Method and device for automatically comparing flight trajectories of aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9725157-B2
Application number	US-201514697896-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2015
Priority date	Apr 30, 2014
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

A method and device for automatically comparing two flight trajectories for an aircraft includes a central processing unit having a first comparison element for automatically comparing lateral trajectories of the two flight trajectories, and a second comparison element for automatically comparing vertical trajectories of these two flight trajectories, these comparisons being carried out successively leg by leg of the flights, these comparisons being carried out as long as the respective successive legs are identical and at least for a predefined distance in the horizontal plane.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for automatic comparison of a first flight trajectory and a second flight trajectory for an aircraft, wherein the first flight trajectory includes a first vertical trajectory and a first lateral trajectory, and the second flight trajectory includes a second vertical trajectory and a second lateral trajectory, wherein the first lateral trajectory and the second lateral trajectory each include a succession of lateral segments, with each lateral segment being defined by corresponding geometric parameters which describe a shape of the lateral segment and identify respective lateral departure and arrival points for the lateral segment, and the first vertical trajectory and the second vertical trajectory each include a succession of vertical segments, with each vertical segment being defined by corresponding geometric parameters which describe a shape of the vertical segment and identify respective vertical departure and arrival points for the vertical segment, the method comprising:
a) receiving the first flight trajectory and the second flight trajectory;
b) automatically carrying out at least one of the following comparison steps b1 and b2:
b1) comparing the first lateral trajectory and the second lateral trajectory of the first and second flight trajectories, wherein the comparison is performed by comparing the corresponding geometric parameters describing the shapes and the respective departure and arrival points of successive lateral segments of the first and second lateral flight trajectories, rather than comparing individual points along the first and second lateral trajectories, and wherein the comparison is continued for as long as the respective successive lateral segments of the first and second lateral flight trajectories are identical over a predetermined distance in a horizontal plane; and
b2) comparing the first vertical trajectory and the second vertical trajectory of the first and second flight trajectories, wherein the comparison is performed by comparing the corresponding geometric parameters describing the shapes and respective departure and arrival points of successive vertical segments of the first and second vertical flight trajectories, rather than comparing individual points along the first and second vertical trajectories, and wherein the comparison is continued for as long as the respective successive vertical segments of the first and second vertical flight trajectories are identical over the predetermined distance in the horizontal plane; and
c) transmitting automatically the result of the comparison carried out in step b1) or b2) to a guidance device comprising an automatic pilot and/or flight director of the aircraft, a display that presents graphical information to a crew in the aircraft cockpit and a trajectory change unit that changes the first flight trajectory of the aircraft to the second flight directory where the comparison carried out in step b1) or b2) indicates that the first and second flight trajectories are the same for the predetermined distance.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein in step b1 the comparison includes comparing a first lateral segment of the first lateral trajectory and a second lateral segment of the second lateral trajectory, wherein the first lateral segment and the second lateral segment are both one of a rectilinear shape or a curved shape, and have the respective departure point and arrival points, and the comparison includes:
E 1 ) verifying that the respective departure points of the first and second lateral segments are identical and, if they are not identical, concluding that the first and second lateral segments are different and, if they are identical, carrying out step E 2 ;
E 2 ) verifying if the first and second lateral segments are of the same shape and, if they are not of the same shape, concluding that the first and second lateral segments are different and, if they are of the same shape, carrying out step E 3 ;
E 3 ) determining if the first and second lateral segments are of a rectilinear shape or a curved shape, and if the first and second lateral segments are of the rectilinear shape carrying out a step E 4 ), and if first and second later lateral segments are of the curved shape carrying out a step E 5 );
E 4 ) verifying if the respective arrival points of the first and second lateral segments are identical and, if they are identical, finding that the first and second lateral segments are identical; and otherwise, carrying out a step E 4 A);
E 4 A) verifying if the orientations of the first and second lateral segments are identical and, if they are not identical, concluding that the first and second lateral segments are different; and otherwise, carrying out a step E 4 B);
E 4 B) determining a shorter one of the first and second lateral segments and treating the shorter of the first and second lateral segments as corresponding to the start of the longer segment;
E 5 ) verifying if directions of rotation of the first and second lateral segments are identical and, if they are not identical, determining that the first and second lateral segments are different; and otherwise, carrying out a step E 5 A);
E 5 A) verifying if centers of the first and second lateral segments are identical and, if they are not identical, concluding that the first and second lateral segments are different; and otherwise, carrying out a step E 5 B);
E 5 B) verifying if the respective arrival points of the first and second lateral segments are identical and, if they are identical, concluding that the first and second lateral segments are identical; and otherwise, carrying out a step E 5 C);
E 5 C) verifying if a turn radii of the first and second lateral segments are identical and, if they are not identical, concluding that the first and second lateral segments are different; and otherwise, carrying out a step E 5 D); and
E 5 D) determining which of the first and second lateral segments is the shorter of the first and second lateral segments and using the shorter lateral segment as corresponding to the start of the longer segment.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein in step b2 the comparison includes a comparison between a first vertical segment of the first flight trajectory and a second vertical segment of the second flight trajectory, each of the first and second vertical segments being either a vertical segment of rectilinear shape or a vertical segment of curved shape and each of the first and second vertical segments including the respective departure and arrival points, wherein the comparison between the first and second vertical segments includes:
F 0 ) verifying if the first and second vertical segments correspond to a same lateral segment and, if they do not correspond to the same lateral segment, drawing the conclusion that the first and second vertical segments are different; and otherwise, carrying out a step F 1 );
F 1 ) verifying if the departure points of the first and second vertical segments are identical and, if they are not identical, drawing the conclusion that the first and second vertical segments are different; and otherwise, carrying out a step F 2 )
F 2 ) verifying if the shapes of the first and second vertical segments are identical and, if they are not identical, drawing the conclusion that the first and second vertical segments are different; and otherwise, carrying out a step F 3 );
F 3 ) verifying if the two vertical segments of identical shape are of rectilinear shape or curved shape, and if the two vertical segments are of rectilinear shape carrying out a step F 4 ), and if the two vertical segments are of curved shape carrying out a step F 5 );
F 4 ) verifying if the arrival points of the first and second vertical segments are identical and, if they are identical, drawing the conclusion that the first and second vertical segments are

Assignees

• Airbus Operations Sas

Inventors

• Albert Nicolas
• Kozlow Boris

Classifications

• B64C13/04 Primary

  actuated personally · CPC title

• G08G5/0039

  Physics · mapped topic

• G08G5/34 Primary

  for flight plan modification · CPC title