Patent ID: 11939050
Assignee: TEXTRON INNOVATIONS INC.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 11:
12. A method of autonomously controlling the orientation of an aircraft, comprising:
operating a plurality of thrusters operably coupled to a support member of an aircraft, each thruster configured to provide a variable thrust output, wherein the support member includes a first support member disposed on a first plane and a second support member disposed on a second plane different from the first plane, wherein a first group of the plurality of thrusters is operably coupled to the first support member and a second group of the plurality of thrusters is operably coupled to the second support member;
varying, via a controller, the thrust output of each thruster to rotate the support member about a rotation axis using only the thrust output of each thruster; and
coordinating, via the controller, the thrust output for each of the plurality of thrusters to control the flight orientation of the aircraft.