A fuselage, a support part supporting the fuselage, a thrust generation unit including fore, aft, left, and right thrust generators, and a flight controller controlling the unit are included. The fore, aft, left, and right thrust generators are respectively positioned on first, second, third, and fourth axes respectively extending in support part fore and aft, fore and aft, left and right, and left and right directions. The generators are respectively at the support part front, back, left, and right. The generators respectively generate thrust in directions intersecting the first, second, third, and fourth axes and can change thrust magnitude and direction around them. All generators are connected to the support part.

A control apparatus includes an acquisition unit that acquires captured data in which an object around a moving object is captured by an imaging unit, where the moving object is one of a moving object that is irradiated with spontaneous emission light and a moving object that moves with a predetermined pattern, and a determination unit that determines that the object is an obstacle if the captured data acquired by the acquisition unit includes a specific pattern.

A control apparatus includes an acquisition unit that acquires captured data in which an object around a moving object is captured by an imaging unit, where the moving object is one of a moving object that is irradiated with spontaneous emission light and a moving object that moves with a predetermined pattern, and a determination unit that determines that the object is an obstacle if the captured data acquired by the acquisition unit includes a specific pattern.

A projectile incorporates one or more spoiler-tabbed spinning disks to effect flow around the projectile and thus impart steering forces and/or moments. The spoiler tabs may be deployed only during steering phases of travel thus minimizing the drag penalty associated with steering systems. The disks are driven by motors and informed and controlled by sensors and electronic control systems. The spoiler tabs protrude through the surface of the projectile only for certain angles of spin of the spinning disk. For spin-stabilized projectiles, the disks spin at substantially the same rate as the projectile, but the disks may function in fin-stabilized projectiles as well. Any number of such spinning flow effector disks may be incorporated in a projectile, with the manner of functional coordination differing slightly for even and odd numbers of disks.

A projectile incorporates one or more spoiler-tabbed spinning disks to effect flow around the projectile and thus impart steering forces and/or moments. The spoiler tabs may be deployed only during steering phases of travel thus minimizing the drag penalty associated with steering systems. The disks are driven by motors and informed and controlled by sensors and electronic control systems. The spoiler tabs protrude through the surface of the projectile only for certain angles of spin of the spinning disk. For spin-stabilized projectiles, the disks spin at substantially the same rate as the projectile, but the disks may function in fin-stabilized projectiles as well. Any number of such spinning flow effector disks may be incorporated in a projectile, with the manner of functional coordination differing slightly for even and odd numbers of disks.

Leadscrew and nut actuators are described. The leadscrew and nut actuators include a leadscrew having an external thread and formed from a first material, a nut configured to receive the leadscrew, the nut having an internal thread and formed from a second material, and an insert arranged between the internal thread of the nut and the external thread of the leadscrew, the insert configured to transfer force between the external thread and the internal thread and prevent material contact between the leadscrew and the nut. The insert is formed of a third material different from the first material and the second material.

Leadscrew and nut actuators are described. The leadscrew and nut actuators include a leadscrew having an external thread and formed from a first material, a nut configured to receive the leadscrew, the nut having an internal thread and formed from a second material, and an insert arranged between the internal thread of the nut and the external thread of the leadscrew, the insert configured to transfer force between the external thread and the internal thread and prevent material contact between the leadscrew and the nut. The insert is formed of a third material different from the first material and the second material.

An aircraft and a control method therefor. The aircraft has: a velocity acquisition unit that acquires the velocity of the aircraft; a roll angle calculation unit that calculates the roll angle of the aircraft; a turning radius calculation unit that calculates the turning radius of the aircraft on the basis of the velocity and the roll angle; and a yaw rate calculation unit that calculates the yaw rate of the aircraft on the basis of the velocity and the turning radius. A control unit controls flight of the aircraft on the basis of the roll angle and the yaw rate.

There is disclosed in one example a flight control computer for a rotary aircraft, including: a first interface to communicatively couple to a flight control input; a second interface to communicatively couple to flight geometry actuators; a data source; a multi-dimensional lookup table including a data structure to correlate flight control inputs to flight geometry actuator outputs according to a third-factor; and circuitry and logic instructions to: receive an input via the first interface; query the data source for the third-factor; query the multi-dimensional lookup table for a control input modifier according to the flight control input and the third-factor; and compute and send via a third interface a flight geometry output according to the control input modifier.

Systems, methods, and apparatus to control aircraft roll operations are disclosed herein. An example system includes a control wheel position determiner to determine a control wheel position based on an input from a control wheel of the aircraft, a control wheel force determiner to determine a first control wheel force based on a sensor measurement, and a spoiler controller to map the control wheel position to a second control wheel force, the second control wheel force based on nominal characteristics of the aircraft, determine a first difference between the first control wheel force and the second control wheel force, and in response to determining that the first difference does not satisfy a threshold, move a flight control surface based on a third control wheel force, the third control wheel force based on a second difference between the first difference and the threshold.