Fly-by-Wire Inceptor Developed for eVTOL Aircraft

August 1, 2022

Sensata Technologies has developed a new fly-by-wire inceptor for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and has provided prototypes to several advanced air mobility manufacturers. A passive inceptor is a cockpit control device through which pilot inputs are collected and transmitted to actuators via the fly-by-wire system on the vehicle. Inceptors typically use position sensors like RVDTs to provide the inceptor stick’s actual positions to output to the flight control system.

Sensata combines its position sensors, multi-axis controllers and expertise in other cockpit controls to provide inceptor solutions that adhere to strict safety and reliability design requirements in order to achieve airworthiness certification.

Sensata’s passive inceptor is available in 1, 2 or 3 axis movement designs, with each axis utilizing at least three rotary variable differential transformers (RVDTs) for precise position output. The most common use of the 3-axis inceptor is to control the pitch, roll and yaw of the vehicle and features self-centering and independently customizable operating force in each axis. The grips that the pilot interfaces with can be tailored to each vehicle’s operational requirements, including integrated switch functionality.

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