Patent ID: 11891166
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  Y | IPC B

Claim 10:
11. An aircraft comprising:
a first rotor coupled to a first wing of the aircraft, the first rotor to autorotate during flight of the aircraft;
a first motor operatively coupled to the first rotor, the first motor to refrain from driving rotation of the first rotor when the first rotor is autorotating;
a second rotor coupled to a second wing of the aircraft, the second rotor to autorotate during flight of the aircraft;
a second motor operatively coupled to the second rotor;
a thruster disposed between the first wing and the second wing; and
a rotor operation manager to:
cause the first motor to switch between (a) electrically controlling a rotational speed of the first rotor when the first rotor is autorotating and (b) refraining from controlling the rotational speed of the first rotor when the first rotor is autorotating based on movement of the aircraft relative to one or more axes of rotation during flight;
cause the second motor to switch between (a) electrically controlling a rotational speed of the second rotor when the second rotor is autorotating and (b) refraining from controlling the rotational speed of the second rotor when the second rotor is autorotating;
cause movement of the aircraft relative to the one or more axes of rotation to be adjusted based on a thrust generated by the thruster when at least one of (a) the first motor is electrically controlling the rotational speed of the first rotor when the first rotor is autorotating or (b) the second motor is electrically controlling the rotational speed of the second rotor when the second rotor is autorotating; and
cause the first motor and the second motor to refrain from applying torque when switching between (a) electrically controlling the rotational speed of the first rotor and the second rotor when the first rotor and the second rotor are autorotating and (b) refraining from controlling the rotational speed of the first rotor and the second rotor.