{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9701404","patent":{"patent_number":"US-9701404","title":"Method and apparatus for aircraft sensor and actuator failure protection using reconfigurable flight control laws","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2014-07-01T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2017-07-11T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["G05B","G05B","G05D","G05D","G05B","G05B"],"num_claims":8,"abstract":"A method and apparatus for reconfiguring flight control of an aircraft during a failure while the aircraft is flying. The method and apparatus provide a control law that is software-implemented and configured to automatically send flight control data to a mixing/mapping matrix. The method and apparatus also provide a reconfiguration management tool configured to communicate with the mixing/mapping matrix in order to safely transfer authority from a failed actuator to a back-up actuator. The method and apparatus also provide a sensor management tool for providing input to the reconfiguration management tool in order to smooth any transient conditions that may occur during reconfiguration. The method and apparatus provide for a way of smoothing any possible transient situation that might otherwise occur by employment of a fader, the fader being used to gradually convert positioning of failed actuators and positioning of reconfigured actuators. An exemplary aircraft for using the method and apparatus of a reconfigurable flight control system is a quad tilt rotor. The quad tilt rotor provides a variety of redundant and back-actuators, as such, having a robust and highly qualified reconfigurable flight control system is very desirable."},"analysis":{"summary":null,"layman_explanation":null,"technical_analysis":null,"business_analysis":null,"faqs":null,"topics":[],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Method and apparatus for aircraft sensor and actuator failure protection using reconfigurable flight control laws","description":"A method and apparatus for reconfiguring flight control of an aircraft during a failure while the aircraft is flying. The method and apparatus provide a control law that is software-implemented and co","keywords":[]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9701404","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9701404","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Method and apparatus for aircraft sensor and actuator failure protection using reconfigurable flight control laws\" (US-9701404). https://patentable.app/patents/US-9701404","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9701404","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-9701404","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-06-06T14:38:20.772Z"}