wherein the logic determination unit comprises an XOR logic gate, and the XOR logic gate generates the switch control signal based on the first control signal and the second control signal.
8 . The control system according to claim 4 , wherein the first monitor signal is a clock signal with a first period, and the first monitor signal changes between a first potential and a second potential based on a first duration, the first duration is equal to half of the first period.
9 . The control system according to claim 8 , wherein when the slave control unit confirms that the first monitor signal changes between the first potential and the second potential within a second duration, the slave control unit determines that the master control unit is normal, and the second duration is greater than the first duration.
10 . The control system according to claim 9 , wherein when the slave control unit confirms that the first monitor signal remains at the first potential or the second potential exceeding the second duration, the slave control unit determines that the master control unit is abnormal.
11 . The control system according to claim 8 , wherein the first potential of the first monitor signal indicates a first logic value and the second potential indicates a second logic value, and the first monitor signal has a first number of the first logical values and a second number of the second logical values in a monitor interval, when a difference between the first number and the second number is greater than a threshold, the slave control unit determines that the master control unit is abnormal.
12 . A control method, for controlling a flight vehicle, comprising: generating a first actuation signal, by a master control unit; selectively providing the first actuation signal to a motor unit, by a first buffer; generating a second actuation signal, by a slave control unit; selectively providing the second actuation signal to the motor unit, by a second buffer; and generating a switch control signal to control the first buffer and the second buffer to be turned ON or turned OFF, by a logic determination unit; wherein the master control unit and the slave control unit monitor each other for abnormality, when the master control unit is abnormal, the second actuation signal is provided to the motor unit in response to the switch control signal.
13 . The control method according to claim 12 , wherein the master control unit and the slave control unit are both flight management units (FMU) of the flight vehicle.
14 . The control method according to claim 12 , wherein the master control unit and the slave control unit are both 32-bit micro control units (MCU).
15 . The control method according to claim 12 , further comprising: generating a first monitor signal to the slave control unit, by the master control unit; and determining whether the master control unit is abnormal based on the first monitor signal, by the slave control unit.
16 . The control method according to claim 15 , further comprising: generating a first control signal, by the master control unit; and providing the first control signal to the logic determination unit through a relay element and an inverter.
17 . The control method according to claim 16 , further comprising: providing a second control signal to the logic determination unit, by the slave control unit; and when the slave control unit determines that the master control unit is abnormal, changing a potential of the switch control signal in response to the second control signal by the logic determination unit.
18 . The control method according to claim 17 , wherein the logic determination unit comprises an XOR logic gate, and the XOR logic gate generates the switch control signal based on the first control signal and the second control signal.
19 . The control method according to claim 15 , wherein the first monitor signal is a clock signal with a first period, and the first monitor signal changes between a first potential and a second potential based on a first duration, the first duration is equal to half of the first period.
20 . The control method according to claim 19 , further comprising: confirming a potential change of the first monitor signal within a second duration by the slave control unit, wherein the second duration is greater than the first duration; and when confirming that the first monitor signal changes between the first potential and the second potential within the second duration, determining that the master control unit is normal by the slave control unit.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a control mechanism of a vehicle, and in particular relates to a control system and control method of a flight vehicle. BACKGROUND In order to maintain a stable navigation of a vehicle, two or more control units may be provided in a control platform of the vehicle to support each other. When an abnormality occurs in one of the control units, control authority may be seamlessly switched to another control unit, so as to ensure that the vehicle may be under control of at least one control unit at any time point without control interruption. For vehicles navigating on the ground or on the water, a slight control interruption may be tolerated. But, for a flight vehicle in the air, a slight control interruption may cause the flight vehicle to stall and fall. Flight vehicle are usually equipped with more than two control units to support each other. However, the two control units may have excessive control feedback from each other, causing excessive corrections in flight and hence leading to stall. Therefore, it is desirable to have an improved control mechanism, such that two control units of the flight vehicle may monitor and coordinate with each other, ensuring seamless switching of the two control units. SUMMARY According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a control system for controlling a flight vehicle is provided. The control system includes the following elements. A first buffer, coupled to a motor unit of the flight vehicle. A second buffer, coupled to the motor unit. A master control unit, for generating a first actuation signal, the first actuation signal is selectively provided to the motor unit through the first buffer. A slave control unit, for generating a second actuation signal, the second actuation signal is selectively provided to the motor unit through the second buffer. A logic determination unit, for generating a switch control signal to control the first buffer and the second buffer to be turned ON or turned OFF. The master control unit and the slave control unit monitor each other for abnormality, when the master control unit is abnormal, the second actuation signal is provided to the motor unit in response to the switch control signal. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a control method for controlling a flight vehicle is provided. The control method includes the following steps. Generating a first actuation signal, by a master control unit. Selectively providing the first actuation signal to a motor unit, by a first buffer. Generating a second actuation signal, by a slave control unit. Selectively providing the second actuation signal to the motor unit, by a second buffer. Generating a switch control signal to control the first buffer and the second buffer to be turned ON or turned OFF, by a logic determination unit. The master control unit and the slave control unit monitor each other for abnormality, when the master control unit is abnormal, the second actuation signal is provided to the motor unit in response to the switch control signal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a flight vehicle platform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a detailed functional block diagram of the control system of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a flow chart in which the slave control unit monitors the first monitor signal to determine whether the master control unit is normal. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the logic determination unit of FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment in which the slave control unit confirms the potential change of the first monitor signal. FIG. 6 is a flow chart for the control system performs control on the motor unit. In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a flight vehicle platform 2000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the flight vehicle platform 2000 includes a control system 1000 and peripheral elements 500. The flight vehicle platform 2000 is disposed in a flight vehicle and used to control a flight function and peripheral functions of the flight vehicle. The flight vehicle is, e.g., various types of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), including ones of various sizes for military or civilian use. The control system 1000 includes two flight management units (FMU) 100a and 200a. The FMU 100a and the FMU 200a support each other to control the flight functions of the flight vehicle. In addition, the FMU 100a and the FMU 200a may also assist to control peripheral functions of the flight veh