Patent ID: 9233753
Filing Date: 2016-01-12
CPC Classification: B64C,Y02T

Claim Text:
1. A method of controlling an aircraft comprising an upper rotor including blades and a coaxial lower rotor including blades, the upper rotor and lower rotor being hingeless, rigid rotors, the method comprising: receiving, by a computing device comprising a processor, at least one input associated with the aircraft; generating, by the computing device, flight control signals based on the received at least one input; detecting, by sensors incorporated into the blades of at least one of the upper or lower rotor, bending moments; converting said bending moments into raw bending signals; extracting, by the computing device, harmonic loads from the raw bending signals; generate, by the computing device, servo control signals based on the harmonic loads and flight control signals; and controlling, by the computing device, servos connected to the blades to adjust the blades according to the servo control signals to reduce bending of the blades to improve blade tip clearance between blades on the upper rotor and blades on the lower rotor.