Systems and methods for estimating a fuel level for a flight of an aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025136289-A1
Application number	US-202318496099-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 27, 2023
Priority date	Oct 27, 2023
Publication date	May 1, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system and a method include a control unit configured to determine drag factors and fuel flow factors for different phases of one or more prior flights of an aircraft, and determine a fuel level for one or more upcoming flights of the aircraft based on the drag factors and the fuel flow factors for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system comprising:
a control unit configured to:
determine drag factors and fuel flow factors for different phases of one or more prior flights of an aircraft; and
determine a fuel level for one or more upcoming flights of the aircraft based on the drag factors and the fuel flow factors for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is further configured to receive flight data for the one or more prior flights of the aircraft, and wherein the control unit is configured to determine the drag factors and the fuel flow factors from the flight data.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the different phases comprise a climb phase, a cruise phase, and a descent phase.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the aircraft comprises a central fuel tank and one or more wing fuel tanks.

5 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface including a display and an input device, wherein the control unit is in communication with the user interface, and wherein the control unit is further configured to show configurable factors settings on the display.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to determine the fuel level, at least in part, by adjusting for drag polar aeroelastic effects.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is onboard the aircraft.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is further configured to automatically operate the aircraft during the one or more upcoming flights based on the fuel level determined for the one or more upcoming flights.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is an artificial intelligence or machine learning system.

10 . A method comprising:
determining, by a control unit, drag factors and fuel flow factors for different phases of one or more prior flights of an aircraft; and determining, by the control unit, a fuel level for one or more upcoming flights of the aircraft based on the drag factors and the fuel flow factors for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving, by the control unit, flight data for the one or more prior flights of the aircraft, and wherein said determining the drag factors comprises determining the drag factors and the fuel flow factors from the flight data.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the different phases comprise a climb phase, a cruise phase, and a descent phase.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the aircraft comprises a central fuel tank and one or more wing fuel tanks.

14 . The method of claim 10 , showing, by the control unit, configurable factors settings on a display of a user interface.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein said determining the fuel level comprises adjusting for drag polar aeroelastic effects.

16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the control unit is onboard the aircraft.

17 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising automatically operating the aircraft during the one or more upcoming flights based on the fuel level determined for the one or more upcoming flights.

18 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the control unit is an artificial intelligence or machine learning system.

19 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause one or more control units comprising a processor, to perform operations comprising:
determining drag factors and fuel flow factors for different phases of one or more prior flights of an aircraft; and determining a fuel level for one or more upcoming flights of the aircraft based on the drag factors and the fuel flow factors for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 , further comprising receiving flight data for the one or more prior flights of the aircraft, and wherein said determining the drag factors comprises determining the drag factors and the fuel flow factors from the flight data.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• López David Garrido
• De Prins Johan
• Vos Maxim Constantijn
• Klm Geun Ii
• Fregnani José Alexandre Tavares Guerreiro

Classifications

• G08G5/24

  Details of user input interfaces, e.g. use of speech recognition or specific text formats · CPC title

• G08G5/32

  for flight plan preparation · CPC title

• G08G5/55

  for a single aircraft · CPC title

• G08G5/21

  located onboard the aircraft · CPC title

• B64D2045/0085

  Devices for aircraft health monitoring, e.g. monitoring flutter or vibration · CPC title