US 11,884,413 B2
Operating a vehicle with rotors while avoiding a band of rotor rotational speed
David H. Mason, Glenmoore, PA (US); Eric L. Hathaway, Springfield, PA (US); Roger W. Lacy, West Chester, PA (US); Brandon R. Brown, Malvern, PA (US); and Michael J. Duffy, Saint Charles, MO (US)
Assigned to The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed by The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed on Dec. 15, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/644,499.
Prior Publication US 2023/0182915 A1, Jun. 15, 2023
Int. Cl. B64C 27/00 (2006.01); B64D 31/06 (2006.01); B64C 29/00 (2006.01); B64C 27/08 (2023.01)
CPC B64D 31/06 (2013.01) [B64C 27/08 (2013.01); B64C 29/0025 (2013.01); B64C 2027/004 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for operating a vehicle that includes rotors driven by actuators to cause the vehicle to move, the apparatus comprising:
a memory configured to store computer-readable program code; and
processing circuitry configured to access the memory, and execute the computer-readable program code to cause the apparatus to at least:
determine rotational speeds at which to drive the rotors to achieve a controlled movement of the vehicle, the rotational speeds including a rotational speed for a rotor of a pair of the rotors driven by a pair of the actuators;
monitor the rotational speed to detect that the rotational speed has approached or reached a defined avoid band of rotational speeds;
bias the rotational speed to produce at least one biased rotational speed for respective rotors of the pair that is outside the defined avoid band;
generate commands for the actuators based on the rotational speeds;
modify the commands including those of the commands for the pair of the actuators based on the at least one biased rotational speed; and
send the commands to the actuators to cause the actuators to drive the rotors according to the commands, and including those of the commands that are modified so that the pair of the actuators are caused to drive the respective rotors at the at least one biased rotational speed, instead of at the rotational speed.