Patent ID: 9327825
Filing Date: 2016-05-03
CPC Classification: B64C,G05D

Claim Text:
1. A control system for an un-manned vehicle, comprising: a plurality of control computers each arranged to issue commands over a respective channel to an actuator control system to effect movement of a control surface of the un-manned vehicle, the actuator control system including at least a first control channel for receiving first primary command signals from a first of the plurality of control computers and a second control channel for receiving second primary command signals from a second of the plurality of control computers different to the first control computer; and a command monitor associated with each of the at least first and second control channels for comparing the first and second primary command signals received from the at least first and second control computer, respectively, with commands being issued by another one of the plurality of control computers, different than the first and second control computers, and to output the results of said comparison; the actuator control system comprising: for each of the at least first and second control channels, a first driver and a second driver, respectively, wherein the first driver and the second driver are both configured to drive a single actuator linked to the control surface; a change-over switching mechanism that selects one of the at least first and second control channels to be a selected active control channel for receipt of commands in respect of the control surface; and a channel isolation mechanism that receives the output result from the command monitor associated with the selected active control channel and, in the event that the comparison indicates a potential fault with respect to the selected active control channel, to disengage the selected active control channel and to engage a different one of the at least first and second control channels to be the active control channel for receipt of commands in respect of the control surface.