Granted Patent B2

US 12,469,919 · App. 18/097,035 · Granted Nov 11, 2025

Inventors: Joshua E. Auerbach (Waterbury Center, VT); Andrew Giroux (Georgia, VT); Timothy Gerard Richter (South Burlington, VT); Herman Wiegman (South Burlington, VT)

Assignee: BETA AIR LLC

H01M50/249B60L3/0046B60L50/64B60L50/66H01M10/48H01M2220/20

Abstract

Claims (49)

1 . A flight control system for an aircraft, the flight control system comprising:

a plurality of flight components coupled to an aircraft, wherein the plurality of flight components comprises a plurality of redundant control surfaces; and

a plurality of redundant low voltage buses communicatively connected to the plurality of flight components, wherein the plurality of redundant control surfaces include:

a first aileron located on a first fixed wing of the aircraft that is connected to a first redundant low voltage bus;

a second aileron located on the first fixed wing of the aircraft that is connected to a second redundant low voltage bus;

a third aileron located on a second fixed wing of the aircraft that is connected to a third redundant low voltage bus; and

a fourth aileron located on the second fixed wing of the aircraft that is connected to a fourth redundant low voltage bus, wherein the first aileron, the second aileron, the third aileron, and the fourth aileron are each independently electronically controllable; and

a plurality of booms, the plurality of booms including:

a first boom coupled to a first vertical take-off propulsor and a second vertical take-off propulsor, the first boom being perpendicularly coupled to the first fixed wing; and

a second boom coupled to a third vertical take-off propulsor and a fourth vertical take-off propulsor, the second boom being perpendicularly coupled to the second fixed wing.

2 . The flight control system of claim 1 , further comprising a flight controller communicatively connected to the plurality of redundant control surfaces and configured to control the plurality of redundant control surfaces.

3 . The flight control system of claim 1 , further comprising a pilot control communicatively connected to a flight controller, wherein the pilot control is configured to transmit at least a pilot input to the flight controller.

4 . The flight control system of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor communicatively connected to a pilot control, wherein the sensor is configured to detect a pilot input of the pilot control and transmit the pilot input to a flight controller.

5 . The flight control system of claim 4 , wherein a control set of a plurality of control sets comprises at least two component groups.

6 . The flight control system of claim 5 , wherein a component group of the at least two component groups comprises a group of components used in flight control of an aircraft part of a plurality of redundant components in a control set.

7 . The flight control system of claim 1 , wherein a redundant control surface of the plurality of redundant control surfaces comprises at least two elevators located on one side of the aircraft.

8 . The flight control system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of flight components and the plurality of redundant low voltage buses are categorized into a plurality of control sets.

9 . The flight control system of claim 8 , wherein a control set of the plurality of control sets is located on each wing of the aircraft.

10 . The flight control system of claim 1 , wherein a pilot control is configured to control a pitch, roll, and yaw of the aircraft.

11 . The flight control system of claim 1 , wherein a pilot input further comprises an attitude command describing a transition from vertical flight to horizontal flight of the aircraft.

12 . The flight control system of claim 1 , wherein a sensor is further configured to: detect an attitude command from a pilot control;

determine that a flight component of the plurality of flight components is disabled; and generate a failure datum corresponding to a disablement of the flight component.

13 . The flight control system of claim 12 , wherein the pilot control is configured to receive the failure datum from the sensor and, subsequently, generate an attitude command to a second flight component of the plurality of flight components.

14 . The flight control system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of redundant control surfaces include:

a first elevator located on a first side of the aircraft that is connected to a fifth redundant low voltage bus;

a second elevator located on the first side of the aircraft that is connected to a sixth redundant low voltage bus;

a third elevator located on a second side of the aircraft that is connected to a seventh redundant low voltage bus; and

a fourth elevator located on the second side of the aircraft that is connected to an eighth redundant low voltage bus.

15 . A method for flight control of an aircraft, the method comprising:

detecting, by a sensor, pilot input of a pilot control, wherein the pilot input is transmitted to a flight controller of an aircraft, wherein the aircraft comprises:

a plurality of flight components coupled to an aircraft, wherein the plurality of flight components comprises a plurality of redundant control surfaces; and

a plurality of redundant low voltage buses communicatively connected to the plurality of flight components, wherein a failure in a redundant low voltage bus of the plurality of redundant low voltage buses does not impact operability of the aircraft; and

a plurality of booms, the plurality of booms including:

a first boom coupled to a first vertical take-off propulsor and a second vertical take-off propulsor, the first boom being perpendicularly coupled to a first fixed wing; and

a second boom coupled to a third vertical take-off propulsor and a fourth vertical take-off propulsor, the second boom being perpendicularly coupled to a second fixed wing; and

generating a failure datum corresponding to a disablement of a flight component of the plurality of flight components, wherein the plurality of redundant control surfaces include:

a first elevator located on a first side of the aircraft that is connected to a first redundant low voltage bus;

a second elevator located on the first side of the aircraft that is connected to a second redundant low voltage bus;

a third elevator located on a second side of the aircraft that is connected to a third redundant low voltage bus; and

a fourth elevator located on the second side of the aircraft that is connected to a fourth redundant low voltage bus, wherein the first elevator, the second elevator, the third elevator, and the fourth elevator are each independently electronically controllable.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein a redundant control surface of the plurality of redundant control surfaces comprises at least two ailerons located on a fixed wing of the aircraft.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the pilot control is configured to control a pitch, roll, and yaw of the aircraft.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the pilot input further comprises an attitude command describing a transition from vertical flight to horizontal flight of the aircraft.

19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein generating the failure datum comprises, receiving, by the pilot control, the failure datum from the sensor and, subsequently, generating an attitude command to a second flight component of the plurality of flight components.

20 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of redundant control surfaces include:

a first aileron located on a first fixed wing of the aircraft that is connected to a fifth redundant low voltage bus;

a second aileron located on the first fixed wing of the aircraft that is connected to a sixth redundant low voltage bus;

a third aileron located on a second fixed wing of the aircraft that is connected to a seventh redundant low voltage bus; and

a fourth aileron located on the second fixed wing of the aircraft that is connected to an eighth redundant low voltage bus.

Continuity (5)

References Cited (29)