Aircraft sidestick

1 . An aviation sidestick with active gap compensation, comprising:

a housing;

a handle configured to be moved by a user;

a main bracket connected to the handle;

a sphere connected to the main bracket;

a sphere segment fixed relative to the housing and positioned relative to the handle, wherein a gap is provided between the handle and the sphere segment;

an outer cylinder rigidly fixed relative to the housing;

an inner cylinder disposed inside the outer cylinder and movable up and down relative to the outer cylinder, the inner cylinder containing the sphere;

a board disposed in the inner cylinder;

an optical sensor disposed on the board and configured to receive information from a surface of the sphere during movement of the handle;

a computing unit configured to receive information from the optical sensor and, according to a software algorithm, determine an angle, a speed, and a direction of rotation of the sphere relative to the optical sensor; and

a compensating mechanism configured to adjust the gap between the handle and the sphere segment, the compensating mechanism comprising a stepper motor and a drive mechanism operatively connected to the inner cylinder;

wherein a center of the sphere and a center of an imaginary sphere defining the sphere segment are located on a common imaginary axis and do not coincide;

wherein a radius of the sphere and a radius of the imaginary sphere defining the sphere segment are different;

wherein, because the center of the sphere and the center of the imaginary sphere defining the sphere segment do not coincide, movement of the handle would change the gap between the handle and the sphere segment in the absence of operation of the compensating mechanism;

wherein the computing unit is configured, during movement of the handle, to determine a compensation displacement based on the angle, speed, and direction of rotation of the sphere and to send signals to the stepper motor;

wherein, in response to the signals from the computing unit, the stepper motor drives the drive mechanism to move the inner cylinder up or down relative to the outer cylinder together with the sphere, the board, and the optical sensor contained in the inner cylinder; and

wherein movement of the inner cylinder up or down relative to the outer cylinder actively compensates for the changing gap between the handle and the sphere segment so that the gap remains substantially unchanged at different positions of the handle over the sphere segment.

2 . The aviation sidestick of claim 1 , wherein the drive mechanism comprises at least one transmission selected from the group consisting of: a screw and threaded bushing; a gear rack and spur gear; a worm shaft and threaded ring; a small gear and large gear; bevel gears; and toothed belts and toothed pulleys.

3 . The aviation sidestick of claim 1 , wherein the radius of the imaginary sphere defining the sphere segment is greater than the radius of the sphere so that the sphere segment provides a relatively even hand-supporting surface for a palm edge of the user.

4 . The aviation sidestick of claim 1 , wherein the drive mechanism comprises a screw and a threaded bushing, wherein the inner cylinder includes a partition, and wherein the threaded bushing is mounted on the partition and has threaded engagement with the screw driven by the stepper motor.

5 . The aviation sidestick of claim 1 , wherein the computing unit is configured to calculate the compensation displacement as a vertical displacement of the inner cylinder based on a stored geometric relationship between the sphere and the sphere segment.

6 . The aviation sidestick of claim 1 , further comprising a middle bracket rigidly connected to the inner cylinder by a plurality of bars or strips.

7 . The aviation sidestick of claim 6 , further comprising a bottom bracket fixed to the sphere and a force-feedback mechanism, wherein the force-feedback mechanism includes at least one solenoid having a solenoid core connected to the bottom bracket by a ball joint and a solenoid body connected to the middle bracket by a ball joint.

8 . The aviation sidestick of claim 7 , wherein the inner cylinder includes at least one window configured to receive or accommodate the at least one solenoid during movement of the inner cylinder.

9 . The aviation sidestick of claim 7 , wherein the computing unit is configured to supply control signals to the at least one solenoid to simulate force feedback corresponding to control surfaces of an aircraft.

10 . The aviation sidestick of claim 1 , wherein the sphere segment and the housing define a bracket mobility sector in the form of a cutout through which the main bracket moves during operational movement of the handle.

11 . The aviation sidestick of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the opposite sockets or bells of the corrugated electrical coupling structure includes a continuous circumferential electrical connector.

12 . The aviation sidestick of claim 1 , wherein the computing unit is configured to set an initial height of the handle relative to the sphere segment before operation by actuating the stepper motor to move the inner cylinder to a selected starting position.

13 . The aviation sidestick of claim 12 , wherein the selected starting position is determined based on user-specific hand-size information stored in memory or supplied to the computing unit by a removable memory device.

14 . The aviation sidestick of claim 1 , wherein the main bracket is formed from an upper part connected to the handle and a lower part connected to the sphere.

15 . An aviation sidestick with active gap compensation, comprising:

a housing;

a handle including programmable keys and a scroll wheel;

a stationary spherical segment fixed relative to the housing and arranged adjacent to the handle, the stationary spherical segment being made of a slippery material and being spaced from the handle by a gap;

a main bracket having an upper portion connected to the handle and a lower portion;

a tracking sphere connected to the lower portion of the main bracket;

a board carrying an optical sensor positioned to detect movement of the tracking sphere, the board including a computing unit configured to receive movement data from the optical sensor;

wherein the tracking sphere and the stationary spherical segment have different radii, and wherein a center of the tracking sphere and a focus, or center of curvature, of the stationary spherical segment are located on a common imaginary axis and are offset from one another;

an active compensating mechanism located inside the housing, the active compensating mechanism comprising:

an outer cylinder fixed relative to the housing;

an inner cylinder movable relative to the outer cylinder along the common imaginary axis;

a stepper motor;

a screw driven by the stepper motor; and

a threaded bushing engaged with the screw and operatively coupled to the inner cylinder;

wherein the tracking sphere, the board, and the optical sensor are carried by the inner cylinder so as to move together with the inner cylinder;

a middle bracket rigidly connected to the inner cylinder;

a force-feedback mechanism mounted to the middle bracket and including at least one solenoid disposed below the tracking sphere, wherein the force-feedback mechanism is mounted to the middle bracket such that the force-feedback mechanism moves together with the inner cylinder, the tracking sphere, the board, and the optical sensor; and

a corrugated electrical coupling structure electrically coupling the handle to the board, the corrugated electrical coupling structure having opposite sockets or bells carrying respective electrical connectors, the respective electrical connectors being interconnected by electrical wires embedded in a material body of the corrugated electrical coupling structure;

wherein, during operational movement of the handle relative to the stationary spherical segment, the optical sensor detects movement of the tracking sphere and transmits movement data to the computing unit, and the computing unit, based on the movement data, actuates the stepper motor to rotate the screw and translate the inner cylinder upward or downward relative to the outer cylinder, thereby moving the tracking sphere, the board, the optical sensor, the middle bracket, and the force-feedback mechanism as a movable unit to compensate for changes in the gap and maintain the gap between the handle and the stationary spherical segment substantially unchanged during movement of the handle.

16 . A sidestick controller with active gap compensation, comprising:

a housing;

a handle manually movable relative to the housing;

a spherical member operatively coupled to the handle so that movement of the handle causes rotation of the spherical member;

a spherical segment fixed relative to the housing and having a curved surface facing the handle, an operating gap being defined between the handle and the spherical segment;

a movable carrier guided for translation relative to the housing along a compensation axis, the movable carrier supporting the spherical member and a sensor arranged to sense movement of a surface of the spherical member;

an actuator operatively coupled to the movable carrier; and

a controller in communication with the sensor and the actuator;

wherein the spherical member has a first center and a first radius, and the spherical segment is defined by an imaginary sphere having a second center of curvature and a second radius;

wherein the first center and the second center of curvature are spaced from one another along the compensation axis, and the first radius and the second radius are different, so that manual movement of the handle would produce a change in the operating gap in the absence of translation of the movable carrier;

wherein the controller is configured to determine, from output of the sensor, a rotational state of the spherical member caused by movement of the handle;

wherein the controller is further configured to determine, from the rotational state and a stored compensation relationship corresponding to the spaced first and second centers and the different first and second radii, a compensation displacement for the movable carrier; and

wherein, during manual movement of the handle, the controller commands the actuator to translate the movable carrier along the compensation axis by the compensation displacement, thereby moving the spherical member and the sensor together relative to the fixed spherical segment to compensate for the change in the operating gap and maintain the operating gap substantially constant at different positions of the handle.