Flight management device

Abstract

To provide a flying object flight management device capable of efficiently determining a flight path across a plurality of controlled airspaces.SOLUTION: A flight management device for performing flight management of a flying object intended to fly across a plurality of controlled airspaces is provided, the flight management device being configured to integrally manage the plurality of controlled airspaces. The flight management device is configured to set a level of flight path determination difficulty indicative of how difficult it is to determine a flight path in each controlled airspace, and determine a flight path across the plurality of controlled airspaces on the basis of the set levels of flight path determination difficulty.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an aircraft traffic control device. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, in the current aviation law of Japan, flights beyond visual line of sight of flying objects, including unmanned aircraft such as drones, are permitted and approved on the condition that an assistant is present to take measures to control third-party access, monitor the aircraft and manned aircraft, and monitor the weather around the aircraft. In the future, there is a movement to permit and approve flights beyond visual line of sight without an assistant, but in order to do so, at least the role of the assistant must be replaced by the aircraft or ground equipment. Therefore, in the future, a traffic management device that manages the aircraft so that it can be operated safely and efficiently will be essential. This type of traffic management device or its function is also called UTM (Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management). Patent Document 1 is known as a prior art of UTM. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-154762 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The traffic management device determines the flight path of an aircraft in the managed airspace that it manages so that the aircraft can fly safely and efficiently. In the future, as the number of aircraft increases and the managed airspace becomes congested, it is expected that an event will occur in which it becomes difficult for the traffic management device to determine the flight path within the managed airspace. In particular, it is expected that the flight range of aircraft will become wider in the future, and an event will occur in which the flight path of one aircraft crosses multiple managed airspaces managed by different management entities. When determining a flight path that crosses multiple managed airspaces, the combinations of airspaces to be treated as candidates for the flight path will be enormous. This will cause an explosion in the amount of calculations performed by the traffic management device, which will make it virtually impossible to obtain an optimal solution within a finite time, and this may lead to a deterioration in the performance of the traffic management device.

[0005] The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 adjusts the flight plans of aircraft belonging to different groups, but it is only based on the premise that they fly within the same controlled airspace. The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not take into consideration the flight plans of aircraft that fly across multiple controlled airspaces.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide an aircraft traffic management device that can efficiently determine a flight route across multiple managed airspaces. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the traffic management device of the present invention is an traffic management device that performs traffic management of aircraft flying across multiple managed airspaces, and is characterized in that it manages the multiple managed airspaces in an integrated manner, sets a flight route determination difficulty level indicating the difficulty of determining a flight route within the managed airspace for each managed airspace, and determines a flight route across the multiple managed airspaces based on the set flight route determination difficulty level. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an air vehicle traffic control device capable of efficiently determining a flight route across multiple managed airspaces. Problems, configurations and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the functional configuration of the traffic management device shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the hardware configuration of the traffic management device shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] 3 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the traffic management device shown in FIG. 2; [Diagram 5] A diagram explaining controlled airspace. [Figure 6] A diagram explaining controlled airspace. [Figure 7] FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the results of global flight route determination for the multiple managed airspaces shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of dividing a managed airspace by voxels. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a flight plan created as a result of determining a local flight route for the controlled airspace shown in FIG. 8 . [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of dividing a managed airspace by a corridor. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a flight plan created as a result of local flight route determination for the controlled airspace shown in FIG. 10. [Figure 12] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining flight area information. [Figure 13] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining flight route determination based on flight area information. [Figure 14] 4 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for processing related to flight route determination. [Figure 15] 4 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for processing related to flight route determination. [Figure 16] 4 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for processing related to flight route determination. [Figure 17]17 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for the processing relating to local flight path determination shown in FIGS. 14 to 16. [Figure 18] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a penalty when local flight path determination fails. [Figure 19] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the difficulty of determining a flight route. [Figure 20] FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining global flight path determination based on the flight path determination difficulty level shown in FIG. 19 . [Figure 21] FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining global flight path determination based on the flight path determination difficulty level shown in FIG. 19 . [Figure 22] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the difficulty of determining a flight route. [Diagram 23] A diagram explaining an example where controlled airspaces are not close to each other. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that configurations or functions denoted by the same reference numerals in each embodiment have the same configurations or functions in each embodiment unless otherwise specified, and description thereof will be omitted.

[0011] [Example 1] In the first embodiment, a basic embodiment of the traffic management device will be described. Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining the traffic management device. Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining the functional configuration of the traffic management device shown in Fig. 1.

[0012] The traffic management device 100 is a device that performs traffic management and flight control of an air vehicle 200, including an unmanned aerial vehicle such as a drone. The traffic management device 100 may be a ground facility that constitutes a UTM. The traffic management device 100 can also be called a control device for the air vehicle 200.

[0013] The traffic management device 100 can perform traffic management and flight control of the aircraft 200 that flies across multiple managed airspaces. The managed airspace is an airspace managed by a service provider (UAS Service Supplier) that performs traffic management and flight control of the aircraft 200. At least some of the multiple managed airspaces in which the aircraft 200 flies may be managed by different management entities. In this embodiment, the traffic management device 100 comprehensively manages the multiple managed airspaces.

[0014] The traffic management device 100 performs traffic management and flight control of the flying object 200 based on the flight area information 310 and the aircraft attribute level information 320. Specifically, the traffic management device 100 creates a flight plan 330 for the flying object 200 based on the flight area information 310 and the aircraft attribute level information 320, confirms (approves and registers) the created flight plan 330, and guides and controls the flying object 200 to fly according to the flight path. For this purpose, the traffic management device 100 includes a flight plan creation unit 110, a flight plan confirmation unit 120, and a guidance control unit 130 as shown in FIG. 2.

[0015] The flight plan creation unit 110 creates a flight plan 330 for the aircraft 200. The flight plan 330 includes at least a flight route from the departure point (including the sky, also referred to as the departure point) of the aircraft 200 to the arrival point (including the sky, also referred to as the arrival point) and the scheduled times of passage (including the scheduled times of departure and arrival) of the airspaces passed through on the flight route. The flight plan creation unit 110 determines the flight route based on the flight feasible area information 310 and the aircraft attribute level information 320, and creates the flight plan 330.

[0016] The aircraft attribute level information 320 is information indicating the attributes of the aircraft 200 divided into levels. The aircraft attribute level information 320 includes flight continuation performance information, which is information indicating the ability of the aircraft 200 to continue flying divided into levels. For example, the flight continuation performance information indicates the ability of the aircraft 200 to continue flying when the aircraft 200 breaks down. In this embodiment, three or more stages of aircraft attribute levels are used as the aircraft attribute level information 320.

[0017] The flight area information 310 is information that indicates the area within the managed airspace where the flying object 200 can fly (hereinafter also referred to as "flight area"). The flight area information 310 is represented by information on voxels (or corridors), which are unit airspaces that divide the managed airspace. The flight area information 310 may also include information on the restriction level that restricts the flight of the flying object 200. The restriction level is used to set no-fly areas such as around (including above) important facilities. The flight area information 310 is set for each aircraft attribute level.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the traffic management device shown in FIG.

[0019] 3 shows the system configuration of the traffic management system 1 including the traffic management device 100. The traffic management device 100 is connected to the aircraft 200 and the terminal device group 140 via a network 150. The traffic management device 100 is realized by a computer, for example, a server device of a cloud or local system. The traffic management device 100 has a processing device 101, a communication device 102, a main memory device 103, and an auxiliary memory device 104. These are connected to each other via a communication path.

[0020] The processing device 101 is realized by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processing device 101 executes calculations according to a traffic management program 105 stored in an auxiliary storage device 104.

[0021] The communication device 102 realizes an interface function with the outside of the traffic management device 100. The communication device 102 receives input from users at the terminal device group 140 via the network 150 and transmits content to be displayed on the terminal device group 140. The communication device 102 communicates via the network 150 with other traffic management devices 100 that manage other managed airspaces.

[0022] The communication device 102 communicates with the air vehicle 200 via the network 150 or directly. Specifically, the communication device 102 transmits a control signal to the air vehicle 200 to guide the flight of the air vehicle 200 according to the calculations of the processing device 101. The communication device 102 receives information indicating the flight status (including the flying position, route, attitude, etc.) from the air vehicle 200.

[0023] The main memory 103 is loaded with the traffic management program 105 stored in the auxiliary memory 104 and information used for the calculation of the processing device 101. The auxiliary memory 104 is realized by a so-called storage. The auxiliary memory 104 is realized by various storage media such as an external HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), or memory card. The auxiliary memory 104 may be realized by a device other than the traffic management device 100, such as a file server. The auxiliary memory 104 stores the traffic management program 105, flight area information 310, aircraft attribute level information 320, and flight plan 330. In addition, the auxiliary memory 104 also stores other information such as flight-related information and flight route determination difficulty, which will be described later. The flight area information 310, aircraft attribute level information 320, and flight plan 330 may be stored in a device other than the traffic management device 100.

[0024] The traffic management program 105 is modularized according to its functions, and may be composed of a flight plan creation module 106, a flight plan determination module 107, and a guidance and control module 108. Each of these modules is realized by an individual program or a combination thereof. The traffic management device 100 may be realized by multiple devices divided according to their functions.

[0025] The flight plan creation module 106, the flight plan determination module 107, and the guidance control module 108 correspond to the flight plan creation unit 110, the flight plan determination unit 120, and the guidance control unit 130 shown in Fig. 2, respectively. The processing device 101 can realize each function of the flight plan creation unit 110, the flight plan determination unit 120, and the guidance control unit 130 by executing the traffic management program 105.

[0026] The terminal device group 140 is a group of terminal devices operated by a user and is realized by a computer. Although the terminal device group 140 in this embodiment is composed of a plurality of terminal devices, the terminal device group 140 may be composed of a single terminal device.

[0027] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the process executed by the traffic management device shown in FIG.

[0028] In step S1, the traffic management device 100 acquires flight-related information of the flying object 200. The flight-related information indicates information that is a prerequisite for creating a flight plan 330 of the flying object 200. The flight-related information includes, for example, information on the departure point, scheduled departure time, arrival point, and scheduled arrival time of the flying object 200. The flight-related information includes, for example, the remaining amount of fuel or battery loaded on the flying object 200, the weight of the flying object 200, and weather information. The traffic management device 100 may acquire the flight-related information by receiving a part of the flight-related information input by a user to the terminal device group 140, or by reading a part of the flight-related information stored in advance.

[0029] Furthermore, the traffic management device 100 sets a flight route determination difficulty level (hereinafter also referred to as "difficulty level"), which indicates the difficulty of determining a flight route within the managed airspace, for each managed airspace. Details of the flight route determination difficulty level will be described later in the eighth embodiment.

[0030] In step S2, the flight plan creation unit 110 of the traffic management device 100 identifies an aircraft attribute level corresponding to the flight-related information acquired in step S1, using the aircraft attribute level information 320. Specifically, the flight plan creation unit 110 searches for the aircraft attribute level information 320 including the flight capability corresponding to the acquired flight-related information, and identifies the aircraft attribute level indicated by the information.

[0031] In step S3, the flight plan creation unit 110 identifies a flight area that corresponds to the aircraft attribute level identified in step S2, using the flight area information 310. Specifically, the flight plan creation unit 110 identifies a position condition of a voxel that matches the identified aircraft attribute level. Then, the flight plan creation unit 110 identifies a restriction level of a voxel that corresponds to the identified position condition, using the flight area information 310. Then, the flight plan creation unit 110 extracts voxels that are flight areas, taking into account the identified restriction level.

[0032] In step S4, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines a number of controlled airspaces (hereinafter also referred to as "controlled airspaces to pass through") through which the flying object 200 will pass when flying from the departure point to the destination point, based on the flight route determination difficulty level of each controlled airspace set in step S1 (global flight route determination, S4a). Next, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines a flight route within the controlled airspace for each of the determined controlled airspaces (local flight route determination, S4b).

[0033] In the local flight route determination, the flight route is determined by combining the voxels extracted in each controlled airspace determined in the global flight route determination, that is, the flyable areas. Specifically, the flight plan creation unit 110 identifies voxels in each controlled airspace from among the voxels extracted in each controlled airspace such that the voxels are continuous or adjacent from the departure point to the arrival point included in the flight-related information, and identifies a route formed by combining the identified voxels as a flight route candidate. When there are multiple flight route candidates, the flight plan creation unit 110 evaluates the multiple flight route candidates to determine the flight route. When evaluating the flight route candidates, the flight plan creation unit 110 can use a short distance, a low restriction level, or a combination of these as evaluation conditions. In this way, the flight plan creation unit 110 can determine a flight route that crosses multiple controlled airspaces as a flight route from the departure point to the arrival point.

[0034] Furthermore, if there are no flight route candidates, the flight plan creation unit 110 outputs to the communication device 102 a message indicating that flight is not possible, and causes the communication device 102 to transmit the message to the terminal device group 140. The flight plan creation unit 110 may also output information prompting the user to create a flight plan to the communication device 102, and causes the communication device 102 to transmit the message to the terminal device group 140. Thereafter, the flight plan creation unit 110 ends the processing shown in FIG.

[0035] When the flight path is determined, the flight plan creation unit 110 creates a flight plan 330 by performing processing such as adding identification information of the aircraft 200 and the scheduled time of passage to each voxel that makes up the determined flight path.

[0036] In step S5, the flight plan determination unit 120 of the traffic management device 100 outputs the flight plan 330 created in step S4 to the communication device 102, which transmits it to the terminal device group 140. When the terminal device group 140 accepts an approval input from a user and the communication device 102 receives the approval input, the flight plan determination unit 120 determines that the flight plan 330 has been approved. The flight plan determination unit 120 registers the approved flight plan 330 in the auxiliary storage device 104. As a result, the flight plan determination unit 120 determines the flight plan 330.

[0037] In step S6, the guidance control unit 130 of the traffic management device 100 creates a control signal according to the flight plan 330 confirmed in step S5. Then, the guidance control unit 130 outputs the created control signal to the communication device 102, which transmits it to the flying object 200. The flying object 200 will fly according to the confirmed flight plan 330. At this time, the guidance control unit 130 outputs a control signal so that the flying object 200 flies through each voxel at the scheduled passing time included in the flight plan 330. Then, the guidance control unit 130 ends the process shown in FIG. 4.

[0038] In the process shown in FIG. 4, the flight management device 100 may have the flight plan creation unit 110 determine or create a plurality of flight routes or a plurality of flight plans 330, and the flight plan determination unit 120 or the guidance control unit 130 may select one that corresponds to the flying object 200 from among them. In this selection, the flight plan determination unit 120 or the guidance control unit 130 may adopt the evaluation method of the flight route candidates described in step S4. If the flight plan determination unit 120 or the guidance control unit 130 cannot select one that corresponds to the flying object 200 from among them, the flight plan creation unit 110 may determine or create a new flight route or flight plan 330. Also, the flight plan creation unit 110 may determine or create a flight route or flight plan 330 for each flight of the flying object 200.

[0039] As described above, the traffic management device 100 is a traffic management device that performs traffic management of the flying object 200 that flies across multiple managed airspaces. The traffic management device 100 manages multiple managed airspaces in an integrated manner. The traffic management device 100 sets a flight route determination difficulty level that indicates the difficulty of determining a flight route within the managed airspace for each managed airspace. The traffic management device 100 determines a flight route that spans multiple managed airspaces based on the set flight route determination difficulty level.

[0040] As a result, the traffic management device 100 can evaluate the difficulty of determining a flight route within each of a plurality of managed airspaces using an index common to each of the plurality of managed airspaces, and determine a flight route that spans a plurality of managed airspaces. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can accurately determine the managed airspace for which a flight route within the managed airspace should be determined, thereby reducing the probability of failure in determining a flight route within the managed airspace. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can efficiently determine a flight route that spans a plurality of managed airspaces.

[0041] Furthermore, the operation management device 100 determines multiple managed airspaces through which the aircraft 200 will fly from the departure point to the destination based on the flight route determination difficulty level (global flight route determination), and determines a flight route within the managed airspace for each determined managed airspace (local flight route determination).

[0042] This allows the traffic management device 100 to limit the managed airspace for which the flight route is to be determined before determining the flight route in the managed airspace, thereby limiting the number of voxels or corridors to be calculated when determining the flight route in the managed airspace. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can reduce the number of combinations of voxels or corridors treated as flight route candidates in the managed airspace, and can efficiently determine flight routes that span multiple managed airspaces without causing a combination explosion.

[0043] [Example 2] In the second embodiment, an embodiment of a controlled airspace will be described. Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining the controlled airspace. Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining the controlled airspace.

[0044] As shown in Fig. 5, the managed airspace consists of multiple managed airspaces 400-1 to 400-n (n: any natural number, n = 15 in Fig. 5). The multiple managed airspaces 400-1 to 400-n are managed in an integrated manner by one traffic management device 100. The traffic management device 100 calculates and sets a flight route determination difficulty level 300 for each managed airspace 400-1 to 400-n. The traffic management device 100 determines the flight route of the flying object 200 based on the flight route determination difficulty level 300.

[0045] The method of determining the flight path of the aircraft 200 first determines multiple controlled airspaces through which the aircraft 200 will pass when flying from the departure point to the destination point (global flight path determination), and then determines the flight path within each controlled airspace through which the aircraft 200 will pass (local flight path determination).

[0046] In the process of determining a global flight route, the controlled airspace to be passed through is determined based on the flight route determination difficulty 300. In the example of FIG. 5, the shortest route (for example, a straight route) from the departure point A to the destination point B is a route that passes through the controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-5, 400-10, and 400-15. The connection points between the controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-5, 400-10, and 400-15 are J1, J2, and J3, respectively. If there is a controlled airspace (the controlled airspace 400-5 in the example of FIG. 5) whose flight route determination difficulty 300 is equal to or higher than the standard on this shortest route, the controlled airspace to be passed through is determined by detouring the controlled airspace. In the example of FIG. 5, the controlled airspaces to be passed through are determined to be the controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15. The connection points between the managed airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15 are designated as J4, J5, J6, and J7, respectively. When a managed airspace with a flight route determination difficulty level 300 equal to or higher than a standard is to be detoured and a route to be taken via is determined, if there are multiple candidates, a detour route with a smaller detour angle θd or a detour route with a shorter route length is preferentially selected.

[0047] The managed airspaces 400-1 to 400-n are set up to a certain height based on ground coordinates, and one managed airspace 400-3 may be divided into separate managed airspaces 400-3-1 to 400-3-m (m: any natural number, m=3 in FIG. 6) for each altitude, as shown in FIG. 6. The managed airspaces 400-3-1 to 400-3-m may be managed by the traffic management device 100. Alternatively, the managed airspaces 400-3-1 to 400-3-m may be managed by traffic management devices 100a and 100b, which are multiple ground facilities constituting one UTM, as shown in FIG. 6.

[0048] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, one managed airspace 400-13 may be further divided into smaller managed airspaces 400-13-1 to 400-13-k (k: any natural number, k=5 in FIG. 6).

[0049] [Example 3] An example of a global flight route determination result will be described in Example 3. Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining a global flight route determination result for the multiple managed airspaces shown in Fig. 5 .

[0050] The result of global flight route determination is expressed as a combination of controlled airspaces to be passed through. As shown in Fig. 7, the result of global flight route determination is expressed as a combination of the ID of the controlled airspace to be passed through, the coordinates of the starting point and the scheduled time of passage within the controlled airspace, and the coordinates of the ending point and the scheduled time of passage within the controlled airspace. Fig. 7(a) shows a case where the shortest route from departure point A to destination point B is obtained as a result of global flight route determination. Fig. 7(b) shows a case where a detour route from departure point A to destination point B is obtained as a result of global flight route determination.

[0051] In Fig. 7(a), it is shown that the route passes through controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-5, 400-10, and 400-15. In Fig. 7(a), it is shown that the departure point A, connection points J1, J2, and J3, and the arrival point B are the starting point and the end point in each controlled airspace, and the scheduled time of passage at each starting point and each end point is shown. Note that the connection points are represented by voxel IDs as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, or corridor IDs as shown in Figs. 10 and 11.

[0052] In Fig. 7(b), it is shown that the flight will pass through controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15, respectively. In Fig. 7(b), it is shown that departure point A, connection points J4, J5, J6, and J7, and arrival point B are the starting point and ending point within each controlled airspace, and the scheduled times of passage at each starting point and each ending point are also shown.

[0053] [Example 4] In the fourth embodiment, an example of the local flight path determination result will be described. Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of dividing the controlled airspace by voxels. Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining a flight plan created as a result of the local flight path determination for the controlled airspace shown in Fig. 8.

[0054] A managed airspace 400-i (i: any natural number, 1≦i≦n), which is one of the multiple managed airspaces 400-1 to 400-n, is divided into multiple voxels as shown in FIG. 8. A flight path in the managed airspace 400-i can be expressed as a set of voxels that the flying object 200 occupies at each time. In this case, a flight plan 330 in the managed airspace 400-i is also expressed as a set of voxels that the flying object 200 occupies at each time as shown in FIG. 9. Specifically, the flight plan 330 is expressed as a set of date and time 331, voxel ID 332, flying object ID 333, and authentication signature 334. That is, it is shown that the flying object ID 333 occupies voxel ID 332 at the time of date and time 331. The voxel ID is expressed by the (X, Y, Z) coordinates of the voxel.

[0055] 8 and 9, the aircraft 200 occupies voxels (1,1,0), (1,1,1), (1,1,2), (1,1,3), (1,1,4), (1,1,5), (1,1,6), (1,1,7), (1,1,8), (1,0,8), (1,0,9), (0,0,9), and (0,0,10) as time progresses from 0:00:07 on December 12, 2022. Note that at 0:00:07 on December 12, 2022, the aircraft 200 occupies three adjacent voxels, (1,1,7), (1,1,8), and (1,0,8). Similarly, at 00:00:08 on December 12, 2022, the air vehicle 200 occupies two adjacent voxels, (1,0,9) and (0,0,9).

[0056] In order to prevent the flying bodies 200 from colliding with each other, it is necessary that the occupancy of the voxels by the flying bodies 200 is exclusive in space and time, that is, the date and time 331 and the voxel ID 332 are assigned to each flying body 200 so as not to overlap. That is, the flight plan creation unit 110 creates the flight plan 330 by determining the flight route within the managed airspace 400-i so that the date and time 331 and the voxel ID 332 are not assigned to multiple flying body IDs 333 in an overlapping manner.

[0057] The flight plan determination unit 120 confirms that the date and time 331 and the voxel ID 332 are not duplicated (not assigned to a plurality of aircraft IDs 333) every time the flight plan 330 is created or updated, and writes the authentication signature 334 as evidence of the confirmation. A predetermined code may be used as the authentication signature 334. Alternatively, a sum check of information such as the date and time 331, the voxel ID 332, and the aircraft ID 333 may be used as the authentication signature 334, or a calculated value of a predetermined polynomial using the information may be used. In this way, it is possible to determine whether the flight plan 330 is valid by determining whether the authentication expected value given by information such as the date and time 331, the voxel ID 332, and the aircraft ID 333 matches or does not match the authentication signature 334.

[0058] The guidance control unit 130 controls and guides the aircraft 200 based on the flight plan 330. Specifically, the guidance control unit 130 provides a control signal to the aircraft 200 according to the date and time 331, the voxel ID 332, and the aircraft ID 333 included in the flight plan 330. If there is a possibility that the flight of the aircraft 200 may deviate from the flight plan 330, the guidance control unit 130 provides a control signal to the aircraft 200 to correct the flight of the aircraft 200.

[0059] [Example 5] In the fifth embodiment, an example in which the controlled airspace is divided by a corridor will be described. Fig. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example in which the controlled airspace is divided by a corridor. Fig. 11 is a diagram for explaining a flight plan created as a result of determining a local flight route for the controlled airspace shown in Fig. 10.

[0060] The managed airspace 400-i may be divided into multiple corridors as shown in Fig. 10. The flight path in the managed airspace 400-i can be represented as a collection of corridors that the flying object 200 occupies at each time. In this case, the flight plan 330 in the managed airspace 400-i is also represented as a collection of corridors that the flying object 200 occupies at each time as shown in Fig. 11. Specifically, the flight plan 330 is represented as a collection of date and time 331, corridor ID 332', flying object ID 333, and authentication signature 334. That is, it indicates that the flying object ID 333 occupies the corridor ID 332' at the date and time 331.

[0061] 10 and 11 show that the flying object 200 occupies the corridor 13 at 00:00:00 on December 12, 2022, and occupies the corridor 23 at 00:00:10 on December 12, 2022. The flight plan creation unit 110 and the flight plan determination unit 120 create and determine the flight plan 330, similar to the fourth embodiment. The guidance control unit 130 performs guidance control of the flying object 200, similar to the fourth embodiment.

[0062] It is also possible to represent airspace near airports and branching points of flight routes using voxels as shown in Fig. 8, and routes connecting them using corridors as shown in Fig. 10. In this case, it is possible to share the same fields for voxel ID 332 and corridor ID 332', and to add an identifier to identify whether the ID indicates a voxel or a corridor. For example, in the case of voxel ID 332, the identifier "V" is prefixed to the field, and in the case of corridor ID 332', the identifier "C" is prefixed to the field.

[0063] [Example 6] In Example 6, an example of the flight possible area information will be described. Fig. 12 is a diagram for explaining the flight possible area information. Fig. 13 is a diagram for explaining flight route determination based on the flight possible area information.

[0064] The flight permitted area information 310 indicates the flight permitted area by the coordinates of the unit airspace (voxel or corridor) on the airspace map of the managed airspace, or the ID of the unit airspace (voxel ID or corridor ID). The flight permitted area information 310 in this embodiment includes the coordinates of protected objects 311, 312, 313 such as important facilities, and the coordinates of no-fly areas 314, 315, 316, ..., no-fly areas 317, 318, 319 of level L1 corresponding to the protected objects 311, 312, 313, respectively.

[0065] The above describes an example of the flight allowable area information 310 in which no-fly areas are set in advance on an airspace map. However, the flight allowable area information 310 may include coordinates of protected areas on an airspace map and information on restriction levels that restrict the flight of the aircraft 200, and the flight plan creation unit 110 may set no-fly areas (coordinates) of each restriction level from the flight allowable area information 310.

[0066] FIG. 13 shows an embodiment of determining a flight path based on the flight area information 310. The flight path when flying from point P to point Q in the controlled airspace must be separated from the protected objects on the path by a predetermined distance (X1 to X4 [m], where X1≦X2≦X3≦X4) according to the attributes (e.g., aircraft attribute level) of the aircraft 200. Therefore, the flight path when flying from point P to point Q is determined to be route R4, route R3, route R2, and route R1 in order of decreasing aircraft attribute level of the aircraft 200. When flying from point P to point Q, an aircraft 200 with a high aircraft attribute level can fly a shorter flight path. In order to determine the flight path as route R0, which flies over important facilities (including flights for maintenance and inspection of important facilities), only when the aircraft attribute level of the aircraft 200 is extremely high, the failure rate is low, and the security level is high.

[0067] [Example 7] In Example 7, an example of a process related to flight route determination will be described. Fig. 14 is a flowchart showing an algorithm of the process related to flight route determination. Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing an algorithm of the process related to flight route determination. Fig. 16 is a flowchart showing an algorithm of the process related to flight route determination.

[0068] The flowcharts shown in FIGS. 14 to 16 are executed in step S4 of FIG.

[0069] In step S10, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines a plurality of controlled airspaces through which the aircraft 200 will pass when flying from the departure point to the destination along the shortest route (for example, a straight route) as global flight route determination (1).

[0070] In step S11, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines, as a local flight route determination, a flight route in the managed airspace in the order of the managed airspace with the highest flight route determination difficulty among the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S10. For example, the flight route determination difficulty includes a difficulty level "low" in which a flight route in the managed airspace can be determined as the shortest route, a difficulty level "medium" in which a flight route in the managed airspace can be determined as a detour route that is not the shortest route, and a difficulty level "high" in which a flight route in the managed airspace cannot be determined as the detour route. Then, it is assumed that the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S10 are managed airspaces with a flight route determination difficulty level of "low" or a flight route determination difficulty level of "medium". In this case, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines the flight route in the managed airspace in the order of the managed airspace with a flight route determination difficulty level of "medium" and the managed airspace with a flight route determination difficulty level of "low".

[0071] In step S12, the flight plan creation unit 110 judges whether the local flight route determination is successful in all of the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S10. For example, if the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S10 include a managed airspace with a flight route determination difficulty level of "high", it is highly likely that the local flight route determination is not successful in all of the multiple managed airspaces. If the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S10 include only a managed airspace with a flight route determination difficulty level of "low", it is highly likely that the local flight route determination is successful in all of the multiple managed airspaces. If the local flight route determination is successful in all of the multiple managed airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 ends the processing related to flight route determination. If the local flight route determination fails in any of the multiple managed airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the local flight route determination at the time when the failure is determined, and proceeds to step S13.

[0072] In step S13, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines whether or not the estimated time of arrival is prioritized over the route length, etc., in the flight mission of the flying object 200. If the estimated time of arrival is prioritized, the flight plan creation unit 110 proceeds to step S30. If the estimated time of arrival is not prioritized, the flight plan creation unit 110 proceeds to step S20.

[0073] In step S20, the flight plan creation unit 110 postpones the scheduled departure time of the aircraft 200 until the flight route determination difficulty level of the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S10 is eased. For example, the flight plan creation unit 110 postpones the scheduled departure time of the aircraft 200 until the flight route determination difficulty level of a managed airspace with a "high" difficulty level included in the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S10 changes to a "low" or "medium" difficulty level.

[0074] In other words, if there is a controlled airspace with a flight route determination difficulty level above a standard among multiple controlled airspaces through which the aircraft 200 passes when flying from the departure point to the arrival point via the shortest route, the flight plan creation unit 110 delays the departure of the aircraft 200 until the flight route determination difficulty level of the controlled airspace falls below the standard.

[0075] As a result, the traffic management device 100 can fly the flying object 200 along the shortest route from the departure point to the destination while reducing the probability of failure in determining a local flight route, thereby maximizing the energy efficiency of the flying object 200. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can suppress the energy consumption of the flying object 200 while efficiently determining a flight route that spans multiple managed airspaces.

[0076] In step S21, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines a plurality of controlled airspaces through which the flying object 200 will pass when flying from the departure point to the destination point along the shortest route, as global flight route determination (1).

[0077] In step S22, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines, as a local flight route determination, a flight route within the controlled airspaces determined in step S21 in order from the controlled airspace with the highest flight route determination difficulty.

[0078] In step S23, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines whether the local flight route determination was successful in all of the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S21. If the local flight route determination was successful in all of the multiple managed airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 ends the processing related to flight route determination. If the local flight route determination failed in any of the multiple managed airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the local flight route determination at the time when the failure is determined, and proceeds to step S20.

[0079] In step S30, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines a managed airspace to be passed through as global flight route determination (2) by detouring a managed airspace with a high flight route determination difficulty included in the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S10 to a managed airspace with a low flight route determination difficulty. For example, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines a managed airspace to be passed through by detouring a managed airspace with a "high" difficulty included in the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S10 to a managed airspace close to the managed airspace and with a flight route determination difficulty of "low" or "medium".

[0080] In other words, if there is a controlled airspace with a flight route determination difficulty level above a standard among the multiple controlled airspaces through which the aircraft 200 will fly from the departure point to the destination via the shortest route, the flight plan creation unit 110 will determine multiple controlled airspaces through which the aircraft 200 will fly from the departure point to the destination, bypassing the controlled airspace.

[0081] As a result, the traffic management device 100 can operate the flying object 200 without delaying the departure while reducing the probability of failure in determining a local flight path, thereby minimizing delays in the arrival of the flying object 200. Furthermore, the traffic management device 100 can prevent flight paths from concentrating in a specific managed airspace. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can efficiently determine flight paths that span multiple managed airspaces, while preventing disruptions to the flight schedule of the flying object 200 and increasing the utilization efficiency of the entire airspace.

[0082] In step S31, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines, as a local flight route determination, a flight route within the controlled airspaces determined in step S30, in order from the controlled airspace with the highest flight route determination difficulty.

[0083] In step S32, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines whether the local flight route determination was successful in all of the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S30. If the local flight route determination was successful in all of the multiple managed airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 ends the processing related to flight route determination. If the local flight route determination failed in any of the multiple managed airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the local flight route determination at the time when the failure is determined, and proceeds to step S30.

[0084] In addition, when executing the processing related to flight route determination, if the difficulty of determining the flight route in the managed airspace is clearly high and it is impossible to determine the flight route, the flight plan creation unit 110 may start the processing related to flight route determination from step S13, as shown in Figure 15, without executing steps S10 to S12.

[0085] Furthermore, if local flight route determination is unsuccessful even after attempting global flight route determination (2) shown in step S30 a predetermined number of times, the flight plan creation unit 110 may postpone the scheduled departure time of the flying object 200 and execute global flight route determination (1) and local flight route determination, as shown in steps S34 to S36 of Figure 16. Steps S34 to S36 of Figure 16 are similar to steps S20 to S22.

[0086] In step S37 of Fig. 16, the flight plan creation unit 110 judges whether the local flight route determination was successful in all of the multiple managed airspaces determined in step S35. If the local flight route determination was successful in all of the multiple managed airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 ends the processing related to flight route determination. If the local flight route determination failed in any of the multiple managed airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the local flight route determination at the time when the failure is judged, and proceeds to step S30.

[0087] FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for the processing related to the local flight path determination shown in FIGS.

[0088] The flowchart shown in FIG. 17 is executed in each of steps S11, S22, S31, and S36 in FIGS.

[0089] In step S111, the flight plan creation unit 110 assigns 1 to the index i of the managed airspace to initialize it.

[0090] In step S112, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines the i-th most difficult flight route within the controlled airspace as a local flight route determination.

[0091] In step S113, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines whether the local flight route determination shown in step S112 is successful. If the local flight route determination shown in step S111 is successful, the flight plan creation unit 110 proceeds to step S114. If the local flight route determination shown in step S111 is unsuccessful, the flight plan creation unit 110 aborts and terminates the process related to the local flight route determination shown in FIG. 17.

[0092] In step S114, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines whether the managed airspace index i=n (the number of managed airspaces). If the managed airspace index i=n (the number of multiple managed airspaces), the flight plan creation unit 110 concludes that the local flight route determination has been successful for all of the multiple managed airspaces determined in the global flight route determination, and ends the process related to the local flight route determination shown in Fig. 17. If the managed airspace index i=n (the number of multiple managed airspaces) does not match, the flight plan creation unit 110 proceeds to step S115.

[0093] In step S115, the flight plan creation unit 110 increments the index i of the managed airspace and proceeds to step S112.

[0094] Here, in the local flight route determination (steps S11, S22, S31, S36), flight routes within the controlled airspace are determined in order starting with the controlled airspace with the highest flight route determination difficulty, because this minimizes the penalty in the event of failure in local flight route determination (i.e., the cost spent up until failure), as shown in Figure 18.

[0095] FIG. 18 is a diagram explaining penalties when local flight route determination fails. FIG. 18(a) is a diagram explaining penalties when local flight route determination fails when executed in order from the controlled airspace with the highest flight route determination difficulty. FIG. 18(b) is a diagram explaining penalties when local flight route determination fails when executed in order from the controlled airspace closest to the arrival destination. FIG. 18(c) is a diagram explaining penalties when local flight route determination fails when executed in order from the controlled airspace closest to the departure destination.

[0096] Comparing Figures 18(a) to 18(c), in the case of Figure 18(a), only the cost of determining the local flight path for the managed airspace 400-5, i.e., the amount of calculation or the amount of calculation time, is wasted until the local flight path determination for the managed airspace 400-5 fails and the processing is terminated. In contrast, in the case of Figure 18(b), in addition to the managed airspace 400-5, the cost of determining the local flight path for the managed airspace 400-10 and 400-15, i.e., the amount of calculation or the amount of calculation time, is wasted until the local flight path determination for the managed airspace 400-5 fails and the processing is terminated. In the case of Figure 18(c), in addition to the managed airspace 400-5, the cost of determining the local flight path for the managed airspace 400-1, i.e., the amount of calculation or the amount of calculation time, is wasted until the local flight path determination for the managed airspace 400-5 fails and the processing is terminated.

[0097] For this reason, the operation management device 100 determines a flight route within a managed airspace (a plurality of managed airspaces determined in global flight route determination) through which the aircraft 200 passes when flying from the departure point to the destination, in order of the managed airspace with the highest flight route determination difficulty (local flight route determination).

[0098] This allows the traffic management device 100 to minimize the penalty when a local flight route determination fails, and minimizes the amount of calculation or the loss of calculation time required until the failure. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can efficiently determine a flight route that crosses multiple managed airspaces.

[0099] In addition, if there is a managed airspace with an unknown flight route determination difficulty level among the multiple managed airspaces determined in the global flight route determination, the operation management device 100 will determine the flight route within the managed airspace in the following order: managed airspaces with an unknown flight route determination difficulty level, managed airspaces with a flight route determination difficulty level of "medium," and managed airspaces with a flight route determination difficulty level of "low" (local flight route determination).

[0100] This allows the traffic management device 100 to prioritize local flight route determination from managed airspaces with unknown flight route determination difficulty levels where there is a possibility of local flight route determination failing, thereby minimizing penalties when local flight route determination fails. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can efficiently determine flight routes that cross multiple managed airspaces even if there are managed airspaces with unknown flight route determination difficulty levels.

[0101] [Example 8] An example of the difficulty level of determining a flight route will be described in Example 8. Fig. 19 is a diagram for explaining the difficulty level of determining a flight route.

[0102] As shown in FIG. 19, the difficulty level of determining a flight route is set for each managed airspace. The difficulty level of determining a flight route is set for each scheduled time of passage of the flying object 200 in each managed airspace. The difficulty level of determining a flight route is set to "low" if a flight route in the managed airspace can be determined as the shortest route at that time. The difficulty level of determining a flight route is set to "medium" if a flight route in the managed airspace can be determined as a detour route that is not the shortest route at that time. The difficulty level of determining a flight route is set to "high" if a flight route in the managed airspace cannot be determined as a detour route at that time.

[0103] The traffic management device 100 sets the flight route determination difficulty level by calculating an index representing the likelihood of success or failure in flight route determination for each scheduled passing time of the flying object 200 in each managed airspace. For example, the traffic management device 100 can set the flight route determination difficulty level based on the number of times a flight route determination in the managed airspace has failed or the presence or absence of failure. In other words, the traffic management device 100 can set the flight route determination difficulty level based on the track record of local flight route determination results.

[0104] This allows the traffic management device 100 to appropriately reflect the possibility of failure in determining a flight route within the managed airspace in the flight route determination difficulty, thereby reducing the failure probability of local flight route determination and minimizing the penalty when local flight route determination fails. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can efficiently determine a flight route that spans multiple managed airspaces.

[0105] Also, for example, the traffic management device 100 can be set based on the number of flying objects 200 requesting to fly within the managed airspace.

[0106] This allows the traffic management device 100 to appropriately reflect the congestion status of the managed airspace at the time in the difficulty of determining a flight route, thereby reducing the failure probability of local flight route determination and minimizing the penalty when local flight route determination fails. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can efficiently determine a flight route that spans multiple managed airspaces.

[0107] Also, for example, the traffic management device 100 can set the flight route determination difficulty level based on the level at which flights within the managed airspace are restricted (restriction level).

[0108] This allows the traffic management device 100 to appropriately reflect the flight restriction situation in the managed airspace in the flight route determination difficulty, thereby reducing the failure probability of local flight route determination and minimizing the penalty when local flight route determination fails. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can efficiently determine flight routes that cross multiple managed airspaces.

[0109] Also, for example, the traffic management device 100 can set the flight route determination difficulty level based on a weighted average of the past flight route determination difficulty level and the current flight route determination difficulty level. Specifically, the traffic management device 100 can calculate the flight route determination difficulty level using the following formula. In the formula, W1 and W2 indicate weighting coefficients. [Average of past difficulty levels] indicates characteristics specific to the managed airspace, such as the number of important facilities that must be detoured. [Flight route determination difficulty] = (W1 x [average past difficulty] + W2 x [current difficulty]) / (W1 + W2)

[0110] This allows the traffic management device 100 to appropriately reflect the characteristics specific to the managed airspace in the difficulty of determining a flight route, thereby reducing the probability of failure in determining a local flight route and minimizing the penalty when the local flight route determination fails. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can efficiently determine a flight route that spans multiple managed airspaces.

[0111] In addition, for example, if an event corresponding to a "medium" difficulty level in local flight route determination in a managed airspace with a "medium" difficulty level occurs repeatedly in the managed airspace, the traffic management device 100 can add an index representing the difficulty level of flight route determination, and if the index reaches or exceeds a standard level, the difficulty level of flight route determination for the managed airspace can be changed to "high" difficulty.

[0112] This allows the traffic management device 100 to bypass not only managed airspaces with a "high" level of difficulty, but also managed airspaces where events equivalent to a "medium" level of difficulty occur frequently in the process of determining a global flight route, thereby reducing the probability of failure in determining a local flight route. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 can efficiently determine flight routes that span multiple managed airspaces, and can prevent flight routes from concentrating in a specific managed airspace, further improving the utilization efficiency of the entire airspace.

[0113] Fig. 20 is a diagram for explaining global flight route determination based on the flight route determination difficulty level shown in Fig. 19. Fig. 21 is a diagram for explaining global flight route determination based on the flight route determination difficulty level shown in Fig. 19.

[0114] The vertical axis of Figures 20 and 21 indicates the difficulty of determining a flight route for each controlled airspace, and the horizontal axis of Figures 20 and 21 indicates time (scheduled passage time). In Figures 20 and 21, the difficulty of determining a flight route for each time is shown as a bar graph.

[0115] FIG. 20 shows an example of flight route determination difficulty of the managed airspaces 400-1, 400-5, 400-10, and 400-15 on the shortest route from the departure point A to the arrival point B. FIG. 20 shows that the flying object 200, which departs from the departure point A at the scheduled departure time 1, arrives at the arrival point B at the scheduled arrival time 1. In this case, since the flight route determination difficulty in the managed airspace 400-5 is "high", there is a high possibility that the local flight route determination in the managed airspace 400-5 will fail. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 delays the departure of the flying object 200 until the flight route determination difficulty in the managed airspace 400-5 becomes "low" or "medium". For example, the traffic management device 100 postpones the scheduled departure time 1 to the scheduled departure time 2. The flying object 200, which departs from the departure point A at the scheduled departure time 2, will arrive at the arrival point B at the scheduled arrival time 2.

[0116] FIG. 21 shows an example of the flight route determination difficulty of the managed airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15 on the route that detours the managed airspace 400-5, which has a flight route determination difficulty level of "high." The managed airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15 on the flight route that detours the managed airspace 400-5 all have a flight route determination difficulty level of "medium" or "low" at their scheduled passage times. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 determines a flight route that detours the managed airspace 400-5, which has a flight route determination difficulty level of "high," and passes through the managed airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15. Aircraft 200 departs from departure point A at scheduled departure time 1 and arrives at destination B at scheduled arrival time 1'.

[0117] FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining the flight route determination difficulty.

[0118] For managed airspace with a "high" difficulty level, the traffic management device 100 can increase the time resolution or flight direction resolution of the flight route determination difficulty level, as shown in Figure 22, to distinguish between time periods or flight directions with a "high" difficulty level and time periods or flight directions that are not "high" difficulty level.

[0119] For example, in the managed airspace 400-5, if there is a time period with a "high" difficulty level (e.g., a time resolution of one hour) as shown in FIG. 22(a), the traffic management device 100 increases the time resolution as shown in FIG. 22(b) (e.g., a time resolution of 30 minutes). In the example of FIG. 22(b), the time period from 0 to 30 minutes is "high" difficulty level, but the time period from 30 to 0 minutes is "medium" difficulty level. Therefore, the traffic management device 100 further increases the time resolution of the time period from 0 to 30 minutes with a "high" difficulty level as shown in FIG. 22(c) (e.g., a time resolution of 15 minutes). Then, as shown in FIG. 22(c), it is found that the time period from 15 to 30 minutes is "high" difficulty level, but the time period from 0 to 15 minutes is "medium" difficulty level. As a result, the traffic management device 100 can simply delay the scheduled departure time of the flying object 200 so that it does not pass through the managed airspace 400-5 during the 15 to 30 minute period when the difficulty level is "high," thereby minimizing delays in the arrival of the flying object 200.

[0120] In addition, the traffic management device 100 may increase the resolution of the flight direction of the aircraft 200 in the managed airspace 400-5, as shown in Fig. 22(d). As shown in Fig. 22(d), it can be seen that the direction from south to north and the direction from north to south are of "high" difficulty, while the direction from east to west is of "medium" difficulty, and the direction from west to east is of "low" difficulty. This allows the traffic management device 100 to determine a flight route that extends in the east-west direction within the managed airspace 400-5, and does not need to detour around the entire managed airspace 400-5, thereby minimizing the increase in the route length of the flight route.

[0121] In addition, when a managed airspace with a "high" difficulty level is divided by altitude, such as managed airspaces 400-3-1 to 400-3-m shown in Fig. 6, the traffic management device 100 may set a "high" difficulty level for different flight directions in each managed airspace divided by altitude. Even in this case, the traffic management device 100 can increase the resolution of the flight direction in each managed airspace divided by altitude.

[0122] FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example in which controlled airspaces are not close to each other.

[0123] 23, even if the managed airspaces are not close to each other, the traffic management device 100 can connect the managed airspaces with corridors to determine the flight route of the aircraft 200. When the traffic volume between the managed airspaces 400-1 and 400-3 is high, the traffic management device 100 can connect the managed airspaces with multiple corridors, such as corridors 500-1-1 and 500-1-2.

[0124] In the above first to eighth embodiments, the traffic management device 100 has been described which determines the flight path of the flying object 200 flying in the air, which is a three-dimensional space. However, the traffic management device 100 can also be applied to cases where it determines the movement paths of various moving objects, such as a submersible such as an AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) that travels underwater, which is a three-dimensional space, or a vehicle, robot, or ship that moves in a two-dimensional space.

[0125] [others] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modified examples. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all of the configurations described. In addition, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of a certain embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of a certain embodiment. In addition, it is possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration.

[0126] In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in part or in whole by hardware, for example by designing them in an integrated circuit. In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, etc. may be realized by software, in which a processor interprets and executes a program that realizes each function. Information such as the program, tape, file, etc. that realizes each function can be stored in a memory, a recording device such as a hard disk or SSD (solid state drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, SD card, DVD, etc.

[0127] In addition, the control lines and information lines shown are those that are considered necessary for the explanation, and not all control lines and information lines in the product are necessarily shown. In reality, it can be considered that almost all components are connected to each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0128] 100...Flight operation control device, 200...Aircraft, 300...Flight route determination difficulty, 400-i...Managed airspace

Claims

1. A traffic management device that performs traffic management of an aircraft flying across a plurality of managed airspaces, and a flight plan creation unit that acquires flight-related information including a departure point and a destination point of the flying object, sets a flight route determination difficulty level indicating a possibility of failing to determine a flight route within the controlled airspace for each of the controlled airspaces, determines a plurality of controlled airspaces through which the flying object will pass when flying from the departure point to the destination based on the set flight route determination difficulty level, and determines a flight route within each of the determined plurality of controlled airspaces. A traffic management device characterized by:

2. The flight plan creation unit calculates an index representing the likelihood of success or failure in flight route determination and sets the flight route determination difficulty level.

2. The operation management device according to claim 1 .

3. The flight plan creation unit sets the flight route determination difficulty level for each controlled airspace at a scheduled passage time, which is a time when the aircraft is scheduled to pass through each controlled airspace, based on flight-related information including a scheduled departure time of the aircraft.

3. The operation management device according to claim 2 .

4. The flight plan creation unit determines a flight route within each of the plurality of controlled airspaces determined in order of the difficulty of determining the flight route within the controlled airspace.

3. The operation management device according to claim 2 .

5. When the flight route determination difficulty level is equal to or exceeds a standard level among the plurality of controlled airspaces through which the flying object passes when flying from the departure point to the destination on the shortest route, the flight route determination unit 10 determines the plurality of controlled airspaces through which the flying object passes when flying from the departure point to the destination by detouring the controlled airspace.

3. The operation management device according to claim 2 .

6. A guidance control unit that guides and controls the flying object so that the flying object flies according to the flight path, the flight plan creation unit creates a flight plan representing the determined flight path as a set of voxels occupied by the aircraft, and adding identification information of the aircraft and the scheduled passage time to each voxel; The guidance control unit creates a control signal according to the flight plan, and outputs the created control signal to a communication device to transmit the control signal to the flying object.

4. The operation management device according to claim 3 .

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