Patent ID: 8041471
Filing Date: 2011-10-18
Classification: B64C,G05D

Abstract:
1. A vertical take-off and landing aircraft comprising: a fan for propelling the vertical take-off and landing aircraft; a driving device for electrically driving the fan; and a control device for controlling the driving device adaptively to an external force, wherein: the control device reduces a control resolution of a control amount that is applied to the driving device as the control amount to correct the external force decreases; the control device reduces the control resolution of the control amount that is applied to the driving device as a speed component perpendicular to a ground surface is small relative to a speed component parallel to the ground surface; the control device is selectively operable in a horizontal flight control mode to be selected when the speed component parallel to the ground surface is larger than the speed component perpendicular to the ground surface, or a vertical flight control mode to be selected when the speed component parallel to the ground surface is equal to or smaller than the speed component perpendicular to the ground surface or to be selected when the aircraft is stationary in air; when the flight control mode is switched from the vertical flight control mode to the horizontal flight control mode, the control device reduces the control resolution of the control amount to be applied to the driving device compared to that in the vertical flight control mode; when the flight control mode is switched from the horizontal flight control mode to the vertical flight control mode, the control device increases the control resolution of the control amount to be applied to the driving device compared to that in the horizontal flight control mode; and when it is unidentifiable to which of the horizontal flight control mode and the vertical flight control mode switching has been made, the control device assumes that switching has been made from the horizontal flight control mode to the vertical flight control mode to increase the control resolution of the control amount applied to the driving device compared to that in the horizontal flight control mode.