Flight plan evaluation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12437655-B2
Application number	US-202318325902-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 30, 2023
Priority date	May 30, 2023
Publication date	Oct 7, 2025
Grant date	Oct 7, 2025

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for evaluating a flight plan with respect to an executed route of an aircraft. An example method includes obtaining data associated with a route of a vehicle. The method further includes determining a first cost index associated with the route based at least in part on a segment of the data. The method further includes comparing the first cost index to a second cost index associated with a plan for the route. The method further includes determining a cost penalty associated with the route based at least in part on the comparison between the first cost index and the second cost index. The method further includes performing one or more actions associated with the vehicle in response to determining the cost penalty.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
obtaining data associated with a route of an aircraft;
applying a filter to the data to reduce noise;
detecting an event from a pattern in the data;
calibrating a performance model associated with the aircraft by:
determining a plurality of estimated coefficients;
determining a modeled fuel flow using the performance model and the plurality of estimated coefficients;
comparing the modeled fuel flow with an actual fuel flow associated with the data; and
determining a plurality of adjusted coefficients based on the comparison between the modeled fuel flow and the actual fuel flow;

determining a first cost index associated with the route based at least in part on a segment of the data associated with the event, wherein the first cost index is determined using the performance model and the plurality of adjusted coefficients;
comparing the first cost index to a second cost index associated with a plan for the route, wherein the second cost index is used to determine the plan;
determining a cost penalty associated with the route based at least in part on the comparison between the first cost index and the second cost index; and
performing one or more actions associated with the aircraft in response to determining the cost penalty.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing one or more pre-processing operations on the data; and
identifying the segment of the data corresponding to one or more phases of the route.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first cost index comprises:
determining one or more parameter values based at least in part on the performance model associated with the aircraft and the segment of the data; and
determining the first cost index based at least part on the one or more parameter values and the segment of the data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the first cost index comprises determining whether a difference between the first cost index and the second cost index is within a specified range.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the cost penalty comprises:
performing a simulation to determine a first cost associated with the plan for the route in response to the first cost index not being equal to the second cost index;
determining a second cost associated with the route based at least in part on the first cost index, a fuel consumption for at least a portion of the route, and a duration for the at least the portion; and
determining the cost penalty based at least in part on a comparison between the first cost and the second cost.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the cost penalty comprises setting the cost penalty to a particular value in response to the first cost index being equal to the second cost index.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data comprises one or more time-series including: pressure information, altitude information, fuel flow information, gross weight information, wind speed information, wind direction information, total air temperature information, Mach number information, heading information, course information, time information, latitude information, longitude information, or a combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data includes one or more time-series of sensor information recorded during the route of the aircraft.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the one or more actions comprises:
outputting an indication of the cost penalty via an application programming interface (API) to a computing device;
determining cost penalties associated with multiple vehicles, including the aircraft, and outputting a metric associated with the cost penalties to the computing device;
outputting an alert associated with the aircraft to the computing device;
adjusting a fee associated with the route for a future trip of the route;
updating the route of the aircraft for the future trip;
updating a model used to generate the plan for the route;
inspecting the aircraft;
performing maintenance on the aircraft; or
a combination thereof.

10. An apparatus, comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors being configured to:
obtain data associated with a route of an aircraft,
apply a filter to the data to reduce noise;
detect an event from a pattern in the data;
calibrate a performance model associated with the aircraft by:
determining a plurality of estimated coefficients;
determining a modeled fuel flow using the performance model and the plurality of estimated coefficients;
comparing the modeled fuel flow with an actual fuel flow associated with the data; and
determining a plurality of adjusted coefficients based on the comparison between the modeled fuel flow and the actual fuel flow;

determine a first cost index associated with the route based at least in part on a segment of the data associated with the event, wherein the first cost index is determined using the performance model and the plurality of adjusted coefficients,
compare the first cost index to a second cost index associated with a plan for the route, wherein the second cost index is used to determine the plan,
determine a cost penalty associated with the route based at least in part on the comparison between the first cost index and the second cost index, and
perform one or more actions associated with the aircraft in response to determining the cost penalty.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
perform one or more pre-processing operations on the data; and
identify the segment of the data corresponding to one or more phases of the route.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein:
to determine the first cost index, the one or more processors are further configured to:
determine one or more parameter values based at least in part on the performance model associated with the aircraft and the segment of the data, and
determine the first cost index based at least part on the one or more parameter values and the segment of the data; and

to compare the first cost index, the one or more processors are configured to determine whether the first cost index is equal to the second cost index.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein to determine the cost penalty, the one or more processors are further configured to:
perform a simulation to determine a first cost associated with the plan for the route in response to the first cost index not being equal to the second cost index;
determine a second cost associated with the route based at least in part on the first cost index, a fuel consumption for at least a portion of the route, and a duration for the at least the portion; and
determine the cost penalty based at least in part on a comparison between the first cost and the second cost.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein to determine the cost penalty, the one or more processors are further configured to set the cost penalty to a particular value in response to the first cost index being equal to the second cost index.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein:
the data comprises one or more time-series including: pressure information, altitude information, fuel flow information, gross weight information, wind speed information, wind direction information, total air temperature information, Mach number information, heading information, course information, time information, latitude information, longitude information, or a combination thereof.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein to perform the one

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Polaina Morales Manuel
• Lopez Leones Javier
• Vega Astorga Rubén

Classifications

• G08G5/20

  Arrangements for acquiring, generating, sharing or displaying traffic information (arrangements for monitoring traffic G08G5/72) · CPC title

• G08G5/34 Primary

  for flight plan modification · CPC title