System and Method for Controlling Rotorcraft Load Priority

Abstract

A rotorcraft includes an avionics control unit (ACU) and multiple power distribution units (PDUs) electrically connected to an electrical bus, wherein each PDU of the multiple PDUs is electrically connected to a respective multiple electrical loads, and wherein each PDU of the multiple PDUs is configured to receive commands from the ACU to couple or decouple one or more of its respectively connected multiple electrical loads from the electrical bus. The ACU is configured to send commands to the multiple PDUs to couple or decouple a first set of electrical loads and to couple or decouple a second set of electrical loads from the electrical bus, wherein the coupling or decoupling of the first set and the coupling or decoupling the second set is based on a first priority of the first set and a second priority of the second set, respectively.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 determining a state of a rotorcraft;   determining a first prioritization of a plurality of electrical loads of the rotorcraft, wherein each electrical load of the plurality of electrical loads is coupled to an electrical power supply of the rotorcraft by a power distribution unit (PDU) of a plurality of PDUs distributed throughout the rotorcraft, wherein determining the first prioritization comprises:
 based on the determined state of the rotorcraft, assigning each electrical load of the plurality of electrical loads to a load group of a plurality of load groups; and 
 based on the determined state of the rotorcraft, assigning a unique priority to each load group of the plurality of load groups; 
   choosing one or more load groups from the plurality of load groups, wherein the choosing is based on the priorities of the load groups of the plurality of load groups; and   transmitting decoupling signals to the PDUs of the plurality of PDUs that are coupled to at least one electrical load assigned to the one or more chosen load groups, wherein the decoupling signals instruct the PDUs to decouple their corresponding at least one electrical load from the electrical power supply.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein choosing one or more load groups from the plurality of load groups comprises:
 determining a first set of all of the load groups that have electrical loads coupled to the electrical power supply; and   choosing the load group of the first set of load groups that has the lowest assigned priority.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein choosing one or more load groups from the plurality of load groups further comprises choosing the load group of the first set of load groups that has the second-lowest assigned priority. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 after determining the first prioritization, determining an updated state of the rotorcraft; and 
 based on the updated state of the rotorcraft, determining a second prioritization of the plurality of electrical loads of the rotorcraft, wherein the second prioritization is different from the first prioritization. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein determining a second prioritization comprises assigning a different priority to at least one load group of the plurality of load groups of the first prioritization. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising transmitting coupling signals to the PDUs of the plurality of PDUs that are coupled to at least one electrical load assigned to the one or more chosen load groups, wherein the coupling signals instruct the PDUs to couple their corresponding at least one electrical load to the electrical power supply. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the state of the rotorcraft comprises a state of the electrical power supply of the rotorcraft. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the state of a rotorcraft comprises receiving pilot input indicating the state of the rotorcraft. 
     
     
         9 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, at an avionics control unit (ACU) of a rotorcraft, a first signal from a first sensor of the rotorcraft;   based on the first signal, determining a first prioritization for electrical loads of the rotorcraft, the first prioritization comprising the association of each of the electrical loads with a priority of a set of priorities;   receiving, at the ACU, a second signal from a second sensor of the rotorcraft; and   based on the second signal, transmitting, by the ACU, a third signal to power distribution units (PDUs) of the rotorcraft, wherein the PDUs each connect one or more electrical loads to an electrical power bus of the rotorcraft, wherein the third signal commands the PDUs to couple the electrical loads associated with a first priority of the set of priorities to the electrical power bus.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising:
 receiving, at the ACU, a fourth signal from the second sensor of the rotorcraft; and 
 based on the fourth signal, transmitting, by the ACU, a fifth signal to power distribution units (PDUs) of the rotorcraft, wherein the fifth signal commands the PDUs to decouple the electrical loads associated with a second priority of the set of priorities from the electrical power bus. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the first signal indicates a condition of an environment outside of the rotorcraft. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the first signal indicates a location of the rotorcraft. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the second signal indicates a status of the electrical power bus. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the number of priorities in the set of priorities is less than the number of electrical loads. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the third signal commands the PDUs to couple the electrical loads associated with a second priority of the set of priorities to the electrical power bus. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising, before receiving the first signal, determining a second prioritization for the electrical loads of the rotorcraft, wherein the second prioritization is different than the first prioritization. 
     
     
         17 . A method, comprising:
 determining, by an electrical control system of a rotorcraft, priorities assigned to designated groups of electrical loads of the rotorcraft, wherein the electrical loads are physically distributed across the rotorcraft, and wherein each group of electrical loads comprises different electrical loads respectively connected to different power distribution units (PDUs) of a plurality of PDUs of the rotorcraft;   monitoring, by the electrical control system, electrical power data from an electrical power sensor; and   transmitting, by the electrical control system, signals to the plurality of PDUs to decouple the groups of electrical loads from an electrical power source of the rotorcraft until the used electrical power of the rotorcraft is less than a first electrical power threshold, wherein the groups of electrical loads are decoupled in an order based on the priorities assigned to the groups of electrical loads.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein determining priorities assigned to designated groups of electrical loads of the rotorcraft comprises selecting from a plurality of predetermined priorities assigned to the designated groups of electrical loads. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , comprising receiving rotorcraft sensor data by the electrical control system, and wherein determining priorities assigned to designated groups of electrical loads of the rotorcraft is based on the received sensor data. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , comprising transmitting, by the electrical control system, signals to the plurality of PDUs to couple the groups of electrical to an electrical power source of the rotorcraft until the used electrical power of the rotorcraft is greater than a second electrical power threshold, and wherein the groups of electrical loads are coupled in an order based on the priorities assigned to the groups of electrical loads.