Patent ID: 7984878

Claim:
A flight control system for controlling an aircraft, comprising: a plurality of primary controllers each configured to receive a first input and to output a primary control signal; a plurality of first transmission paths each coupled to a respective one of the primary controllers and configured to relay the primary control signal; an independent and dissimilar controller comprising at least one functional component that is dissimilar from a corresponding functional component of the primary controllers, wherein the differences of the dissimilar functional components of the primary controllers and independent and dissimilar controller comprise at least one of a wireless system versus a wired system, digital data transmission versus analog data transmission, and separate and distinct gain schedules, the independent and dissimilar controller configured to receive a second input and to output a backup control signal; a second transmission path coupled to the independent and dissimilar controller and configured to relay the backup control signal; an actuator having actuator electronics configured to receive the primary control signal along at least one of the first transmission paths and the backup control signal along the second transmission path, the actuator electronics being configured to determine if the primary control signal is valid, the actuator electronics being located remotely from the primary controllers and adjacent to the actuator, and the actuator electronics being further configured to output an actuator command based, at least in part, on the primary control signal if the primary control signal is valid and to output the actuator command based, at least in part, on the backup control signal if the primary control signal is not valid.