Jul 1, 2025

US12345513 - Projectile control actuation system and method of steering a projectile

A projectile incorporates one or more spoiler-tabbed spinning disks to effect flow around the projectile and thus impart steering forces and/or moments. The spoiler tabs may be deployed only during steering phases of travel thus minimizing the drag penalty associated with steering systems. The disks are driven by motors and informed and controlled by sensors and electronic control systems. The spoiler tabs protrude through the surface of the projectile only for certain angles of spin of the spinning disk. For spin-stabilized projectiles, the disks spin at substantially the same rate as the projectile, but the disks may function in fin-stabilized projectiles as well. Any number of such spinning flow effector disks may be incorporated in a projectile, with the manner of functional coordination differing slightly for even and odd numbers of disks.

Assignee: Orbital Research Inc.
Inventors: Zak Sowle, Srikanth Vasudevan, Matthew C. Birch
Filing date: 2023-10-11

The patent describes a guidance system for projectiles that utilizes spinning disks with flow-effecting spoilers to provide steering forces by deploying the spoilers at specific angles of spin. This system includes sensors and a controller to adjust the steering based on the projectile’s spin frequency and orientation, and it is designed as a modular fuze kit that can be attached to various projectiles.

Claim 1

A guidance system for a projectile comprising: at least one spinning disk having an axle, the spinning disk comprising or being asymmetrically shaped to comprise at least one flow-effecting spoiler, the axle of the spinning disk being positioned within a projectile such that, by the rotation of the spinning disk, the spoiler is adapted to deploy so as to protrude from an outer surface of the projectile only for some angles of spin of the spinning disk so as to exert a steering force and/or moment on the projectile; at least one sensor having a signal corresponding to a measurement of spin frequency and/or spin orientation of the projectile; and a controller adapted to adjust the steering force and/or moment on the projectile based at least in part on the signal of the at least one sensor, wherein the at least one spinning disk, the at least one sensor and the controller are comprised in a modular fuze kit adapted to be attached to a projectile. at least one spinning disk having an axle, the spinning disk comprising or being asymmetrically shaped to comprise at least one flow-effecting spoiler, the axle of the spinning disk being positioned within a projectile such that, by the rotation of the spinning disk, the spoiler is adapted to deploy so as to protrude from an outer surface of the projectile only for some angles of spin of the spinning disk so as to exert a steering force and/or moment on the projectile; at least one sensor having a signal corresponding to a measurement of spin frequency and/or spin orientation of the projectile; and a controller adapted to adjust the steering force and/or moment on the projectile based at least in part on the signal of the at least one sensor, wherein the at least one spinning disk, the at least one sensor and the controller are comprised in a modular fuze kit adapted to be attached to a projectile.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12345513

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12345513