History of the Autopilot

• In 1912 the first autopilot was developed by the Sperry

Corporation. The autopilot is connected on a
gyroscopic heading indicator and a attitude indicator to
hydraulically operated elevators and rudders

• In 1914, Lawrence Sperry demonstrated the autopilot

in an aviation safety contest in Paris.

• In 1930, they tested a more compact and reliable

autopilot which kept the US Army CORPS., aircraft on
the true heading and altitude for 3 hours.
 History of the Autopilot

• In 1930, the Royal Aircraft Establishment in the United

Kingdom developed an autopilot called a pilots'
assister that used a pneumatically-spun gyroscope to
move the flight controls.[4]

• In 1949, Bill Lear his F-5 automatic pilot and automatic

approach control system

• Now, modern autopilots use computer software to

control the aircraft.
 Autopilot Concept

• An autopilot can be capable of many very time intensive task, helping

the pilot focus on the over all status of the aircraft and flight.

• It can automate a task

• Many advanced avionics installations really include two different, but

integrated, systems.
 One is autopilot
 Second is flight Director component

• When there are additional tasks of finding a selected course

(intercepting), changing altitudes, and tracking navigation sources with
cross winds, higher level calculations are required.
 How Autopilot works

Once an autopilot mode is engaged, the autopilot:

1. Determine which control movements are required to

follow the flight profile entered by the pilot

2. Moves the controls to affects tracking of the flight

profile.
What is an Automatic Flight Control System?

• Also called as AFCS, is a system which includes all equipment to control

automatically the flight of an aircraft or missile to a path or attitude
described by references internal or external to the aircraft or missile.

• the autopilot is more accurately described as the automatic flight

control system (AFCS)
Types of AFCS

Based on the task’s level of difficulty, the Automatic Flight Control System can be
categorized into four different types.

• AFCS as the trimmed flight holding system

This type of automatic control system is commonly known as the auto-
pilot which is the abbreviation of the automatic-pilot (AP). The AP system has
the task to take over some parts of the pilot’s routine tasks. The delegated tasks
to the AP system are typically easy and repeated tasks.

• AFCS as the stability augmentation system of the aircraft

This type of automatic flight control system improves the stability of an aircraft
at certain flight configurations and conditions within the flight envelope.
• AFCS as the command augmentation system of the aircraft
This system adds the power of input command of the pilot by
processing the input command and the generated aircraft motion to
optimize the input command to the aerodynamic control surface.

• AFCS as the stability provider and command optimizer

This kind of automatic flight control is commonly called Super
Augmentation Flight Control System. This control system is typically
used to create an artificial stability for the class of aircrafts which are
statically unstable.
Elements of AFCS

The basic elements in the control information loop are the controlled system
and the controller. For an aircraft, the controlled system consists of control
apparatus, control surface and the aircraft. Whereas the controller part consists
of three subsystems namely aircraft motion sensor, aircraft motion information
processor and control command generator.

• Front-end interface of flight control system

The front-end interface of the flight control system is the part where the
motion of the aircraft is observed, recorded and displayed in the presentation
map or transmitted in the form of information signal to the aircraft motion
information processor system.

• Back-end interface of flight control system

In the back-end interface, the control command generator is the part of the
system through which pilot command is inputted namely the controller
manipulator (stick, steering wheel or pedal) and propulsion controller
manipulator (power lever and condition lever).
Front-end Interface

Back-end Interface
Main Parts OF AFCS

There are in fact two mains parts to the AFCS, the Auto throttles and the Autopilot, but
there are also a number of other associated systems. It was designed to allow “hands off
control” after take-off during climb out through to landing.

The majority of the controls for the AFCS ( auto throttles and autopilots) are group together
above the pilots instrument panels, on the glare shield. This allows them to be in easy reach
of both pilots
Flight Director (FD)
♦ The Flight Director provides command bars on the EADIs for manual flying.
♦ When autopilot is engaged it follows the FD bars commands automatically.

Yaw Damper / turn coordination (YD).

♦ The Yaw Damper ensure yaw damping and turn coordination through the rudder control
linkage.
♦ Autopilot engagement automatically engages the Yaw Damper.
Main components are:
♦ one computer (Auto Flight Control System Computer ),
♦ one control panel,
♦ one Advisory Display Unit (ADU),
♦ three servo-actuators (one for each axis).

The computer exchanges data with:

♦ two Air Data Computers (ADC),
♦ two Attitudes and Heading Reference Systems (AHRS),
♦ two Symbol Generator Units (SGU),
♦ and one Advisory Display Unit (ADU), through the ASCB.

This means that communications between the components are digital, continuous and
multidirectional.

Both SGUs receive analog signals coming from their associated NAV Sensors (VOR, ILS,
MKR). This data is then transferred to the AFCS computer through the ASCB.
The functions performed by the AP / FD are as follows:
♦ Stabilizing the aircraft around its center of gravity while holding pitch attitude and heading
(basic mode, available in AP function only).
♦ Flying the aircraft on an acquired flight path ("upper hold modes"). These functions are
available in AP and FD as well.
♦ Automatic pitch trim function (autotrim).
v
AP engagement activates:

♦ pitch and roll actuator,

♦ yaw actuator if not previously engaged,
♦ autotrim function on the pitch axis.

The AP pushbutton engages the AP and YD functions simultaneously.

The YD pusbutton engages the YD only.

AP and YD engagement is inhibited on ground.

AP engagement is indicated by:

♦ Illumination of the arrows on both sides of the AP and YD pushbuttons on the

AFCS control panel .
♦ Display of the green AP ENG message on the EADIs.
Manual AP disengagement is achieved by:

♦ pressing AP or YD pushbutton on the AFCS control panel,

♦ using the normal pitch trim on either control wheels,
♦ pressing quick disconnect pushbutton on either control wheels,
♦ pressing GA pushbutton on either Power Levers,
♦ using the standby pitch trim,
♦ applying a force greater than 30 DaN (66 Lbs) on the rudder pedals,
♦ applying a force greater than 10 DaN (22 Lbs) on control column in pitch axis.
Thank you
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