RU2734170C1 - Multifunctional testbed aircraft (mfta) based on transport aircraft - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: vibration equipment.SUBSTANCE: invention relates to aircraft engineering, namely, to testbed aircrafts (TA) and can be used for flight testing of aviation equipment. Multifunctional testbed aircraft (MFTA) based on transport aircraft comprises transport aircraft with cargo compartment and manipulator. Manipulator is made with hydraulic drive, telescopic boom consisting of moving horizontally main part and deflectable part providing rotation and output into object flow. Unloading device is made in the form of unloading trolley, mechanically connected with main part of boom in point of attachment of deflected part of boom and moving along rail tracks, located in upper part of cargo compartment, due to and simultaneously with movement of main part of boom. At the end of deflected boom section there installed is device for attachment and orientation in flow of test object. MFTA also has a remote control and monitoring system which controls and controls the experiment both from the cargo compartment and the pressurized cabin.EFFECT: enabling flight tests of various objects by in-line method, obtaining necessary experimental results by orientation in test object flow.1 cl, 3 dwg

Description

Technology area

The invention relates to aviation technology, namely, to flying laboratories (LL) and can be used for flight tests of objects of aviation technology, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

State of the art

Known technology "Gremlin" ("The Americans will create a mechanical arm for catching" gremlins "https://nplus1.ru/news/2016/09/27/gremlins), which allows using a manipulator to release UAVs from the cargo compartment of the aircraft, using a cable towing systems to take on board a UAV equipped with a cable towing system hook.

However, this technology, designed to drop and receive only relatively light and small-sized UAVs in the immediate vicinity of the carrier aircraft due to the small length of the manipulator bar, does not provide the modes necessary for flight research and testing of large UAVs as in the modes of separation from the carrier aircraft and in towing modes in a lightly disturbed air flow, as well as with an open cargo hatch in the cargo compartment of the carrier aircraft at high altitudes, when low atmospheric pressure excludes the presence of people in the cargo compartment and, accordingly, the possibility of servicing the release and reception of the UAV.

Known US patent No. 3520502 "Device for unloading and returning cargo for an aircraft", publ. 07/14/1970, the contents of the transport aircraft in the cargo compartment, the unloading device, made in the form of a trolley moving with the cargo - a drone or an auxiliary aircraft - along the rail tracks located in the upper part of the cargo compartment. The load is towed on a deflected part of the rail, controlled by a lift mechanism with a winch with a cable. Also known US patent No. 9132916 "System for launching and returning to an aircraft UAV", publ. in 2015, containing a system for ejection and return of the same type, relatively small weight and size of UAVs from a container located outside the cargo compartment of a carrier aircraft or helicopter, in automatic mode using a grab-type gripper located on the manipulator.

However, these declared "device" and "launch system" are not multifunctional and cannot be used in research and testing of various UAVs with a large mass and size, as well as in the development of air platforms for transporting and dropping various objects, since the grab-type gripper cannot ensure the capture and retention of large-sized and large-sized UAVs. Also, the container with the UAV, located outside the aircraft, the helicopter carrier, is an element that perturbs the air flow, which, together with the short length of the manipulator bar, excludes the possibility of flight research by towing in a slightly disturbed air flow. At the same time, when the container is extended into the flow, the flight speed of the aircraft and helicopter carrier of the UAV inevitably decreases, and there is also a unmasking factor in the case of using a military UAV.

Known US patent No. 8231083 "System and method of air launch and return of an aircraft", publ. in 2012. In the system, UAVs are dropped and returned from the carrier aircraft using a cable mechanism. In this case, the tow rope is wound on a drum located in the cargo compartment, and the discharge and return is through the open cargo hatch in the tail of the aircraft.

However, at the same time, there is no rigid fixation of the UAV when it is released and returned to the aircraft carrier, which can lead, as a result of vortex disturbances, to a collision of the UAV with the carrier aircraft, and the cable mechanism does not provide movement inside the cargo compartment of the UAV during withdrawal and reception. without a pilot chute. And when taken on board the aircraft carrier, the cable mechanism does not provide a controlled entry of the UAV into the carrier aircraft, which does not allow the use of this system in flight research and testing of UAVs and air platforms.

The technical result, which the claimed invention is aimed at, consists in the possibility of conducting flight tests of various objects by the flow method, in mass quantities and in a short time at a moderate cost of the experiment due to the use of commercially mastered components, in obtaining the necessary experimental results by orientation in the flow of the test object in order to ensure its optimal position at the time of separation of the test object, to reduce balancing losses.

Significant signs

To achieve the specified technical result in a multifunctional flying laboratory based on a transport aircraft, containing a transport aircraft with a cargo compartment and a manipulator made with the ability, during a test flight, to remove the test object from the cargo compartment of the transport aircraft into the air stream, to tow it on the deflected part of the retractable boom manipulator with subsequent dumping or returning it to the cargo compartment, with an unloading device moving along the rail tracks located in the upper part of the cargo compartment, the test object is placed in the cargo compartment of the transport aircraft - the carrier, made with a subsystem for the withdrawal of the object through the cargo hatch located in the tail parts of the fuselage. The manipulator is made with a hydraulic drive, a telescopic boom, consisting of a horizontally moving main part and a deflectable part that provides rotation and output of the object into the stream. The unloading device is made in the form of an unloading carriage, mechanically connected to the main part of the boom at the attachment point of the deflected part of the boom and moving along the rail tracks located in the upper part of the cargo compartment, due to and simultaneously with the movement of the main part of the boom.

Additionally, at the end of the deflected part of the boom, a device is installed for fastening and orientation in the flow of the test object to ensure its optimal position at the time of separation of the test object and to reduce balancing losses.

At the same time, a remote control and monitoring system is installed on the IFLL, which monitors and controls the course of the experiment both from the cargo compartment and from the pressurized cabin.

The IFLL also has power supply devices for equipment, control and monitoring panels located both in the cargo compartment and in the pressurized cabin, and a video surveillance system.

The proposed multifunctional flying laboratory based on a transport aircraft is illustrated by the drawings shown in FIG. 1-3.

FIG. 1 shows the MFLL with the manipulator in the initial position.

FIG. 2 - manipulator in working position for unloading the test object.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the mechanism for the withdrawal and orientation of the test object in the IFLL.

MFLL (Fig. 1) contains a carrier aircraft 1, a cargo compartment 2, a manipulator 3 with a hydraulic drive (not shown) and a telescopic boom, consisting of a main part 4 and a deflectable part 5 with a device for fastening and orientation 6 of the test object 7, an unloading cart 8 on the track 10, connected through the connecting link 9 with the main part 4 of the telescopic boom 4, 5, the remote control and control 11 in the cargo compartment 2 and the remote control and control 12 in the pressurized cabin 13. A hydraulic cylinder 14 is installed in the cargo compartment, connected with a deflected part of the boom 5, a swing cylinder 15, associated with the attachment and orientation device 6.

The operation of the IFLL is carried out on the carrier aircraft 1 as follows.

In the initial position (Fig. 1), the test object 7 is in the cargo compartment of the carrier aircraft and is fixed on the attachment and orientation device 6 at the end of the movable deflectable part of the manipulator boom 5. In this case, the main 4 and deflectable 5 parts of the manipulator boom are in the retracted position. The protrusion of the test object 7 into the stream (Fig. 2, 3) occurs in the following order: according to the control signal from the control and monitoring panel 11, if the experiment is carried out at altitudes up to 4 thousand meters, or the control and monitoring panel 12 at altitudes of more than 4 thousand meters with the help of the hydraulic drive of the manipulator 3, the main part of the boom 4 is extended horizontally, while it is unloaded by the weight of the test object 7 by transferring the force to the unloading carriage 8 through the connecting link 9, moving along the track 10. The unloading carriage 8 does not have its own drive and moves together and due to the movement of the main part of the boom 4, driven by the hydraulic drive of the manipulator 3. When a given position is reached, on the signal from the control system from the control panel 11 or 12, the horizontal extension of the main boom 4 stops. Then, according to a signal from the control system from the consoles 11-12, the swing cylinder 14 of the deflected part of the boom 5 is rotated with its simultaneous extension to a predetermined position. In this case, the test object 7, fixed on the attachment and orientation device 6, is pushed into the flow. At the same time, according to a signal from the control system from the control panel 11 or 12, the rotation cylinder 15 of the attachment and orientation device 6 of the test object 7 is rotated to a predetermined position in order to ensure minimum balancing losses and the optimal pitch angle when the test object 7 is dropped, according to a signal from the control system in accordance with with the task, the object 7 is reset or separated from the device 6. In the case when the experiment involves a test by towing, the separation of the test object 7 is not performed, and after the end of the experiment, object 7 is put into the cargo compartment in the reverse order.

The main advantage of the invention lies in the possibility of conducting flight tests of various test objects in mass quantities and in a short time, at a moderate cost of the experiment, due to the use of mass-produced components. A separate advantage of the invention is the absence of the need to organize an expedition to the test site.

Claims (4)

A multifunctional flying laboratory (MFLL) based on a transport aircraft, containing a transport aircraft with a cargo compartment and a manipulator, made with the ability, during a test flight, to remove the test object from the cargo compartment of a transport aircraft into the air stream, to tow it on the deflected part of the extendable arm of the manipulator, followed by by dumping or returning it to the cargo compartment, with an unloading device moving along the rail tracks located in the upper part of the cargo compartment, characterized in that the test object is located in the cargo compartment of the carrier transport aircraft, made with a subsystem for withdrawing the object through the cargo hatch located in of the tail part of the fuselage, the manipulator is made with a hydraulic drive, a telescopic boom consisting of a horizontally moving main part and a deflected part that provides rotation and output into the flow of the object, the unloading device is made in the form of unloading trolley, mechanically connected to the main part of the boom at the attachment point of the deflected part of the boom and moving along the rail tracks located in the upper part of the cargo compartment, due to and simultaneously with the movement of the main part of the boom; additionally, at the end of the deflected part of the boom, a device is installed for fastening and orientation in the flow of the test object to ensure its optimal position at the time of separation of the test object and to reduce balancing losses; at the same time, a remote control and monitoring system was installed on the IFLL, which monitors and controls the course of the experiment both from the cargo compartment and from the pressurized cabin; also in the IFLL there are power supply devices for equipment, control and monitoring panels located both in the cargo compartment and in the pressurized cabin, a video surveillance system.

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