29/1/2014

HowStuffWorks "Autopilot Parts"

Home / Science / Transportation / Flight / Modern

MORE STUFF
LIKE THIS

10 Science
Experiments to
Do in the Snow

10 Weirdest
Sources for
Antibiotics

Puzzle: Shuttle
Launch

How Autopilot Works

by William Harris

38

Like

66

Tw eet

Page 1 2 3 4

Autopilot Parts
The heart of a modern automatic flight control system is a computer with several highspeed processors. To gather the intelligence required to control the plane, the processors
communicate with sensors located on the major control surfaces. They can also collect
data from other airplane systems and equipment, including gyroscopes, accelerometers,
altimeters, compasses and airspeed indicators.
The processors in the AFCS then take the input data and, using complex calculations,
compare it to a set of control modes. A control mode is a setting entered by the pilot that

Image courtesy Bill Harris

defines a specific detail of the flight. For example, there is a control mode that defines how
an aircraft's altitude will be maintained. There are also control modes that maintain
airspeed, heading and flight path.
These calculations determine if the plane is obeying the commands set up in the control modes. The processors then send signals to various servomechanism
units. A servomechanism, or servo for short, is a device that provides mechanical control at a distance. One servo exists for each control surface included in the
autopilot system. The servos take the computer's instructions and use motors or hydraulics to move the craft's control surfaces, making sure the plane maintains its
proper course and attitude.
The above illustration shows how the basic elements of an autopilot system are related. For simplicity, only one control surface -- the rudder -- is shown, although
each control surface would have a similar arrangement. Notice that the basic schematic of an autopilot looks like a loop, with sensors sending data to the autopilot
computer, which processes the information and transmits signals to the servo, which moves the control surface, which changes the attitude of the plane, which
creates a new data set in the sensors, which starts the whole process again. This type of feedback loop is central to the operation of autopilot systems. It's so
important that we're going to examine how feedback loops work in the next section.
THE INVENTION OF AUTOPILOT

Famous inventor and engineer Elmer Sperry patented the gyrocompass in 1908, but it was his son, Lawrence Burst Sperry, who first flight-tested such a device
in an aircraft. The younger Sperry's autopilot used four gyroscopes to stabilize the airplane and led to many flying firsts, including the first night flight in the
history of aviation. In 1932, the Sperry Gyroscope Company developed the automatic pilot that Wiley Post would use in his first solo flight around the world.

Launch Video

Print

Cite

Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Feedback

38

Like

66

Tw eet

Ads by Google

http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/autopilot2.htm

1/3

29/1/2014

HowStuffWorks "Autopilot Parts"

Temperature Controller
Supplies Made to Order from World's Largest Supplier Base. Top Deals!
www.alibaba.com
Free AIPMT Videos & Notes
Free Access to 280+ hrs of AIPMT Videos, Notes & Tests.Regsiter Now!
www.thedigilibrary.com/Free/AIPMT
Chromalox Power Controls
Temperature and power control for process applications.
www.chromalox.com

MORE TO EXPLORE

Spons ored

Why India and Japan 10 Trade Secrets

are becom ing
We Wish We Knew
closer

10 Stand-up Facts
About Waterless
Urinals

10 Most Soughtafter Classic

Muscle Cars

Top 5 Unsolved
Brain Mysteries

10 Worst Things to
Donate After a
Disaster

10 Gam es that Take

Minutes to Learn
and a Lifetim e to
Master

10 Signs Youre Not

Happy

Spons ored

The Science of
Keeping You Warm

5 Septem ber 11
Conspiracy
Theories

[?]

ALL THINGS SCIENCE

10 Incredible Wind
Pow er Facts

10 Rem arkable
Exoplanets

Fact or Fiction:
Earthquakes

Top 10 Things
That Wom en
Invented

Strange, Spooky,
Scary: The
Supernatural Quiz

Watch 100 Greatest Discoveries videos

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Boeing 747
The gigantic, ubiquitous Boeing 747 transport symbolizes the most important aspects of
progress in civil aviation: the democratization and globalization of travel. Read about the
challenges and successes that Boeing had with their new 747 airplane.
How the Airbus A380 Works
It's the largest passenger jet ever built -- so huge that airports have to be redesigned to
accommodate it. Find out just how big the A380 is and what this type of craft means for the
future of air travel.

Popular Articles
Golden Age of Flight Timeline
How Blimps Work
Why doesn't the exhaust in a jet engine come out
the front?

Related Ad Categories
Autopilot
UAV Autopilot System
Servo Motor Control

http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/autopilot2.htm

2/3

29/1/2014

HowStuffWorks "Autopilot Parts"

8 comments

Add a com m ent

Jam one Kelly

Top Commenter Mentor at Stars Alliance

Good read.
Reply Like July 30, 2012 at 11:20am
Am ar Adhikari Works at HAL
nice stuff to learn.
Reply Like September 1, 2011 at 10:32pm
Karthikeyan Aero Works at Safran Engineering Services India
hai, sir i am doing my final year B.E.aeronautical..can you help me to get an oppurtunity to do my
final year project at HAL...pls reply sir..my mail id is karthik.ae.sapc@gmail.com
Reply Like September 21, 2011 at 8:51am
Siva Ram Design Engineer-(Aircraft Research and Development Centre-Rotary Wings Research & Design
Centare (RWRDC)) at Delta Technology
hi iam sivaram.
Reply Like September 2, 2011 at 7:14am
Vikash Sharm a Assam Engineering College
nice....stuff
Reply Like August 30, 2011 at 8:46am
Shanaka Kum ara Senanayake Works at Citihealth imports ( pvt) Ltd. [ Cipla ]
I like
Reply Like April 6, 2011 at 7:59am
Em re Aras
These are good informations for people w ho w ondered about how it w orks. I w ill add some extra
information and use this diagram for my mechatronic system design exam. thanks...
Reply Like June 2, 2011 at 11:58am
Ercan Durm u
like
Reply Like June 20, 2011 at 12:09pm
Facebook social plugin

http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/autopilot2.htm

3/3