System and Method for Maintaining and Configuring Rotorcraft

Abstract

In an embodiment, a method includes: collecting usage and maintenance data for a rotorcraft at a computer of the rotorcraft; sending the usage and maintenance data to a fleet management server; generating individualized equipment data for the rotorcraft according to the usage and maintenance data at the fleet management server, the individualized equipment data including a lightweight digital representation of the rotorcraft and technical publications for the rotorcraft, the lightweight digital representation including mesh-based 3D visualizations of each component of the rotorcraft, the technical publications having views referencing the mesh-based 3D visualizations; sending the individualized equipment data to the computer of the rotorcraft; and persisting the individualized equipment data at the computer of the rotorcraft.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving individualized equipment data for a rotorcraft, the individualized equipment data comprising a lightweight digital representation of the rotorcraft and technical publications for the rotorcraft, the lightweight digital representation comprising a list of components of the rotorcraft and mesh-based 3D visualizations of the components of the rotorcraft, the technical publications having views referencing the mesh-based 3D visualizations;   performing a self-test of the rotorcraft with a health and usage monitoring system of the rotorcraft;   detecting an anomaly of the rotorcraft during the self-test;   selecting a relevant section of the technical publications corresponding to the anomaly of the rotorcraft; and   displaying the relevant section of the technical publications by:
 rendering an image using the mesh-based 3D visualizations; and 
 displaying the image on a terminal paired with the rotorcraft. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the views of the technical publications comprise a plurality of layers, and wherein displaying the relevant section of the technical publications further comprises:
 toggling visibility of the plurality of layers.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 collecting usage and maintenance data for the rotorcraft; and   sending the usage and maintenance data to a fleet management server, the individualized equipment data being received from the fleet management server.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein collecting the usage and maintenance data comprises obtaining health and usage data from the health and usage monitoring system. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein collecting the usage and maintenance data comprises obtaining maintenance records for the rotorcraft from the terminal. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 persisting the individualized equipment data at the rotorcraft.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the image is a kinematic simulation of a process from the technical publications. 
     
     
         8 . A method comprising:
 receiving individualized equipment data for a rotorcraft, the individualized equipment data comprising a lightweight digital representation of the rotorcraft, the lightweight digital representation comprising a list of components of the rotorcraft;   detecting a change in configuration of the rotorcraft using the individualized equipment data, the change in configuration of the rotorcraft being detected based on whether components that affect handling of the rotorcraft are present or absent within the list of the components of the rotorcraft;   updating control laws executed by a flight control system of the rotorcraft in response to detecting the change in configuration of the rotorcraft; and   controlling flight of the rotorcraft using the control laws.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein updating the control laws comprises:
 updating control loop filters of the control laws.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the control loop filters are applied to signals received from sensors of the rotorcraft. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the control loop filters are defined by filter gains, center frequencies, and widths. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the control laws are updated according to the list of the components of the rotorcraft. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 collecting usage and maintenance data for the rotorcraft;   sending the usage and maintenance data to a fleet management server; and   persisting the individualized equipment data at the rotorcraft.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein collecting the usage and maintenance data comprises obtaining health and usage data from a health and usage monitoring system of the rotorcraft. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein collecting the usage and maintenance data comprises obtaining maintenance records for the rotorcraft from a terminal paired with the rotorcraft. 
     
     
         16 . A rotorcraft comprising:
 a flight control system configured to execute control laws that control flight of the rotorcraft;   a health and usage monitoring system configured to collect usage and maintenance data for the rotorcraft; and   a configuration and maintenance system configured to:
 send the usage and maintenance data to a fleet management server; 
 receive individualized equipment data for the rotorcraft from the fleet management server, the individualized equipment data comprising a lightweight digital representation of the rotorcraft, the lightweight digital representation comprising a list of components of the rotorcraft; and 
 update the control laws based on the list of the components of the rotorcraft. 
   
     
     
         17 . The rotorcraft of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 sensors, wherein the health and usage monitoring system collects the usage and maintenance data from the sensors, wherein the flight control system controls flight of the rotorcraft based on signals received from the sensors.   
     
     
         18 . The rotorcraft of  claim 17 , wherein the flight control system is further configured to apply filters to the signals received from the sensors, and the control laws are updated by updating the filters. 
     
     
         19 . The rotorcraft of  claim 16 , wherein the lightweight digital representation of the rotorcraft further comprises usage and maintenance history of the rotorcraft. 
     
     
         20 . The rotorcraft of  claim 16 , wherein the configuration and maintenance system is further configured to:
 persist the individualized equipment data at the rotorcraft.