CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Nonprovisional Application Serial No. 17/890,603, filed on August 18, 2022, and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FLIGHT CONTROL FOR AN ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT,” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of electric aircraft. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for flight control for an electric aircraft. BACKGROUND

Automated control is indispensable in operating an electric vehicle. A flight control system is paramount in operating an electric vehicle safely. It is important for a flight control system to allow a pilot to control an aircraft in an intuitive manner.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In an aspect a flight control system for an electric aircraft includes a propulsor configured to generate lift to propel an electric aircraft, a pilot input mechanically coupled to the electric aircraft, a sensor communicatively connected to the pilot input, wherein the sensor is configured to detect an input datum as a function of the pilot input and transmit the input datum to a flight controller. The system further including a flight controller communicatively connected to the sensor, the flight controller configured to determine a command datum to control the propulsor as a function of the input datum and an input mapping and change the input mapping as a function of a phase of flight.

In another aspect a method of flight control for an electric aircraft includes generating, by propulsor, lift to propel an electric aircraft, mechanically coupling a pilot input to the electric aircraft, detecting, by sensor, an input datum as a function of the pilot input, transmitting, by sensor, the input datum to a flight controller, determining, by flight controller, a command datum to control the propulsor as a function of the input datum and an input mapping, and changing, by flight controller, the input mapping as a function of a phase of flight. Tn an aspect, a controller for blended response flight control is provided. The controller may be configured to receive a pilot input from a pilot control of an aircraft. The system may also be configured to identify an aircraft measurement, wherein the aircraft measurement includes at least an airspeed of the aircraft. The system may also be configured to generate an aircraft command as a function of the pilot input, wherein the aircraft command includes one or more blended parameters. Generating the aircraft command includes determining a first command as a function of the pilot input, determining a second command as a function of the pilot input and the aircraft measurement, and combining the first command and the second command to create the aircraft command as a function of the aircraft measurement.

In another aspect, A method for blended response flight control of an aircraft, the method including receiving a pilot input, identifying an aircraft measurement, wherein the aircraft measurement includes at least an airspeed of an aircraft, generating an aircraft command as a function of the pilot input, wherein the aircraft command includes one or more blended parameters, wherein generating the aircraft command including determining a first command as a function of the pilot input, determining a second command as a function of the pilot input and the aircraft measurement, and combining the first command and the second command to create the aircraft command as a function of the aircraft measurement.

The details of one or more variations of the subject matter described herein are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the subject matter described herein will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the disclosure, the drawings show aspects of one or more embodiments of the disclosure. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of an electric aircraft;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a flight control system;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a method of flight control for an electric aircraft; FIG 4 is block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a machine learning module;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a flight controller;

FIG. 6 is an illustration showing an exploded view of an exemplary embodiment of a motor assembly in a propulsion system in one or more aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of the cross-sectional view of the boom and motor assembly;

FIG. 8 illustrates a closeup view of a motor assembly in a boom;

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a hover and thrust control assembly;

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a thumbwheel sensor layout;

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic representation of an exemplary embodiment of a linear thrust control thumbwheel;

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a hover and thrust control assembly;

FIG. 13A is an isometric view illustrating a first perspective of a three-dimensional directional control assembly stick, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 13B is an isometric view illustrating a second perspective of a three-dimensional directional control assembly stick, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 14 is an isometric view illustrating a mounting structure, according to embodiments;

FIG. 15 is a top-down view illustrating an asymmetrically rotatable control stick, according to embodiments;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a control system for an eVTOL, according to embodiments;

FIG. 17A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a system for blended response flight control configured for use in an aircraft in accordance with aspects of the disclosure;

FIG. 17B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a first filter in accordance with aspects of the disclosure;

FIG. 17C is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a second filter in accordance with aspects of the disclosure;

FIG. 17D is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a convex combination in accordance with aspects of the disclosure; FIG 18A is an illustration of an exemplary actuator in use in an aircraft in accordance with aspects of the disclosure;

FIG. 18B is an illustration of a partially transparent perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a propulsor assembly in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18C is an illustration showing a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of a propulsor assembly in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure; and FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a computing system that can be used to implement any one or more of the methodologies disclosed herein and any one or more portions thereof..

The drawings are not necessarily to scale and may be illustrated by phantom lines, diagrammatic representations, and fragmentary views. In certain instances, details that are not necessary for an understanding of the embodiments or that render other details difficult to perceive may have been omitted. Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

At a high level, aspects of the present disclosure are directed to systems and methods for flight control using a pilot input, where the pilot input may be an inceptor, joystick, lever, or the like.

Aspects of the present disclosure can be used to relay movements in the pilot input into commands for the flight components on the electric aircraft. Commands corresponding to actions taken on the pilot input may vary based on different phases of flight. Commands may be stored as input mapping such that each phase of flight is mapped to certain commands for the pilot input.

Exemplary embodiments illustrating aspects of the present disclosure are described below in the context of several specific examples.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. It is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment of an electric aircraft 100 is depicted. Aircraft 100 includes a flight controller 104. Flight controller 104 may include any computing device as described in this disclosure, including without limitation a microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP) and/or system on a chip (SoC) as described in this disclosure. Computing device may include, be included in, and/or communicate with a mobile device such as a mobile telephone or smartphone. Flight controller 104 may include a single computing device operating independently, or may include two or more computing device operating in concert, in parallel, sequentially or the like; two or more computing devices may be included together in a single computing device or in two or more computing devices. Flight controller 104 may interface or communicate with one or more additional devices as described below in further detail via a network interface device. Network interface device may be utilized for connecting flight controller 104 to one or more of a variety of networks, and one or more devices. Examples of a network interface device include, but are not limited to, a network interface card (e.g, a mobile network interface card, a LAN card), a modem, and any combination thereof. Examples of a network include, but are not limited to, a wide area network (e.g, the Internet, an enterprise network), a local area network (e.g., a network associated with an office, a building, a campus or other relatively small geographic space), a telephone network, a data network associated with a telephone/voice provider (e.g., a mobile communications provider data and/or voice network), a direct connection between two computing devices, and any combinations thereof. A network may employ a wired and/or a wireless mode of communication. In general, any network topology may be used. Information (e.g., data, software etc.) may be communicated to and/or from a computer and/or a computing device, flight controller 104 may include but is not limited to, for example, a computing device or cluster of computing devices in a first location and a second computing device or cluster of computing devices in a second location, flight controller 104 may include one or more computing devices dedicated to data storage, security, distribution of traffic for load balancing, and the like. Flight controller 104 may distribute one or more computing tasks as described below across a plurality of computing devices of computing device, which may operate in parallel, in series, redundantly, or in any other manner used for distribution of tasks or memory between computing devices, flight controller 104 may be implemented using a “shared nothing” architecture in which data is cached at the worker, in an embodiment, this may enable scalability of a system and/or computing device.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, flight controller 104 may be designed and/or configured to perform any method, method step, or sequence of method steps in any embodiment described in this disclosure, in any order and with any degree of repetition. For instance, flight controller 104 may be configured to perform a single step or sequence repeatedly until a desired or commanded outcome is achieved; repetition of a step or a sequence of steps may be performed iteratively and/or recursively using outputs of previous repetitions as inputs to subsequent repetitions, aggregating inputs and/or outputs of repetitions to produce an aggregate result, reduction or decrement of one or more variables such as global variables, and/or division of a larger processing task into a set of iteratively addressed smaller processing tasks. Flight controller 104 may perform any step or sequence of steps as described in this disclosure in parallel, such as simultaneously and/or substantially simultaneously performing a step two or more times using two or more parallel threads, processor cores, or the like; division of tasks between parallel threads and/or processes may be performed according to any protocol suitable for division of tasks between iterations. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various ways in which steps, sequences of steps, processing tasks, and/or data may be subdivided, shared, or otherwise dealt with using iteration, recursion, and/or parallel processing. Continuing to reference FIG. 1 , aircraft 100 may include an electrically powered aircraft also referred to herein as an electric aircraft. In some embodiments, electrically powered aircraft may be an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Electric aircraft may be capable of rotor-based cruising flight, rotor-based takeoff, rotor-based landing, fixed-wing cruising flight, airplane-style takeoff, airplane-style landing, and/or any combination thereof. “Rotor-based flight,” as described in this disclosure, is where the aircraft generated lift and propulsion by way of one or more powered rotors coupled with an engine, such as a quadcopter, multi-rotor helicopter, or other vehicle that maintains its lift primarily using downward thrusting propulsors. “Fixed-wing flight,” as described in this disclosure, is where the aircraft is capable of flight using wings and/or foils that generate lift caused by the aircraft’s forward airspeed and the shape of the wings and/or foils, such as airplane-style flight. Aircraft 100 may include a propulsor 108 configured to generate lift on aircraft 100. A “propulsor,” as used herein, is a component or device used to propel a craft by exerting force on a fluid medium, which may include a gaseous medium such as air or a liquid medium such as water. Propulsor 108 may be any device or component that propels an aircraft or other vehicle while on ground and/or in flight. Propulsor 108 may include one or more propulsive devices. Propulsor 108 may include a lift propulsor configured to create lift for aircraft 100. As used in this disclosure, “lift” is a force exerted on an aircraft that directly opposes the weight of the aircraft. In an embodiment, propulsor 108 may include a thrust element which may be integrated into the propulsor 108. As used in this disclosure, a “thrust element” is any device or component that converts mechanical energy of a motor, for instance in the form of rotational motion of a shaft, into thrust in a fluid medium. For example, a thrust element may include without limitation a marine propeller or screw, an impeller, a turbine, a pump-jet, a paddle or paddle-based device, or the like. As another nonlimiting example, propulsor 108 may include a pusher propeller. Pusher propeller may be mounted behind the engine to ensure the drive shaft is in compression. Pusher propeller may include a plurality of blades, for example, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or any other number of blades. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various devices that may be used as at least a thrust element. As used herein, a propulsive device may include, without limitation, a device using moving or rotating foils, including without limitation one or more rotors, an airscrew or propeller, a set of airscrews or propellers such as contra-rotating propellers, a moving or flapping wing, or the like. Tn an embodiment, propulsor 108 may include at least a blade. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various devices that may be used as propulsor 108. In an embodiment, when a propulsor twists and pulls air behind it, it will, at the same time, push the aircraft with an equal amount of force. The more air pulled behind the aircraft, the more the aircraft is pushed forward. In an embodiment, thrust element may include a helicopter rotor incorporated into propulsor 108. A “helicopter rotor,” as used herein, may include one or more blade or wing elements driven in a rotary motion to drive fluid medium in a direction axial to the rotation of the blade or wing element. Its rotation is due to the interaction between the windings and magnetic fields which produces a torque around the rotor's axis. A helicopter rotor may include a plurality of blade or wing elements. Propulsor 108 may be substantially rigid and not susceptible to bending during flight. Therefore, in some embodiments, the blades of propulsor 108 may be rigid such that they are unable to feather. As used in this disclosure, a propulsor blade “feathers” when it changes its pitch. For example, for a blade that is configured to feather, forces exerted by a fluid on a moving vehicle when a propulsor is not rotating may cause the blade to adjust its pitch so the blade is parallel to the oncoming fluid.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, propulsor 108 may be a lift propulsor oriented such that a propulsor plane is parallel with a ground when aircraft 100 is landed. As used in this disclosure, a “propulsor plane” is a plane in which one or more propulsors rotate. Propulsor plane may generally be orthogonal to an axis of rotation, such as rotational axis A. For example, when aircraft 100 is not traveling horizontally, a propulsor plane may be orthogonal to rotational axis A. When there is a substantial force exerted on propulsor 108 that is orthogonal to rotational axis A, such as air resistance during edgewise flight, the force may cause significant stress and strain against propulsor 108 and/or central hub 116. As used in this disclosure, “edgewise flight” is a flight orientation wherein an air stream is substantially directed at an edge of a lift propulsor such as propulsor 108. Edgewise flight may occur when an aircraft is traveling in a direction orthogonal to a rotational axis of a lift propulsor and parallel to a propulsor plane of the lift propulsor, causing an air stream to be directed at an edge of the lift propulsor. Edgewise flight may also occur when an aircraft is traveling in a direction in which a component of the velocity of the aircraft is in a direction orthogonal to a rotational axis of a lift propulsor and parallel to a propul sor plane of the lift propul sor. Additional forces, in addition to the air resistance, may also create significant stress and strain on propulsor 108 and/or central hub 116. As a non-limiting example, as aircraft 100 travels in edgewise flight, propulsor 108 may rotate such that an advancing blade of the propulsor 108 is rotating forward and into incoming air, while a receding blade of the propulsor 108 is rotating backward and away from incoming air. As used in this disclosure, an “advancing blade” is a blade of a lift propulsor that is instantaneously moving substantially in the same direction as the aircraft’s forward motion within the propulsor plane. As used in this disclosure, a “receding blade” is a blade of a lift propulsor that is instantaneously moving substantially in an opposite direction to the aircraft’s forward motion within the propulsor plane. Because blades of propulsor 108 have airfoil cross sections, an advancing blade produces greater lift than receding blade due to the relative motion of each of the blades relative to the oncoming air.

In another embodiment, and still referring to FIG. 1, propulsor 108 may include a propeller, a blade, or any combination of the two. A propeller may function to convert rotary motion from an engine or other power source into a swirling slipstream which may push the propeller forwards or backwards. Propulsor 108 may include a rotating power-driven hub, to which several radial airfoil-section blades may be attached, such that an entire whole assembly rotates about a longitudinal axis. As a non-limiting example, blade pitch of propellers may be fixed at a fixed angle, manually variable to a few set positions, automatically variable (e.g. a "constant-speed" type), and/or any combination thereof as described further in this disclosure. As used in this disclosure a “fixed angle” is an angle that is secured and/or substantially unmovable from an attachment point. For example, and without limitation, a fixed angle may be an angle of 2.2° inward and/or 1.7° forward. As a further non-limiting example, a fixed angle may be an angle of 3.6° outward and/or 2.7° backward. In an embodiment, propellers for an aircraft may be designed to be fixed to their hub at an angle similar to the thread on a screw makes an angle to the shaft; this angle may be referred to as a pitch or pitch angle which may determine a speed of forward movement as the blade rotates. Additionally or alternatively, propulsor component may be configured having a variable pitch angle. As used in this disclosure a “variable pitch angle” is an angle that may be moved and/or rotated. For example, and without limitation, propulsor component may be angled at a first angle of 3.3° inward, wherein propulsor component may be rotated and/or shifted to a second angle of 1 7° outward. Tn some embodiments, aircraft 100 may include a motor assembly and in-boom lift propulsor as described further below.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1, aircraft 100 includes a sensor 112. As used in this disclosure, a “sensor” is a device that is configured to detect a phenomenon and transmit information related to the detection of the phenomenon electronically. Sensor 112 may be configured to detect an input datum from a pilot input. A pilot input may include an inceptor, steering wheel, control wheel, control stick, pedal, levers, or the like. Input datum and pilot input are discussed in further detail below. Sensor 112 may be physically and/or communicatively connected to the pilot input. Sensor may also be located on other parts of the aircraft 100 in order to detect other phenomenon pertaining to flight control. In an embodiment, sensor 112 may be configured to detect speed, direction, force, torque, or the like into a sensed signal. Sensor 112 may include one or more sensors which may be the same, similar or different. Sensor 112 may include a plurality of sensors which may be the same, similar or different. Sensor 112 may include one or more sensor suites with sensors in each sensor suite being the same, similar or different. For example, and without limitation, sensor 112 may include a gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometers, inertial measurement unit (IMU), pressure sensor, proximity sensor, displacement sensor, force sensor, vibration sensor, and the like. Sensor 112 may efficaciously include, without limitation, any of the sensors disclosed in the entirety of the present disclosure.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, aircraft 100 may include an inertial measurement unit (IMU). IMU may detect an aircraft angle. An aircraft angle may include any information about the orientation of the aircraft in three-dimensional space such as pitch angle, roll angle, yaw angle, attitude, or some combination thereof. In non-limiting examples, an aircraft angle may use one or more notations or angular measurement systems like polar coordinates, cartesian coordinates, cylindrical coordinates, spherical coordinates, homogenous coordinates, relativistic coordinates, or a combination thereof, among others. IMU may detect an aircraft angle rate. Aircraft angle rate may include any information about the rate of change of any angle associated with an electrical aircraft. Any measurement system may be used in the description of the aircraft angle rate. Aircraft 100 may include an attitude indicator (Al) to inform the pilot of the aircraft orientation relative to Earth’s horizon. Attitude indicator may use a gyroscope to determine aircraft angle or attitude. As used herein, “attitude” is the angular difference measured between an aircraft’s axis (longitudinal, transverse) and the line of the Earth’s horizon.

Now referring to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a flight control system 200 is depicted. Flight control system 200 includes pilot input 204, flight controller 104, propulsor 108, and sensor 112. Pilot input 204 is communicatively connected to aircraft 100. As used herein, a “pilot input” is a device that receives commands from a user to control an aircraft. For example, a pilot input may include a throttle lever, inceptor stick, collective pitch control, steering wheel, brake pedals, pedal controls, toggles, joystick. Inceptor stick may include a control stick and/or control stick assembly as described further below. Pilot input 204 may be physically located in the fuselage of the aircraft 100 or remotely located outside of the aircraft in another location, while being communicatively connected to at least an element of the aircraft 100. “Communicatively connection”, for the purposes of this disclosure, is a process whereby one device, component, or circuit is able to receive data from and/or transmit data to another device, component, or circuit; communicative connecting may be performed by wired or wireless electronic communication, either directly or by way of one or more intervening devices or components. In an embodiment, communicative connecting includes electrically coupling an output of one device, component, or circuit to an input of another device, component, or circuit. Communicative connecting may be performed via a bus or other facility for intercommunication between elements of a computing device. Communicative connecting may include indirect connections via “wireless” connection, low power wide area network, radio communication, optical communication, magnetic, capacitive, or optical coupling, or the like. Pilot input 204 may include buttons, switches, or other binary inputs in addition to, or alternatively than digital controls about which a plurality of inputs may be received. Pilot input 204 may control pitch, yaw, and roll of the aircraft. Pilot input 204 may use an inceptor or the like to control pitch, yaw, and roll. Pitch, roll, and yaw may be used to describe an aircraft’s attitude and/or heading, as they correspond to three separate and distinct axes about which the aircraft may rotate with an applied moment, torque, and/or other force applied to at least a portion of an aircraft. The three axes may include a longitudinal axis, transverse axis, and yaw axis. “Longitudinal axis”, as used herein, refers to an imaginary axis that runs along the axis of symmetry of the fuselage. “Transverse axis”, as used herein, runs parallel to a line running from wing tip to wing tip of the aircraft, which is orthogonal to the longitudinal axis. “Yaw axis”, as used herein, is an imaginary axis that runs orthogonal to the longitudinal and transverse axis. “Pitch”, for the purposes of this disclosure refers to an aircraft’s angle of attack, and is aircraft’s rotation about the transverse axis. For example, an aircraft pitches “up” when the angle of attack is positive, like in a climb maneuver. In another example, the aircraft pitches “down”, when the angle of attack is negative, like in a dive maneuver. When angle of attack is not an acceptable input to any system disclosed herein, proxies may be used such as pilot controls, remote controls, or sensor levels, such as true airspeed sensors, pitot tubes, pneumatic/hydraulic sensors, and the like. “Roll” for the purposes of this disclosure, refers to rotation about an aircraft’s longitudinal axis. “Yaw”, for the purposes of this disclosure, refers to rotation about the yaw axis. As used herein, “Throttle”, for the purposes of this disclosure, refers to an aircraft outputting an amount of thrust from a propulsor. Pilot input, when referring to throttle, may refer to a pilot’s desire to increase or decrease thrust produced by at least a propulsor.

Still referring to FIG. 2, sensor 112 is communicatively connected to the pilot input 204. Sensor 112 detects an input datum 208 from the pilot input 204. An “input datum,” for the purpose of this disclosure, is an element of data describing a manipulation of one or more pilot inputs that correspond to a desire to affect an aircraft’s trajectory or attitude. Input datum may include data on a displacement input or a force input from a user manipulating an inceptor. For instance, an input datum may include an electronic signal from the physical manipulation of a pilot input, such as pulling a lever, or pushing down a button. Electrical signals may include analog signals, digital signals, periodic or aperiodic signal, step signals, unit impulse signal, unit ramp signal, unit parabolic signal, signum function, exponential signal, rectangular signal, triangular signal, sinusoidal signal, sine function, or pulse width modulated signal. Sensor 112 may include circuitry, computing devices, electronic components or a combination thereof that translates pilot input into at least an input datum 208 configured to be transmitted to any other electronic component.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, sensor 112 transmits the input datum 208 to a flight controller 104. Sensor 112 and flight controller 104 are communicatively connected. Flight controller 104 determines a command datum 212 to control the propulsor 108 as a function of the input datum and an input mapping 216. A “command datum” as used herein, is an element of data describing the manipulation of one or more flight components as a response to the input datum. A “flight component” as used herein, includes components related to, and mechanically connected to an aircraft that manipulates a fluid medium in order to propel and maneuver the aircraft through the fluid medium. In an embodiment, flight component may include ailerons, rudders, motors, propulsors or the like. Flight controller 104 may use command datum 212 to control the propulsor 108. Command datum 212 may instruct propulsor 108 to generate lift resulting in a 7 deg pitch upward. In this example, a pilot may have moved an inceptor 7 deg from the default position of the inceptor. “Default position”, as used herein, is the position that the pilot input 204 returns to or rests at when the pilot is not engaging. For example, a joystick may return to a vertical position when the pilot is not using it.

Continuing to reference FIG. 2, command datum is also determined as a function of input mapping 216. “Input mapping” as used herein is the way by which the input datum is interpreted by the flight controller. The input mapping may comprise one or more settings that correspond to particular ways of interpreting an input datum. For example, a setting may include a rate command or an attitude command. For example, a pilot input may be mapped to at least attitude command or at least rate command. “Attitude command” as used herein, refers to when the displacement of a pilot input translates to a position of the aircraft. For example, zero displacement of the pilot input 204 translates to a command datum 212 that tells the aircraft 100 to assume an attitude of zero pitch, roll, and/or yaw angles. In another example, a pilot may displace the pilot input 204 by 0.05 radians. This may translate to an aircraft pitch of 0.05 radians. “Rate command” as used herein, is when the pilot input is mapped to a constant angular rate. For example, zero displacement of the pilot input 204 translates to a command datum 212 that commands a zero attitude-rate, meaning that there is no change in the movement of the aircraft 100. In another embodiment, a displacement of 0.05 radians (rad) on the pilot control may translate to a constant aircraft pitch rate of 0.05 radians/second. In another embodiment, a displacement of 0.10 rad to the right of the default position, which may translate to a roll rate of 0.10 rad/second. Input mapping may also include hold settings, such as rate hold or attitude hold. “Rate hold” as used herein, is when the aircraft maintains the same angular rate even if the user is no longer engaging the pilot input. “Attitude hold” as used herein, is when the aircraft maintains the same attitude even if the user is no longer engaging the pilot input. Rate hold and attitude hold may remove the need for constant input into the pilot input. Flight controller may discontinue the rate hold or the attitude hold once it received a new input datum 208 from the pilot input 204 and the pilot. Input mapping 216 may be set by the pilot or by the flight controller through predetermined settings, as discussed below.

Continuing to reference FIG. 2, input mapping 216 may be changed as a function of a phase of flight 220. A “phase of flight” as used herein, is a period within a flight, wherein a flight begins when a payload, such as passengers, board the aircraft, and ends when the payload disembarks the aircraft. A phase of flight 220 may include: taxi, takeoff, initial climb, climb to cruise altitude, cruise altitude, descent, approach, and/or landing. Additionally, phase of flight 220 may include vertical take-off, hover, transition, and/or fixed wing flight. Different phases of flight may require different attitudes and speeds of the aircraft 100. A user of the aircraft, such as a pilot, may have preferences as to the input mapping 216 of the pilot input 204 during different phases of flight. A pilot may select an input mapping 216 on a display connected to the flight controller 104 for different phases of flight.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, in some embodiments, flight controller 104 may use an input mapping 216 of rate command and attitude hold during a flight transition. “Transition,” or flight transition, for the purposes of this disclosure, is a phase of flight where the aircraft is in between purely vertical flight and purely edgewise flight. For example, an aircraft may conduct a vertical take-off and once it reaches a particular height, begin transitioning to edgewise flight by increasing the aircraft’s horizontal velocity. Once the aircraft begins transitioning to edgewise flight, the flight controller may switch input mapping 216 to rate command and attitude hold.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, in some embodiments, flight controller 104 may use an input mapping 216 of attitude command attitude hold during hover. “Hover,” for the purposes of this disclosure, is a phase of flight, wherein the aircraft is generating thrust purely or primarily through its lift propulsor(s). For example, an aircraft may perform a vertical take-off using an attitude command attitude hold input mapping 216 and then transition to edgewise flight, wherein, once the transition begins, flight controller 104 may switch input mapping 216 to rate command attitude hold. As another non-limiting example, aircraft may transition from edgewise flight to hover using an input mapping 216 of rate command attitude hold and then flight controller 104 may switch input mapping 216 to attitude command attitude hold once aircraft is in hover.

Continuing to reference FIG. 2, flight controller 104 may use servomechanisms to control one or more of attitude and rate of aircraft. For example, in response to the pilot input 204 and one or more sensors (e.g. air speed sensors, attitude sensors, IMUs, and the like), flight controller may adjust propulsor speed and/or propulsor blade angle and/or the like, to achieve the desired command datum 212. Flight controller 104 may use PID controllers, feedback loops, error loops, or the like to adjust flight components to achieve the desired command datum 212. A “PID controller”, for the purposes of this disclosure, is a control loop mechanism employing feedback that calculates an error value as the difference between a desired setpoint and a measured process variable and applies a correction based on proportional, integral, and derivative terms; integral and derivative terms may be generated, respectively, using analog integrators and differentiators constructed with operational amplifiers and/or digital integrators and differentiators, as a nonlimiting example. A similar philosophy to attachment of flight control systems to sticks or other manual controls via pushrods and wire may be employed except the conventional surface servos, steppers, or other electromechanical actuator components may be connected to the cockpit inceptors via electrical wires. Fly-by-wire systems may be beneficial when considering the physical size of the aircraft, utility of for fly by wire for quad lift control and may be used for remote and autonomous use, consistent with the entirety of this disclosure. A distributed flight control system may harmonize vehicle flight dynamics with best handling qualities utilizing the minimum amount of complexity whether it be additional modes, augmentation, or external sensors as described herein.

Still referring to FIG. 2, flight controller 104 may use a machine learning module 400 to create a machine learning model with training data from input mapping from previous flights to determine input mapping 216. Additional information on machine learning module may be found in FIG. 4. Process for determining input mapping 216 may be iterative such that there may be many set of updated training data used determine input mapping 216. For example, and without limitation, a machine-learning module 400 and/or process may use a training data set, which includes training data, to generate an algorithm and create a machine-learning model that can determine input mapping 216 based on the data from the sensor 112. Algorithm may include a mathematical model, a computational fluid dynamics model, a flight model, combinations thereof, and the like. Training data may include inputs and corresponding predetermined outputs so that a machine-learning module 400 may use the correlations between the provided exemplary inputs and outputs to develop an algorithm and/or relationship that then allows the machinelearning module 400 to determine its own outputs for inputs. Training data may contain correlations that a machine-learning process may use to model relationships between two or more categories of data elements. The exemplary inputs and outputs may come from a database or be provided by a user. Database may store information on input mapping 216 based on senser data and phase of flight. For example, database may store input mapping 216 for the flight components when the aircraft 100 is cruising at an altitude of 8000 m. In other embodiments, a machine-learning module 400 may obtain a training set by querying a communicatively connected database that includes past inputs and outputs. Past inputs may include sensor data from an IMU. Past outputs may include input mapping 216 as a function of the past inputs. Training data may include inputs from various types of sensors and outputs correlated to each of those inputs so that a machine-learning module 400 may determine an input mapping 216. Training data may also include input mapping from previous flights during certain phases of flight or flight maneuvers to determine an input mapping 216 for the present flight. Correlations may indicate causative and/or predictive links between data, which may be modeled as relationships, such as mathematical relationships, by machine-learning processes, as described in further detail below. In one or more embodiments, training data may be formatted and/or organized by categories of data elements by, for example, associating data elements with one or more descriptors corresponding to categories of data elements. As a non-limiting example, training data may include data entered in standardized forms by persons or processes, such that entry of a given data element in a given field in a form may be mapped to one or more descriptors of categories. Elements in training data may be linked to descriptors of categories by tags, tokens, or other data elements.

Now referring to FIG. 3, a method 300 for flight control for an electric aircraft. Step 305 of method 300 includes generating, by propulsor, lift to propel an electric aircraft. Propulsor may be consistent with any propulsor as discussed in this disclosure. Step 310 of method 300 includes mechanically coupling a pilot input to the electric aircraft. Pilot input may be located within the cockpit of the electric aircraft. Pilot input may be located remote to the cockpit of the electric aircraft. Pilot input may include an inceptor. Pilot input may control pitch, yaw, and roll of the electric aircraft. In the case of a stick-like device, such as a joystick or inceptor, the default position may be considered the origin. Movement in the x axis may correspond to movement in roll. Movement in the y axis may correspond to movement in pitch. Movement by twisting the pilot input may correspond to movement in yaw. Default position may be consistent with any default position as discussed in this disclosure. Pilot input is consistent with any pilot input as discussed in this disclosure.

Step 315 of method 300 includes detecting, by sensor, an input datum as a function of the pilot input. Input datum is consistent with any input datum as discussed in this disclosure. Step 320 of method 300 includes transmitting, by sensor, the input datum to a flight controller. Flight controller may receive the input datum. Step 325 of method 300 includes determining, by flight controller, a command datum to control the propulsor as a function of the input datum and an input mapping. Command datum may be consistent with any command datum as discussed herein. Input mapping may determine what the command datum from the flight controller to the flight components may be. Input mapping includes attitude command, rate command, attitude hold, and attitude rate hold. Flight controller may use a machine learning module to determine the input mapping given a phase of flight. Step 330 of method 300 includes changing, by flight controller, the input mapping as a function of a phase of flight. Phase of flight may correspond to any phase of flight as discussed herein.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an exemplary embodiment of a machine-learning module 400 that may perform one or more machine-learning processes as described in this disclosure is illustrated. Machine-learning module may perform determinations, classification, and/or analysis steps, methods, processes, or the like as described in this disclosure using machine learning processes. A “machine learning process,” as used in this disclosure, is a process that automatedly uses training data 404 to generate an algorithm that will be performed by a computing device/module to produce outputs 408 given data provided as inputs 412; this is in contrast to a non-machine learning software program where the commands to be executed are determined in advance by a user and written in a programming language. Still referring to FIG. 4, “training data,” as used herein, is data containing correlations that a machine-learning process may use to model relationships between two or more categories of data elements. For instance, and without limitation, training data 404 may include a plurality of data entries, each entry representing a set of data elements that were recorded, received, and/or generated together; data elements may be correlated by shared existence in a given data entry, by proximity in a given data entry, or the like. Multiple data entries in training data 404 may evince one or more trends in correlations between categories of data elements; for instance, and without limitation, a higher value of a first data element belonging to a first category of data element may tend to correlate to a higher value of a second data element belonging to a second category of data element, indicating a possible proportional or other mathematical relationship linking values belonging to the two categories. Multiple categories of data elements may be related in training data 404 according to various correlations; correlations may indicate causative and/or predictive links between categories of data elements, which may be modeled as relationships such as mathematical relationships by machine-learning processes as described in further detail below. Training data 404 may be formatted and/or organized by categories of data elements, for instance by associating data elements with one or more descriptors corresponding to categories of data elements. As a non-limiting example, training data 404 may include data entered in standardized forms by persons or processes, such that entry of a given data element in a given field in a form may be mapped to one or more descriptors of categories. Elements in training data 404 may be linked to descriptors of categories by tags, tokens, or other data elements; for instance, and without limitation, training data 404 may be provided in fixed-length formats, formats linking positions of data to categories such as comma-separated value (CSV) formats and/or selfdescribing formats such as extensible markup language (XML), JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), or the like, enabling processes or devices to detect categories of data.

Alternatively or additionally, and continuing to refer to FIG. 4, training data 404 may include one or more elements that are not categorized; that is, training data 404 may not be formatted or contain descriptors for some elements of data. Machine-learning algorithms and/or other processes may sort training data 404 according to one or more categorizations using, for instance, natural language processing algorithms, tokenization, detection of correlated values in raw data and the like; categories may be generated using correlation and/or other processing algorithms. As a non-limiting example, in a corpus of text, phrases making up a number “n” of compound words, such as nouns modified by other nouns, may be identified according to a statistically significant prevalence of n-grams containing such words in a particular order; such an n-gram may be categorized as an element of language such as a “word” to be tracked similarly to single words, generating a new category as a result of statistical analysis. Similarly, in a data entry including some textual data, a person’s name may be identified by reference to a list, dictionary, or other compendium of terms, permitting ad-hoc categorization by machinelearning algorithms, and/or automated association of data in the data entry with descriptors or into a given format. The ability to categorize data entries automatedly may enable the same training data 404 to be made applicable for two or more distinct machine-learning algorithms as described in further detail below. Training data 404 used by machine-learning module 400 may correlate any input data as described in this disclosure to any output data as described in this disclosure. As a non-limiting illustrative example flight elements and/or pilot signals may be inputs, wherein an output may be an autonomous function.

Further referring to FIG. 4, training data may be filtered, sorted, and/or selected using one or more supervised and/or unsupervised machine-learning processes and/or models as described in further detail below; such models may include without limitation a training data classifier 416. Training data classifier 416 may include a “classifier,” which as used in this disclosure is a machine-learning model as defined below, such as a mathematical model, neural net, or program generated by a machine learning algorithm known as a “classification algorithm,” as described in further detail below, that sorts inputs into categories or bins of data, outputting the categories or bins of data and/or labels associated therewith. A classifier may be configured to output at least a datum that labels or otherwise identifies a set of data that are clustered together, found to be close under a distance metric as described below, or the like. Machine-learning module 400 may generate a classifier using a classification algorithm, defined as a processes whereby a computing device and/or any module and/or component operating thereon derives a classifier from training data 404. Classification may be performed using, without limitation, linear classifiers such as without limitation logistic regression and/or naive Bayes classifiers, nearest neighbor classifiers such as k-nearest neighbors classifiers, support vector machines, least squares support vector machines, fisher’s linear discriminant, quadratic classifiers, decision trees, boosted trees, random forest classifiers, learning vector quantization, and/or neural network-based classifiers. As a nonlimiting example, training data classifier 416 may classify elements of training data to subcategories of flight elements such as torques, forces, thrusts, directions, and the like thereof.

Still referring to FIG. 4, machine-learning module 400 may be configured to perform a lazy-learning process 420 and/or protocol, which may alternatively be referred to as a “lazy loading” or “call-when-needed” process and/or protocol, may be a process whereby machine learning is conducted upon receipt of an input to be converted to an output, by combining the input and training set to derive the algorithm to be used to produce the output on demand. For instance, an initial set of simulations may be performed to cover an initial heuristic and/or “first guess” at an output and/or relationship. As a non-limiting example, an initial heuristic may include a ranking of associations between inputs and elements of training data 404. Heuristic may include selecting some number of highest-ranking associations and/or training data 404 elements. Lazy learning may implement any suitable lazy learning algorithm, including without limitation a K-nearest neighbors algorithm, a lazy naive Bayes algorithm, or the like; persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various lazy- learning algorithms that may be applied to generate outputs as described in this disclosure, including without limitation lazy learning applications of machine-learning algorithms as described in further detail below.

Alternatively or additionally, and with continued reference to FIG. 4, machine-learning processes as described in this disclosure may be used to generate machine-learning models 424. A “machine-learning model,” as used in this disclosure, is a mathematical and/or algorithmic representation of a relationship between inputs and outputs, as generated using any machinelearning process including without limitation any process as described above, and stored in memory; an input is submitted to a machine-learning model 424 once created, which generates an output based on the relationship that was derived. For instance, and without limitation, a linear regression model, generated using a linear regression algorithm, may compute a linear combination of input data using coefficients derived during machine-learning processes to calculate an output datum. As a further non-limiting example, a machine-learning model 424 may be generated by creating an artificial neural network, such as a convolutional neural network comprising an input layer of nodes, one or more intermediate layers, and an output layer of nodes. Connections between nodes may be created via the process of "training" the network, in which elements from a training data 404 set are applied to the input nodes, a suitable training algorithm (such as Levenberg-Marquardt, conjugate gradient, simulated annealing, or other algorithms) is then used to adjust the connections and weights between nodes in adjacent layers of the neural network to produce the desired values at the output nodes. This process is sometimes referred to as deep learning.

Still referring to FIG. 4, machine-learning algorithms may include at least a supervised machine-learning process 428. At least a supervised machine-learning process 428, as defined herein, include algorithms that receive a training set relating a number of inputs to a number of outputs, and seek to find one or more mathematical relations relating inputs to outputs, where each of the one or more mathematical relations is optimal according to some criterion specified to the algorithm using some scoring function. For instance, a supervised learning algorithm may include flight elements and/or pilot signals as described above as inputs, autonomous functions as outputs, and a scoring function representing a desired form of relationship to be detected between inputs and outputs; scoring function may, for instance, seek to maximize the probability that a given input and/or combination of elements inputs is associated with a given output to minimize the probability that a given input is not associated with a given output. Scoring function may be expressed as a risk function representing an “expected loss” of an algorithm relating inputs to outputs, where loss is computed as an error function representing a degree to which a prediction generated by the relation is incorrect when compared to a given input-output pair provided in training data 404. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various possible variations of at least a supervised machine-learning process 428 that may be used to determine relation between inputs and outputs. Supervised machine-learning processes may include classification algorithms as defined above.

Further referring to FIG. 4, machine learning processes may include at least an unsupervised machine-learning processes 432. An unsupervised machine-learning process, as used herein, is a process that derives inferences in datasets without regard to labels; as a result, an unsupervised machine-learning process may be free to discover any structure, relationship, and/or correlation provided in the data. Unsupervised processes may not require a response variable; unsupervised processes may be used to find interesting patterns and/or inferences between variables, to determine a degree of correlation between two or more variables, or the like.

Still referring to FIG. 4, machine-learning module 400 may be designed and configured to create a machine-learning model 424 using techniques for development of linear regression models. Linear regression models may include ordinary least squares regression, which aims to minimize the square of the difference between predicted outcomes and actual outcomes according to an appropriate norm for measuring such a difference (e.g. a vector-space distance norm); coefficients of the resulting linear equation may be modified to improve minimization. Linear regression models may include ridge regression methods, where the function to be minimized includes the least-squares function plus term multiplying the square of each coefficient by a scalar amount to penalize large coefficients. Linear regression models may include least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) models, in which ridge regression is combined with multiplying the least-squares term by a factor of 1 divided by double the number of samples. Linear regression models may include a multi-task lasso model wherein the norm applied in the least-squares term of the lasso model is the Frobenius norm amounting to the square root of the sum of squares of all terms. Linear regression models may include the elastic net model, a multi-task elastic net model, a least angle regression model, a LARS lasso model, an orthogonal matching pursuit model, a Bayesian regression model, a logistic regression model, a stochastic gradient descent model, a perceptron model, a passive aggressive algorithm, a robustness regression model, a Huber regression model, or any other suitable model that may occur to persons skilled in the art upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure. Linear regression models may be generalized in an embodiment to polynomial regression models, whereby a polynomial equation (e.g. a quadratic, cubic or higher-order equation) providing a best predicted output/actual output fit is sought; similar methods to those described above may be applied to minimize error functions, as will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 4, machine-learning algorithms may include, without limitation, linear discriminant analysis. Machine-learning algorithm may include quadratic discriminate analysis. Machine-learning algorithms may include kernel ridge regression. Machine-learning algorithms may include support vector machines, including without limitation support vector classification -based regression processes. Machine-learning algorithms may include stochastic gradient descent algorithms, including classification and regression algorithms based on stochastic gradient descent. Machine-learning algorithms may include nearest neighbors algorithms. Machine-learning algorithms may include Gaussian processes such as Gaussian Process Regression. Machine-learning algorithms may include cross-decomposition algorithms, including partial least squares and/or canonical correlation analysis. Machinelearning algorithms may include naive Bayes methods. Machine-learning algorithms may include algorithms based on decision trees, such as decision tree classification or regression algorithms. Machine-learning algorithms may include ensemble methods such as bagging metaestimator, forest of randomized tress, AdaBoost, gradient tree boosting, and/or voting classifier methods. Machine-learning algorithms may include neural net algorithms, including convolutional neural net processes.

Now referring to FIG. 5, an exemplary embodiment 500 of a flight controller 104 is illustrated. As used in this disclosure a “flight controller” is a computing device of a plurality of computing devices dedicated to data storage, security, distribution of traffic for load balancing, and flight instruction. Flight controller 104 may include and/or communicate with any computing device as described in this disclosure, including without limitation a microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP) and/or system on a chip (SoC) as described in this disclosure. Further, flight controller 104 may include a single computing device operating independently, or may include two or more computing device operating in concert, in parallel, sequentially or the like; two or more computing devices may be included together in a single computing device or in two or more computing devices. In embodiments, flight controller 104 may be installed in an aircraft, may control the aircraft remotely, and/or may include an element installed in the aircraft and a remote element in communication therewith.

In an embodiment, and still referring to FIG. 5, flight controller 104 may include a signal transformation component 508. As used in this disclosure a “signal transformation component” is a component that transforms and/or converts a first signal to a second signal, wherein a signal may include one or more digital and/or analog signals. For example, and without limitation, signal transformation component 508 may be configured to perform one or more operations such as preprocessing, lexical analysis, parsing, semantic analysis, and the like thereof. In an embodiment, and without limitation, signal transformation component 508 may include one or more analog-to-digital convertors that transform a first signal of an analog signal to a second signal of a digital signal. For example, and without limitation, an analog-to-digital converter may convert an analog input signal to a 10-bit binary digital representation of that signal. In another embodiment, signal transformation component 508 may include transforming one or more low- level languages such as, but not limited to, machine languages and/or assembly languages. For example, and without limitation, signal transformation component 508 may include transforming a binary language signal to an assembly language signal. In an embodiment, and without limitation, signal transformation component 508 may include transforming one or more high- level languages and/or formal languages such as but not limited to alphabets, strings, and/or languages. For example, and without limitation, high-level languages may include one or more system languages, scripting languages, domain-specific languages, visual languages, esoteric languages, and the like thereof. As a further non-limiting example, high-level languages may include one or more algebraic formula languages, business data languages, string and list languages, object-oriented languages, and the like thereof.

Still referring to FIG. 5, signal transformation component 508 may be configured to optimize an intermediate representation 512. As used in this disclosure an “intermediate representation” is a data structure and/or code that represents the input signal. Signal transformation component 508 may optimize intermediate representation as a function of a dataflow analysis, dependence analysis, alias analysis, pointer analysis, escape analysis, and the like thereof. In an embodiment, and without limitation, signal transformation component 508 may optimize intermediate representation 512 as a function of one or more inline expansions, dead code eliminations, constant propagation, loop transformations, and/or automatic parallelization functions. In another embodiment, signal transformation component 508 may optimize intermediate representation as a function of a machine dependent optimization such as a peephole optimization, wherein a peephole optimization may rewrite short sequences of code into more efficient sequences of code. Signal transformation component 508 may optimize intermediate representation to generate an output language, wherein an “output language,” as used herein, is the native machine language of flight controller 104. For example, and without limitation, native machine language may include one or more binary and/or numerical languages. Tn an embodiment, and without limitation, signal transformation component 508 may include transform one or more inputs and outputs as a function of an error correction code. An error correction code, also known as error correcting code (ECC), is an encoding of a message or lot of data using redundant information, permitting recovery of corrupted data. An ECC may include a block code, in which information is encoded on fixed-size packets and/or blocks of data elements such as symbols of predetermined size, bits, or the like. Reed-Solomon coding, in which message symbols within a symbol set having q symbols are encoded as coefficients of a polynomial of degree less than or equal to a natural number k, over a finite field F with q elements; strings so encoded have a minimum hamming distance of k+1, and permit correction of (q-k-\)I erroneous symbols. Block code may alternatively or additionally be implemented using Golay coding, also known as binary Golay coding, Bose-Chaudhuri, Hocquenghuem (BCH) coding, multidimensional parity-check coding, and/or Hamming codes. An ECC may alternatively or additionally be based on a convolutional code.

In an embodiment, and still referring to FIG. 5, flight controller 104 may include a reconfigurable hardware platform 516. A “reconfigurable hardware platform,” as used herein, is a component and/or unit of hardware that may be reprogrammed, such that, for instance, a data path between elements such as logic gates or other digital circuit elements may be modified to change an algorithm, state, logical sequence, or the like of the component and/or unit. This may be accomplished with such flexible high-speed computing fabrics as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), which may include a grid of interconnected logic gates, connections between which may be severed and/or restored to program in modified logic. Reconfigurable hardware platform 516 may be reconfigured to enact any algorithm and/or algorithm selection process received from another computing device and/or created using machine-learning processes.

Still referring to FIG. 5, reconfigurable hardware platform 516 may include a logic component 520. As used in this disclosure a “logic component” is a component that executes instructions on output language. For example, and without limitation, logic component may perform basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, input/output operations, and the like thereof. Logic component 520 may include any suitable processor, such as without limitation a component incorporating logical circuitry for performing arithmetic and logical operations, such as an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU), which may be regulated with a state machine and directed by operational inputs from memory and/or sensors; logic component 520 may be organized according to Von Neumann and/or Harvard architecture as a non-limiting example. Logic component 520 may include, incorporate, and/or be incorporated in, without limitation, a microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), Graphical Processing Unit (GPU), general purpose GPU, Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), analog or mixed signal processor, Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a floating point unit (FPU), and/or system on a chip (SoC). In an embodiment, logic component 520 may include one or more integrated circuit microprocessors, which may contain one or more central processing units, central processors, and/or main processors, on a single metal-oxide-semiconductor chip. Logic component 520 may be configured to execute a sequence of stored instructions to be performed on the output language and/or intermediate representation 512. Logic component 520 may be configured to fetch and/or retrieve the instruction from a memory cache, wherein a “memory cache,” as used in this disclosure, is a stored instruction set on flight controller 104. Logic component 520 may be configured to decode the instruction retrieved from the memory cache to opcodes and/or operands. Logic component 520 may be configured to execute the instruction on intermediate representation 512 and/or output language. For example, and without limitation, logic component 520 may be configured to execute an addition operation on intermediate representation 512 and/or output language.

In an embodiment, and without limitation, logic component 520 may be configured to calculate a flight element 524. As used in this disclosure a “flight element” is an element of datum denoting a relative status of aircraft. For example, and without limitation, flight element 524 may denote one or more torques, thrusts, airspeed velocities, forces, altitudes, groundspeed velocities, directions during flight, directions facing, forces, orientations, and the like thereof. For example, and without limitation, flight element 524 may denote that aircraft is cruising at an altitude and/or with a sufficient magnitude of forward thrust. As a further non-limiting example, flight status may denote that is building thrust and/or groundspeed velocity in preparation for a takeoff. As a further non-limiting example, flight element 524 may denote that aircraft is following a flight path accurately and/or sufficiently. Still referring to FIG. 5, flight controller 104 may include a chipset component 528. As used in this disclosure a “chipset component” is a component that manages data flow. In an embodiment, and without limitation, chipset component 528 may include a northbridge data flow path, wherein the northbridge dataflow path may manage data flow from logic component 520 to a high-speed device and/or component, such as a RAM, graphics controller, and the like thereof. In another embodiment, and without limitation, chipset component 528 may include a southbridge data flow path, wherein the southbridge dataflow path may manage data flow from logic component 520 to lower-speed peripheral buses, such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI), industry standard architecture (ICA), and the like thereof. In an embodiment, and without limitation, southbridge data flow path may include managing data flow between peripheral connections such as ethemet, USB, audio devices, and the like thereof. Additionally or alternatively, chipset component 528 may manage data flow between logic component 520, memory cache, and a flight component 532. As used in this disclosure a “flight component” is a portion of an aircraft that can be moved or adjusted to affect one or more flight elements. For example, flight component532 may include a component used to affect the aircrafts’ roll and pitch which may comprise one or more ailerons. As a further example, flight component 532 may include a rudder to control yaw of an aircraft. In an embodiment, chipset component 528 may be configured to communicate with a plurality of flight components as a function of flight element 524. For example, and without limitation, chipset component 528 may transmit to an aircraft rotor to reduce torque of a first lift propul sor and increase the forward thrust produced by a pusher component to perform a flight maneuver.

In an embodiment, and still referring to FIG. 5, flight controller 104 may be configured generate an autonomous function. As used in this disclosure an “autonomous function” is a mode and/or function of flight controller 104 that controls aircraft automatically. For example, and without limitation, autonomous function may perform one or more aircraft maneuvers, take-offs, landings, altitude adjustments, flight leveling adjustments, turns, climbs, and/or descents. As a further non-limiting example, autonomous function may adjust one or more airspeed velocities, thrusts, torques, and/or groundspeed velocities. As a further non-limiting example, autonomous function may perform one or more flight path corrections and/or flight path modifications as a function of flight element 524. In an embodiment, autonomous function may include one or more modes of autonomy such as, but not limited to, autonomous mode, semi-autonomous mode, and/or non-autonomous mode. As used in this disclosure “autonomous mode” is a mode that automatically adjusts and/or controls aircraft and/or the maneuvers of aircraft in its entirety. For example, autonomous mode may denote that flight controller 104 will adjust the aircraft. As used in this disclosure a “semi-autonomous mode” is a mode that automatically adjusts and/or controls a portion and/or section of aircraft. For example, and without limitation, semi- autonomous mode may denote that a pilot will control the propulsors, wherein flight controller 104 will control the ailerons and/or rudders. As used in this disclosure “non-autonomous mode” is a mode that denotes a pilot will control aircraft and/or maneuvers of aircraft in its entirety.

In an embodiment, and still referring to FIG. 5, flight controller 104 may generate autonomous function as a function of an autonomous machine-learning model. As used in this disclosure an “autonomous machine-learning model” is a machine-learning model to produce an autonomous function output given flight element 524 and a pilot signal 536 as inputs; this is in contrast to a non-machine learning software program where the commands to be executed are determined in advance by a user and written in a programming language. As used in this disclosure a “pilot signal” is an element of datum representing one or more functions a pilot is controlling and/or adjusting. For example, pilot signal 536 may denote that a pilot is controlling and/or maneuvering ailerons, wherein the pilot is not in control of the rudders and/or propulsors. In an embodiment, pilot signal 536 may include an implicit signal and/or an explicit signal. For example, and without limitation, pilot signal 536 may include an explicit signal, wherein the pilot explicitly states there is a lack of control and/or desire for autonomous function. As a further non-limiting example, pilot signal 536 may include an explicit signal directing flight controller 104 to control and/or maintain a portion of aircraft, a portion of the flight plan, the entire aircraft, and/or the entire flight plan. As a further non-limiting example, pilot signal 536 may include an implicit signal, wherein flight controller 104 detects a lack of control such as by a malfunction, torque alteration, flight path deviation, and the like thereof. In an embodiment, and without limitation, pilot signal 536 may include one or more explicit signals to reduce torque, and/or one or more implicit signals that torque may be reduced due to reduction of airspeed velocity. In an embodiment, and without limitation, pilot signal 536 may include one or more local and/or global signals. For example, and without limitation, pilot signal 536 may include a local signal that is transmitted by a pilot and/or crew member. As a further non-limiting example, pilot signal 536 may include a global signal that is transmitted by air traffic control and/or one or more remote users that are in communication with the pilot of aircraft. In an embodiment, pilot signal 536 may be received as a function of a tri-state bus and/or multiplexor that denotes an explicit pilot signal should be transmitted prior to any implicit or global pilot signal.

Still referring to FIG. 5, autonomous machine-learning model may include one or more autonomous machine-learning processes such as supervised, unsupervised, or reinforcement machine-learning processes that flight controller 104 and/or a remote device may or may not use in the generation of autonomous function. As used in this disclosure “remote device” is an external device to flight controller 104. Additionally or alternatively, autonomous machinelearning model may include one or more autonomous machine-learning processes that a field- programmable gate array (FPGA) may or may not use in the generation of autonomous function. Autonomous machine-learning process may include, without limitation machine learning processes such as simple linear regression, multiple linear regression, polynomial regression, support vector regression, ridge regression, lasso regression, elasticnet regression, decision tree regression, random forest regression, logistic regression, logistic classification, K-nearest neighbors, support vector machines, kernel support vector machines, naive bayes, decision tree classification, random forest classification, K-means clustering, hierarchical clustering, dimensionality reduction, principal component analysis, linear discriminant analysis, kernel principal component analysis, Q-leaming, State Action Reward State Action (SARSA), Deep-Q network, Markov decision processes, Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG), or the like thereof.

In an embodiment, and still referring to FIG. 5, autonomous machine learning model may be trained as a function of autonomous training data, wherein autonomous training data may correlate a flight element, pilot signal, and/or simulation data to an autonomous function. For example, and without limitation, a flight element of an airspeed, a pilot signal of limited and/or no control of propulsors, and a simulation data of required airspeed to reach the destination may result in an autonomous function that includes a semi-autonomous mode to increase thrust of the propulsors. Autonomous training data may be received as a function of user-entered valuations of flight elements, pilot signals, simulation data, and/or autonomous functions. Flight controller 104 may receive autonomous training data by receiving correlations of flight element, pilot signal, and/or simulation data to an autonomous function that were previously received and/or determined during a previous iteration of generation of autonomous function. Autonomous training data may be received by one or more remote devices and/or FPGAs that at least correlate a flight element, pilot signal, and/or simulation data to an autonomous function. Autonomous training data may be received in the form of one or more user-entered correlations of a flight element, pilot signal, and/or simulation data to an autonomous function.

Still referring to FIG. 5, flight controller 104 may receive autonomous machine-learning model from a remote device and/or FPGA that utilizes one or more autonomous machine learning processes, wherein a remote device and an FPGA is described above in detail. For example, and without limitation, a remote device may include a computing device, external device, processor, FPGA, microprocessor and the like thereof. Remote device and/or FPGA may perform the autonomous machine-learning process using autonomous training data to generate autonomous function and transmit the output to flight controller 104. Remote device and/or FPGA may transmit a signal, bit, datum, or parameter to flight controller 104 that at least relates to autonomous function. Additionally or alternatively, the remote device and/or FPGA may provide an updated machine-learning model. For example, and without limitation, an updated machine-learning model may be comprised of a firmware update, a software update, an autonomous machine-learning process correction, and the like thereof. As a non-limiting example a software update may incorporate a new simulation data that relates to a modified flight element. Additionally or alternatively, the updated machine learning model may be transmitted to the remote device and/or FPGA, wherein the remote device and/or FPGA may replace the autonomous machine-learning model with the updated machine-learning model and generate the autonomous function as a function of the flight element, pilot signal, and/or simulation data using the updated machine-learning model. The updated machine-learning model may be transmitted by the remote device and/or FPGA and received by flight controller 104 as a software update, firmware update, or corrected autonomous machine-learning model. For example, and without limitation autonomous machine learning model may utilize a neural net machine-learning process, wherein the updated machine-learning model may incorporate a gradient boosting machine-learning process.

Still referring to FIG. 5, flight controller 104 may include, be included in, and/or communicate with a mobile device such as a mobile telephone or smartphone. Further, flight controller may communicate with one or more additional devices as described below in further detail via a network interface device. The network interface device may be utilized for commutatively connecting a flight controller to one or more of a variety of networks, and one or more devices. Examples of a network interface device include, but are not limited to, a network interface card (e.g., a mobile network interface card, a LAN card), a modem, and any combination thereof. Examples of a network include, but are not limited to, a wide area network (e.g., the Internet, an enterprise network), a local area network (e.g, a network associated with an office, a building, a campus or other relatively small geographic space), a telephone network, a data network associated with a telephone/voice provider (e.g., a mobile communications provider data and/or voice network), a direct connection between two computing devices, and any combinations thereof. The network may include any network topology and can may employ a wired and/or a wireless mode of communication.

In an embodiment, and still referring to FIG. 5, flight controller 104 may include, but is not limited to, for example, a cluster of flight controllers in a first location and a second flight controller or cluster of flight controllers in a second location. Flight controller 104 may include one or more flight controllers dedicated to data storage, security, distribution of traffic for load balancing, and the like. Flight controller 104 may be configured to distribute one or more computing tasks as described below across a plurality of flight controllers, which may operate in parallel, in series, redundantly, or in any other manner used for distribution of tasks or memory between computing devices. For example, and without limitation, flight controller 104 may implement a control algorithm to distribute and/or command the plurality of flight controllers. As used in this disclosure a “control algorithm” is a finite sequence of well-defined computer implementable instructions that may determine the flight component of the plurality of flight components to be adjusted. For example, and without limitation, control algorithm may include one or more algorithms that reduce and/or prevent aviation asymmetry. As a further non-limiting example, control algorithms may include one or more models generated as a function of a software including, but not limited to Simulink by MathWorks, Natick, Massachusetts, USA. Tn an embodiment, and without limitation, control algorithm may be configured to generate an autocode, wherein an “auto-code,” is used herein, is a code and/or algorithm that is generated as a function of the one or more models and/or software’s. In another embodiment, control algorithm may be configured to produce a segmented control algorithm. As used in this disclosure a “segmented control algorithm” is control algorithm that has been separated and/or parsed into discrete sections. For example, and without limitation, segmented control algorithm may parse control algorithm into two or more segments, wherein each segment of control algorithm may be performed by one or more flight controllers operating on distinct flight components.

In an embodiment, and still referring to FIG. 5, control algorithm may be configured to determine a segmentation boundary as a function of segmented control algorithm. As used in this disclosure a “segmentation boundary” is a limit and/or delineation associated with the segments of the segmented control algorithm. For example, and without limitation, segmentation boundary may denote that a segment in the control algorithm has a first starting section and/or a first ending section. As a further non-limiting example, segmentation boundary may include one or more boundaries associated with an ability of flight component 532. In an embodiment, control algorithm may be configured to create an optimized signal communication as a function of segmentation boundary. For example, and without limitation, optimized signal communication may include identifying the discrete timing required to transmit and/or receive the one or more segmentation boundaries. In an embodiment, and without limitation, creating optimized signal communication further comprises separating a plurality of signal codes across the plurality of flight controllers. For example, and without limitation the plurality of flight controllers may include one or more formal networks, wherein formal networks transmit data along an authority chain and/or are limited to task-related communications. As a further non-limiting example, communication network may include informal networks, wherein informal networks transmit data in any direction. In an embodiment, and without limitation, the plurality of flight controllers may include a chain path, wherein a “chain path,” as used herein, is a linear communication path comprising a hierarchy that data may flow through. In an embodiment, and without limitation, the plurality of flight controllers may include an all-channel path, wherein an “all-channel path,” as used herein, is a communication path that is not restricted to a particular direction. For example, and without limitation, data may be transmitted upward, downward, laterally, and the like thereof. In an embodiment, and without limitation, the plurality of flight controllers may include one or more neural networks that assign a weighted value to a transmitted datum. For example, and without limitation, a weighted value may be assigned as a function of one or more signals denoting that a flight component is malfunctioning and/or in a failure state.

Still referring to FIG. 5, the plurality of flight controllers may include a master bus controller. As used in this disclosure a “master bus controller” is one or more devices and/or components that are connected to a bus to initiate a direct memory access transaction, wherein a bus is one or more terminals in a bus architecture. Master bus controller may communicate using synchronous and/or asynchronous bus control protocols. In an embodiment, master bus controller may include flight controller 104. In another embodiment, master bus controller may include one or more universal asynchronous receiver-transmitters (UART). For example, and without limitation, master bus controller may include one or more bus architectures that allow a bus to initiate a direct memory access transaction from one or more buses in the bus architectures. As a further non-limiting example, master bus controller may include one or more peripheral devices and/or components to communicate with another peripheral device and/or component and/or the master bus controller. In an embodiment, master bus controller may be configured to perform bus arbitration. As used in this disclosure “bus arbitration” is method and/or scheme to prevent multiple buses from attempting to communicate with and/or connect to master bus controller. For example and without limitation, bus arbitration may include one or more schemes such as a small computer interface system, wherein a small computer interface system is a set of standards for physical connecting and transferring data between peripheral devices and master bus controller by defining commands, protocols, electrical, optical, and/or logical interfaces. In an embodiment, master bus controller may receive intermediate representation 512 and/or output language from logic component 520, wherein output language may include one or more analog-to-digital conversions, low bit rate transmissions, message encryptions, digital signals, binary signals, logic signals, analog signals, and the like thereof described above in detail.

Still referring to FIG. 5, master bus controller may communicate with a slave bus. As used in this disclosure a “slave bus” is one or more peripheral devices and/or components that initiate a bus transfer. For example, and without limitation, slave bus may receive one or more controls and/or asymmetric communications from master bus controller, wherein slave bus transfers data stored to master bus controller. In an embodiment, and without limitation, slave bus may include one or more internal buses, such as but not limited to a/an internal data bus, memory bus, system bus, front-side bus, and the like thereof. In another embodiment, and without limitation, slave bus may include one or more external buses such as external flight controllers, external computers, remote devices, printers, aircraft computer systems, flight control systems, and the like thereof.

In an embodiment, and still referring to FIG. 5, control algorithm may optimize signal communication as a function of determining one or more discrete timings. For example, and without limitation master bus controller may synchronize timing of the segmented control algorithm by injecting high priority timing signals on a bus of the master bus control. As used in this disclosure a “high priority timing signal” is information denoting that the information is important. For example, and without limitation, high priority timing signal may denote that a section of control algorithm is of high priority and should be analyzed and/or transmitted prior to any other sections being analyzed and/or transmitted. In an embodiment, high priority timing signal may include one or more priority packets. As used in this disclosure a “priority packet” is a formatted unit of data that is communicated between the plurality of flight controllers. For example, and without limitation, priority packet may denote that a section of control algorithm should be used and/or is of greater priority than other sections.

Still referring to FIG. 5, flight controller 104 may also be implemented using a “shared nothing” architecture in which data is cached at the worker, in an embodiment, this may enable scalability of aircraft and/or computing device. Flight controller 104 may include a distributer flight controller. As used in this disclosure a “distributer flight controller” is a component that adjusts and/or controls a plurality of flight components as a function of a plurality of flight controllers. For example, distributer flight controller may include a flight controller that communicates with a plurality of additional flight controllers and/or clusters of flight controllers. In an embodiment, distributed flight control may include one or more neural networks. For example, neural network also known as an artificial neural network, is a network of “nodes,” or data structures having one or more inputs, one or more outputs, and a function determining outputs based on inputs. Such nodes may be organized in a network, such as without limitation a convolutional neural network, including an input layer of nodes, one or more intermediate layers, and an output layer of nodes. Connections between nodes may be created via the process of "training" the network, in which elements from a training dataset are applied to the input nodes, a suitable training algorithm (such as Levenberg-Marquardt, conjugate gradient, simulated annealing, or other algorithms) is then used to adjust the connections and weights between nodes in adjacent layers of the neural network to produce the desired values at the output nodes. This process is sometimes referred to as deep learning.

Still referring to FIG. 5, a node may include, without limitation a plurality of inputs xt that may receive numerical values from inputs to a neural network containing the node and/or from other nodes. Node may perform a weighted sum of inputs using weights wt that are multiplied by respective inputs xt. Additionally or alternatively, a bias b may be added to the weighted sum of the inputs such that an offset is added to each unit in the neural network layer that is independent of the input to the layer. The weighted sum may then be input into a function ip, which may generate one or more outputs y. Weight w, applied to an input x, may indicate whether the input is “excitatory,” indicating that it has strong influence on the one or more outputs , for instance by the corresponding weight having a large numerical value, and/or a “inhibitory,” indicating it has a weak effect influence on the one more inputs y, for instance by the corresponding weight having a small numerical value. The values of weights wi may be determined by training a neural network using training data, which may be performed using any suitable process as described above. In an embodiment, and without limitation, a neural network may receive semantic units as inputs and output vectors representing such semantic units according to weights Wi that are derived using machine-learning processes as described in this disclosure.

Still referring to FIG. 5, flight controller may include a sub-controller 540. As used in this disclosure a “sub-controller” is a controller and/or component that is part of a distributed controller as described above; for instance, flight controller 104 may be and/or include a distributed flight controller made up of one or more sub-controllers. For example, and without limitation, sub-controller 540 may include any controllers and/or components thereof that are similar to distributed flight controller and/or flight controller as described above. Sub-controller 540 may include any component of any flight controller as described above. Sub-controller 540 may be implemented in any manner suitable for implementation of a flight controller as described above. As a further non-limiting example, sub-controller 540 may include one or more processors, logic components and/or computing devices capable of receiving, processing, and/or transmitting data across the distributed flight controller as described above. As a further nonlimiting example, sub-controller 540 may include a controller that receives a signal from a first flight controller and/or first distributed flight controller component and transmits the signal to a plurality of additional sub-controllers and/or flight components.

Still referring to FIG. 5, flight controller may include a co-controller 544. As used in this disclosure a “co-controller” is a controller and/or component that joins flight controller 104 as components and/or nodes of a distributer flight controller as described above. For example, and without limitation, co-controller 544 may include one or more controllers and/or components that are similar to flight controller 104. As a further non-limiting example, co-controller 544 may include any controller and/or component that joins flight controller 104 to distributer flight controller. As a further non-limiting example, co-controller 544 may include one or more processors, logic components and/or computing devices capable of receiving, processing, and/or transmitting data to and/or from flight controller 104 to distributed flight control system. Cocontroller 544 may include any component of any flight controller as described above. Cocontroller 544 may be implemented in any manner suitable for implementation of a flight controller as described above.

In an embodiment, and with continued reference to FIG. 5, flight controller 104 may be designed and/or configured to perform any method, method step, or sequence of method steps in any embodiment described in this disclosure, in any order and with any degree of repetition. For instance, flight controller 104 may be configured to perform a single step or sequence repeatedly until a desired or commanded outcome is achieved; repetition of a step or a sequence of steps may be performed iteratively and/or recursively using outputs of previous repetitions as inputs to subsequent repetitions, aggregating inputs and/or outputs of repetitions to produce an aggregate result, reduction or decrement of one or more variables such as global variables, and/or division of a larger processing task into a set of iteratively addressed smaller processing tasks. Flight controller may perform any step or sequence of steps as described in this disclosure in parallel, such as simultaneously and/or substantially simultaneously performing a step two or more times using two or more parallel threads, processor cores, or the like; division of tasks between parallel threads and/or processes may be performed according to any protocol suitable for division of tasks between iterations. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various ways in which steps, sequences of steps, processing tasks, and/or data may be subdivided, shared, or otherwise dealt with using iteration, recursion, and/or parallel processing.

It is to be noted that any one or more of the aspects and embodiments described herein may be conveniently implemented using one or more machines (e.g., one or more computing devices that are utilized as a user computing device for an electronic document, one or more server devices, such as a document server, etc.) programmed according to the teachings of the present specification, as will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the computer art. Appropriate software coding can readily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the software art. Aspects and implementations discussed above employing software and/or software modules may also include appropriate hardware for assisting in the implementation of the machine executable instructions of the software and/or software module.

Such software may be a computer program product that employs a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable storage medium may be any medium that is capable of storing and/or encoding a sequence of instructions for execution by a machine (e.g., a computing device) and that causes the machine to perform any one of the methodologies and/or embodiments described herein. Examples of a machine-readable storage medium include, but are not limited to, a magnetic disk, an optical disc (e.g., CD, CD-R, DVD, DVD-R, etc.), a magnetooptical disk, a read-only memory “ROM” device, a random access memory “RAM” device, a magnetic card, an optical card, a solid-state memory device, an EPROM, an EEPROM, and any combinations thereof. A machine-readable medium, as used herein, is intended to include a single medium as well as a collection of physically separate media, such as, for example, a collection of compact discs or one or more hard disk drives in combination with a computer memory. As used herein, a machine-readable storage medium does not include transitory forms of signal transmission. Such software may also include information (e.g., data) carried as a data signal on a data carrier, such as a carrier wave. For example, machine-executable information may be included as a data-carrying signal embodied in a data carrier in which the signal encodes a sequence of instruction, or portion thereof, for execution by a machine e.g., a computing device) and any related information e.g., data structures and data) that causes the machine to perform any one of the methodologies and/or embodiments described herein.

Examples of a computing device include, but are not limited to, an electronic book reading device, a computer workstation, a terminal computer, a server computer, a handheld device (e.g., a tablet computer, a smartphone, etc.), a web appliance, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, any machine capable of executing a sequence of instructions that specify an action to be taken by that machine, and any combinations thereof. In one example, a computing device may include and/or be included in a kiosk.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an exploded view of an exemplary embodiment of a motor assembly 600. Motor assembly 600 may include at least a stator 604. Stator 604, as used herein, is a stationary component of a motor and/or motor assembly. In an embodiment, stator 604 may include at least a first magnetic element 608. As used herein, first magnetic element 608 is an element that generates a magnetic field. For example, first magnetic element 608 may include one or more magnets which may be assembled in rows along a structural casing component. Further, first magnetic element 608 may include one or more magnets having magnetic poles oriented in at least a first direction. The magnets may include at least a permanent magnet. Permanent magnets may be composed of, but are not limited to, ceramic, alnico, samarium cobalt, neodymium iron boron materials, any rare earth magnets, and the like. Further, the magnets may include an electromagnet. As used herein, an electromagnet is an electrical component that generates magnetic field via induction; the electromagnet may include a coil of electrically conducting material, through which an electric current flow to generate the magnetic field, also called a field coil of field winding. A coil may be wound around a magnetic core, which may include without limitation an iron core or other magnetic material. The core may include a plurality of steel rings insulated from one another and then laminated together; the steel rings may include slots in which the conducting wire will wrap around to form a coil. A first magnetic element 608 may act to produce or generate a magnetic field to cause other magnetic elements to rotate, as described in further detail below. Stator 604 may include a frame to house components including at least a first magnetic element 608, as well as one or more other elements or components as described in further detail below. In an embodiment, a magnetic field can be generated by a first magnetic element 608 and can comprise a variable magnetic field. In embodiments, a variable magnetic field may be achieved by use of an inverter, a controller, or the like. In an embodiment, stator 604 comprises an inner and outer cylindrical surface; a plurality of magnetic poles may extend outward from the outer cylindrical surface of the stator. Inner cylindrical surface and outer cylindrical surface are coaxial about an axis of rotation. The stator is explained with further detail in FIG. 7. In an embodiment, stator 604 may include an annular stator, wherein the stator is ring-shaped. In an embodiment, stator 604 may be incorporated into a DC motor where stator 604 is fixed and functions to supply the magnetic fields where a corresponding rotor 716, as described in further detail below, rotates.

Still referring to FIG. 6, motor assembly 600 may include propulsor 108. In embodiments, propulsor 108 can include an integrated rotor. As used herein, a rotor is a portion of an electric motor that rotates with respect to a stator of the electric motor, such as stator 604. A propulsor, as used herein, is a component or device used to propel a craft by exerting force on a fluid medium, which may include a gaseous medium such as air or a liquid medium such as water. Propulsor 108 may be any device or component that consumes electrical power on demand to propel an aircraft or other vehicle while on ground and/or in flight. Propulsor 108 may include one or more propulsive devices. In an embodiment, propulsor 108 can include a thrust element which may be integrated into the propulsor. A thrust element may include any device or component that converts the mechanical energy of a motor, for instance in the form of rotational motion of a shaft, into thrust in a fluid medium. For example, a thrust element may include without limitation a marine propeller or screw, an impeller, a turbine, a pump-jet, a paddle or paddle-based device, or the like. As another non-limiting example, at least a propulsor may include an eight-bladed pusher propeller, such as an eight-bladed propeller mounted behind the engine to ensure the drive shaft is in compression. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various devices that may be used as at least a thrust element. As used herein, a propulsive device may include, without limitation, a device using moving or rotating foils, including without limitation one or more rotors, an airscrew or propeller, a set of airscrews or propellers such as contra-rotating propellers, a moving or flapping wing, or the like.

In an embodiment, propulsor 108 may include at least a blade. As another non-limiting example, a propulsor may include an eight-bladed pusher propeller, such as an eight-bladed propeller mounted behind the engine to ensure the drive shaft is in compression. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various devices that may be used as propulsor 108. In an embodiment, when a propulsor twists and pulls air behind it, it will, at the same time, push the aircraft forward with an equal amount of force. The more air pulled behind the aircraft, the more the aircraft is pushed forward.

In an embodiment, thrust element may include a helicopter rotor incorporated into propulsor 108. A helicopter rotor, as used herein, may include one or more blade or wing elements driven in a rotary motion to drive fluid medium in a direction axial to the rotation of the blade or wing element. Its rotation is due to the interaction between the windings and magnetic fields which produces a torque around the rotor's axis. A helicopter rotor may include a plurality of blade or wing elements.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 6, propulsor 108 can include a hub 616 rotatably mounted to stator 604. Rotatably mounted, as described herein, is functionally secured in a manner to allow rotation. Hub 616 is a structure which allows for the mechanically coupling of components of the integrated rotor assembly. In an embodiment, hub 616 can be mechanically coupled to propellers or blades. In an embodiment, hub 616 may be cylindrical in shape such that it may be mechanically joined to other components of the rotor assembly. Hub 616 may be constructed of any suitable material or combination of materials, including without limitation metal such as aluminum, titanium, steel, or the like, polymer materials or composites, fiberglass, carbon fiber, wood, or any other suitable material. Hub 616 may move in a rotational manner driven by interaction between stator 604and components in the rotor assembly. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various structures that may be used as or included as hub 616, as used and described herein.

Still referring to FIG. 6, propulsor 108 may include a second magnetic element 620, which may include one or more further magnetic elements. Second magnetic element 620 generates a magnetic field designed to interact with first magnetic element 608. Second magnetic element 620 may be designed with a material such that the magnetic poles of at least a second magnetic element are oriented in an opposite direction from first magnetic element 608. In an embodiment, second magnetic element 620 may be affixed to hub 616. Affixed, as described herein, is the attachment, fastening, connection, and the like, of one component to another component. For example and without limitation, affixed may include bonding the second magnetic element 620 to hub 616, such as through hardware assembly, spot welding, riveting, brazing, soldering, glue, and the like. Second magnetic element 620 may include any magnetic element suitable for use as a first magnetic element 608. For instance, and without limitation, second magnetic element may include a permanent magnet and/or an electromagnet. Second magnetic element 620 may include magnetic poles oriented in a second direction opposite of the orientation of the poles of first magnetic element 608. In an embodiment, motor assembly 600 incorporates stator 604 with a first magnet element and second magnetic element 620. First magnetic element 608 may include magnetic poles oriented in a first direction, a second magnetic element may include a plurality of magnetic poles oriented in the opposite direction than the plurality of magnetic poles in the first magnetic element 608.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 6, second magnetic element 620 may include a plurality of magnets attached to or integrated in hub 616. In an embodiment, hub 616 may incorporate structural elements of the rotor assembly of the motor assembly. As a non-limiting example hub 616 may include a motor inner magnet carrier 624 and motor outer magnet carrier 628 incorporated into the hub 616 structure. In an embodiment motor inner magnet carrier 624 and motor outer magnet carrier 628 may be cylindrical in shape. In an embodiment, motor inner magnet carrier 624 and motor outer magnet carrier 628 may be any shape that would allow for a fit with the other components of the rotor assembly. In an embodiment, hub 616 may be short and wide in shape to reduce the profile height of the rotating assembly of motor assembly 600. Reducing the profile assembly height may have the advantage of reducing drag force on the external components. In an embodiment, hub 616 may also be cylindrical in shape so that fitment of the components in the rotor assembly are structurally rigid while leaving hub 616 free to rotate about stator 604.

In an embodiment, motor outer magnet carrier 628 may have a slightly larger diameter than motor inner magnet carrier 624, or vice-versa. First magnetic element 608 may be a productive element, defined herein as an element that produces a varying magnetic field. Productive elements will produce magnetic field that will attract and other magnetic elements, including a receptive element. Second magnetic element may be a productive or receptive element. A receptive element will react due to the magnetic field of a first magnetic element 608. In an embodiment, first magnetic element 608 produces a magnetic field according to magnetic poles of first magnetic element 608 oriented in a first direction. Second magnetic element 620 may produce a magnetic field with magnetic poles in the opposite direction of the first magnetic field, which may cause the two magnetic elements to attract one another. Receptive magnetic element may be slightly larger in diameter than the productive element. Interaction of productive and receptive magnetic elements may produce torque and cause the assembly to rotate. Hub 616 and rotor assembly may both be cylindrical in shape where rotor may have a slightly smaller circumference than hub 616 to allow the joining of both structures. Coupling of hub 616 to stator 604 may be accomplished via a surface modification of either hub 616, stator 604 or both to form a locking mechanism. Coupling may be accomplished using additional nuts, bolts, and/or other fastening apparatuses. In an embodiment, an integrated rotor assembly as described above reduces profile drag in forward flight for an electric aircraft. Profile drag may be caused by a number of external forces that the aircraft is subjected to. By incorporating a propulsor 108 into hub 616, a profile of motor assembly 600 may be reduced, resulting in a reduced profile drag, as noted above. In an embodiment, the rotor, which may include motor inner magnet carrier 624, motor outer magnet carrier 628, propulsor 108 is incorporated into hub 616 to become one integrated unit. In an embodiment, inner motor magnet carrier 612 rotates in response to a magnetic field. The rotation causes hub 616 to rotate. This unit can be inserted into motor assembly 600 as one unit. This enables ease of installation, maintenance and removal.

Still referring to FIG. 6, stator 604 may include a through-hole 632. Through-hole 632 may provide an opening for a component to be inserted through to aid in attaching propulsor 108 with integrated rotor to stator. In an embodiment, through-hole 632 may have a round or cylindrical shape and be located at a rotational axis of stator 604. Hub 616 may be mounted to stator 604 by means of a shaft 636 rotatably inserted though through hole 632. Through-hole 632 may have a diameter that is slightly larger than a diameter of shaft 636 to allow shaft 636 to fit through through-hole 632 in order to connect stator 604 to hub 616. Shaft 636 may rotate in response to rotation of propulsor 108.

Still referring to FIG. 6, motor assembly 600 may include a bearing cartridge 640. Bearing cartridge 640 may include a bore. Shaft 636 may be inserted through the bore of bearing cartridge 640. Bearing cartridge 640 may be attached to a structural element of a vehicle. Bearing cartridge 640 functions to support the rotor and to transfer the loads from the motor. Loads may include, without limitation, weight, power, magnetic pull, pitch errors, out of balance situations, and the like. A bearing cartridge 640 may include a smooth metal ball or roller that rolls against a smooth inner and outer metal surface. The rollers or balls take the load, allowing the device to spin. A bearing may include, without limitation, a ball bearing, a straight roller bearing, a tapered roller bearing or the like. A bearing cartridge 640 may be subject to a load which may include, without limitation, a radial or a thrust load. Depending on the location of bearing cartridge 640 in the assembly, it may see all of a radial or thrust load or a combination of both. In an embodiment, bearing cartridge 640 may join motor assembly 600 to a structure feature. A bearing cartridge 640 may function to minimize the structural impact from the transfer of bearing loads during flight and/or to increase energy efficiency and power of propulsor 108. A bearing cartridge 640 may include a shaft and collar arrangement, wherein a shaft affixed into a collar assembly. A bearing element may support the two joined structures by reducing transmission of vibration from such bearings. Roller (rolling-contact) bearings are conventionally used for locating and supporting machine parts such as rotors or rotating shafts. Typically, the rolling elements of a roller bearing are balls or rollers. In general, a roller bearing is a is type of anti-friction bearing; a roller bearing functions to reduce friction allowing free rotation. Also, a roller bearing may act to transfer loads between rotating and stationary members. In an embodiment, bearing cartridge 640 may act to keep a propulsor 108 and components intact during flight by allowing motor assembly 600 to rotate freely while resisting loads such as an axial force. In an embodiment, bearing cartridge 640 may include a roller bearing incorporated into the bore. A roller bearing is in contact with propulsor shaft 636. Stator 604 is mechanically coupled to an inverter housing. Mechanically coupled may include a mechanical fastening, without limitation, such as nuts, bolts or other fastening device. Mechanically coupled may include welding or casting or the like. Inverter housing contains a bore which allows insertion by propulsor shaft 636 into bearing cartridge 640.

Still referring to FIG. 6, motor assembly 600 may include a rotating assembly and a stationary assembly. Hub 616, motor inner magnet carrier 624 and propulsor shaft 636 may be incorporated into the rotor assembly of motor assembly 600 which make up rotating parts of electric motor, moving between the stator poles and transmitting the motor power. As one integrated part, the rotor assembly may be inserted and removed in one piece. Stator 604 may be incorporated into the stationary part of the motor assembly 600. Stator and rotor may combine to form an electric motor. In embodiment, an electric motor may, for instance, incorporate coils of wire which are driven by the magnetic force exerted by a first magnetic field on an electric current. The function of the motor may be to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. In operation, a wire carrying current may create at least a first magnetic field with magnetic poles in a first orientation which interacts with a second magnetic field with magnetic poles oriented in the opposite direction of the first magnetic pole direction causing a force that may move a rotor in a direction. For example and without limitation, a first magnetic element 608 in motor assembly 600 may include an active magnet. For instance and without limitation, a second magnetic element may include a passive magnet, a magnet that reacts to a magnetic force generated by a first magnetic element 608. In an embodiment, a first magnet and a second magnet, positioned around the rotor assembly, may generate magnetic fields to affect the position of the rotor relative to the stator. A controller may have an ability to adjust electricity originating from a power supply and, thereby, the magnetic forces generated, to ensure stable rotation of the rotor, independent of the forces induced by the machinery process. Motor assembly 600 may include an impeller 244 coupled with the shaft 636. An impeller, as described herein, is a rotor used to increase or decrease the pressure and flow of a fluid and/or air. Impeller 244 may function to provide cooling to motor assembly 600. Impeller 244 may include varying blade configurations, such as radial blades, non-radial blades, semi-circular blades and airfoil blades. Impeller 244 may further include single and/or double-sided configurations

Referring now to FIG. 7, a diagram 700 of the cross-sectional view of a motor assembly 600 in a boom 702. Boom 702 contains a recess 752 on the upper surface of the boom. For example and without limitation, a recess may be radially symmetrical; for instance, part or all of the recess may be substantially cylindrical. As a further nonlimiting example, a recess may closely match the shape of the motor, or other object, within. In an embodiment, a recess may include an open, fully covered, and/or partially covered cavity that houses a motor and/or stator. Recess 752 may include a lip that could be used as a mating surface 732. Recess 752 may include one or more mating surfaces. Mating surface 732 is configured on the recess 752 in boom 702 to contact the mating flange 728. Motor assembly 600 contains a mating flange 728 on stator 604. Mating flange 728 is weld to the boom 702 such that the stator is affixed to aircraft 100. Mating flange 728 can be weld to the boom 702 using standard welding practices such as Arc, MIG (metal, inert gas), TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas), or the like. Mating flange 728 can be fixed to the boom 702 using mechanical methods such as using bolts, rivets, adhesives, and the like. Mating flange 728 may be a structural channel that is configured to resist a moment along an axis of the propulsor shaft. “Moment”, as used in this disclosure, is a measure of rotational effort about an axis. Moments may be used to describe rotational efforts acting on static components. In this instance, the mating flange 728 is configured such it resists movement from side to side of a propeller. Mating flange 728 is attached to mating surface 732 using methods mentioned above.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 7, boom 702 may include a nacelle surface 712. As used herein, a “nacelle surface” refers to an aerodynamically formed surface. Motor assembly 700 may be housed within the nacelle surface 712 on the boom 702. The surface may redirect downdrafts as well as updrafts or any other passage of air around or at the boom 702 from a propulsor. “Aerodynamic”, for the purposes of this disclosure, may include a design for a nacelle that reduces drag and wind resistance as a function of what is housed within. Nacelle surface 712 and boom 702 comprises the same material as the fuselage of the aircraft. Material may be any material suitable for formation of a structural element. Boom 702 may include an opening through which a shaft supporting a rotor 716 and/or portion of a propulsor may pass.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 7, stator 604 may include an inner cylindrical surface 748 and an outer cylindrical surface 736 each coaxial about an axis of rotation 760 and at least partially defined by an axial edge 764 on either side. Stator 604 may comprise stacked laminations, also known as punchings, with inner teeth. An outer surface of the stacked laminations may form outer cylindrical surface 736. Inner cylindrical surface 748 and outer cylindrical surface 736 may share a coincident and parallel centerline disposed at the center of each cylindrical surface. Inner cylindrical surface 748 and outer cylindrical surface 736 may include different radii and thus include different sizes. Stator 604 may include windings 720 made of electrically conductive coil wound around a magnetic core, which may include without limitation an iron core or other magnetic material. Specifically, windings 720 may be wound around the inner teeth of the stacked laminations. Coil may include any material that is conductive to electrical current and may include, as a non-limiting example, various metals such as copper, steel, or aluminum, carbon conducting materials, or any other suitable conductive material. Each of windings 720 may form an oval shape with an end turn 724 on either end of windings 720. End turn 724 may extend past at least an axial edge 764 of stator 604. Each end turn 724 may extend past the corresponding at least an axial edge 764 such that a portion of an interior space of each of windings 720 at least partially extends past both at least an axial edge 764. Stator 604 may include one or more magnets which may be assembled in rows along a structural casing component. Further, stator 604 may include one or more magnets having magnetic poles oriented in at least a first direction. The magnets may include any of the examples discussed above in FIG. 6.

Still referring to FIG. 7, motor 600 may include a rotor 716 coaxial within stator 604. A rotor 716 is a portion of an electric motor that rotates with respect to a stator 604 of the electric motor, such as stator 604. Rotor 716 may include a rotor cylindrical surface 740, wherein the rotor cylindrical surface 740 and inner cylindrical surface 748 of stator 604 combine to form an air gap between the rotor cylindrical surface 740 and the inner cylindrical surface 748. Rotor cylindrical surface 740 may be disposed opposite and opposing to inner cylindrical surface 748 of stator 604. Rotor 716 may include a propulsor shaft 636. Propulsor shaft 636 may be disposed coaxially and coincidentally within stator 604. Propulsor shaft 636 may be rotatable relative to stator 604, which remains stationary relative to an electric aircraft. Rotor cylindrical surface 740 may be radially spaced from propulsor shaft 636 such as, for example, in a squirrel cage rotor assembly. At least a spoke 756 may extend from propulsor shaft 636 to one or both of axial edge 764 of rotor cylindrical surface 740. At least a spoke 756 may include a plurality of spokes on each of axial edge 764 of rotor cylindrical surface 740. Rotor 716 may include a plurality of permanent magnets, namely a magnet array 744, disposed radially about the axis of rotation 760 of propulsor shaft 636 which may be parallel and coincident with axis of rotation 760 of motor 600. Magnet array 744 may be positioned on rotor cylindrical surface 740 and radially from propulsor shaft 636, such that rotor cylindrical surface 740 is between magnet array 744 and propulsor shaft 636. Magnet array 744 may be opposite inner cylindrical surface 748 of stator 604 and spaced from the inner cylindrical surface 748 by air gap. Rotor cylindrical surface 740 may comprise magnet array 744. Magnet array 744 may include a Halbach array. A Halbach array is a special arrangement of permanent magnets that augments the magnetic field on one side of the array while canceling the field to near zero on the other side of the array. For the purposes of this disclosure, a side of the array is defined as an area disposed relative to the array of magnets, for example, if the Halbach array is disposed radially on the cylindrical surface of the propulsor shaft 636, one side may be captured with the Halbach array, and a second side may be the area outside of the Halbach array. In general, the Halbach array is achieved by having a spatially rotating pattern of magnetization where the poles of successive magnets are not necessarily aligned and differ from one to the next. Orientations of magnetic poles may be repeated in patterns or in successive rows, columns, and arrangements. An array, for the purpose of this disclosure is a set, arrangement, or sequence of items, in this case permanent magnets. The rotating pattern of permanent magnets can be continued indefinitely and have the same effect, and may be arranged in rows, columns, or radially, in a non-limiting illustrative embodiment. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the area that the Halbach array augments the magnetic field of may be configurable or adjustable. Magnet array 744 may comprise a magnet sleeve forming at least part of rotor cylindrical surface 740 with slits and/or ribs in the magnet sleeve to further dissipate heat. Slits and/or ribs may be unidirectional. Slits and/or ribs may be bidirectional on magnet array 744 such as, for example, in a chevron pattern.

Still referring to FIG. 7, an end of propulsor shaft 636 may be attached to a propulsor 702. In an embodiment, propulsor may include at least a propulsor blade 708. At least a propulsor blade 708 may include a plurality of propulsor blades. As another non-limiting example, a propulsor may include an eight-bladed pusher propeller, such as an eight-bladed propeller mounted behind the engine to ensure the drive shaft is in compression. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various devices that may be used as propulsor. In an embodiment, when a propulsor twists and pulls air behind it, it will, at the same time, push the aircraft forward with an equal amount of force. The more air pulled behind the aircraft, the more the aircraft is pushed forward. Thrust element may include a helicopter rotor incorporated into propulsor. A helicopter rotor, as used herein, may include one or more blade or wing elements driven in a rotary motion to drive fluid medium in a direction axial to the rotation of the blade or wing element. Its rotation is due to the interaction between the windings 720 and magnetic fields which produces a torque around the rotor's axis. A helicopter rotor may include a plurality of blade or wing elements. Now referring to FIG. 8, a close up view of a motor assembly 600 on a boom 702. Boom 702 comprises an access panel 808, providing access to an inverter. Access panel 808 may comprise of the same material as the fuselage , or any other suitable material. Access panel 808 may be attached to the boom 702. Attachment may be accomplished by any feasible means, including without limitation attachment with fasteners such as screws, rivets, or bolts, attachment by adhesion, attachment by welding, or the like. Access panel 808 may be used to conduct maintenance on an inverter, or the like.

Now referring to FIG. 8, a close up view of a motor assembly 600 on boom 702. Boom 702 comprises an access panel 804, providing access to an inverter. Access panel 804 may comprise of the same material as the fuselage, or any other suitable material. Access panel 804 may be attached to the boom 702. Attachment may be accomplished by any feasible means, including without limitation attachment with fasteners such as screws, rivets, or bolts, attachment by adhesion, attachment by welding, or the like. Access panel 804 may be used to conduct maintenance on an inverter, or the like.

Continuing to reference FIG. 8, boom 702 can protect motor assembly 600 from damage. Damage on the motor assembly and aircraft may be caused by, but not limited to, torque created by a rotor 716, vibrations from the motor assembly, and/or environmental factors such as weather. Boom 702 may absorb torque exerted by the rotation of the rotor 716 by using bearing cartridge 640. Bearing cartridge 640 may be attached to boom 702 such that it transfers torque from the motor to the boom. Torque may be a measure of force that causes an object to rotate about an axis in a direction. Bearings may transfer loads between rotation and stationary members, allowing the boom 702 to protect the aircraft 100 from damages from torque. In another embodiment, boom 702 may protect aircraft 100 from moment generated by a mating flange 728. Mating flange 728, attached to the stator 604, may contain moment along an axis of a shaft. Boom 702 may counteract the moment using the mating surface 732. This may help prevent damages to the motor assembly 600. In another embodiment, boom 702 may protect motor assembly from vibrational forces. A “vibration” as used in this disclosure is an oscillation about an equilibrium point of an object. Boom 702 may dampen the vibrations from the motor assembly such that they do not affect the aircraft 100. In another embodiment, boom 702 protects the motor assembly 600 from environmental damages. Motor assembly is enclosed within the boom 702 such that the boom acts as a shield from the environmental elements such as weather, debris, and the like.

Referring now to FIG. 9, aircraft 100 may include a hover and thrust control assembly 900 for example and as illustrated. In an embodiment, a support structure 904 may attach the hover and forward thrust assembly 900 to an aircraft frame of an aircraft having at least a vertical propulsor and at least a forward propulsor. In an embodiment, hover and thrust control assembly 900 may be mechanically coupled to an aircraft. As used herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand “mechanically coupled” to mean that at least a portion of a device, component, or circuit is connected to at least a portion of the aircraft via a mechanical coupling. Said mechanical coupling may include, as a non-limiting example, rigid coupling, such as beam coupling, bellows coupling, bushed pin coupling, constant velocity, split-muff coupling, diaphragm coupling, disc coupling, donut coupling, elastic coupling, flexible coupling, fluid coupling, gear coupling, grid coupling, hirth joints, hydrodynamic coupling, jaw coupling, magnetic coupling, Oldham coupling, sleeve coupling, tapered shaft lock, twin spring coupling, rag joint coupling, universal joints, or any combination thereof. In an embodiment, mechanical coupling can be used to connect the ends of adjacent parts and/or objects of an electric aircraft. Further, in an embodiment, mechanical coupling may be used to join two pieces of rotating electric aircraft components.

Referring now to FIG. 1000, an exemplary embodiment of linear thrust control 916 is illustrated. Linear thrust control 916 may include a thumbwheel 1000 rotatably mounted on throttle lever 908. Linear thrust control 916 thumbwheel 1000 may include at least an angular position sensor 1004. An “angular position sensor,” as used in this disclosure, is an electronic device that measures the angular position and/or change in angular position of an object from a reference position, where “angular position” denotes an amount of rotation, as measured for instance in degrees, radians, or the like, from the reference position; detection may be accomplished by detection of changes in a magnetic field, current, or any other electrical feedback mechanism used in aircraft control. Angular position sensor 1004 may include at least a contactless sensor 1008. A “contactless sensor,” as used in this disclosure is an electronic device that measures angular position, as described above, of an object without being in direct contact with an object. Non-limiting examples of contactless sensor 1008 may include sensors that detect and/or measure magnetic flux of a small magnet without contact, such as diametric magnetization sensors, through-hole sensors, above-the-object sensors, end-of-shaft sensors, computing angular information from the vectoral components of the flux density from which an output signal (analogue, PWM, or Serial Protocol) proportional to the angle that is produced. As a further non-limiting example, sensor may include at least a Hall effect sensor 1012. A Hall effect sensor 1012 may include any device that is used to measure the magnitude of a magnetic field where the output voltage is directly proportional to the magnetic field’s strength. A Hall effect sensor 1012 may be used for proximity sensing, movement and speed detection, and/or current sensing. Non-limiting examples of Hall effect sensors used for detecting position and movement of wheels or shafts may include sensors used in internal combustion engine ignition timing, tachometers, anti-lock braking systems, and brushless DC electric motors where a Hall effect sensor detects the position of magnetic component, where output voltage of the sensor peaks and decreases as magnetic components move closer or away from the sensor, respectively.

Still referring to FIG. 10, angular position sensor 1004 may include a plurality of independent sensors, as described above, where any number of the previously described sensors may be used to detect motion of a thumbwheel 1000. Independent sensors, as described above, may include separate sensors measuring the thumbwheel 1000 position that may be powered by and/or in communication with circuits independently, where each may signal sensor output to a control circuit such as an aircraft flight control separately. In a non-limiting example, there may be four independent sensors housed in and/or sensing thumbwheel 1000 control. In an embodiment, use of a plurality of independent sensors may result in redundancy so that in the event one sensor fails, the ability of system 1600 to detect motion and/or position of thumbwheel 1000 and to regulate thrust of forward propulsor may remain unaffected. Still referring to FIG. 10, movement of the linear thrust control 916 thumbwheel 1000 in a first direction, which may be a forward direction from a perspective of a pilot operating assembly 900, increases forward thrust of a forward thrust propulsor. Increasing forward thrust increases electric energy or power to the forward propulsor , causing increase in thrust from propulsor, increasing speed and/or acceleration of aircraft. Decreasing forward thrust may be accomplished by decreasing electric energy or power to the forward propulsor, which may cause a decrease in thrust from propulsor; thrust may decrease to zero thrust, resulting in a neutral status of propulsor. In a non-limiting example, thumbwheel 1000 may be positioned at a neutral position detent where the thumbwheel can be moved in a first and/or second direction when thrust is neutral. In a non-limiting example, moving linear thrust control 916 thumbwheel 1000 in a forward direction may generate a command to an aircraft controller to increase forward thrust. In a non-limiting example, of movement of thumbwheel 1000 forward to an optimal cruise position may correspond to a maximally efficient power level for forward cruising flight. Further, in a non-limiting example, movement beyond optimal cruise position in first direction may cause at least a forward propulsor to output greater power, permitting greater speed and/or acceleration at a higher cost in energy. Movement of the linear thrust control 916 thumbwheel 1000 in a second direction decreases forward thrust of the forward thrust propulsor. Decreasing forward thrust may be accomplished by a decrease in electric energy or power to the forward propulsor, causing decrease in thrust from propulsor, decreasing speed and/or acceleration of aircraft. In a non-limiting example, moving linear thrust control 916 thumbwheel 1000 in a second direction, opposite the first direction, may produce a command to an aircraft controller to perform such decreases. In a non-limiting example, movement of thumbwheel 1000 in second direction to an optimal deceleration position may correspond to a maximally efficient power level for deceleration and/or braking. Further, a non-limiting example, movement beyond optimal braking position in second direction may cause at least a forward propulsor to further decrease power, permitting greater deceleration and/or braking at a higher cost in energy. Movement of linear thrust control 916 thumbwheel 1000 in second direction may cause at least a forward propulsor to enter into regenerative braking. Regenerative braking, as referred to herein, is an energy recovery mechanism that converts kinetic energy from propul sors into a form that can be either used immediately or stored while braking. Regenerative braking in aircraft represents an energy recovery mechanism whereby kinetic energy from flight is converted into electrical energy, which may be used and/or stored in an energy storage device such as a battery. Regenerative braking may work by turning the motor into a generator, producing electricity and thus EMF that slows the propulsor, slowing the aircraft. Regenerative braking may involve an electric motor functioning as an electric generator, mechanically coupled and/or electrically coupled to a power source. Energy generated in this manner may be fed back into a power supply, for instance by charging a battery or other energy storage device via a rectifier or other voltage regulation device. Braking effect in regenerative braking may be achieved by electromotive force in the motor as generator resisting reverse rotation of a propulsor such as at least a forward propulsor. Further movement of linear thrust control 916 thumbwheel 1000 in second direction may cause at least a forward propulsor to reverse, increasing braking effect. This may slow down aircraft more rapidly, at a greater energy cost. In illustrative embodiments, a linear thrust control 916, including in a non-limiting example, a thumbwheel 1000, which may control forward thrust, reverse thrust, and regenerative braking by communicating with a flight control computer. Informing a flight control computer via linear thrust control 916 may result in increase or decrease in current to the forward propulsor in electronic aircraft and/or could increase or decrease torque of the forward propulsor.

In reference to FIG. 11, linear thrust control 916 thumbwheel 1000, may include at least a detent 1100. The function of the detent 1100, or catch position on the thumbwheel 1000, may be accomplished by an indentation as described in further detail below and/or one or more other mechanisms to resist rotation, haptic feedback, or as a biasing means to at least a position, such as in non-limiting examples, spring mechanism. In non-limiting embodiments, detent 1100 may include a neutral position detent 1100, where the thumbwheel 1000 is biased into the neutral position detent 1100, for instance by a spring mechanism, or any biasing means; it should be noted that this may be accomplished without a dedicated detent for neutral position. In nonlimiting embodiments, at least a detent may include an optimal cruise position detent 1104, in which the thumbwheel 1000 is rotated in a first direction 1106. In non-limiting embodiments, the thumbwheel may be rotated further in a first direction 1106 past an optimal cruise position detent to a high-speed position 1108; it should be noted that this may be accomplished without a dedicated detent for a high-speed position. In non-limiting embodiments, thumbwheel 1000 may be rotated in a second direction past the neutral position detent 1100 to a regenerative braking detent 1112. It should be noted that this may be accomplished without a dedicated detent for neutral position. In non-limiting embodiments, thumbwheel 1000 may be rotated further in a second direction 1114 to a maximal braking position 1116; it should be noted that this may be accomplished without a dedicated detent for maximal braking position 1116. Thumbwheel 1000 may have a biasing mechanism, e.g. a spring mechanism, that urges the position of the thumbwheel 1000 from the high-speed position 1108 and/or maximal braking position 1116 towards the neutral position detent 1100. There may be hard stop points 1120 in either a first direction 1106 or second direction 1114. Each thumbwheel 1000 position may be communicated to the user, as in a non-limiting example, by at least an indentation of the thumbwheel, which may communicate positioning or thumbwheel in one or more detent or other positions as described herein, for instance by use of a corresponding dip in the thumbwheel housing of the thumbwheel such as an indentation or notch, so that the thumbwheel housing dip and thumbwheel indentation lining up may provide further feedback, for instance, by a click, haptic feedback, or the like.

Referring back to FIG. 10, thumbwheel 1000 may have positions additional to those corresponding to the at least a detent 1100. For instance, in an embodiment, thumbwheel 1000 may be rotated from the optimal cruise detent further in the first direction to a high-speed position. High-speed position may lack a detent. In an embodiment, linear thrust control 916 may include a biasing means, such as a spring mechanism, that urges the thumbwheel 1000 from the high-speed position to the optimal cruise detent; alternatively. In illustrative embodiments, linear thrust control 916 thumbwheel 1000 may be rotated from the regenerative braking detent further in a second direction to a maximal braking position. Maximal braking position may lack a detent. In an embodiment, linear thrust control 916 may include a biasing means that urges the thumbwheel 1000 from the regenerative braking detent to the maximal braking position; alternatively, the biasing means may urge the thumbwheel from the maximal braking position to the regenerative braking detent. Biasing means may be anything suitable for biasing means as described above. It is important to note, in a non-limiting example, a thumbwheel may be rotated to a maximal braking position to decrease speed of an aircraft and, in some instances, such as when the aircraft has been slowed to a stationary position on the ground, may potentially reverse direction of an aircraft, for instance, for purposes of taxiing.

In an embodiment, and referring again to FIG. 9, linear thrust control 916 may include a resistance mechanism 912 that generates a force resisting rotation of thumbwheel 1000; resistance mechanism 912 may include any device suitable for use as a resistance mechanism 912 of throttle lever as described above. Resistance mechanism 912 may be variable; for instance, resistance mechanism 912 may be configured so that force resisting rotation of a thumbwheel 1000 increases as throttle lever 908 is moved in first direction and/or decreases as a throttle lever 908 is moved in second direction. As a non-limiting example, resistance of resistance mechanism in throttle lever 908 may increase when linear thrust control 916 is moved in first direction and decrease when linear thrust control 916 is moved in second direction, or vice-versa. As a non-limiting example, resistance of resistance mechanism in linear thrust control 916 may increase when throttle lever 908 is moved in first direction and decrease when throttle lever 908 is moved in second direction. Increasing throttle lever 908 or a linear thrust control 916 may cause resistance in increasing the diametrically opposed control. Detection of thumbwheel 1000 and throttle lever 908 may be detected by at least an angular sensor, as described above, any logic circuit and/or processor as described in this disclosure may be used to detect motion of other components, triggering the increase and/or decrease in resistance. In some embodiments, moving throttle lever 908 in a first direction may increase thrust to lift propulsors. In some embodiments, moving throttle lever 908 in a second direction may decrease thrust to lift propulsor. In some embodiments, throttle lever 908 may be moved in a second direction until it reaches a final position at which point movement in second direction may be restrained. In some embodiments, when throttle lever 908 reaches final position, it may send a zero-lift command. A “zero-lift command,” for the purposes of this disclosure, is a command indicating that lift propulsors are to produce zero lift.

In illustrative embodiments, further in reference to FIG. 9, assembly 900 may include a battery shut-off switch 920 and/or any device suitable for use as a control for battery operation during flight. In illustrative embodiments, dual-mode aircraft may include at least an energy source providing electric energy to the at least a vertical propulsor and/or forward propulsor. At least an energy source may include, without limitation, a generator, a photovoltaic device, a fuel cell such as a hydrogen fuel cell, direct methanol fuel cell, and/or solid oxide fuel cell, or an electric energy storage device; electric energy storage device may include without limitation a capacitor, an inductor, and/or a battery. Battery may include, without limitation a battery using nickel based chemistries such as nickel cadmium or nickel metal hydride, a battery using lithium ion battery chemistries such as a nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA), nickel manganese cobalt (NMC), lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), and/or lithium manganese oxide (LMO), a battery using lithium polymer technology, or any other suitable battery. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various devices of components that may be used as at least an energy source. Hover and thrust control assembly 900 may include multiple propulsion sub-systems, each of which may have a separate energy source powering a separate at least a vertical propulsor and/or forward propulsor. As a non-limiting example, any number of battery shut-off switch 920 may be utilized; in nonlimiting illustrative embodiments, two battery shut-off switches 920 are described. There may be a battery shut-off switch 920 per energy source. Battery shut-off switch 920 may shut-off energy source when activated. When an energy source is shut-off, circuitry may reroute power from other energy sources to components that were powered by the energy source.

In illustrative embodiments, further in reference to FIG. 9, battery shut-off switch 920 may include a switch guard 924 to aid in controlled, deliberate cessation of battery and/or energy source function while avoiding incidental interruption during operation. In illustrative embodiments, including without limitation, two battery shut-off switches 920 may be included in the assembly 900, corresponding to two energy sources and/or batteries; this may allow for redundancy so that a second battery and/or energy source may remain functional in the event a first battery and/or energy source fails. Switch guard 924 may be placed on switches in aircraft, for instance, for fire bottle discharge switches, ditch switches, emergency locator transmitter (ELT) switches, and EVAC switches, or any button, switch, or control that requires protection. Switch guard 924 may include, as non-limiting examples, flip cover, spring-loaded guard, lever bars, or any mechanism meant to protect a button, switch, or control.

In illustrative embodiments, and still referring to FIG. 9, hover and thrust control assembly 900 may include battery failure indicator 928, which may inform the use and/or status of the switch guard 924 and battery shut-off switch 920. Battery failure indicator 928 may use, as a non-limiting example, light-emitting diode (LED), backlit incandescent bulb or LED, needle cluster, gauge, etc., that may be electronically connected via a circuit to battery shut-off switch 920, guard 924, and battery, or any electronic motor, electric charging/storage device used by an aircraft as previously described. In non-limiting examples, the battery failure indicator 928 may be located at one or more additional locations, such as without limitation as part of the annunciator panel of an aircraft. Further, in non-limiting examples, hover and thrust control assembly 900 may include at least one battery failure indicator 928, in illustrative embodiments, two battery failure indicator 928 are present for redundancy; any number of battery failure indicator 928 may be used. Indicator light 928 may be connected to circuitry that detects conditions requiring shutoff, such as runaway temperature of battery, surges in current indicative of short-circuit, etc. A battery shut-off switch 920 may be used if regenerative braking, or any other maneuver, represents a charging hazard; a battery failure indicator 928 may be used to signal a charging hazard for a particular battery.

Referring to FIG. 12, an exemplary embodiment of assembly 900 and thumbwheel 1000 as described above, with thumbwheel rotated in a first direction 1106, where a dip 1200 in the upper edge of the thumbwheel housing 1204 may line up with thumbwheel indentation 1208. In non-limiting examples, thumbwheel 1000 surface may be flush with the thumbwheel housing 1204, or thumbwheel 1000 surface may be raised above the thumbwheel housing 1204.

A pilot operating or a user otherwise controlling an aircraft capable of vertical and horizontal thrust may be required to control not only hover and thrust but also the aircraft’s three-dimensional (“3D”) heading. As described above, a 3D control assembly may receive a certain manipulation by a pilot or operator and can be configured translate that manipulation into electronic signals that may in turn be configured to control the aircraft. In addition to the abovedisclosed system of control hover and thrust, a system for controlling aircraft direction is also provided herein.

In practical real-world situations, a pilot, either remotely or onboard a dual-mode aircraft, may be required to coordinate the above and below-disclosed systems to fully control a dualmode aircraft in the entirety of its designed flight envelope. In a non-limiting example embodiment, a pilot may manipulate the hover and thrust control with one hand by a hover and thrust control assembly, while simultaneously manipulating the 3D control assembly with the other hand by three-dimensional directional control assembly. This non-limiting example serves to illustrate that simultaneous interaction with both control systems can be used for control of the aircraft, whether that is accomplished physically or remotely through wired or wireless electronic control. The 3D control assembly disclosed hereinbelow may be designed and implemented for integration in a dual-mode aircraft with the hover and thrust control system. The integration of these systems may comprise, in an embodiment, an electronics suite configured to receive all electrical control signals from these two control systems and translate those signals into aircraft manipulation. This translation of the plurality of signals from a plurality of control systems may comprise adjusting power or direction based on the input of the other. In a non-limiting example, an input by a pilot to change directional heading may require a dual-mode aircraft to adjust power output in one or more propulsors.

Aspects of the present disclosure combine a 3D control assembly for a dual-mode aircraft system. In an embodiment, the assembly may provide a user with the ability to control directional movement of an aircraft by use of a control stick. The control stick may be mechanically coupled to at least a portion of the aircraft and be configured to receive manual inputs from a user. Further, the control stick can be configured to translate said inputs into electronic signaling that is configured to control the aircraft. In embodiments, the control stick can be configured to be directionally and/or rotationally manipulated. Further, the control stick can be configured to be rotationally manipulated in an asymmetric fashion. In embodiments, the control stick may be mounted on a support structure which may include an armrest and vibrational dampening configured to reduce user fatigue and user-induced error. In embodiments, input devices may be disposed along, on, or in the control stick, precluding the necessity for a user to remove a hand from the control stick to accomplish interaction with aircraft functions.

Referring now to FIGS. 1300A-B, an example embodiment of 3D directional control stick assembly 1300 is illustrated. In embodiments, 3D directional control stick assembly may be implemented in aircraft 1320 and can be configured to control the pitch, yaw, and roll the aircraft according to manual inputs received by assembly 1300. 3D directional control stick assembly 1300 can include control stick 1304, first interface device 1308, second interface device 1312, at least an aircraft control interface device 1316, palm lever 1324, control stick base 1328, grip 1332, or any combination thereof.

With continued reference to FIGS. 1300A-B, in an embodiment, control stick 1304 can comprise a shape having a radius and first and second opposite, opposing ends disposed a length away from one another. Said shape may be, for example, cylindrical, polygonal, spherical, prismatic, or any shape having an extruded cross section configured to be manipulated by a user. Control stick 1304 may be comprised of any of number of suitable materials, elements, alloys, polymers, and plastics configured to withstand interaction and manipulation by a user. For example, control stick 1304 may comprise, but is not limited to, aluminum, steel, High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), carbon fiber, or any combination thereof. According to embodiments, control stick 1304 can include ergonomic features, such as grip 1332. Grip 1332 can include, but is not limited to, knurling, ridges, perforations, scallops, edges, fillets, radii, any combination thereof, disposed on control stick 1304. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various ergonomic features which may be used as grip 1332 as described in the entirety of this disclosure.

Continuing to refer to FIGS. 1300A-B, in an embodiment, control stick 1304 can be mechanically coupled to aircraft 1320. For example, a first and/or second send end of control stick 1304 can be mechanically coupled to a support structure within aircraft 1320 and/or to the frame of aircraft 1320. In embodiments, control stick 1304 is coupled to aircraft 1320 such that control stick 1304 is configured to be rotationally and/or directionally manipulated to a degree by a user. As used herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand “mechanically coupled” to mean that at least a portion of a device, component, or circuit is connected to at least a portion of the aircraft via a mechanical coupling. Said mechanical coupling may include, as non-limiting examples, rigid coupling (e.g. beam coupling), bellows coupling, bushed pin coupling, constant velocity, split-muff coupling, diaphragm coupling, disc coupling, donut coupling, elastic coupling, flexible coupling, fluid coupling, gear coupling, grid coupling, hirth joints, hydrodynamic coupling, jaw coupling, magnetic coupling, Oldham coupling, sleeve coupling, tapered shaft lock, twin spring coupling, rag joint coupling, universal joints, or any combination thereof. In an embodiment, mechanical coupling can be used to connect the ends of adjacent parts and/or objects of an aircraft Further, in an embodiment, mechanical coupling may be used to join two pieces of rotating electric aircraft components.

Still referring to FIGS. 1300A-B, control stick 1304 can be mechanically coupled at a first end to a support structure through control stick base 1328. A “control stick base” as used in this disclosure, is a component coupled to a first end of control stick 1304, wherein said component is the interface by which control stick 1304 is coupled to the support structure. That is to say, control stick base 1328 may be configured to couple control stick 1304 to a support structure. The nature of this coupling, which may be any or a combination of those stated above, is configured to allow control stick 1304 to be manipulated in a plurality of directions, which may be understood by someone of ordinary skill in the art to be characterized by a horizontal plane as well as rotationally about its length axis (e.g. the vertical axis). The coupling of control stick 1304 to control stick base 1328 can further be configured to allow control stick 1304 to be constantly manipulated by user and simultaneously rotated and moved according to user.

Continuing to refer to FIGS. 1300A-B, in an embodiment, control stick 1304 may be configured to rotate about its length axis asymmetrically. Asymmetric rotation comprises a differing angle of rotation depending on direction of rotation. The angle of rotation can be measured in degrees, radians, or a like measurement system. According to embodiments, the movements of the control stick by user manipulation, with no limitation to type of manipulation, produces electronic signals. These electronic signals can be carried and processed by circuitry and may be used to control the motion of aircraft 1320 in three dimensions. In embodiments, these motion controls can include the pitch, roll, and yaw angle of aircraft 1320.

With continued reference to FIGS. 1300A-B, 3D directional control assembly 1300 is further configured to include a first interface device 1308. A “first interface device” as described herein, is an input device, wherein the device is configured to receive an interaction from a user and enable a thrust element to spin as a function of the interaction from a user. An “interaction” as used herein can comprise, but is not limited to, a depression, a toggle, a rotation, a button press, a gesture, a click, any combination thereof. In an embodiment, the first interface device 1308 may be disposed on control stick 1304 in any user reachable location, wherein a user reachable location of control stick 1304 is a location in which the user can reach first interface device 1308 with a fingertip while the user is in contact with control stick 1304. For example and without limitation, an input device may include buttons, sliders, wheels, toggles, triggers, touch screens — or any combination thereof — as well as any other form of input device configured to receive an interaction. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various input devices which may be used as first interface device 1308 as described in the entirety of this disclosure. A thrust element may include any device or component that converts mechanical energy of a motor, for instance in the form of rotational motion of a shaft, into thrust within a fluid medium. A thrust element may include, without limitation, a device using moving or rotating foils, including without limitation one or more rotors, an airscrew or propeller, a set of airscrews or propellers such as contra-rotating propellers, a moving or flapping wing, or the like. A thrust element may include without limitation a marine propeller or screw, an impeller, a turbine, a pump-jet, a paddle or paddle-based device, or the like. As another non-limiting example, a thrust element may include an eight-bladed pusher propeller, such as an eight-bladed propeller mounted behind the engine to ensure the drive shaft is in compression. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various devices that may be used as a thrust element.

Still referring to FIGS. 1300A-B, 3D directional control assembly 1300 is further configured to include a second interface device 1312. A “second interface device” as described herein, is an input device configured to receive an interaction from a user and disable the thrust element as a function of the interaction from a user. The input device may include any input device, as described in the entirety of this disclosure. The interaction may include any interaction as described in this disclosure. For example and without limitation, an interaction may include a depression, a toggle, a rotation, a button press, a gesture, a click, or any combination thereof. In an embodiment, second interface device 1312 may be disposed on control stick 1304 in any location wherein the user must reach around control stick 1304 to interact with the second interface device 1312. For example, second interface device 1312 may be disposed on control stick 1304 in a location outside the reach of a user’s fingertips when the user is in contact with control stick 1304. In another embodiment, the second interface device 1312 may be disposed in any location on aircraft 1320, wherein the user has to reach around control stick 1304 to interact with the second interface device 1312. For example, second interface device 1312 may be disposed in aircraft 1320 in a location outside the reach of a user’s fingertips when the user is in contact with control stick 1304. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various input devices which may be used as second interface device 1312 as described in the entirety of this disclosure

Continuing to refer to FIGS. 1300A-B, 3D directional control assembly 1300 can further include aircraft control interface devices 1316A-C disposed in, on, and/or separate from control stick 1304. An “aircraft control device” as described herein, is an input device, wherein the device is configured to receive an interaction from a user and adjust an aircraft function as a function of the interaction from the user. For example and without limitation, adjusting an aircraft function as a function of the interaction with the user may include adjusting the autopilot function of aircraft 1320 as a function of an interaction from a user, wherein adjusting may include enabling and/or disenabling the autopilot function. As a further example and without limitation, adjusting the aircraft function as a function of the interaction with the user may include adjusting the radio function of aircraft 1320, wherein adjusting may include enabling and/or disenabling the radio functionality. As a further non-limiting example, adjusting the aircraft function as a function of the interaction with the user may include adjusting the trim of aircraft 1320, wherein adjusting the trim may include engaging and/or disengaging the trim. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure will be aware of various aircraft functions that may be adjusted utilizing aircraft control interface device 1316A-C. The input device may include any input device, as described in the entirety of this disclosure. The interaction may include any interaction as described in this disclosure. For example and without limitation, an interaction may include a depression, a toggle, a rotation, a button press, a gesture, a click, or any combination thereof. In embodiments, control stick 1304 may include any number of aircraft control interface devices 1316 disposed thereon. In an embodiment, aircraft control interface device 1316A-C may be disposed on control stick 1304 in any user reachable location, wherein a user reachable location of control stick 1304 in a location wherein the user can reach aircraft control interface device 1316A-C with a fingertip while the user is in contact with control stick 1304. While in FIGS. 1300A-B, only three aircraft control interface devices 1316 are shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that 3D directional control assembly 1300 may include any number of aircraft control interface device(s) 1316. Still referring to FIGS. 1300A-B, in an embodiment, 3D directional control assembly 1300 may include palm lever 1324 disposed on control stick 1304. In embodiments, palm lever 1324 is configured to assist a user in rotation of control stick 1304. Palm lever 1324 may be disposed between the first and second ends of control stick 1304 and can be configured to ergonomically capture a user’s palm. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the mechanical advantage provided by said lever in twisting the control stick 1304 about its length axis. In embodiments, one or more interface device(s) 1308 may be disposed in or on palm lever 1324.

As discussed above with reference to FIG. 13A, 3D directional control assembly 1300 can include control stick 1304 mechanically coupled to a support structure, such as by control stick base 1328. Referring now to FIG. 14, an isometric view of mounting structure 1400 is presented. In embodiments, mounting structure 1400 is configured to mount control stick 1304 to aircraft 1320, such as to the frame of aircraft 1320, wherein mounting control stick 1304 mechanically couples control stick 1304 to aircraft 1320. According to embodiments, mounting structure 1400 can include support structure 1404, arm rest 1408, and vibration dampening feature 1412.

Still referring to FIG. 14, support structure 1404 can comprise a structing having one or more shapes, the totality of which has a first end coupled to control stick 1304 and a second, opposite end coupled to aircraft 1320. The support structure 1404 can comprise any number of tubes, bars, extrusions, struts, straps, forgings, castings, additively manufactured components fastened together in any combination and orientation. The fastening of aforementioned structural elements that comprise support structure 1404 can comprise bolts, buts, screws, dowels, hook and loops, slots, channels, epoxy type bonding, a combination thereof, or another method not mentioned herein. The coupling can include any of the previously mentioned mechanical coupling systems as discussed above with reference to FIGS. 1300A-B. In embodiments, control stick 1304 is coupled to support structure 1404, wherein control stick 1304 may be manipulated by the user in a plurality of directions and also rotationally about its length axis. Support structure 1404 may be constructed of any suitable material or combination of materials, including without limitation, metal (such as aluminum, titanium, steel, and/or the like), polymer materials or composites (such as fiberglass, carbon fiber, wood), plastics such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, or any combination thereof. For example, support structure 1404 may be constructed from an additively manufactured polymer material having a carbon fiber exterior. Further, for example, support structure 1404 may comprise aluminum parts or other elements that may be enclosed for structural strength, or for purposes of structural support for instance, withstanding vibration, torque, or shear stresses imposed by forces acting upon it.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 14, mounting structure assembly 1400 may include arm rest 1408 coupled to support structure 1400. Arm rest 1408 may be coupled to support structure 1400 utilizing any method of mechanically coupling and/or fastening methods as described in the entirety of this disclosure. Arm rest 1408 can be configured to receive the arm of a user such that it functions as a place for a user to rest an arm during use of 3D directional control assembly 1300. Arm rest 1408 may comprise the same or similar structural materials and fastening methods as the support structure 1404. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various elements and/or components that may be used as arm rest 1408, as used and described in this disclosure.

With continued reference to FIG. 14, mounting structure assembly 1400 may include vibration dampening element 1412. Vibration dampening element 1412 can comprise one or more structural elements such as struts, braces, and the like. The structural elements may be fastened utilizing any mechanism as described in the entirety of this disclosures. The structural elements can be arranged such that the vibrations of support structure 1404, control stick 1304, and arm rest 1408 are dampened. Further, the structural elements can each comprise one or more materials configured to reduce vibration such as high-strength, low-weight metals like aluminum or titanium. Likewise, the orientation, shape, fastening method and or material combination of the structural elements may contribute to vibration dampening. In this way, vibration dampening element 1412 achieves a reduction in user fatigue and error induced by user oscillation due to vibrations from travel. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various elements and/or components that may be used as vibration dampening element 1412, as used and described in this disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 15 a top-down view of 3D directional control assembly 1300 is provided to demonstrate asymmetrical rotation of control stick 1304. 3D directional control assembly 1300 includes control stick 1304, as described above in further detail in reference to FIGS. 1300A-B. Control stick 1304 is configured to rotate about its length axis, which one of ordinary skill in the art would understand to be the imaginary axis in and out of FIG. 15.

With continued reference to FIG. 15, control stick 1304 can be manipulated by a user in a plurality of directions, including but not limited to, rotationally about its length axis. The rotation of control stick 1304 about the length axis can be asymmetric in nature. For example, the asymmetrical rotation of control stick 1304 is configured to allow the user to twist control stick 1304 to differing amounts/degrees depending on the direction of twist. Further, control stick 1304 can be configured to send electronic signals generated from the asymmetrical twisting. For example, the asymmetrical rotation of control stick 1304 is configured to allow the user to twist control stick 1304 a greater number of degrees in one direction than the other to compensate for a user’s wrist flexibility. For example, a greater quantity of twist of control stick 1304 in a first direction 1500 may correspond to a certain degree change in aircraft yaw in a first direction compared to nose heading. A lesser quantity of twist of the control stick 1304 in a second direction 1504 may correspond to an equal but opposite change in aircraft yaw in a second direction compared to nose heading to compensate for wrist flexibility. Because the human wrist is more flexible in one direction than the other when grasping a control stick 1304 along its axis, asymmetric twist of control stick 1304 allows for the differing range of motion in two directions to equally and optimally control the aircraft. As such, asymmetric rotation of control stick 1304 givens equal positive and negative signals to aircraft control surfaces by differing amounts of positive and negative angles (i.e. asymmetric) twist of control stick 1304. It should be noted that this characterization of direction is exemplary only, and in no way limits the control functionality of the control stick 1304, the aircraft, or its associated control surfaces.

Still referring to FIG. 15, control stick 1304 can be configured to twist and generate electronic signals, which may travel and transform through relevant circuitry as discussed later in this disclosure to control surfaces of aircraft in one or both of its two main modes of locomotion. These electronic signals can be translated to aircraft control surfaces. These control surfaces, in conjunction with forces induced by environment and propulsion systems, are configured to move the aircraft through a fluid medium, an example of which is air. A “control surface” as described herein, is any form of a mechanical linkage with a surface area that interacts with forces to move an aircraft. A control surface may include, as a non-limiting example, ailerons, flaps, leading edge flaps, rudders, elevators, spoilers, slats, blades, stabilizers, stabilators, airfoils, a combination thereof, or any other mechanical surface are used to control an aircraft in a fluid medium. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various mechanical linkages that may be used as a control surface, as used and described in this disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 16, a block diagram illustrating control system 1600 for an eVTOL is presented. In an embodiment, control system 1600 is configured to control the direction, pitch, yaw, and rotation of an eVTOL and can include control stick 1604, interface devices 1608 (including, for example, button 1624 and slider 1628), aircraft motion 1610, sensor suite 1612 (including, for example, angular position sensor 1632, hall effect sensor 1636, and contactless sensor 1640), processor 1616 (including, for example, signal conditioner 1644 and digital/analog converter 1648), control 1620 (including control surfaces 1652 and propulsion systems 1656), or any combination thereof.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 16, control stick 1604 may include any control stick as described in the entirety of this disclosure, wherein the control stick is a graspable control stick rotatably coupled to a support structure. For example and without limitation, control stick 1604 may be similar or the same as control stick 1304. In embodiments, control stick 1604 can be configured to include interface device(s) 1608. Interface device 1608 may include first interface device 1308, second interface device 1312, aircraft control interface devices 1316, and/or any other interface device as described in the entirety of this disclosure. Control stick 1604 and/or interface device 1608 may be electronically coupled to a plurality of sensors 1612. The plurality of sensors 1612 may include sensors that can measure deflection and/or twist of control stick 1604. Additionally, plurality of sensors 1612 may receive input(s) from aircraft motion 1610. Aircraft motion, includes air data and inertial measurements. Air data may include embodiments such as airspeed, attitude, and the like. For example, aircraft motion 1610 may include data from an airspeed sensor, inertial measurement units, and other type of sensors as described throughout this disclosure. In an embodiment, the plurality of sensors 1612 may measure any parameter associated with control stick 1604. Still referring to FIG. 16, in embodiments, plurality of sensors 1612 includes angular position sensor 1632. An “angular position sensor,” as used in this disclosure, is an electronic device that measures the angular position and/or change in angular position of an object from a reference position, where “angular position” denotes an amount of rotation, as measured for instance in degrees, radians, or the like, from the reference position. In an embodiment, detection may be accomplished by detection of changes in a magnetic field, current, or any other electrical feedback mechanism used in aircraft control. In embodiments, plurality of sensors 1612 may include contactless sensor 1636. A “contactless sensor,” as used in this disclosure is an electronic device that measures angular position, as described above, of an object without being in direct contact with an object. Non-limiting examples of contactless sensor 1636 may include sensors that detect and/or measure magnetic flux of a small magnet without contact, such as diametric magnetization sensors, through-hole sensors, above-the-obj ect sensors, end-of-shaft sensors, computing angular information from the vectoral components of the flux density from which an output signal (analogue, PWM, or Serial Protocol) proportional to the angle that is produced. According to embodiments, plurality of sensors 1612 may include Hall effect sensor 1640. Hall effect sensor 1640 may include any device that is used to measure the magnitude of a magnetic field where the output voltage is directly proportional to the magnetic field’s strength. Hall effect sensor 1640 may be used for proximity sensing, movement and speed detection, and/or current sensing. Non-limiting examples of Hall effect sensors used for detecting position and movement may include sensors used in internal combustion engine ignition timing, tachometers, anti-lock braking systems, and brushless DC electric motors where a Hall effect sensor detects the position of magnetic component, where output voltage of the sensor peaks and decreases as magnetic components move closer or away from the sensor, respectively.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 16, plurality of sensors 1612 may include a plurality of independent sensors, as described above, where any number of the previously described sensors may be used to detect motion of control stick 1604. Independent sensors, as described above, may include separate sensors measuring the position of control stick 1604 that may be powered by and/or in communication with circuits independently, where each may signal sensor output to a control circuit such as an aircraft flight control separately. In a non-limiting example, there may be four independent sensors housed in and/or sensing control stick 1604. In an embodiment, use of a plurality of independent sensors may result in redundant sensors. Redundant sensors, as described herein, are configured to employ more than one sensor that measures the same phenomenon, those sensors being of the same type, a combination of, or another type of sensor not disclosed above, so that in the event one sensor fails, the ability of system 1600 to detect motion and/or position of control stick 1604 and to modify control surfaces 1652 of an eVTOL will not be impeded. Persons of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various sensors which may be used as plurality of sensors 1612 consistently with this disclosure.

With continued reference to FIG. 16, outputs from plurality of sensors 1612 may be analog or digital. Processor 1616 is capable of converting those output signals from plurality of sensors 1612 to a usable form by controller 1620. The usable form of output signals from plurality of sensors 1612, through processor 1616 by controller 1620 may be either digital, analog, and the like, and/or any combination thereof. Processing may be configured to trim, offset, or otherwise compensate the outputs of plurality of sensors 1612. Based on plurality of sensors 1612 output, the processor 1616 can determine the output to send to controller 1620. Processor 1616 can include signal amplification, operational amplifiers (Op Amp), filters, digital/analog conversion, linearization circuits, current-voltage change circuits, resistance change circuits such as Wheatstone Bridge, an error compensator circuit, or any combination thereof or otherwise undisclosed components. In an embodiment, for example and without limitation, processor 1616 may use signal conditioner 1644 to convert at least an electronic signal from plurality of sensors 1612 to a usable form for controller 1620. As a further example and without limitation, processor 1616 may use digital/analog converter 1648 to convert the at least an electronic signal from the plurality of sensors 1612 to a usable form for controller 1620. Persons or ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various methods of conversion which may be used by processor 1616 consistently with this disclosure.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 16, the plurality of sensors 1612, processor 1616, and/or circuitry may be shielded from electromagnetic interference, wherein shielding may include the addition of an electromagnetic shielding material and/or positioning of components. For example and without limitation, in an embodiment, the plurality of sensors 1612, processor 1616, and/or circuitry are shielded by material such as mylar, aluminum, copper a combination thereof, or another suitable material. As a further non-limiting example, in an embodiment, the plurality of sensors 1612, processor 1616, and/or circuitry may also be shielded by location or a combination of location and material. As a non-limiting example of shielding, the signal conditioner 1644 and digital/analog converter 1648 are located close to the analog sensors below the seat, thereby reducing effect of electromagnetic interference.

Still referring to FIG. 16, in an embodiment, control stick 1604 generates electronic signals configured to control an aircraft’s motion through a fluid medium. Electronic signals generated from the control stick 1604 travel through circuitry to be used by a controller 1620 which is further configured to actuate control surfaces 1652 of aircraft 100. In an embodiment, controller 1620 may be configured to receive the at least an electronic signal from processor 1616 and interpret the at least an electronic signal, wherein interpreting is configured to include actuating a control surface 1652 of aircraft 100. Controller 1620 may include an embedded or attached logic circuit, processor, microcontroller and/or the like. Controller 1620 may include and/or communicate with any computing device, including without limitation a microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP) and/or system on a chip (SoC). Controller 1620 may be programmed to operate electronic aircraft 100 to perform a flight maneuver; a flight maneuver may include takeoff, landing, stability control maneuvers, emergency response maneuvers, regulation of altitude, roll, pitch, yaw, speed, acceleration, or the like during any phase of flight. A flight maneuver may include a flight plan or sequence of maneuvers to be performed during a flight plan. Controller 1620 may be designed and configured to operate electronic aircraft 100 via fly-by-wire. Controller 1620 is communicatively coupled to each control surface 1652; as used herein, controller 1620 is communicatively coupled to each control surface 1652 where controller 1620 is able to transmit signals to each control surface 1652 and each control surface 1652 is configured to modify an aspect of aircraft behavior in response to the signals. As a non-limiting example, controller 1620 may transmit signals to a control surface 1652 via an electrical circuit connecting controller 1620 to propulsion systems 1656; the circuit may include a direct conductive path from controller 1620 to propulsion systems 1656 or may include an isolated coupling such as an optical or inductive coupling. Propulsion systems 1656 may include any propulsor as described above in further detail in reference to FIGS. 1A-4. Alternatively, or additionally, controller 1620 may communicate with a control surface 1652 or plurality of control surfaces 1652 using wireless communication, such as without limitation communication performed using electromagnetic radiation including optical and/or radio communication, or communication via magnetic or capacitive coupling. Controller 1620 may be fully incorporated in an electric aircraft 100 containing control surfaces 1652, and may be a remote device operating the electric aircraft remotely via wireless or radio signals, or may be a combination thereof, such as a computing device in the aircraft configured to perform some steps or actions described herein while a remote device is configured to perform other steps. Persons skilled in the art will be aware, after reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, of many different forms and protocols of communication that may be used to communicatively couple controller to control surfaces. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various ways to monitor electronic signals from control stick 1304 and modify aircraft control surfaces, as used and described herein.

In some embodiments, aircraft 100 may include a blended response flight control. Referring now to FIG. 17A-D, a diagrammatic representation of a system 1700 for blended response flight control is shown. In one or more embodiments, system 1700 may include a controller 1704. In some embodiments, controller 1704 may include a flight controller as disclosed above. In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, controller 1704 is communicatively connected to pilot control 1720 and configured to receive pilot input 1720 from pilot control 1720. For the purposes of this disclosure, a “controller” is a component or grouping of components that fully or partially control operations of an aircraft. For instance, and without limitation, controller 1704 may include a controller that controls a movement, such as a trajectory, of an aircraft, such as an aircraft 1708 (e.g., electric aircraft), by taking in signals from an operator, such as a pilot, and outputting signals to one or more flight components 1712 of the aircraft. Flight components 1712 of aircraft 1708 may include, for example, and without limitation, a propulsor or control surfaces to adjust trajectory of aircraft 1708 in a fluid medium, as discussed further below in this disclosure. Controller 1704 may mix, refine, adjust, redirect, combine, separate, and/or perform other types of signal operations to translate a desired trajectory of a pilot into aircraft maneuvers. With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, controller 1704 may include, be included in, and/or communicate with any computing device, including, and without limitation, a microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP) and/or system on a chip (SoC). In one or more embodiments, controller 1704 may include any computing device as described in this disclosure, including, and without limitation, a microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), and/or system on a chip (SoC), as described in this disclosure. In one or more embodiments, controller 1704 may be a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. In other embodiments, controller 1704 may be a flight controller, such as flight controller 500 of FIG. 5, which is described further below in this disclosure. For example, and without limitation, flight controller may include, be a component of, and/or be communicatively connected to a computing device, such as a computing device 700 of FIG. 7. Computing device may include, be included in, and/or communicate with a mobile device such as a mobile telephone or smartphone. In one or more embodiments, system 1700 may include a single computing device operating independently or may include two or more computing device operating in concert, in parallel, sequentially or the like; two or more computing devices may be included together in a single computing device or in two or more computing devices. Controller 1704 may interface or communicate with one or more additional devices using a network interface device. Network interface device may be utilized for communicatively connecting controller 1704 to one or more of a variety of networks, and one or more devices. Examples of network interface device includes, but are not limited to, a network interface card (e.g., a mobile network interface card, a LAN card), a modem, and any combination thereof. Examples of a network include, but are not limited to, a wide area network (e.g., the Internet, an enterprise network), a local area network (e.g., a network associated with an office, a building, a campus or other relatively small geographic space), a telephone network, a data network associated with a telephone/voice provider (e.g., a mobile communications provider data and/or voice network), a direct connection between two computing devices, and any combinations thereof. A network may employ a wired and/or a wireless mode of communication. In general, any network topology may be used. Information (e.g., data, software etc.) may be communicated to and/or from a computer and/or a computing device. Controller 1704 may include but is not limited to, for example, a computing device or cluster of computing devices in a first location and a second computing device or cluster of computing devices in a second location System 1700 may include one or more computing devices dedicated to data storage, security, distribution of traffic for load balancing, and the like. For example, and without limitation, controller 1704 may include an attitude controller and a rate controller, each continuously running to measure and process corresponding data. Controller 1704 may be installed in an aircraft, may control aircraft remotely, and/or may include an element installed in aircraft and a remote element in communication thereof.

Controller 1704 may be used in a simulation system or aircraft. Controller 1704 may distribute one or more computing tasks as described below across a plurality of computing devices of computing device, which may operate in parallel, in series, redundantly, or in any other manner used for distribution of tasks or memory between computing devices. Controller 1704 may be implemented using a “shared nothing” architecture in which data is cached at the worker, in an embodiment, this may enable scalability of controller 1704 and/or computing device.

Still referring to FIGS. 17A-D, controller 1704 may be programmed to operate aircraft 1708 to perform and/or assist with at least a flight maneuver of aircraft 1708 or a simulation thereof, as discussed further below in this disclosure. For the purposes of this disclosure, a “flight maneuver” is an action by an aircraft that allows an aircraft to manipulate a surrounding medium. For instance, and without limitation, a flight maneuver may include stability control maneuvers, emergency response maneuvers, regulation of altitude, roll, pitch, yaw, speed (e.g., airspeed), acceleration, attitude changes and maintenance, or the like during any phase of flight. A phase of flight may include, landing, take-off, transition, cruise, hovering, and the like. Flight maneuver may include a flight plan or sequence of maneuvers to be performed during a flight plan. Controller 1704 may be designed and configured to operate aircraft using fly-by -wire. As previously mentioned, controller 1704 may be communicatively connected to each flight component of aircraft or simulator. In one or more embodiments, controller 1704 may be communicatively connected to each flight component 1712, where controller 1704 is able to transmit signals to each flight component 1712 and each flight component 1712 is configured to modify an aspect of flight component 1712 behavior in response to the signals, such as command signals, as discussed further below in this disclosure. As a non-limiting example, controller 1704 may transmit signals to one or more of flight components 1712 using an electrical circuit connecting controller 1704 to flight components 1712. In various embodiments, circuit may include a direct conductive path from controller 1704 to flight component 1712 or may include an isolated coupling or connection, such as an optical or inductive coupling. Alternatively, or additionally, controller 1704 may communicate with a propulsor of plurality of propulsors using wireless communication, such as and without limitation, communication performed using electromagnetic radiation including optical and/or radio communication, or communication using magnetic or capacitive coupling. Controller 1704 may be fully incorporated in aircraft 1708, which contains a propulsor, and may include a remote device operating aircraft remotely via wireless or radio signals, or may be a combination thereof, such as a computing device in aircraft 1708 configured to perform some steps or actions described herein while a remote device is configured to perform other steps. Persons skilled in the art will be aware, after reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, of many different forms and protocols of communication that may be used to communicatively connect controller 1704 to flight components 1712. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various ways to monitor resistance levels and apply resistance to linear thrust control, as used and described in this disclosure.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, controller 1704 may be designed and/or configured to perform any method, method step, or sequence of method steps in any embodiment described in this disclosure, in any order and with any degree of repetition. For instance, controller 1704 may be configured to perform a single step or sequence repeatedly until a desired or commanded outcome is achieved; repetition of a step or a sequence of steps may be performed iteratively and/or recursively using outputs of previous repetitions as inputs to subsequent repetitions, aggregating inputs and/or outputs of repetitions to produce an aggregate result, reduction or decrement of one or more variables such as global variables, and/or division of a larger processing task into a set of iteratively addressed smaller processing tasks. Controller 1704 may perform any step or sequence of steps as described in this disclosure in parallel, such as simultaneously and/or substantially simultaneously performing a step two or more times using two or more parallel threads, processor cores, or the like; division of tasks between parallel threads and/or processes may be performed according to any protocol suitable for division of tasks between iterations. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various ways in which steps, sequences of steps, processing tasks, and/or data may be subdivided, shared, or otherwise dealt with using iteration, recursion, and/or parallel processing. Controller 1704, as well as any other component present within disclosed systems, as well as any other components or combination of components may be connected to a controller area network (CAN) which may interconnect all components for signal transmission and reception.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, controller 1704 is configured to receive a pilot input 1716 from an operator using a pilot control 1720. For instance, and without limitation, controller 1704 may receive pilot input 1716 of pilot control 1720 such as by moving an inceptor stick. For the purposes of this disclosure, a “pilot input” is an electrical and/or mechanical signal that includes a command or instructions to control an aircraft. For instance, and without limitation, pilot input 1716 may include an attitude data 17724. For the purposes of this disclosure, a “pilot control” is a component or mechanism configured to translate a desired action of an operator into an electrical and/or mechanical signal. For example, and without limitation, pilot control 1720 may include a mechanism, such as a collective, that translates a desired action of an operator (e.g., pilot) into electrical signals to, for example, flight components of aircraft 1708, which move in a way that manipulates a fluid medium, like air, to accomplish the operator’s desired maneuver. Pilot control 1720 may include a throttle lever, inceptor stick, collective pitch control, steering wheel, buttons, brake pedals, pedal controls, toggles, joystick, touchscreen, slider, and the like. In some embodiments, pilot control 1720 may include buttons, switches, or other binary inputs in addition to, or alternatively to, digital controls about which a plurality of inputs may be received.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, pilot control 1720 may be configured to generate pilot input 1716. Pilot input 1716 may include information related to a physical manipulation of pilot control 1720, such as, for example, a pilot using a hand and arm to push or pull a lever, or a pilot using a finger to manipulate a switch. Pilot input 1716 may include a voice command by a pilot to a microphone and computing system consistent with the entirety of this disclosure. One of ordinary skill in the art, after reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, would appreciate that this is a non-exhaustive list of components and interactions thereof that may include, represent, or constitute, at least aircraft command. Pilot control 1720 may include a throttle lever, inceptor stick, collective pitch control, steering wheel, brake pedals, pedal controls, toggles, joystick. One of ordinary skill in the art, upon reading the entirety of this disclosure would appreciate the variety of pilot controls that may be present in an aircraft consistent with the present disclosure. Manipulation of a pilot control 1720 may constitute a desired aircraft command of the operator. Pilot control 1720 may be physically located in the cockpit of an aircraft or remotely located outside of the aircraft in another location communicatively connected to at least a portion of the aircraft. Pilot control 1720 may be physically located in a simulator. Additionally, or alternatively, pilot input 1716 may include one or more data sources providing raw data. “Raw data”, for the purposes of this disclosure, is data representative of aircraft information that has not been conditioned, manipulated, or processed in a manner that renders data unrepresentative of aircraft information. In exemplary embodiments, pilot input 1716 may be provided by a pilot or an automation system. Pilot input 1716 may be exterior sensor data, interior sensor data, data retrieved from one or more remotely or onboard computing devices. Pilot input 1716 may include audiovisual data, pilot voice data, biometric data, or a combination thereof. Pilot input 1716 may include information or raw data gathered from gyroscopes, inertial measurement units (IMUs), motion sensors, a combination thereof, or another sensor or grouping of sensors. In one or more embodiments, pilot input 1716 may include a signal generated by a remote device, as discussed further in this disclosure, or a secondary controller. For instance, and without limitation, pilot input may include an automated signal (e.g., autopilot feature).

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, pilot input 1716 may include a desired attitude of aircraft 1708, such as a desired yaw, roll, tilt, throttle, and the like. For example, and without limitation, controller 1704 may receive a desired yaw from a database. In another example, and without limitation, a desired yaw may be designated by a user, such as a pilot or an operator using pilot control 1720. Desired yaw may include a desired movement of an aircraft about a yaw axis, such that a desired yaw will alter the direction aircraft 1708 is pointing, or the heading of aircraft 1708. For example, and without limitations, desired yaw may be received from pilot input 1716, where pilot input 1716 may include a collective, inceptor, foot bake, steering and/or control wheel, control stick, pedals, throttle levers, or the like, as previously discussed in this disclosure.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, pilot input 1716 from movement of pilot control 1720 may then be transmitted to and received by controller 1704, which may then perform any number or combinations of operations on pilot input 1716, as discussed further below in this disclosure. Processed signals derived from pilot input 1716 may then be sent out as output signals (e.g., commands) to any number of aircraft components, such as flight components 1712, that work in tandem or independently to maneuver aircraft 1708 in response to pilot input 1716. Controller 1704 may condition signals such that they can be sent and received by various components throughout aircraft 1708, as discussed further below in this disclosure. In one or more embodiments, controller 1704 is communicatively connected to pilot control 1720 and flight components 1712. For the purposes of this disclosure, “communicatively connected” is a process whereby one device, component, or circuit is able to receive data from and/or transmit data to another device, component, or circuit; communicative connecting may be performed by wired or wireless electronic communication, either directly or by way of one or more intervening devices or components. In an embodiment, communicatively connecting includes electrically coupling an output of one device, component, or circuit to an input of another device, component, or circuit. Communicatively connecting may be performed via a bus or other facility for intercommunication between elements of a computing device. Communicatively connecting may include indirect connections via “wireless” connection, low power wide area network, radio communication, optical communication, magnetic, capacitive, or optical coupling, or the like. Signals may include electrical, electromagnetic, visual, audio, radio waves, or another undisclosed signal type alone or in combination. With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, a sensor, such as sensor 1732 discussed below in this disclosure, may be communicatively connected to a processor, pilot control, and/or a controller, such as a controller 1704, so that sensor may transmit and/or receive signals, such as pilot input.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, controller 1704 may be configured to identify one or more aircraft measurements 1728. A “aircraft measurement”, for the purposes of this disclosure, is one or more elements of data representing actual motion, forces, moments, and/or torques acting on an aircraft or describing an environmental phenomenon in the real world related to the aircraft. In one or more embodiments, controller 1704 may be configured to identify one or more aircraft measurements 1728 using a sensor 1732. For instance, and without limitation, sensor 1732 may be configured to detect one or more phenomenon or characteristics of aircraft 1708 and transmit corresponding signals and/or information associated with the detected phenomenon, such as aircraft measurements 1728, to controller 1704. Tn one or more embodiments, sensor 1732 may be included in controller 1704 or communicatively connected to controller 1704. For the purposes of this disclosure, aircraft measurement 1728 may include speed (e.g., airspeed), velocity, lift throttle, angular rate, wind speed, attitude, and the like. In some embodiments, aircraft measurement 1728 may be identified using sensor 1732 (e.g., a reading from an inertial measurement unit (IMU)), a manual input, and the like. In one or more embodiments, aircraft measurement 1728 may include feedback, where aircraft measurements include actual measurements of flight components after actuation of flight components in response to pilot input. Aircraft measurement 1728 may include an airspeed of aircraft 1708. Aircraft measurement 1728 may include an angular rate of attitude change of aircraft, such as propulsors, of aircraft 1708.

Still referring to FIGS. 17A-D, aircraft measurement 1728 may be received from sensor 1732, as previously mentioned. A “sensor” for the purposes of this disclosure, is a device that is configured to detect an input and/or a phenomenon of a physical environment and transmit information related to the detection. Sensor 1732 may include a single sensor or a plurality of sensors. Plurality of sensors may include independently operating sensors and an array of sensors. Plurality of sensors may include various types of sensors or the same types of sensors. In one or more embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a sensor suite which may include a plurality of sensors that may detect similar or unique phenomena. For example, in a non-limiting embodiment, sensor suite may include a plurality of accelerometers, a mixture of accelerometers and gyroscope. System 1700 may include a plurality of sensors in the form of individual sensors or a sensor suite working in tandem or individually. A sensor suite may include a plurality of independent sensors, as described in this disclosure, where any number of the described sensors may be used to detect any number of physical or electrical quantities associated with an aircraft. Independent sensors may include separate sensors measuring physical or electrical quantities that may be powered by and/or in communication with circuits independently, where each may signal sensor output to a control circuit such as a user graphical interface. In an embodiment, use of a plurality of independent sensors may result in redundancy configured to employ more than one sensor that measures the same phenomenon, those sensors being of the same type, a combination of, or another type of sensor not disclosed, so that in the event one sensor fails, the ability to detect phenomenon is maintained. Sensor 1732 may be configured to detect pilot input from pilot control and/or controller 1704, as previously described in this disclosure.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, in one or more embodiments, sensor 1732 may include, as an example and without limitation, an environmental sensor. As used in this disclosure, an environmental sensor may be used to detect ambient temperature, barometric pressure, air velocity, motion sensors which may include gyroscopes, accelerometers, inertial measurement unit (IMU), various magnetic, humidity, and/or oxygen. As another non-limiting example, sensor 1732 may include a geospatial sensor. As used in this disclosure, a geospatial sensor may include optical/radar/Lidar, GPS, and may be used to detect aircraft location, aircraft speed, aircraft altitude and whether the aircraft is on the correct location of the flight plan. Sensor 1732 may be located inside aircraft 1708. Sensor 1732 may be inside a component of aircraft 1708. In an embodiment, an environmental sensor may sense one or more environmental conditions or parameters outside the aircraft, inside the aircraft, or within or at any component thereof, including without limitation an energy source, a propulsor, or the like. The environmental sensor may further collect environmental information from the predetermined landing site, such as ambient temperature, barometric pressure, air velocity, motion sensors which may include gyroscopes, accelerometers, inertial measurement unit (IMU), various magnetic, humidity, and/or oxygen. The information may be collected from outside databases and/or information services, such as Aviation Weather Information Services. Sensor 1732 may detect an environmental parameter, a temperature, a barometric pressure, a location parameter, and/or other measurements. Sensor 1732 may detect voltage, current, or other electrical connection via a direct method or by calculation. This may be accomplished, for instance, using an analog-to-digital converter, one or more comparators, or any other components usable to detect electrical parameters using an electrical connection that may occur to any person skilled in the art upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various ways to monitor the status of the system of both critical and non-critical functions.

Still referring to FIGS. 17A-D, sensor 1732 may include a pitot tube, where the pitot tube is configured to detect an airspeed of aircraft 1708 by measuring a fluid flow velocity of air. For instance, and without limitation, one or more pitot tubes may be located on an outer mold line (OML) of aircraft, such as on the nose, wings, tails, fuselage and the like of the aircraft. Tn various embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a venturi effect sensor (e.g., venturi flow meter) to detect an airspeed of aircraft 1708. For instance, and without limitation, venturi effect sensor may be configured to measure a difference in pressure at two different locations.

Still referring to FIGS. 17A-D, in various embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a motion sensor. A “motion sensor”, for the purposes of this disclosure, refers to a device or component configured to detect physical movement of an object or grouping of objects. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, after reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, that motion may include a plurality of types including but not limited to: spinning, rotating, oscillating, gyrating, jumping, sliding, reciprocating, or the like. Sensor 1732 may include, torque sensor, gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, inertial measurement unit (IMU), pressure sensor, force sensor, proximity sensor, displacement sensor, vibration sensor, or the like. For example, without limitation, sensor 1732 may include a gyroscope that is configured to detect a current aircraft orientation, such as roll, pitch, yaw, throttle, and the like. A current aircraft position may include a geographical moment of aircraft 1708. For example, and without limitations, current position of aircraft 1708 may include a geographical location and/or an orientation of aircraft 1708. A current aircraft location may include any data describing a geographical moment of aircraft 1708 at present time. Current aircraft location may be continually received by controller 1704 so that the geographical moment of aircraft 1708 is always known by controller 1704 or a user, such as a pilot. In one or more embodiments, a current aircraft position may be provided by, for example, a global positioning system (GPS).

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, in various embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a plurality of weather sensors. In one or more embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a wind sensor. In some embodiments, a wind sensor may be configured to measure a wind datum. A “wind datum” may include data of wind forces acting on an aircraft. Wind datum may include wind strength, direction, shifts, duration, or the like. For example, and without limitations, sensor 1732 may include an anemometer. An anemometer may be configured to detect a wind speed. In one or more embodiments, the anemometer may include a hot wire, laser doppler, ultrasonic, and/or pressure anemometer. In some embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a pressure sensor. “Pressure”, for the purposes of this disclosure and as would be appreciated by someone of ordinary skill in the art, is a measure of force required to stop a fluid from expanding and is usually stated in terms of force per unit area. The pressure sensor that may be included in sensor 1732 may be configured to measure an atmospheric pressure and/or a change of atmospheric pressure. In some embodiments, the pressure sensor may include an absolute pressure sensor, a gauge pressure sensor, a vacuum pressure sensor, a differential pressure sensor, a sealed pressure sensor, and/or other unknown pressure sensors or alone or in a combination thereof In one or more embodiments, a pressor sensor may include a barometer. In some embodiments, a pressure sensor may be used to indirectly measure fluid flow, speed, water level, and altitude. In some embodiments, the pressure sensor may be configured to transform a pressure into an analogue electrical signal. In some embodiments, the pressure sensor may be configured to transform a pressure into a digital signal.

In one or more embodiments, sensor 1732 may include an altimeter that may be configured to detect an altitude of aircraft 1708. In one or more embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a moisture sensor. “Moisture”, as used in this disclosure, is the presence of water, this may include vaporized water in air, condensation on the surfaces of objects, or concentrations of liquid water. Moisture may include humidity. “Humidity”, as used in this disclosure, is the property of a gaseous medium (almost always air) to hold water in the form of vapor. In one or more embodiments, sensor 1732 may include an altimeter. The altimeter may be configured to measure an altitude. In some embodiments, the altimeter may include a pressure altimeter. In other embodiments, the altimeter may include a sonic, radar, and/or Global Positioning System (GPS) altimeter. In some embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a meteorological radar that monitors weather conditions. In some embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a ceilometer. The ceilometer may be configured to detect and measure a cloud ceiling and cloud base of an atmosphere. In some embodiments, the ceilometer may include an optical drum and/or laser ceilometer. In some embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a rain gauge. The rain gauge may be configured to measure precipitation. Precipitation may include rain, snow, hail, sleet, or other precipitation forms. In some embodiments, the rain gauge may include an optical, acoustic, or other rain gauge. In some embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a pyranometer. The pyranometer may be configured to measure solar radiation. In some embodiments, the pyranometer may include a thermopile and/or photovoltaic pyranometer. The pyranometer may be configured to measure solar irradiance on a planar surface. In some embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a lightning detector. The lightning detector may be configured to detect and measure lightning produced by thunderstorms. In some embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a present weather sensor (PWS). The PWS may be configured to detect the presence of hydrometeors and determine their type and intensity. Hydrometeors may include a weather phenomenon and/or entity involving water and/or water vapor, such as, but not limited to, rain, snow, drizzle, hail and sleet. In some embodiments, sensor 1732 may include an inertia measurement unit (IMU). The IMU may be configured to detect a change in a specific force of a body. For instance, and without limitation, sensor 1732 may include an inertial measurement unit. An “inertial measurement unit”, for the purposes of this disclosure, is an electronic device that measures and reports a body’s specific force, angular rate of attitude change, and orientation of the body, using a combination of accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers, in various arrangements and combinations.

In one or more embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a local sensor. A local sensor may be any sensor mounted to aircraft 1708 that senses objects or phenomena in the environment around aircraft 1708. Local sensor may include, without limitation, a device that performs radio detection and ranging (RADAR), a device that performs lidar, a device that performs sound navigation ranging (SONAR), an optical device such as a camera, electro-optical (EO) sensors that produce images that mimic human sight, or the like. In one or more embodiments, sensor 1732 may include a navigation sensor. For example, and without limitation, a navigation system of aircraft 1708 may be provided that is configured to determine a geographical position of aircraft 1708 during flight. The navigation may include a Global Positioning System (GPS), an Attitude Heading and Reference System (AHRS), an Inertial Reference System (IRS), radar system, and the like.

In one or more embodiments, sensor 1732 may include electrical sensors. Electrical sensors may be configured to measure voltage across a component, electrical current through a component, and resistance of a component. In one or more embodiments, sensor 1732 may include thermocouples, thermistors, thermometers, passive infrared sensors, resistance temperature sensors (RTD’s), semiconductor based integrated circuits (IC), a combination thereof or another undisclosed sensor type, alone or in combination. Temperature, for the purposes of this disclosure, and as would be appreciated by someone of ordinary skill in the art, is a measure of the heat energy of a system. Temperature, as measured by any number or combinations of sensors present within sensor 1732, may be measured in Fahrenheit (°F), Celsius (°C), Kelvin (°K), or another scale alone or in combination. The temperature measured by sensors may comprise electrical signals which are transmitted to their appropriate destination wireless or through a wired connection.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, sensor 1732 may include a plurality of independent sensors, where any number of the described sensors may be used to detect any number of physical or electrical phenomenon associated with aircraft 1708. Independent sensors may include separate sensors measuring physical or electrical quantities that may be powered by and/or in communication with circuits independently, where each may signal sensor output to a control circuit such as a user graphical interface. In an embodiment, use of a plurality of independent sensors may result in redundancy configured to employ more than one sensor that measures the same phenomenon, those sensors being of the same type, a combination of, or another type of sensor not disclosed, so that in the event one sensor fails, the ability of sensor 1732 to detect phenomenon may be maintained.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, controller 1704 is configured to generate an aircraft command 1740, which includes one or more parameters 1744, as a function of pilot input 1716 and aircraft measurements 1728. For example, and without limitation, controller 1704 may be configured to generate aircraft command 1740 as a function of pilot input 1716 and aircraft measurement 1728, such as current airspeed of aircraft 1708. Aircraft command 1740 may include a parameters 1744. In one or more embodiments, aircraft command 1740 may include command data that is directly or indirectly transmitted to flight component 1712, such as one or more propellers, of aircraft 1708. In one or more embodiments, aircraft command may be directly transmitted to flight component 1712 as a function of receiving a zero-lift command from pilot input. An “aircraft command”, for the purposes of this disclosure, is an electronic signal representing at least an element of data correlated to pilot and/or controller 1704 input representing a desired operation of a flight component of an aircraft. For instance, and without limitation, aircraft command 1740 may include a signal to change the heading or trim of aircraft 1708. Aircraft command 1740 may include a signal to change or maintain aircraft’s pitch, roll, yaw, throttle, and the like. Aircraft trajectory may be manipulated by one or more flight components, such as control surfaces and propulsors, working alone or in tandem consistent with the entirety of this disclosure. For the purposes of this disclosure, “parameters” of aircraft command are specific information or data related to the desired operation of aircraft. For example, and without limitation, parameters may include numerical values related to movements of one or more flight components of the aircraft. More specifically, in various embodiments parameters 1744 of aircraft command 1740 may include values related to pitch, roll, and yaw, of aircraft 1708. For instance, and without limitation, aircraft command 1740 may include a signal to change or maintain aircraft’s airspeed, power supplied to flight components, torque of flight components, angle of flight components, angle or orientation of flight components, angular rate of attitude change of aircraft, and the like.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, “pitch”, for the purposes of this disclosure refers to the angle between the aircraft’s nose and the horizontal flight trajectory. For example, an aircraft pitches “up” when its nose is angled upward compared to horizontal flight, like in a climb maneuver. In another example, the aircraft pitches “down”, when its nose is angled downward compared to horizontal flight, like in a dive maneuver. “Roll” for the purposes of this disclosure, refers to an aircraft’s position about its longitudinal axis. For example, when an aircraft rotates about its axis from its tail to its nose, and one side rolls upward, like in a banking maneuver. “Yaw”, for the purposes of this disclosure, refers to an aircraft’s turn angle, when an aircraft rotates about an imaginary vertical axis intersecting the center of the earth and the fuselage of the aircraft. “Throttle”, for the purposes of this disclosure, refers to an aircraft outputting an amount of thrust from a propulsor. Aircraft command 1740 may include an electrical signal. Aircraft command 1740 may include mechanical movement (e.g., movement of a motor, propulsor, control surface, actuator, and the like) consistent with the entirety of this disclosure. Electrical signals may include analog signals, digital signals, periodic or aperiodic signal, step signals, unit impulse signal, unit ramp signal, unit parabolic signal, signum function, exponential signal, rectangular signal, triangular signal, sinusoidal signal, sine function, or pulse width modulated signal. At least a sensor may include circuitry, computing devices, electronic components or a combination thereof that translates pilot input into at least an aircraft command configured to be transmitted to another electronic component. Still referring to FIGS. 17A-D, exemplary methods of signal processing may include analog, continuous time, discrete, digital, nonlinear, and statistical. Analog signal processing may be performed on non-digitized or analog signals. Exemplary analog processes may include passive fdters, active filters, additive mixers, integrators, delay lines, compandors, multipliers, voltage-controlled filters, voltage-controlled oscillators, and phase-locked loops. Continuoustime signal processing may be used, in some cases, to process signals which varying continuously within a domain, for instance time. Exemplary non-limiting continuous time processes may include time domain processing, frequency domain processing (Fourier transform), and complex frequency domain processing. Discrete time signal processing may be used when a signal is sampled non-continuously or at discrete time intervals (i.e., quantized in time). Analog discrete-time signal processing may process a signal using the following exemplary circuits sample and hold circuits, analog time-division multiplexers, analog delay lines and analog feedback shift registers. Digital signal processing may be used to process digitized discrete-time sampled signals. Commonly, digital signal processing may be performed by a computing device or other specialized digital circuits, such as without limitation an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a specialized digital signal processor (DSP). Digital signal processing may be used to perform any combination of typical arithmetical operations, including fixed-point and floating-point, real- valued and complex-valued, multiplication and addition. Digital signal processing may additionally operate circular buffers and lookup tables. Further non-limiting examples of algorithms that may be performed according to digital signal processing techniques include fast Fourier transform (FFT), finite impulse response (FIR) filter, infinite impulse response (HR) filter, and adaptive filters such as the Wiener and Kalman filters. Statistical signal processing may be used to process a signal as a random function (i.e., a stochastic process), utilizing statistical properties. For instance, in some embodiments, a signal may be modeled with a probability distribution indicating noise, which then may be used to reduce noise in a processed signal. Digital signal processing may additionally operate circular buffers and lookup tables.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, in various embodiments, generating aircraft command 1740 may include one or more various steps and processes. For instance, and without limitation, generating an aircraft command 1740 may include determining a first command 1752 as a function of pilot input 1716, determining a second command 1756 as a as a function of pilot input 1716 and aircraft measurement 1728, and/or combining first command 1752 and second command 1756, as discussed further below in this disclosure.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, controller 1704 is configured to determine a first command 1752 as a function of pilot input 1716 and/or one or more aircraft measurements 1728. For example, and without limitation, controller 1704 may be configured to determine first command 1752 as a function of pilot input 1716 alone. In another example, and without limitation, controller 1704 may be configured to determine first command 1752 as a function of pilot input 1716 and aircraft measurement 1728, such as current airspeed of aircraft 1708. For the purposes of this disclosure, “first command” is an electronic signal representing a first element of data correlated to pilot and/or controller 1704 input representing a desired operation of a flight component of an aircraft. First command may include first parameters 1772, as shown in FIG. 17B. In one or more embodiments, first command 1752 may include a first attitude command 1760. The first response may include one or more first parameters related to an attitude of the aircraft.

Still referring to FIGS. 17A-D, determining first command 1752 may include inputting pilot input 1716 into a first filter 1784 and or second filter 1788 of controller 1704. For the purposes of this disclosure, a “filter” is a signal processing device that removes unwanted characteristics from a signal. For instance, filter may partially or completely suppress an aspect (e.g., frequency band) of a signal. In one or more embodiments, filters may include high-pass, low-pass, band-pass, band-reject (i.e. notch type), and the like. Such filters may allow a portion of an input signal to pass through such as a pass band. For instance, and without limitation, high- pass filter may allow only frequencies above a specific break point to pass through (e.g., high- pass response). In contrast, a low-pass filter may allow only low frequency signals to pass through, while suppressing high-frequency components (e.g., low-pass response). A band-pass filter is a combination of high- and low-pass filters in that the band-pass filter may only allow frequencies within a specified range to pass through (e.g., band-pass response). In contrast, a band-reject filter may allow everything to pass through save a specified range of frequencies (e.g., notch response). Such filters may be used separately or in combination and may be composed of, for example, RLC circuits. For instance, and without limitation, first filter 1784 may include an attitude command attitude hold (ACAH) response type filter.

Referring to FIG. 17B, in one or more embodiments, ACAH response type filter may include amplifier. For the purposes of this disclosure, “ACAH” is a control method wherein the pilot input is translated to an attitude of the aircraft and, in the absence of a pilot input, the current attitude is held. An “attitude command attitude hold (ACAH) response type filter” or “ACAH filter”, for the purposes of this disclosure, is a filter configured to receive a pilot input and output a first command. For instance, and without limitation, pilot input 1716 may be inputted into ACAH filter, which may then output first command, such as a first attitude command. For example, and without limitation, ACAH may be used in hover operation of aircraft 1708 such that pilot input 1716 is translated to an attitude of aircraft 1708 and in absence of specific parameters (e.g., particular attitude commands), first attitude command includes first parameters that hold or maintain the current attitude of aircraft 1708.

Referring back to FIG. 17A, controller 1704 may be configured to determine second command 1756 as a function of pilot input and/or one or more aircraft measurements 1728. For example, and without limitation, controller 1704 may be configured to determine second command 1756 as a function of pilot input 1716 alone. In another example, and without limitation, controller 1704 may be configured to determine second command 1756 as a function of pilot input 1716 and aircraft measurement 1728, such as current airspeed of aircraft 1708. Second command 1756 may include second parameters 1776. In various embodiments, second command 1756 may include a second attitude command 1768 and a rate command 1736. Determining second command 1756 may include inputting pilot input 1716 and aircraft measurement 1728 into a second filter 1788 of controller 1704. For example, and without limitation, second filter 1788 may include a rate command attitude hold (RCAH) response type filter.

Referring to FIG. 17C, for the purposes of this disclosure, “RCAH” is a control method wherein the pilot input is translated to an angular rate of change of the attitude of the aircraft and, in the absence of an attitude command, the current attitude is held. An “rate command attitude hold (RCAH) response type filter”, for the purposes of this disclosure, is a filter configured to receive a pilot input and aircraft measurements and output a second command and a rate command. For instance, and without limitation, pilot input 1716 and aircraft measurements 1728 may be inputted into RCAH filter, which may then output second attitude command and rate command. For example, and without limitation, RCAH may be used in transition and/or cruise phases of flight of aircraft 1708 such that pilot input 1716 is translated to an attitude and angular rate of change of attitude of aircraft 1708 and in absence of specific parameters (e.g., particular attitude commands), second command includes second parameters that hold or maintain the current attitude of aircraft 1708.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, controller 1704 is configured to combine first command 1752 and second command 1756 to create aircraft command 1740 as a function of aircraft measurement 1728. For instance, and without limitation, first command 1752 and second command 1756 may each be multiplied by weights, as discussed above, and then weighted first command 1752 and weighted second command 1756 may be added together. In one or more embodiments, convex combination may be used to combine ACAH inputs (e.g., first command 1752), RCAH inputs (e.g., second command 1756), and aircraft measurements (e.g., airspeed) to determine, for example, attitude command and rate feedforward, as shown in FIG. 17D.

With reference to FIG. 17D, for the purposes of this disclosure, “convex combination” is a combination of one or more signals. Convex combination may be used to transform one or more provided signals for optimization and trajectory generation purposes. For instance, and without limitation, controller 1704 may include convex combination (blend) to combine first command 1752 and second command 1756. For instance, and without limitation, blended command (e.g.. aircraft command 1740) may be generated by combining first parameters 1772 of first command and second parameters 1776 of second command 1756 using a convex combination (blend). Combining the commands may include blending between ACAH in hover (e.g., lower air speed) and RCAH in transition or conventional flight/cruise (e.g., higher air speed) by emulating what a fixed wing aircraft would do at lower speeds and then blending in.

Still referring to FIG. 17D, first weight of the first command 1752 and second weight of second command 1756 may be based on an aircraft measurement 1728, such as current airspeed of aircraft 1708. In some embodiments, the convex combination may include a scheduling signal. A “scheduling signal,” as used herein, is a signal that indicates where in an operating range an aircraft is. The scheduling signal may include signals related to airspeed, attitude, angle of attack, and the like. For instance, and without limitation, first command and second command may each be assigned a weight based on current airspeed of aircraft. Assigned weight of each of the commands determines what portion of each is used for blending. In one or more embodiments, weight may be assigned based on significance relative to operation of aircraft. In one or more embodiments, controller 1704 may compute a weight associated with first command and second command by a minimal and/or maximal score. In some embodiments, a lookup table 164 may be used to map airspeed of aircraft to first weight of first command 1752 and second weight of second command 1756. A “lookup table” or “LUT”, for the purposes of this disclosure, is an array that replaces one or more runtime computations with a simplified array indexing operation. Lookup tables may allow for simple input and output operations to avoid high energy usage of control circuits or processors and to allow for simplified and cost-effective processors to be implemented. Lookup tables may include, for example, and without limitation, data analysis applications, such as image processing, trivial hash function lookups, linear interpolation, and the like. For instance, and without limitation, lookup table 164 may assign a value to a provided aircraft measurement, such as an airspeed of aircraft 1708. For example, and without limitation, using lookup table 164, a binary value may be assigned to an airspeed of aircraft 1708, where an airspeed below a particular threshold is assigned a first value from lookup table 164 (e.g., 0) and an airspeed above the particular threshold is assigned a second value (e.g., 1). If the airspeed is assigned first value, then the first command (e.g., ACAH inputs) are weighted (e.g., first command is weight as 1 and the second command is weighted as 0). If the airspeed is assigned second value, then the second command (e.g., RCAH inputs) is weighted (e.g., second command is weighted as 1 and the first command is weighted as 0). Once, the first command 1752 and second command 1756 have been assigned weights based off of lookup table 164, then the first command 1752 and second command 1756 may be combined to generate aircraft command 1740, which includes parameters 1744, such as attitude command and rate feedforward. For example, and without limitation, if a current airspeed (e.g., aircraft measurement) of aircraft 1708 is less than 50 kts, that may be considered a "low speed." In some embodiments, low speed may be considered less than 40 kts. In some embodiments, low speed may be considered less than 60 kts. Thus, below the threshold of 50 kts, the response (e.g., aircraft command) may be made up only of parameters of first command only, e.g., ACAH. An airspeed of 50 -1700 kts may be considered a "mid speed" and, thus, for a current airspeed of the aircraft between or including the threshold range of 50 kts - 1700 kts, the response may include a blend between the parameters of first command, e.g., ACAH, and second command, e.g., RCAH, response types. In some embodiments, an airspeed of 40 -110 kts may be considered a "mid speed." In some embodiments, an airspeed of 60 -90 kts may be considered a "mid speed." An airspeed over 1700 kts may be considered a “high speed”, and, thus, if the current airspeed of aircraft is more than 1700 kts the response may include parameters of second command, e.g., RCAH, only. In some embodiments, an airspeed may be considered a “high speed” if it is over 90 kts. In some embodiments, an airspeed may be considered a “high speed” if it is over 110 kts. In various embodiments a score of a particular first command and/or second command may be based on a combination of one or more factors. Each factor may be assigned a score based on predetermined variables, such as using a lookup table. In some embodiments, the assigned scores may be weighted or unweighted. Controller 1704 may compute a score associated with each of command and the like.

Referring back to FIG. 17A, aircraft command 1740 may be inputted into cascade controller 1796 to generate an actuation output 1792. For the purposes of this disclosure, a “cascade controller” is a multiloop control structure used for combining a plurality of feedback loops for propulsion system gain. For instance, and without limitation, cascade controller may be used when there are two measurements, but only one control variable. For example, and without limitation, a cascade control system (e.g. a system using a cascade controller) may include two loops of control, such as an outer loop (e.g. primary loop) and an inner loop (e.g. secondary loop). In a non-limiting embodiment, the primary and secondary loops may include aircraft command 1740 (e.g., attitude command) and rate feedforward. Cascade controller may reduce variability in controller’s responses and allow for more immediate response (e.g., shorter response time). In one or more embodiments, aircraft command 1740 and rate feedforward may be received by cascaded controller 1796. Cascade controller 1796 may then generate actuation output 1792 (e.g., motor or actuator commands) that provides instructions for one or more flight components 1712. In one or more embodiments, actuation output 1792 may be received by one or more motors (e.g., lift motors of one or more propulsors), actuators (e.g., piezoelectric), and the like, to control flight components 1712 of aircraft 1708. Actuation output 1792 includes an electrical signal configured to be transmitted to at least a portion of the aircraft, namely an actuator mechanically coupled to at least a portion of the aircraft that manipulates a fluid medium to change an aircraft’s pitch, roll, yaw, tilt, trim, throttle and the like.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, system 1700 may include an actuator which is communicatively connected to controller 1704. In one or more embodiments, each of flight components 1712 may include one or more actuators, where each actuator is configured to move flight component based on a received actuation output. For example, and without limitation, actuator may translate an electrical signal (output) into a mechanical movement of a flight component 1712. Actuator may receive actuation output 1792 and be displaced in response to the transmitted output. Actuator may include a computing device or plurality of computing devices consistent with the entirety of this disclosure. Actuator may be designed and/or configured to perform any method, method step, or sequence of method steps in any embodiment described in this disclosure, in any order and with any degree of repetition. For instance, actuator may be configured to perform a single step or sequence repeatedly until a desired or commanded outcome is achieved; repetition of a step or a sequence of steps may be performed iteratively and/or recursively using outputs of previous repetitions as inputs to subsequent repetitions, aggregating inputs and/or outputs of repetitions to produce an aggregate result, reduction or decrement of one or more variables such as global variables, and/or division of a larger processing task into a set of iteratively addressed smaller processing tasks. Actuator may perform any step or sequence of steps as described in this disclosure in parallel, such as simultaneously and/or substantially simultaneously performing a step two or more times using two or more parallel threads, processor cores, or the like; division of tasks between parallel threads and/or processes may be performed according to any protocol suitable for division of tasks between iterations. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various ways in which steps, sequences of steps, processing tasks, and/or data may be subdivided, shared, or otherwise dealt with using iteration, recursion, and/or parallel processing.

Still referring to FIGS. 17A-D, actuator may include a piston and cylinder system configured to utilize hydraulic pressure to extend and retract a piston coupled to at least a portion of aircraft. Actuator may include a stepper motor or server motor configured to utilize electrical energy into electromagnetic movement of a rotor in a stator. Actuator may include a system of gears coupled to an electric motor configured to convert electrical energy into kinetic energy and mechanical movement through a system of gears. Actuator may include one or more inverters capable of driving one or more propulsors consistent with the entirety of this disclosure utilizing the herein disclosed system. Actuator, one of the combination of components thereof, or another component configured to receive a signal from controller 1704 (e.g., actuation output 1792), if loss of communication is detected, may be configured to implement a reduced function controller. The reduced function controller may directly react directly to actuation output 1792, or other raw data inputs, as described in the entirety of this disclosure. Actuator may include components, processors, computing devices, or the like configured to detect, as a function of time, loss of communication with controller 1704. Actuator is configured to move at least a portion of aircraft 1708 as a function of actuation output 1792, which indicates a required aircraft attitude or angular rate of change of rate of aircraft. That is to say that controller 1704 is configured to translate a pilot input, in the form of moving an inceptor stick, for example, into electrical signals to at least an actuator that in turn, moves at least a portion of the aircraft in a way that manipulates a fluid medium, like air, to accomplish the pilot’s desired maneuver. At least a portion of the aircraft that the actuator moves may be a control surface.

In an embodiment, actuator may be mechanically coupled to a control surface at a first end and mechanically connected to an aircraft at a second end. In one or more embodiments, actuators may include pneumatic pistons, hydraulic pistons, and/or solenoid pistons. In other embodiments, actuators may use electrical components. For example, and without limitation, actuators may each include a hydraulic piston that extends or retracts to actuate flight component 1712. In another example, actuators may each include a solenoid. Similarly, actuators may be triggered by electrical power, pneumatic pressure, hydraulic pressure, or the like. Actuators may also include electrical motors, servomotors, cables, and the like, as discussed further below. As used herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand “mechanically connected” to mean that at least a portion of a device, component, or circuit is connected to at least a portion of the aircraft via a mechanical coupling. Said mechanical coupling can include, for example, rigid coupling, such as beam coupling, bellows coupling, bushed pin coupling, constant velocity, splitmuff coupling, diaphragm coupling, disc coupling, donut coupling, elastic coupling, flexible coupling, fluid coupling, gear coupling, grid coupling, hirth joints, hydrodynamic coupling, jaw coupling, magnetic coupling, Oldham coupling, sleeve coupling, tapered shaft lock, twin spring coupling, rag joint coupling, universal j oints, or any combination thereof. In an embodiment, mechanical coupling can be used to connect the ends of adjacent parts and/or objects of an aircraft. Further, in an embodiment, mechanical coupling can be used to join two pieces of rotating aircraft components. Control surfaces may each include any portion of an aircraft that can be moved or adjusted to affect altitude, airspeed velocity, groundspeed velocity or direction during flight. For example, control surfaces may include a component used to affect the aircraft’s roll and pitch which may comprise one or more ailerons, defined herein as hinged surfaces which form part of the trailing edge of each wing in a fixed wing aircraft, and which may be moved via mechanical means such as without limitation servomotors, mechanical linkages, or the like, to name a few. As a further example, control surfaces may include a rudder, which may include, without limitation, a segmented rudder. The rudder may function, without limitation, to control yaw of an aircraft. Also, control surfaces may include other flight control surfaces such as propulsors, rotating flight controls, or any other structural features which can adjust the movement of the aircraft.

With continued reference to FIGS. 17A-D, at least a portion of aircraft 1708 may include at least a propulsor, such as a lift or push propulsor. A propulsor, as used in this disclosure, is a component or device used to propel a craft by exerting force on a fluid medium, which may include a gaseous medium such as air or a liquid medium such as water. In an embodiment, when a propulsor twists and pulls air behind it, it will, at the same time, push an aircraft forward with an equal amount of force. The more air pulled behind an aircraft, the greater the force with which the aircraft is pushed forward. Propulsor may include any device or component that consumes electrical power on demand to propel an aircraft in a direction or other vehicle while on ground or in-flight.

Referring to now to FIG. 18A, a partially transparent view of an exemplary embodiment of flight components, such as actuators 1804, of an exemplary aircraft 1800 is illustrated. Exemplary aircraft 1800 may include any of the aircraft described in this disclosure, such as aircraft 100. Actuators 1804 may be disposed within a wing 1816 of aircraft 1800 and attached to a portion of an airframe 1808 of aircraft 1800. Actuators 1804 are also attached to aileron 1812 so as to actuate movement of aileron 1812. For example, as indicate by directional arrow 1820, at least a portion of aileron 1812 may be moved up or down relative to aircraft 1800 Actuators 1804 are each configured to move flight component of aircraft 1800 as a function of received actuation output 1792 described in FIG. 177A. Aircraft command 1740 and actuation output 1792 indicate a desired change in aircraft attitude, as described in this disclosure.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, controller 1704 and/or pilot control 1720 is configured to generate aircraft command 1740 as a function of pilot input 1716 and/or aircraft measurement 1728. For example, controller 1704 may be configured to translate pilot input 1716 using pilot control 1720, in the form of moving an inceptor stick, for example, into electrical signals to actuators 1804 that in turn, move flight component of aircraft 1800 in a way that manipulates a fluid medium, like air, to accomplish the pilot’s desired maneuver. Aircraft command 1740 may be an electrical signal configured to be transmitted to at least a portion of aircraft 1800, namely plurality of actuators 1804, which are each attached to flight component of aircraft 1800 so that flight component may manipulate a fluid medium to change the pitch, roll, yaw, or throttle of aircraft 1800 when moved. In one or more embodiments, actuators 1804 may include a conversion mechanism configured to convert the electrical signal from pilot control 1720 to a mechanical movement of flight component. In one or more exemplary embodiments, actuators 1804 may each include a piston and cylinder system configured to utilize hydraulic pressure to extend and retract a piston connected to at least a portion of aircraft 1800.

In one or more embodiments, actuators 1804 may each include a motor 1824, as shown in FIG. 178. For example, actuators 1804 may each include a stepper motor or servomotor configured to utilize electrical energy into electromagnetic movement of a rotor in a stator. Actuators 1804 may each include a system of gears attached to an electric motor configured to convert electrical energy into kinetic energy and mechanical movement through a system of gears. Motor 1824 may be connected to an energy source. Motor 1824 may be electrically connected to an inverter. Motor 1824 may be powered by alternating current produced by the inverter. Each motor 1824 may be operatively connected to each actuator 1804. Motor 1824 may operate to move one or more flight components (e.g., flight components 1712 of aircraft 1708 shown in FIG. 17), to drive one or more propulsors, or the like. Motor 1824 may be driven by direct current (DC) electric power and may include, without limitation, brushless DC electric motors, switched reluctance motors, induction motors, or any combination thereof. A motor may also include electronic speed controllers, inverters, or other components for regulating motor speed, rotation direction, and/or dynamic braking.

In one or more embodiments, each actuator 1804 may be attached to flight component. Each actuator 1804 may be fixed, pivotally connected, or slidably connected to a flight component. For example, actuator 1804 may be pivotally connected to flight component using a pivot joint, such as pivot joint. In an exemplary embodiment, pivot joint may be connected to a protrusion, such as protrusion, of flight component. When flight component is moved by one or more of actuators 1804, flight component may be rotated about a longitudinal axis of protrusion such that at least a portion of flight component is raised or lowered relative to outer-mold-lines (OML) of aircraft 1800 or raised or lowered to be flush with OML of aircraft 1800. Pivot joint may be a ball and socket joint, a condyloid joint, a saddle joint, a pin joint, pivot joint, a hinge joint, or a combination thereof. The pivot joint may allow for movement along a single axis or multiple axes. Actuators 1804 may also include a rod, which directly or indirectly connects pivot joint to motor 1824. Rod may have a rod end that is connected to pivot joint. In one or more embodiments, rod may be directly connected to motor 1824 or connected to motor 1824 via, for example, additional pivot joints.

Now referring to FIG. 18B, an exemplary of a propulsor assembly 1828 (also referred to herein as a “propulsion assembly”) of aircraft 1708 is illustrated. Aircraft 1708 may include aircraft 100. As previously mentioned, aircraft 1708 may include an electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft (as shown in FIG. 1), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones, rotorcraft, commercial aircraft, and/or the like. Aircraft 1708 may include one or more components that generate lift, including, without limitation, wings, airfoils, rotors, propellers, jet engines, or the like, or any other component or feature that an aircraft may use for mobility during flight. Aircraft 1708 may be capable of rotor-based cruising flight, rotor-based takeoff, rotor-based landing, fixed-wing cruising flight, airplane-style takeoff, airplane-style landing, and/or any combination thereof. “Rotor-based flight,” as described in this disclosure, is where the aircraft generates lift and propulsion by way of one or more powered propulsors connected to a motor, such as a quadcopter, multi-rotor helicopter, or other vehicle that maintains its lift primarily using propulsors that produce an upward thrust force by imparting downward velocity to the surrounding fluid. “Fixed-wing flight,” as described in this disclosure, is where the aircraft is capable of flight using wings and/or foils that generate lift caused by the aircraft’s forward airspeed and the shape of the wings and/or foils, such as airplane-style flight. In one or more embodiments, propulsors may enable aircraft 1708 to use edgewise flight. As used in this disclosure, “edgewise flight” is a flight orientation wherein an air stream is substantially directed at an edge of a propeller. Edgewise flight (exaggerated for explanation) may occur when an aircraft is traveling in a direction orthogonal to a rotational axis of a propeller and parallel to a rotation plane of the propeller, causing an air stream to be directed at an edge of the propeller. Edgewise flight may also occur when an aircraft is traveling in a direction in which a component of the velocity of the aircraft is in a direction orthogonal to a rotational axis of a propulsor and parallel to rotation plane. Edgewise flight may cause issues with aircraft 1708. For example, edgewise flight may cause excessive flapping of blades during flight including flapping angulation. Thus, edgewise flight may lead to inadvertent displacement of propeller that creates excessive loads on a propulsor assembly and/or components thereof.

With continued reference to FIG. 18B, in one or more embodiments, propulsor assembly 1828 may include a propeller 1832. Propeller 1832 may include one or more blades 1836 that radially extend from a hub 1840 of propeller. For example, and without limitation, propeller may include a plurality of blades, where each blade may extend from hub in an opposite direction from another blade. Propeller 1832 may be rotatably affixed to electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft 1708 and configured to rotate about, for example, rotational axis A (as indicated by the directional arrow). Propeller may be mechanically connected to a motor 1844, either directly or indirectly, so that propeller may be driven by motor, as discussed in FIG. 18C. In one or more embodiments, motor may be configured to power a propeller. Motor may include a rotor, stator, motor shaft, and the like, as shown in FIG. 18C. Motor 1844 may be at least partially disposed in an airframe of an aircraft, such as a boom or a wing of the aircraft. Propulsor assembly 1828 may include motor, which translates electrical power from a power source of aircraft 1708 into a mechanical movement of propeller 1832. Rotor of motor may rotate about a central axis of motor.

With continued reference to FIG. 18B, as used in this disclosure, a “motor” is a device, such as an electric motor, that converts electrical energy into mechanical movement. Motor 1844 may include an electric motor. Electric motor may be driven by direct current (DC) electric power. As an example, and without limitation, electric motor may include a brushed DC electric motor or the like. An electric motor may be, without limitation, driven by electric power having varying or reversing voltage levels, such as alternating current (AC) power as produced by an alternating current generator and/or inverter, or otherwise varying power, such as produced by a switching power source. Hub 1840 of propeller may be mechanically connected to a rotor of motor 1844, directly or indirectly. For example, and without limitation, hub 1840 may be connected to a motor shaft that is rotated by rotor. In some embodiments, motor may include a direct drive motor, wherein one rotation of rotor also causes one rotation of hub 1840 and/or propeller. In other embodiments, motor may include an indirect drive motor where, for example, a gearbox, pulleys, bearing, and/or various other components facilitate movement of propeller by motor.

With continued reference to FIG. 18B, propulsor assembly 1828 is used to propel aircraft 1708 through a fluid medium by exerting a force on the fluid medium. In some embodiments, propulsor assembly 1828 may include a lift propulsor, as discussed in this disclosure. In other embodiments, propulsor assembly 1828 may include a push propulsor, as previously discussed in this disclosure. In one or more non-limiting embodiments, propulsor assembly 1828 may include a lift propulsor configured to create lift for aircraft 1708. In other non-limiting embodiments, propulsor assembly 1828 may include a thrust element, which may be integrated into the propulsor assembly 1828. A thrust element may include any device or component that converts the mechanical energy of a motor, for instance in the form of rotational motion of a shaft, into thrust in a fluid medium. For example, a thrust element may include, without limitation, an impeller, a turbine, a pump-jet, a paddle or paddle-based device, and the like. As another nonlimiting example, propulsor assembly 1828 may include a six-bladed pusher propulsor, such as a six-bladed propeller mounted behind the motor to ensure the drive shaft is in compression. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various devices that may be used as propulsor. In various embodiments, when a propeller of propulsor twists and pulls air behind it, it will, at the same time, push an aircraft with a relatively equal amount of force. The more air pulled behind aircraft, the more aircraft is pushed forward. In various embodiments, propeller of propulsor assembly may be substantially rigid and not susceptible to bending during flight. With continued reference to FIG. 18B, propulsor assembly 1828 may be a lift propulsor oriented such that a rotation plane of propeller is parallel with a ground supporting aircraft 1708 when aircraft 1708 is landed. As used in this disclosure, a “rotation plane” (also referred to herein as a “plane of rotation”) is a plane in which a propeller rotates. Rotation plane may be relatively orthogonal to an axis of rotation of propeller, such as axis A. A circumference of a rotational plane may be defined by a rotational path of a tip of blade 1836 of propeller. As understood by one skilled in the art, propulsor may include various types of pitch-flap couplings, where a hinge may be oriented in various positions relative to rotation plane.

Referring now to FIG. 18C, a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of propulsion assembly 1828 is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In one or more embodiments, propulsion assembly may include one or more motors, such as motor 1844, disposed at least partially in an OML of an aircraft. For example, and without limitation, motors 1840 may be disposed in a boom of aircraft 100, such as boom 702 of FIG. 1. In one or more embodiments, a propulsion assembly 1828 may include one or more flight components, such as, for example, propeller 1832. In one or more embodiments, propulsion assembly 1828 may include a propulsor. For the purposes of this disclosure, a “propulsor” is a component or device used to propel a craft by exerting force on a fluid medium, which may include a gaseous medium such as air or a liquid medium such as water. Propulsor may include any device or component that consumes electrical power on demand to propel aircraft in a direction or other vehicle while on ground or in-flight. For example, and without limitation, propulsor may include a rotor, propeller, paddle wheel, and the like thereof. In an embodiment, propulsor may include a propeller having a plurality of blades. As used in this disclosure a “blade” or “propeller” is a flight component that converts rotary motion from an engine or other power source into a swirling slipstream. In an embodiment, propeller may convert rotary motion to push an aircraft forwards or backwards. In an embodiment, propulsor may include a rotating power-driven hub, to which are attached several radial airfoil-section blades such that the whole assembly rotates about a longitudinal axis. In one or more embodiments, rotor (e.g., rotor 1848) may be used in a motor of a lift propulsor, as previously described in this disclosure. In one or more exemplary embodiments, propulsor may include a vertical propulsor or a forward propulsor. A forward propulsor may include a propulsor configured to propel aircraft in a forward direction. A vertical propulsor may include a propulsor configured to propel aircraft in an upward direction. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand upward to comprise the imaginary axis protruding from the earth at a normal angle, configured to be normal to any tangent plane to a point on a sphere (e.g. skyward). In an embodiment, vertical propulsor can be a propulsor that generates a substantially downward thrust, tending to propel an aircraft in an opposite, vertical direction and provides thrust for maneuvers. Such maneuvers can include, without limitation, vertical take-off, vertical landing, hovering, and/or rotor-based flight such as “quadcopter” or similar styles of flight.

In an embodiment, propulsor may include a propeller, a blade, or the like. The function of a propeller is to convert rotary motion from an engine or other power source into a swirling slipstream which pushes the propeller forwards or backwards. The propulsor may include a rotating power-driven hub, to which are attached several radial airfoil-section blades such that the whole assembly rotates about a longitudinal axis. The blade pitch of a propeller may, for example, be fixed, manually variable to a few set positions, automatically variable (e.g., a "constant-speed" type), or any combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, propellers for an aircraft may be designed to be fixed to their hub at an angle similar to the thread on a screw makes an angle to the shaft; this angle may be referred to as a pitch or pitch angle which will determine the speed of the forward movement as the blade rotates.

In an embodiment, propulsor can include a thrust element which may be integrated into the propulsor. The thrust element may include, without limitation, a device using moving or rotating foils, such as one or more rotors, an airscrew or propeller, a set of airscrews or propellers such as contra-rotating propellers, a moving or flapping wing, or the like. Further, a thrust element, for example, can include without limitation a marine propeller or screw, an impeller, a turbine, a pump-jet, a paddle or paddle-based device, or the like.

Still referring to FIG. 18C, a propulsor may include a pusher component. As used in this disclosure a “pusher component” is a component that pushes and/or thrusts an aircraft through a medium. As a non-limiting example, pusher component may include a pusher propeller, a paddle wheel, a pusher motor, a pusher propulsor, and the like. Pusher component may be configured to produce a forward thrust. As used in this disclosure a “forward thrust” is a thrust that forces aircraft through a medium in a horizontal direction, wherein a horizontal direction is a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis. For example, forward thrust may include a force of 1 145 N to force aircraft to in a horizontal direction along the longitudinal axis. As a further non-limiting example, pusher component may twist and/or rotate to pull air behind it and, at the same time, push aircraft forward with an equal amount of force. In an embodiment, and without limitation, the more air forced behind aircraft, the greater the thrust force with which aircraft is pushed horizontally will be. In another embodiment, and without limitation, forward thrust may force aircraft through the medium of relative air. Additionally or alternatively, plurality of propulsor may include one or more puller components. As used in this disclosure a “puller component” is a component that pulls and/or tows an aircraft through a medium. As a non-limiting example, puller component may include a flight component such as a puller propeller, a puller motor, a tractor propeller, a puller propulsor, and the like. Additionally, or alternatively, puller component may include a plurality of puller flight components.

Still referring to FIG. 18C, propulsion assembly 1828 may include a motor. In one or more embodiments, motor 1844 may include any rotor (e.g., rotor 1848) and shaft (e.g., shaft 1856) described in this disclosure. Rotor 1848 may be moved by stator 1852 of motor 1844. In various embodiments, motor 1844 may include, without limitation, any electric motor, where an electric motor is a device that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy, for instance by causing a shaft to rotate. A motor may be driven by direct current (DC) electric power, for instance, a motor may include a brushed DC motor or the like. A motor may be driven by electric power having varying or reversing voltage levels, such as alternating current (AC) power as produced by an alternating current generator and/or inverter, or otherwise varying power, such as produced by a switching power source. A motor may include, without limitation, a brushless DC electric motor, a permanent magnet synchronous motor, a switched reluctance motor, and/or an induction motor. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various alternative or additional forms and/or configurations that a motor may take or exemplify as consistent with this disclosure. In addition to inverter and/or switching power source, a circuit driving motor may include electronic speed controllers (not shown) or other components for regulating motor speed, rotation direction, torque, and the like.

Still referring to FIG. 18C, propulsion assembly 1828 may include a stator 1852. Stator 1852, as used herein, is a stationary component of a motor and/or motor assembly. In an embodiment, stator 1852 includes one or more magnetic elements 1860. As used herein, magnetic element is an element that generates a magnetic field. For example, magnetic element may include one or more magnets which may be assembled in rows along a structural casing component. In one or more embodiments, stator may be incorporated into the stationary part of the motor, or motor assembly. Stator and rotor may combine to form electric motor. In embodiment, an electric motor may, for instance, incorporate coils of wire which are driven by the magnetic force exerted by a first magnetic field on an electric current. The function of the motor may be to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. A controller, such as controller 1704, may have an ability to adjust electricity originating from a power supply and, thereby, the magnetic forces generated, to ensure stable rotation of the rotor, independent of the forces induced by the machinery process. Still referring to FIG. 18C, controller 1704 may transmit actuation output 1792 to motor 1844 of propulsion assembly 1828 in order to control propulsion assembly 1828. For example, and without limitation, actuation output 1792 may increase power supplied to motor 1844 to create an angular rate of change of aircraft. In another example, and without limitation, during hovering of aircraft 1708 actuation input 1792 may be transmitted to propulsion assembly 1828 to adjust an attitude of aircraft 1708 based on parameters 144 provided by attitude command 1740. In another example, and without limitation, an angle of tilt of propeller 1832 may be adjusted based on received actuation output 1792, which may control an actuator of propulsion assembly 1828. In another example, and without limitation, the altering of power provided to a lift propulsor compared to a push propulsor may vary based on actuation output 1792.

FIG. 19 shows a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of a computing device in the exemplary form of a computer system 1900 within which a set of instructions for causing a control system to perform any one or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the present disclosure may be executed. It is also contemplated that multiple computing devices may be utilized to implement a specially configured set of instructions for causing one or more of the devices to perform any one or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the present disclosure. Computer system 1900 includes a processor 1904 and a memory 1908 that communicate with each other, and with other components, via a bus 1912. Bus 1912 may include any of several types of bus structures including, but not limited to, a memory bus, a memory controller, a peripheral bus, a local bus, and any combinations thereof, using any of a variety of bus architectures.

Processor 1904 may include any suitable processor, such as without limitation a processor incorporating logical circuitry for performing arithmetic and logical operations, such as an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU), which may be regulated with a state machine and directed by operational inputs from memory and/or sensors; processor 1904 may be organized according to Von Neumann and/or Harvard architecture as a non-limiting example. Processor 1904 may include, incorporate, and/or be incorporated in, without limitation, a microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), Graphical Processing Unit (GPU), general purpose GPU, Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), analog or mixed signal processor, Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a floating point unit (FPU), and/or system on a chip (SoC).

Memory 1908 may include various components (e.g., machine-readable media) including, but not limited to, a random-access memory component, a read only component, and any combinations thereof. In one example, a basic input/output system 1916 (BIOS), including basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer system 1900, such as during start-up, may be stored in memory 1908. Memory 1908 may also include (e.g., stored on one or more machine-readable media) instructions e.g., software) 1920 embodying any one or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the present disclosure. In another example, memory 1908 may further include any number of program modules including, but not limited to, an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, program data, and any combinations thereof.

Computer system 1900 may also include a storage device 1 24. Examples of a storage device (e.g., storage device 1924) include, but are not limited to, a hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, an optical disc drive in combination with an optical medium, a solid-state memory device, and any combinations thereof. Storage device 1924 may be connected to bus 1912 by an appropriate interface (not shown). Example interfaces include, but are not limited to, SCSI, advanced technology attachment (ATA), serial ATA, universal serial bus (USB), IEEE 1394 (FIREWIRE), and any combinations thereof. In one example, storage device 1924 (or one or more components thereof) may be removably interfaced with computer system 1900 (e.g., via an external port connector (not shown)) Particularly, storage device 1924 and an associated machine-readable medium 1928 may provide nonvolatile and/or volatile storage of machine- readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and/or other data for computer system 1900. In one example, software 1920 may reside, completely or partially, within machine- readable medium 1928. In another example, software 1920 may reside, completely or partially, within processor 1904.

Computer system 1900 may also include an input device 1932. In one example, a user of computer system 1900 may enter commands and/or other information into computer system 1900 via input device 1932. Examples of an input device 1932 include, but are not limited to, an alpha-numeric input device (e.g., a keyboard), a pointing device, a joystick, a gamepad, an audio input device (e.g., a microphone, a voice response system, etc.), a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse), a touchpad, an optical scanner, a video capture device (e.g., a still camera, a video camera), a touchscreen, and any combinations thereof. Input device 1932 may be interfaced to bus 1912 via any of a variety of interfaces (not shown) including, but not limited to, a serial interface, a parallel interface, a game port, a USB interface, a FIREWIRE interface, a direct interface to bus 1912, and any combinations thereof. Input device 1932 may include a touch screen interface that may be a part of or separate from display 1936, discussed further below. Input device 1932 may be utilized as a user selection device for selecting one or more graphical representations in a graphical interface as described above.

A user may also input commands and/or other information to computer system 1900 via storage device 1924 (e.g., a removable disk drive, a flash drive, etc.) and/or network interface device 1940. A network interface device, such as network interface device 1940, may be utilized for connecting computer system 1900 to one or more of a variety of networks, such as network 1944, and one or more remote devices 1948 connected thereto. Examples of a network interface device include, but are not limited to, a network interface card (e.g., a mobile network interface card, a LAN card), a modem, and any combination thereof. Examples of a network include, but are not limited to, a wide area network (e.g., the Internet, an enterprise network), a local area network (e.g., a network associated with an office, a building, a campus or other relatively small geographic space), a telephone network, a data network associated with a telephone/voice provider (e.g., a mobile communications provider data and/or voice network), a direct connection between two computing devices, and any combinations thereof. A network, such as network 1944, may employ a wired and/or a wireless mode of communication. In general, any network topology may be used. Information (e.g., data, software 1920, etc.) may be communicated to and/or from computer system 1900 via network interface device 1940.

Computer system 1900 may further include a video display adapter 1952 for communicating a displayable image to a display device, such as display device 1936. Examples of a display device include, but are not limited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display, a light emitting diode (LED) display, and any combinations thereof. Display adapter 1952 and display device 1936 may be utilized in combination with processor 1904 to provide graphical representations of aspects of the present disclosure. In addition to a display device, computer system 1900 may include one or more other peripheral output devices including, but not limited to, an audio speaker, a printer, and any combinations thereof. Such peripheral output devices may be connected to bus 1912 via a peripheral interface 1956. Examples of a peripheral interface include, but are not limited to, a serial port, a USB connection, a FIREWIRE connection, a parallel connection, and any combinations thereof.

The foregoing has been a detailed description of illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. Various modifications and additions can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Features of each of the various embodiments described above may be combined with features of other described embodiments as appropriate in order to provide a multiplicity of feature combinations in associated new embodiments. Furthermore, while the foregoing describes a number of separate embodiments, what has been described herein is merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the present disclosure. Additionally, although particular methods herein may be illustrated and/or described as being performed in a specific order, the ordering is highly variable within ordinary skill to achieve methods, systems, and software according to the present disclosure. Accordingly, this description is meant to be taken only by way of example, and not to otherwise limit the scope of this disclosure.

Exemplary embodiments have been disclosed above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, omissions and additions may be made to that which is specifically disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.