Method and device for generating an optimum flight path intended to be followed by an aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10475347-B2
Application number	US-201715708355-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 19, 2017
Priority date	Sep 29, 2016
Publication date	Nov 12, 2019
Grant date	Nov 12, 2019

Abstract

A device includes a database including data related to obstacles, a first determination module for determining at least one obstacle intercepted by a direct flight path connecting an initial point to the target point, a second determination module for determining at least one lateral extreme apex of at least one intercepted obstacle, an evaluation module for assigning a rating to each section corresponding to a segment between a lateral extreme apex and the initial point, a storage module for storing in a memory the section corresponding to the optimum extreme apex having the best rating, the optimum flight path corresponding to all of the sections stored in the memory, the preceding modules being used iteratively, the device further including a transmission module for transmitting the optimum flight path to a user device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for generating an optimum flight path intended to be followed by an aircraft, the flight path being defined between a current point and a target point, the method comprising the following steps, executed automatically and iteratively by one or more processors:
a) a first determination step, implemented by one of the one or more processors, including determining at least one obstacle intercepted by a direct flight path connecting an initial point to the target point, the obstacle or obstacles corresponding to data comprised in a database containing data related to the obstacles, and the initial point corresponding to the current point in a first iteration, the initial point corresponding to an optimum extreme apex in the iterations following the first iteration;
b) a second determination step, implemented by one of the one or more processors, including determining at least one lateral extreme apex of at least one intercepted obstacle, on either side of the direct flight path;
c) an evaluation step, implemented by one of the one or more processors, including assigning a rating to each section corresponding to a segment between a lateral extreme apex and the initial point, the rating being representative of its ability to meet a fixed objective, the best rating being assigned to the optimum extreme apex;
d) a first storage step, implemented by a first storage module, including storing in a first memory each visible lateral extreme apex, with the rating assigned to it as well as a section of flight path between the initial point and the lateral extreme apex;
e) a second storage step implemented by a second storage module, including storing in a second memory the section corresponding to the optimum extreme apex,
the preceding series of steps a) to e) being repeated until a section between an optimum extreme apex and the target point does not encounter any obstacle, the optimum flight path then being reconstituted backwards on the basis of the target point and all of the sections stored in the second memory;
the method further comprising, after a last iteration:
f) a transmission step, implemented by one of the one or more processors, including transmitting the optimum flight path to a user device.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second determination step comprises the following sub-steps:
if a lateral extreme apex is directly visible from the initial point, a first determination sub-step, implemented by one of the one or more processors, including determining at least one coordinate of at least one lateral extreme apex directly visible from the initial point,
if a lateral extreme apex is hidden from the initial point, a second determination sub-step, implemented by one of the one or more processors, including executing the following sub-steps:
a sub-step of determining at least one obstacle intercepted by an auxiliary flight path connecting the initial point to the hidden extreme lateral apex, and
a sub-step of determining at least one coordinate of at least one lateral extreme apex of at least one intercepted obstacle, on either side of the auxiliary flight path.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation step includes determining, for each lateral extreme apex, the sum of a first distance between the current point and the lateral extreme apex and a second distance between the lateral extreme apex and the target point, the rating being inversely proportional to the sum of the first distance and the second distance.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first determination step is preceded by a step of transformation of the obstacles, implemented by one of the one or more processors, including applying an obstacle expansion function to the data relative to the obstacles.

5. A device for generating an optimum flight path intended to be followed by an aircraft, the flight path being defined between a current point and a target point, the device comprising:
a database comprising data related to obstacles,
a first determination processor, configured for determining at least one obstacle intercepted by a direct flight path connecting an initial point to the target point, the obstacle or obstacles corresponding to data comprised in the database, the initial point corresponding to the current point in a first iteration, the initial point corresponding to an optimum extreme apex in the iterations following the first iteration;
a second determination processor, configured for determining at least one visible lateral extreme apex of at least one intercepted obstacle, on either side of the direct flight path;
an evaluation processor configured for assigning a rating to each section corresponding to a segment between a lateral extreme apex and the initial point, the rating being representative of its ability to meet a fixed objective, the best rating being assigned to the optimum extreme apex;
a first storage module configured for storing, in a first memory, each lateral extreme apex with the rating assigned to it as well as the section between the initial point and the lateral extreme apex;
a second storage module configured for storing in a second memory the section corresponding to the optimum extreme apex;
wherein the first and second determination processors, evaluation processor and the first storage module and the second storage module are configured for being used iteratively until a section between an optimum extreme apex and the target point does not encounter any obstacle, the optimum flight path then being reconstituted backwards on the basis of the target point and all of the sections stored in the second memory;
the device further comprising a transmission processor configured for transmitting the optimum flight path to a user device.

6. The device according to claim 5 , wherein the second determination processor comprises:
a third determination processor, configured for determining at least one coordinate of at least one lateral extreme apex directly visible from the initial point, if a lateral extreme apex is directly visible from the initial point;
a fourth determination processor, configured for executing the following sub-steps, if a lateral extreme apex is hidden from the initial point:
a sub-step of determining at least one obstacle intercepted by an auxiliary flight path connecting the initial point to the hidden extreme lateral apex, and
a sub-step of determining at least one coordinate of at least one lateral extreme apex of at least one intercepted obstacle, on either side of the auxiliary flight path.

7. The device according to claim 5 , further comprising a transformation processor, configured for applying an obstacle expansion function to the data relative to the obstacles.

8. An aircraft comprising:
a device for generating an optimum flight path intended to be followed by the aircraft, the flight path being defined between a current point and a target point, the device comprising:
a database comprising data related to obstacles,
a first determination processor, configured for determining at least one obstacle intercepted by a direct flight path connecting an initial point to the target point, the obstacle or obstacles corresponding to data comprised in the database, the initial point corresponding to the current point in a first iteration, the initial point corresponding to an optimum extreme apex in the iterations following the first iteration;
a second determination processor, configured for determining at least one visible lateral extreme apex of at least one intercepted obstacle, on either side of the direct flight path;
an evaluation processor configured for assigning a rating to each section corresponding to a segment between a lat

Assignees

• Airbus Operations Sas

Inventors

• Mere Jean-Claude

Classifications

• G01C21/20 Primary

  Instruments for performing navigational calculations (G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence) · CPC title

• G08G9/02

  Anti-collision systems · CPC title

• G08G5/0021

  Physics · mapped topic

• G08G5/0078

  Physics · mapped topic

• G08G5/006

  Physics · mapped topic