An aircraft includes an airframe with a thrust array attached thereto. The thrust array includes a plurality of propulsion assemblies that are independently controlled by a flight control system. A landing gear assembly is coupled to the airframe and includes a plurality of landing feet. An altitude sensor array includes a plurality of altitude sensors each of which is disposed within one of the landing feet such that when the aircraft is in the VTOL orientation, the altitude sensor array is configured to obtain multifocal altitude data relative to a landing surface. The flight control system is configured to generate a three-dimensional terrain map of the surface based upon the multifocal altitude data.
VTOL Aircraft having Multifocal Landing Sensors
2022-06-23
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
AUTOLAND SYSTEM FOR VTOL AIRCRAFT, VTOL AIRCRAFT, AND LANDING CONTROL METHOD FOR VTOL AIRCRAFT
European Patent Office | 2024
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