Method for Collision Detection upon Startup for an Aircraft Propulsion Drive

In the last decade, electrical propulsion systems have been considered for use in vertical take-off and landing aircraft as well as in small planes for 2 to 10 persons. They use propellers with blades that are potentially dangerous to passengers and service personnel. This paper proposes the method which helps to detect the collision of the blade with a human to prevent the propeller from further acceleration, causing harm. The mathematical model of the propulsion drive with the propeller was built to investigate the processes during the start of the motor. The detection method was developed which integrates the torque reference over the revolution. It is optimized for faster acceleration to gain the reference speed. The simulation results showed its robustness and applicability when the propeller is stalled by the human at the start or hits the human during the first revolution.