IP Library Granted Patent US 12,606,301
Granted Patent B2
US 12,606,301 · App. 18/765,393 · Granted Apr 21, 2026

Abnormality warning system and warning level setting method

Inventor: Shinsuke Kawadu (Kariya-city, JP)
Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
B64C29/0025B64C27/006B64C27/08B64C39/02B64D27/34B64D31/06B64D45/00B60L2220/42B64D2045/0085
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,606,301
App. No.
18/765,393
Granted
Apr 21, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An abnormality warning system provides an abnormality warning for multiple motor systems that drive a motor used correspondingly to each of multiple rotors included in an electric aircraft. The abnormality warning system includes an abnormality determination unit and a warning level setting unit. The abnormality determination unit determines an abnormal one of the motor systems. The warning level setting unit sets a warning level to warn abnormality, based on at least position information of the rotor in the electric aircraft or the usage of the rotor corresponding to a motor system determined to be abnormal by the abnormality determination unit.

Claims (44)

1 . An abnormality warning system for a plurality of motor systems, the motor systems being configured to respectively drive a plurality of motors corresponding to a plurality of rotors in a manned electric aircraft configured to vertically take off, vertically land, and horizontally thrust, the abnormality warning system comprising a processor programmed to:

set a plurality of warning levels as predetermined to warn of abnormality in each of the plurality of motor systems;

determine a motor system, which is abnormal, among the plurality of motor systems; and

output one warning level among the warning levels corresponding to a content of the abnormality of the determined motor system.

2 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:

set the plurality of warning levels to warn of the abnormality based on at least one of

installation position information of a rotor, which corresponds to the motor system determined to be abnormal, among the rotors in the electric aircraft and

a function of the corresponding rotor.

3 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:

output the plurality of warning levels different for an abnormality, which does not affect thrust or lift force of the manned electric aircraft, and for an abnormality in which the manned electric aircraft cannot maintain its altitude.

4 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 3 , further comprising:

an overall electromotive ECU that prestores a content of an abnormality, which affects the thrust or the lift force of the manned electric aircraft.

5 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 4 , wherein

the content of the abnormality, which affects the thrust or the lift force of the manned electric aircraft, includes an abnormality of an inverter circuit.

6 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 4 , wherein

the content of the abnormality, which affects the thrust or the lift force of the manned electric aircraft, includes an abnormality of a motor coil.

7 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 3 , further comprising:

an overall electromotive ECU that prestores a content of the abnormality, which does not affect the thrust or the lift force of the manned electric aircraft.

8 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 7 , wherein

the content of the abnormality, which does not affect the thrust or the lift force of the manned electric aircraft, includes an abnormality of a signal line for failure detection.

9 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 7 , wherein

the content of the abnormality, which does not affect the thrust or the lift force of the manned electric aircraft, includes an abnormality of a functional part configured to perform a fail-safe function.

10 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 3 , wherein

the plurality of warning levels include

a warning level to warn of an abnormality, which affects the thrust or the lift force of the manned electric aircraft, and in which the manned electric aircraft is capable of maintaining its altitude,

the processor is further programmed to:

output a low warning level among the warning levels when the abnormality, which does not affect the thrust or the lift force of the manned electric aircraft, occurs;

output a high warning level among the warning levels when the abnormality, in which the manned electric aircraft cannot maintain its altitude, occurs; and

output an intermediate warning level, which is between the low warning level and the high warning level, among the warning levels when the abnormality, which affects the thrust or the lift force of the manned electric aircraft, occurs, and when an abnormality in which the manned electric aircraft is capable of maintaining its altitude occurs.

11 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 3 , wherein

the manned electric aircraft includes a lifting motor system and a thrust motor system, wherein

the processor is further programmed to:

set, in advance, the warning level for a combination of an output corresponding to an abnormality of the lifting motor system and an output corresponding to an abnormality of the thrust motor system.

12 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 11 , wherein

the processor is further programmed to:

set the warning level for the abnormality of the lifting motor system to be higher than the warning level for the abnormality of the thrust motor system in a case where the output corresponding to the abnormality of the lifting motor system and the output corresponding to the abnormality of the thrust motor system are equivalent to each other.

13 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 11 , wherein

the processor is further programmed to:

output the warning level, which does not require emergency landing, when an abnormality, which affects thrust of the thrust motor system, occurs and on determination that the manned electric aircraft is capable of maintaining its altitude, and

output the warning level, which requires emergency landing, when an abnormality, which affects lift force of the lifting motor system.

14 . The abnormality warning system according to claim 1 , wherein

the plurality of warning levels include

a warning level to warn of an abnormality in the determined abnormal motor system that enables flight of the electric aircraft to continue as is, and

a warning level to warn of an abnormality in the determined abnormal motor system that requires an emergency landing of the electric aircraft.

Priority Claims (1)
JP 2020-118320 · Jul 9, 2020 · national
Continuity (3)
Continuation 17979863 · Nov 3, 2022
Continuation PCTJP2021022990 · Jun 17, 2021
Related Publication 20240359820A1 · Oct 31, 2024
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