Flight control system

Abstract

The objective is to provide an aircraft operation management system that can efficiently determine flight paths spanning multiple controlled airspaces. [Solution] The flight control system is a flight control system that manages the flight operations of an aircraft flying across multiple managed airspaces, and manages a portion of the multiple managed airspaces. The flight control system shares a flight path determination difficulty level, which indicates the difficulty of determining a flight path within a managed airspace, with other flight control systems that manage other managed airspaces, and acquires the flight path determination difficulty level for each managed airspace. Based on the acquired flight path determination difficulty level, it determines a flight path that spans multiple managed airspaces.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an operation management device for a flying object.

Background Art

[0002] The flight of a flying object such as a drone out of sight is permitted and approved, for example, in the current aviation law of Japan, on the condition that an assistant is provided to take measures for third-party access control, monitor the own aircraft and manned aircraft, and monitor the weather around the own aircraft. In the future, there is a movement to permit and approve flight out of sight without an assistant, but for this, it is required to at least replace the role of the assistant with a flying object or ground equipment. Therefore, in the future, an operation management device that can manage the operation of a flying object safely and efficiently will be indispensable. This type of operation 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

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The flight control system determines the flight paths of aircraft within the managed airspace to ensure safe and efficient flight. It is anticipated that as the number of aircraft increases and managed airspace becomes congested, it will become difficult for the flight control system to determine flight paths within that airspace. In particular, it is expected that the flight range of aircraft will expand, and the flight path of a single aircraft may span multiple managed airspaces controlled by different entities. When determining a flight path that spans multiple managed airspaces, the number of possible combinations of airspaces to consider as candidates becomes enormous. This could lead to a combinatorial explosion, where the computational load on the flight control system increases exponentially, making it virtually impossible to obtain an optimal solution within a finite time, potentially resulting in a decline in the performance of the flight control system.

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

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and aims to provide an aircraft operation management device that can efficiently determine a flight path spanning multiple controlled airspaces. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides an air traffic control device for managing the operation of an aircraft flying across multiple managed airspaces, which manages a portion of the multiple managed airspaces, shares a flight path determination difficulty score, which indicates the difficulty of determining a flight path within the managed airspace, with other air traffic control devices that manage other managed airspaces, acquires the flight path determination difficulty score for each managed airspace, and determines a flight path that spans the multiple managed airspaces based on the acquired flight path determination difficulty score. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an aircraft operation management device that can efficiently determine a flight path spanning multiple controlled airspaces. Other issues, configurations, and effects will be clarified by the following description of the embodiments. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] A diagram illustrating the flight control system. [Figure 2] Figure 1 illustrates the functional configuration of the flight control system. [Figure 3] Figure 2 illustrates the hardware configuration of the flight control system shown. [Figure 4] A flowchart showing the processes performed by the flight management system shown in Figure 2. [Figure 5] A diagram explaining the controlled airspace. [Figure 6] A diagram explaining the controlled airspace. [Figure 7] Figure 5 illustrates the results of determining global flight paths for multiple controlled airspaces. [Figure 8] A diagram illustrating an example of dividing controlled airspace using voxels. [Figure 9] Figure 8 illustrates the flight plan created as a result of determining local flight paths for the controlled airspace. [Figure 10] A diagram illustrating an example of dividing controlled airspace using corridors. [Figure 11] Figure 10 illustrates the flight plan created as a result of determining local flight paths for the controlled airspace. [Figure 12] A diagram illustrating information about the flyable area. [Figure 13] A diagram illustrating flight path determination based on information about the flyable area. [Figure 14] A flowchart illustrating the algorithm for determining flight paths. [Figure 15] A flowchart illustrating the algorithm for determining flight paths. [Figure 16]A flowchart showing an algorithm for a process related to flight route determination. [Figure 17] A flowchart showing an algorithm for a process related to local flight route determination shown in FIGS. 14 to 16. [Figure 18] A diagram explaining the penalty when local flight route determination fails. [Figure 19] A diagram explaining the difficulty of flight route determination. [Figure 20] A diagram explaining global flight route determination based on the flight route determination difficulty shown in FIG. 19. [Figure 21] A diagram explaining global flight route determination based on the flight route determination difficulty shown in FIG. 19. [Figure 22] A diagram explaining the difficulty of flight route determination. [Figure 23] A diagram explaining an example where management airspaces are not close to each other. [Figure 24] A diagram explaining the parallel execution of local flight route determination. [Figure 25] A diagram explaining the parallel execution of local flight route determination. [Figure 26] A diagram explaining the parallel execution of local flight route determination. [Figure 27] A diagram explaining the operations of each flight operation management device in the parallel execution of local flight route determination shown in FIG. 24.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

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

[0011] [Example 1] In Example 1, a basic example of a flight operation management device will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the flight operation management device. FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining the functional configuration of the flight operation management device shown in FIG. 1.

[0012] The flight management device 100 is a device that manages the operation and flight control of aircraft 200, including unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones. The flight management device 100 may also be ground equipment that constitutes the UTM. The flight management device 100 can also be referred to as a control device for aircraft 200.

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

[0014] The flight management device 100 performs flight management and flight control of the aircraft 200 based on the flyable area information 310 and the aircraft attribute level information 320. Specifically, the flight management device 100 creates a flight plan 330 for the aircraft 200 based on the flyable area information 310 and the aircraft attribute level information 320, confirms (approves and registers) the created flight plan 330, and guides and controls the aircraft 200 to fly according to the flight path. For this purpose, the flight 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 Figure 2.

[0015] The flight plan creation unit 110 creates a flight plan 330 for the aircraft 200. The flight plan 330 includes at least the flight path of the aircraft 200 from its departure point (including the airspace above, also referred to as the departure point) to its destination (including the airspace above, also referred to as the destination), and the scheduled times of passage through the airspace along the flight path (including the scheduled departure and arrival times). The flight plan creation unit 110 determines the flight path based on the flyable 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 that shows the attributes of the aircraft 200 divided into levels. The aircraft attribute level information 320 includes flight continuation performance information, which shows the ability of the aircraft 200 to continue flying divided into levels. For example, the flight continuation performance information shows the ability of the aircraft 200 to continue flying when the aircraft 200 malfunctions. In this embodiment, a multi-level aircraft attribute level of three or more stages is used as the aircraft attribute level information 320.

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

[0018] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the flight control system shown in Figure 2.

[0019] Figure 3 shows the system configuration of the flight management system 1, including the flight management device 100. The flight management device 100 is connected to the aircraft 200 and the terminal equipment group 140 via a network 150. The flight management device 100 is implemented by a computer, such as a cloud or local system server. The flight management device 100 includes a processing unit 101, a communication device 102, a main memory 103, and an auxiliary memory 104. These are connected to each other via a communication channel.

[0020] The processing unit 101 is implemented by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processing unit 101 performs calculations according to the flight management program 105 stored in the auxiliary storage device 104.

[0021] The communication device 102 provides an interface function for the flight control device 100 with the outside world. The communication device 102 receives input from users on the terminal device group 140 and transmits content to be displayed on the terminal device group 140 via the network 150. The communication device 102 also communicates with other flight control devices 100 that manage other controlled airspace via the network 150.

[0022] The communication device 102 communicates with the aircraft 200 via the network 150 or directly. Specifically, the communication device 102 transmits control signals to the aircraft 200 to guide its flight, in accordance with calculations performed by the processing unit 101. The communication device 102 receives information from the aircraft 200 indicating its flight status (including its position, path, or attitude).

[0023] The main memory 103 stores the flight management program 105 stored in the auxiliary memory 104, as well as information used for calculations by the processing unit 101. The auxiliary memory 104 is implemented by a so-called storage device. The auxiliary memory 104 can be implemented 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 implemented by a separate device from the flight management device 100, such as a file server. The auxiliary memory 104 stores the flight management program 105, flightable area information 310, aircraft attribute level information 320, and flight plan 330. Furthermore, the auxiliary memory 104 also stores other information, such as flight-related information and flight path determination difficulty, which will be described later. The flightable area information 310, aircraft attribute level information 320, and flight plan 330 may be stored in a device different from the flight management device 100.

[0024] The flight control program 105 is modularized according to its function and may consist of a flight plan creation module 106, a flight plan confirmation module 107, and a guidance and control module 108. Each of these joules is implemented by an individual program or a combination thereof. The flight control device 100 may be implemented by multiple devices separated according to their function.

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

[0026] The terminal device group 140 is a group of terminal devices operated by a user and is implemented by a computer. In this embodiment, the terminal device group 140 is composed of multiple terminal devices, but the terminal device group 140 may be composed of a single terminal device.

[0027] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the processes performed by the flight management system shown in Figure 2.

[0028] In step S1, the flight management device 100 acquires flight-related information for the aircraft 200. Flight-related information indicates information that is a prerequisite for creating the flight plan 330 for the aircraft 200. Flight-related information includes, for example, information on the departure point, scheduled departure time, arrival point, and scheduled arrival time of the aircraft 200. Flight-related information also includes, for example, the remaining amount of fuel or batteries on board the aircraft 200, the weight of the aircraft 200, and weather information. The flight management device 100 may acquire flight-related information by receiving a portion of the flight-related information entered into the terminal device group 140 by the user, or by reading a portion of the flight-related information that has been stored in advance.

[0029] Furthermore, the flight control system 100 shares the flight path determination difficulty (hereinafter also referred to as "difficulty"), which indicates the difficulty of determining a flight path within the managed airspace, with other flight control systems 100 that manage other managed airspaces. Specifically, the flight control system 100 sets the flight path determination difficulty for the managed airspace it manages and transmits it to other flight control systems 100 via the communication device 102. Furthermore, the flight control system 100 receives the flight path determination difficulty for other managed airspaces managed by other flight control systems 100 via the communication device 102. In this way, the flight control system 100 acquires the flight path determination difficulty for each managed airspace by exchanging and sharing the flight path determination difficulty with other flight control systems 100. Details of the flight path determination difficulty will be described later in Example 8.

[0030] In step S2, the flight planning unit 110 of the flight control device 100 identifies the aircraft attribute level corresponding to the flight-related information acquired in step S1 using the aircraft attribute level information 320. Specifically, the flight planning unit 110 searches for the aircraft attribute level information 320, which includes the flight capability corresponding to the acquired flight-related information, and identifies the aircraft attribute level indicated by it.

[0031] In step S3, the flight planning unit 110 identifies the flyable area corresponding to the aircraft attribute level identified in step S2 using the flyable area information 310. Specifically, the flight planning unit 110 identifies the positional conditions of voxels that match the identified aircraft attribute level. Then, the flight planning unit 110 identifies the restriction level of voxels corresponding to the identified positional conditions using the flyable area information 310. Finally, the flight planning unit 110 extracts voxels that constitute the flyable area, taking into account the identified restriction level.

[0032] In step S4, the flight planning unit 110 determines multiple controlled airspaces (hereinafter also referred to as "controlled airspaces to be passed through") that the aircraft 200 will pass through when flying from the departure point to the arrival point, based on the difficulty of determining the flight path for each controlled airspace acquired in step S1 (global flight path determination, S4a). Subsequently, the flight planning unit 110 determines the flight path within each of the determined controlled airspaces (local flight path determination, S4b).

[0033] In local flight path determination, the flight path is determined by combining voxels extracted within each managed airspace determined in the global flight path determination, i.e., the flyable areas. Specifically, the flight planning unit 110 identifies voxels within each managed airspace from among the voxels extracted within each managed 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 the paths formed by combining the identified voxels as flight path candidates. If there are multiple flight path candidates, the flight planning unit 110 evaluates the multiple flight path candidates and determines the flight path. When evaluating flight path candidates, the flight planning unit 110 can use short distance, low restriction level, or a combination of these as evaluation conditions. In this way, the flight planning unit 110 can determine a flight path that spans multiple managed airspaces as a flight path from the departure point to the arrival point.

[0034] Furthermore, if there are no flight path candidates, the flight plan creation unit 110 outputs to the communication device 102 that flight is impossible and has it transmitted to the terminal device group 140. The flight plan creation unit 110 may also output to the communication device 102 information prompting the user to create a flight plan and have it transmitted to the terminal device group 140. After that, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the process shown in Figure 4.

[0035] Once a flight path is determined, the flight plan creation unit 110 creates a flight plan 330 by adding identification information and estimated passage times for the aircraft 200 to each voxel that makes up the determined flight path.

[0036] In step S5, the flight plan confirmation unit 120 of the flight management device 100 outputs the flight plan 330 created in step S4 to the communication device 102 and has it transmitted to the terminal device group 140. When the terminal device group 140 receives approval input from a user and the communication device 102 receives said approval input, the flight plan confirmation unit 120 determines that the flight plan 330 has been approved. The flight plan confirmation unit 120 registers the approved flight plan 330 in the auxiliary storage device 104. With this, the flight plan confirmation unit 120 confirms the flight plan 330.

[0037] In step S6, the guidance control unit 130 of the flight control device 100 creates a control signal according to the flight plan 330 determined in step S5. The guidance control unit 130 then outputs the created control signal to the communication device 102, which transmits it to the aircraft 200. The aircraft 200 then performs the flight according to the determined flight plan 330. At this time, the guidance control unit 130 outputs a control signal to ensure that the aircraft 200 flies through each voxel at the scheduled passage times included in the flight plan 330. After that, the guidance control unit 130 completes the process shown in Figure 4.

[0038] In the process shown in Figure 4, the flight control system 100 may have a flight plan creation unit 110 determine or create multiple flight paths or multiple flight plans 330, and the flight plan confirmation unit 120 or guidance control unit 130 may select one of these that corresponds to the aircraft 200. When making this selection, the flight plan confirmation unit 120 or guidance control unit 130 may employ the flight path candidate evaluation method described in step S4. If the flight plan confirmation unit 120 or guidance control unit 130 cannot select one of these that corresponds to the aircraft 200, the flight plan creation unit 110 may determine or create a new flight path or flight plan 330. Alternatively, the flight plan creation unit 110 may determine or create a flight path or flight plan 330 for each flight of the aircraft 200.

[0039] As described above, the flight control system 100 is a flight control system that manages the flight operations of an aircraft 200 flying across multiple managed airspaces. The flight control system 100 manages a portion of the multiple managed airspaces. The flight control system 100 shares the flight path determination difficulty, which indicates the difficulty of determining a flight path within the managed airspace, with other flight control systems 100 that manage other managed airspaces, and acquires the flight path determination difficulty for each managed airspace. Based on the acquired flight path determination difficulty, the flight control system 100 determines a flight path that spans multiple managed airspaces.

[0040] As a result, the flight control system 100 can evaluate the difficulty of determining a flight path within each of the multiple managed airspaces using an indicator common to each of the multiple managed airspaces, and determine a flight path that spans multiple managed airspaces. Therefore, the flight control system 100 can accurately determine the managed airspaces for which a flight path should be determined, thereby reducing the probability of failure in determining a flight path within the managed airspace. Consequently, the flight control system 100 can efficiently determine a flight path that spans multiple managed airspaces.

[0041] Furthermore, the flight control device 100 determines multiple controlled airspaces that the aircraft 200 will pass through when flying from the departure point to the arrival point, based on the difficulty of determining the flight path (global flight path determination), and determines the flight path within each of the determined controlled airspaces (local flight path determination).

[0042] As a result, the flight control device 100 can limit the managed airspace in which a flight path will be determined before determining the flight path within that airspace, thereby limiting the number of voxels or corridors that are included in the calculation when determining the flight path within the managed airspace. Therefore, the flight control device 100 can reduce the number of combinations of voxels or corridors that can be treated as flight path candidates within the managed airspace, and thus can efficiently determine flight paths that span multiple managed airspaces without causing a combination explosion.

[0043] [Example 2] Example 2 describes an example of a controlled airspace. Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the controlled airspace. Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the controlled airspace.

[0044] As shown in Figure 5, the managed airspace consists of multiple managed airspaces 400-1 to 400-n (n: any natural number, in Figure 5, n=15). Each of the multiple managed airspaces 400-1 to 400-n is managed by multiple flight control devices 100-1 to 100-n. The flight control devices 100-1 to 100-n exchange and share the flight path determination difficulty 300 of each managed airspace 400-1 to 400-n managed by each flight control device 100-1 to 100-n. The flight control devices 100-1 to 100-n determine the flight path of the aircraft 200 based on the flight path determination difficulty 300.

[0045] The method for determining the flight path of aircraft 200 involves first determining the multiple controlled airspaces that aircraft 200 will pass through as it flies from the departure point to the arrival point (global flight path determination). Subsequently, the method for determining the flight path of aircraft 200 involves determining the flight path within each controlled airspace it passes through (local flight path determination).

[0046] In the process of determining global flight paths, the controlled airspace to be traversed is determined based on a flight path determination difficulty of 300. In the example in Figure 5, the shortest path from departure point A to arrival point B (for example, a straight path) is a path that passes through controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-5, 400-10, and 400-15. The connection points between each controlled airspace 400-1, 400-5, 400-10, and 400-15 are denoted as J1, J2, and J3, respectively. If there is a controlled airspace with a flight path determination difficulty of 300 or higher (controlled airspace 400-5 in the example in Figure 5) on this shortest path, the controlled airspace to be traversed is determined by bypassing that controlled airspace. In the example in Figure 5, the controlled airspace to be traversed is determined to be controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15. The connection points between each controlled airspace 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15 are designated as J4, J5, J6, and J7, respectively. When determining the controlled airspace to be traversed by bypassing a controlled airspace with a flight path determination difficulty of 300 or higher, if there are multiple candidates, the bypass route with a small bypass angle θd or a shorter bypass length will be given priority.

[0047] The controlled airspace 400-1 to 400-n is set up to a certain altitude based on ground coordinates, and as shown in Figure 6, one controlled airspace 400-3 may be divided into separate controlled airspaces 400-3-1 to 400-3-m (m: any natural number, m=3 in Figure 6) at different altitudes. The controlled airspaces 400-3-1 to 400-3-m are managed by the corresponding flight control devices 100-3-1 to 100-3-m.

[0048] [Example 3] Example 3 describes an example of the results of global flight path determination. Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating the results of global flight path determination for multiple controlled airspaces shown in Figure 5.

[0049] The result of global flight path determination is expressed as a combination of controlled airspaces to be traversed. As shown in Figure 7, the result of global flight path determination is expressed as a combination of the ID of the controlled airspace to be traversed, the coordinates of the starting point and the estimated time of passage within that controlled airspace, and the coordinates of the ending point and the estimated time of passage within that controlled airspace. Figure 7(a) shows the case where the shortest route from departure point A to arrival point B is obtained as a result of global flight path determination. Figure 7(b) shows the case where a detour route from departure point A to arrival point B is obtained as a result of global flight path determination.

[0050] Figure 7(a) shows that the route passes through controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-5, 400-10, and 400-15, respectively. Figure 7(a) shows that departure point A, connection points J1, J2, J3, and arrival point B are the starting and ending points within each controlled airspace, and also shows the estimated time of passage through each starting and ending point. The connection points are represented by voxel IDs as shown in Figures 8 and 9, or corridor IDs as shown in Figures 10 and 11.

[0051] Figure 7(b) shows that the route passes through controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15, respectively. Figure 7(b) shows that departure point A, connection points J4, J5, J6, J7, and arrival point B are the starting and ending points within each controlled airspace, and also shows the estimated times of passage through each starting and ending point.

[0052] [Example 4] Example 4 describes an example of the local flight path determination result. Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of dividing the controlled airspace using voxels. Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating the flight plan created as a result of the local flight path determination for the controlled airspace shown in Figure 8.

[0053] One of the multiple controlled airspaces 400-1 to 400-n, controlled airspace 400-i (i: any natural number, 1 ≤ i ≤ n), is divided into multiple voxels, as shown in Figure 8. The flight path within controlled airspace 400-i can be represented as a set of voxels occupied by the aircraft 200 at each time point. In this case, the flight plan 330 in controlled airspace 400-i is also represented as a set of voxels occupied by the aircraft 200 at each time point, as shown in Figure 9. Specifically, the flight plan 330 is represented as a set of date and time 331, voxel ID 332, aircraft ID 333, and authentication signature 334. That is, it indicates that aircraft ID 333 occupies voxel ID 332 at the time of date and time 331. The voxel ID is represented by the (X,Y,Z) coordinates of the voxel.

[0054] In the examples in Figures 8 and 9, it is shown that 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 0:00:00 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, aircraft 200 occupies two adjacent voxels, (1,0,9) and (0,0,9).

[0055] In order for the aircraft 200s to avoid collisions, the occupation of voxels by the aircraft 200s must be spatially and temporally exclusive; that is, the date and time 331 and voxel ID 332 must be assigned to each aircraft 200 so that they do not overlap. In other words, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines the flight paths within the managed airspace 400-i and creates the flight plan 330 so that the date and time 331 and voxel ID 332 are not assigned to multiple aircraft IDs 333s in overlapping manner.

[0056] Each time a flight plan 330 is created or updated, the flight plan confirmation unit 120 verifies that the date and time 331 and voxel ID 332 do not overlap (are not assigned to multiple aircraft IDs 333) and writes an authentication signature 334 as evidence of this verification. A predetermined code may be used as the authentication signature 334. Alternatively, a sum check of information such as the date and time 331, voxel ID 332, and aircraft ID 333 may be used as the authentication signature 334, or a calculated value of a predetermined polynomial based on said information may be used. By determining whether the authentication expected value given from the information such as the date and time 331, voxel ID 332, and aircraft ID 333 matches or does not match the authentication signature 334, it is possible to determine whether the flight plan 330 is valid or not.

[0057] The guidance control unit 130 controls and guides the aircraft 200 based on the flight plan 330. Specifically, the guidance control unit 130 provides control signals to the aircraft 200 according to the date and time 331, voxel ID 332, and aircraft ID 333 included in the flight plan 330. If there is a possibility that the flight of the aircraft 200 will deviate from the flight plan 330, the guidance control unit 130 provides control signals to the aircraft 200 to correct its flight.

[0058] [Example 5] Example 5 describes an example in which the controlled airspace is divided by a corridor. Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the controlled airspace is divided by a corridor. Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating the flight plan created as a result of local flight path determination for the controlled airspace shown in Figure 10.

[0059] The controlled airspace 400-i may be divided into multiple corridors, as shown in Figure 10. The flight path within the controlled airspace 400-i can be represented as a set of corridors occupied by the aircraft 200 at each time. In this case, the flight plan 330 in the controlled airspace 400-i is also represented as a set of corridors occupied by the aircraft 200 at each time, as shown in Figure 11. Specifically, the flight plan 330 is represented as a set of date and time 331, corridor ID 332', aircraft ID 333, and authentication signature 334. That is, it indicates that aircraft ID 333 occupies corridor ID 332' at the time of date and time 331.

[0060] In the examples in Figures 10 and 11, it is shown that the aircraft 200 occupies corridor 13 at 00:00:00 on December 12, 2022, and occupies corridor 23 at 00:00:10 on December 12, 2022. The flight plan creation unit 110 and the flight plan confirmation unit 120 create and confirm the flight plan 330, as in Embodiment 4. The guidance control unit 130 performs guidance control of the aircraft 200, as in Embodiment 4.

[0061] Furthermore, airspace near airports and flight path junctions can be represented by voxels, as shown in Figure 8, and the routes connecting them can be represented by corridors, as shown in Figure 10. In this case, the fields for voxel ID 332 and corridor ID 332' are shared, and it is conceivable to add an identifier to distinguish whether it represents 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.

[0062] [Example 6] Example 6 describes an example of flightable area information. Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating flightable area information. Figure 13 is a diagram illustrating flight path determination based on flightable area information.

[0063] The flyable area information 310 represents the flyable area by the coordinates of a unit airspace (voxel or corridor) on the airspace map of the managed airspace, or by the ID of the unit airspace (voxel ID or corridor ID). In this embodiment, the flyable area information 310 consists of the coordinates of protected objects 311, 312, and 313 such as important facilities, and the coordinates of no-fly zones 314, 315, 316, ... at level L1 and no-fly zones 317, 318, and 319 at level Lx, corresponding to the protected objects 311, 312, and 313, respectively.

[0064] The above describes an embodiment of the flyable area information 310 in which no-fly zones are pre-set on the airspace map. However, the flyable area information 310 may also include the coordinates of the protected area on the airspace map and the restriction level that restricts the flight of the aircraft 200, and the flight planning unit 110 may set the no-fly zones (coordinates) for each restriction level from the flyable area information 310.

[0065] Figure 13 shows an example of determining a flight path based on the flyable area information 310. When flying from point P to point Q within the controlled airspace, the flight path must be separated from protected objects, etc., along the path by a predetermined distance (X1 to X4 [m], where X1 ≤ X2 ≤ X3 ≤ X4) according to the attributes of the aircraft 200 (e.g., aircraft attribute level). Therefore, when flying from point P to point Q, the flight paths are determined as R4, R3, R2, and R1, in order of increasing aircraft attribute level of the aircraft 200. When flying from point P to point Q, an aircraft 200 with a higher aircraft attribute level can fly a shorter flight path. In order to determine the flight path as R0, which flies over critical facilities (including flights for maintenance and inspection of critical facilities), the aircraft 200 must have an extremely high aircraft attribute level, a low failure rate, and a high security level.

[0066] [Example 7] Example 7 describes an example of the process related to flight path determination. Figure 14 is a flowchart of the algorithm for the process related to flight path determination. Figure 15 is a flowchart of the algorithm for the process related to flight path determination. Figure 16 is a flowchart of the algorithm for the process related to flight path determination.

[0067] Each flowchart shown in Figures 14 to 16 is executed in step S4 of Figure 4.

[0068] In step S10, the flight planning unit 110 determines, as a global flight path determination (1), multiple controlled airspaces that the aircraft 200 will pass through when flying the shortest path (for example, a straight path) from the departure point to the arrival point.

[0069] In step S11, the flight planning unit 110 determines the flight paths within the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S10, starting with the controlled airspace with the highest difficulty in determining the flight path. For example, the difficulty in determining the flight path may include a "low" difficulty level where the flight path within the controlled airspace can be determined as the shortest path, a "medium" difficulty level where the flight path within the controlled airspace can be determined as a detour that is not the shortest path, and a "high" difficulty level where the flight path within the controlled airspace cannot be determined even as such a detour. Then, suppose that the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S10 are controlled airspaces with a "low" difficulty in determining the flight path, or controlled airspaces with a "medium" difficulty in determining the flight path. In this case, the flight planning unit 110 determines the flight paths within the controlled airspaces in the order of controlled airspaces with a "medium" difficulty in determining the flight path, and then controlled airspaces with a "low" difficulty in determining the flight path.

[0070] Local flight path determination for each managed airspace may be performed by a single flight control device 100 that has acquired the difficulty of determining the flight path for each managed airspace. However, from the viewpoint of distributing computational load, it is preferable that local flight path determination for each managed airspace be performed by each flight control device 100 that manages each managed airspace, and that the results of each local flight path determination are shared among each flight control device 100.

[0071] In step S12, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines whether the local flight path determination was successful in all of the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S10. For example, if the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S10 include controlled airspace with a difficulty level of "high" for flight path determination, there is a very high probability that the local flight path determination will not be successful in all of those multiple controlled airspaces. If the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S10 include only controlled airspace with a difficulty level of "low" for flight path determination, there is a high probability that the local flight path determination will be successful in all of those multiple controlled airspaces. If the local flight path determination is successful in all of those multiple controlled airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the process related to flight path determination. If the local flight path determination fails in any of the multiple controlled airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the local flight path determination at the time the failure is determined and proceeds to step S13.

[0072] In step S13, the flight planning unit 110 determines whether the estimated arrival time takes precedence over the route length, etc., in the flight mission of the aircraft 200. If the estimated arrival time takes precedence, the flight planning unit 110 proceeds to step S30. If the estimated arrival time does not take precedence, the flight planning unit 110 proceeds to step S20.

[0073] In step S20, the flight planning unit 110 postpones the scheduled departure time of the aircraft 200 until the difficulty of determining the flight path for the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S10 is eased. For example, the flight planning unit 110 postpones the scheduled departure time of the aircraft 200 until the difficulty of determining the flight path for the controlled airspace with a difficulty level of "high" among the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S10 changes to a difficulty level of "low" or "medium".

[0074] In other words, if the flight plan creation unit 110 detects that among the multiple controlled airspaces that the aircraft 200 will pass through when flying the shortest route from the departure point to the arrival point, there is a controlled airspace where the difficulty of determining the flight path is above a certain standard, it will delay the departure of the aircraft 200 until the difficulty of determining the flight path in that controlled airspace falls below the standard.

[0075] As a result, the flight control system 100 can fly the aircraft 200 along the shortest path from the departure point to the arrival point while reducing the probability of failure in local flight path determination, thereby maximizing the energy efficiency of the aircraft 200. Therefore, the flight control system 100 can efficiently determine flight paths that span multiple managed airspaces while suppressing the energy consumption of the aircraft 200.

[0076] In step S21, the flight planning unit 110 determines, as a global flight path determination (1), multiple controlled airspaces that the aircraft 200 will pass through when flying the shortest path from the departure point to the arrival point.

[0077] In step S22, the flight planning unit 110 determines the flight paths within the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S21, starting with the controlled airspace with the highest difficulty in determining the flight path.

[0078] In step S23, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines whether the local flight path determination was successful in all of the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S21. If the local flight path determination is successful in all of the multiple controlled airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the process related to flight path determination. If the local flight path determination fails in any of the multiple controlled airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the local flight path determination at the time the failure is determined and proceeds to step S20.

[0079] In step S30, the flight planning unit 110 determines the airspace to be traversed by detouring the airspace with a high difficulty in determining the flight path, which is included in the multiple airspaces determined in step S10, to airspace with a low difficulty in determining the flight path. For example, the flight planning unit 110 determines the airspace to be traversed by detouring the airspace with a "high" difficulty, which is included in the multiple airspaces determined in step S10, to airspace that is close to the airspace and has a "low" or "medium" difficulty in determining the flight path.

[0080] In other words, if the flight plan creation unit 110 determines the multiple controlled airspaces that the aircraft 200 will pass through when flying the shortest route from the departure point to the destination, and if there is a controlled airspace with a difficulty level of flight path determination that exceeds a certain standard, it will bypass that controlled airspace and determine the multiple controlled airspaces that the aircraft 200 will pass through when flying from the departure point to the destination.

[0081] As a result, the flight control system 100 can operate the aircraft 200 without delaying its departure while reducing the probability of failure in determining local flight paths, thereby minimizing delays in the arrival of the aircraft 200. Furthermore, the flight control system 100 can suppress the concentration of flight paths in specific controlled airspace. Therefore, the flight control system 100 can efficiently determine flight paths that span multiple controlled airspaces, suppress disruptions to the aircraft 200's flight schedule, and improve the overall utilization efficiency of the airspace.

[0082] In step S31, the flight planning unit 110 determines the flight paths within the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S30, starting with the controlled airspace with the highest difficulty in determining the flight path.

[0083] In step S32, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines whether the local flight path determination was successful in all of the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S30. If the local flight path determination is successful in all of the multiple controlled airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the process related to flight path determination. If the local flight path determination fails in any of the multiple controlled airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the local flight path determination at the time the failure is determined and proceeds to step S30.

[0084] Furthermore, when executing the process related to flight path determination, if the difficulty of determining a flight path in the managed airspace is clearly high and flight path determination is impossible, the flight plan creation unit 110 may skip steps S10 to S12 and start the process related to flight path determination from step S13, as shown in Figure 15.

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

[0086] In step S37 of Figure 16, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines whether the local flight path determination was successful in all of the multiple controlled airspaces determined in step S35. If the local flight path determination is successful in all of the multiple controlled airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the process related to flight path determination. If the local flight path determination fails in any of the multiple controlled airspaces, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the local flight path determination at the time the failure is determined and proceeds to step S30.

[0087] Figure 17 is a flowchart showing the algorithm for the process related to local flight path determination, as shown in Figures 14 to 16.

[0088] The flowchart shown in Figure 17 is executed in steps S11, S22, S31, and S36 of Figures 14 to 16, respectively.

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

[0090] In step S112, the flight planning unit 110 determines the i-th most difficult flight path within the managed airspace as part of local flight path determination.

[0091] In step S113, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines whether or not it succeeded in determining the local flight path as shown in step S112. If it succeeds in determining the local flight path as shown in step S111, the flight plan creation unit 110 proceeds to step S114. If it fails to determine the local flight path as shown in step S111, the flight plan creation unit 110 terminates the process related to determining the local flight path as shown in Figure 17.

[0092] In step S114, the flight plan creation unit 110 determines whether the index of the managed airspace is n (number of managed airspaces). If the index of the managed airspace is n (number of multiple managed airspaces), the flight plan creation unit 110 determines that the local flight path determination has been successful for all of the multiple managed airspaces determined in the global flight path determination, and terminates the process related to local flight path determination shown in Figure 17. If the index of the managed airspace is not n (number of multiple managed airspaces), 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 local flight path determination (steps S11, S22, S31, S36), the reason for determining flight paths within the managed airspace in order from the managed airspace with the highest difficulty in flight path determination is that, as shown in Figure 18, it is possible to minimize the penalty for failure in local flight path determination (i.e., the cost incurred up to the failure).

[0095] Figure 18 illustrates the penalties for failure in local flight path determination. Figure 18(a) illustrates the penalties for failure when local flight path determination is performed starting from the controlled airspace with the highest difficulty in flight path determination. Figure 18(b) illustrates the penalties for failure when local flight path determination is performed starting from the controlled airspace closest to the destination. Figure 18(c) illustrates the penalties for failure when local flight path determination is performed starting from the controlled airspace closest to the departure point.

[0096] Comparing Figures 18(a) to 18(c), in Figure 18(a), the only loss is the cost of determining the local flight path for managed airspace 400-5, i.e., computation time, before the process is terminated due to failure to determine the local flight path for managed airspace 400-5. In contrast, in Figure 18(b), the cost of determining the local flight path for managed airspace 400-10 and 400-15 is wasted in addition to managed airspace 400-5, i.e., computation time, before the process is terminated due to failure to determine the local flight path for managed airspace 400-5. In Figure 18(c), the cost of determining the local flight path for managed airspace 400-1 is wasted in addition to managed airspace 400-5, i.e., computation time, before the process is terminated due to failure to determine the local flight path for managed airspace 400-5, i.e., computation time, before the process is terminated due to failure to determine the local flight path for managed airspace 400-5.

[0097] For this reason, the flight control device 100 determines the flight path within the controlled airspace (a plurality of controlled airspaces determined in the global flight path determination) in order from the controlled airspace with the highest difficulty in determining the flight path, among the multiple controlled airspaces that the aircraft 200 will pass through when flying from the departure point to the arrival point (local flight path determination).

[0098] As a result, the flight control system 100 can minimize the penalty for failure in determining local flight paths and minimize the loss of computational resources or computation time spent before failure. Therefore, the flight control system 100 can efficiently determine flight paths that span multiple controlled airspaces.

[0099] Furthermore, if there is a managed airspace with an unknown difficulty level for flight path determination among the multiple managed airspaces determined in the global flight path determination process, the flight control device 100 will determine the flight paths within the managed airspace in the following order: managed airspace with an unknown difficulty level, managed airspace with a medium difficulty level for flight path determination, and managed airspace with a low difficulty level for flight path determination (local flight path determination).

[0100] As a result, the flight control system 100 can prioritize local flight path determination in managed airspace where the difficulty of flight path determination is unknown and where local flight path determination may fail, thereby minimizing the penalty for failure in local flight path determination. Therefore, even if there is managed airspace where the difficulty of flight path determination is unknown, the flight control system 100 can efficiently determine flight paths that span multiple managed airspaces.

[0101] [Example 8] Example 8 describes an example of flight path determination difficulty. Figure 19 is a diagram illustrating flight path determination difficulty.

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

[0103] The flight control system 100 sets the difficulty of flight path determination by calculating an index representing the likelihood of success or failure in flight path determination for each scheduled time of passage of an aircraft 200 in each managed airspace. For example, the flight control system 100 can set the difficulty of flight path determination based on the number of times or whether or not there have been failures in determining the flight path within the managed airspace. In other words, the flight control system 100 can set the difficulty of flight path determination based on the actual results of local flight path determination.

[0104] As a result, the flight control system 100 can appropriately reflect the possibility of failure in determining a flight path within the managed airspace in the difficulty level of flight path determination, thereby reducing the probability of failure in local flight path determination and minimizing the penalty for failure in local flight path determination. Therefore, the flight control system 100 can efficiently determine flight paths that span multiple managed airspaces.

[0105] Furthermore, for example, the flight control device 100 can be configured based on the number of aircraft 200 that are required to fly within the controlled airspace.

[0106] As a result, the flight control system 100 can appropriately reflect the congestion status of the managed airspace at that time in the difficulty of determining the flight path, thereby reducing the probability of failure in determining the local flight path and minimizing the penalty for failure in determining the local flight path. Therefore, the flight control system 100 can efficiently determine flight paths that span multiple managed airspaces.

[0107] Furthermore, for example, the flight control device 100 can set the difficulty level for determining the flight path based on a level that restricts flight within the controlled airspace (restriction level).

[0108] As a result, the flight control system 100 can appropriately reflect the flight restriction status within the controlled airspace in the difficulty of determining the flight path, thereby reducing the probability of failure in determining the local flight path and minimizing the penalty for failure in determining the local flight path. Therefore, the flight control system 100 can efficiently determine flight paths that span multiple controlled airspaces.

[0109] Furthermore, for example, the flight control system 100 can set the flight path determination difficulty based on a weighted average of past flight path determination difficulty and current flight path determination difficulty. Specifically, the flight control system 100 can calculate the flight path determination difficulty using the following formula. In the formula, W1 and W2 represent weighting coefficients. The [average value of past difficulties] indicates characteristics specific to the managed airspace, such as the presence of many important facilities that must be bypassed. [Difficulty in determining the flight path] = (W1 × [Average of past difficulty levels] + W2 × [Current difficulty level]) / (W1 + W2)

[0110] As a result, the flight control system 100 can appropriately reflect the characteristics specific to the managed airspace in the difficulty of determining the flight path, thereby reducing the probability of failure in determining the local flight path and minimizing the penalty for failure in determining the local flight path. Therefore, the flight control system 100 can efficiently determine flight paths that span multiple managed airspaces.

[0111] Furthermore, for example, if an event corresponding to a "medium" difficulty level occurs repeatedly in a managed airspace with a "medium" difficulty level in determining a local flight path, the flight control device 100 can add an index representing the difficulty level of flight path determination, and if the index exceeds a certain standard, it can change the difficulty level of flight path determination in the managed airspace to a "high" difficulty level.

[0112] As a result, the flight control system 100 can bypass not only the high-difficulty controlled airspace but also controlled airspace where events equivalent to medium difficulty frequently occur during the process of determining the global flight path, thereby reducing the probability of failure in determining the local flight path. Therefore, the flight control system 100 can efficiently determine flight paths that span multiple controlled airspaces, suppress the concentration of flight paths in specific controlled airspaces, and further improve the overall utilization efficiency of the airspace.

[0113] Figure 20 is a diagram illustrating global flight path determination based on the difficulty of flight path determination shown in Figure 19. Figure 21 is a diagram illustrating global flight path determination based on the difficulty of flight path determination shown in Figure 19.

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

[0115] Figure 20 shows examples of the difficulty of determining flight paths in managed airspaces 400-1, 400-5, 400-10, and 400-15 on the shortest route from departure point A to arrival point B. Figure 20 shows that an aircraft 200 that departs from departure point A at scheduled departure time 1 will arrive at arrival point B at scheduled arrival time 1. In this case, the difficulty of determining flight paths in managed airspace 400-5 is "high," so there is a very high probability that local flight path determination in managed airspace 400-5 will fail. Therefore, the flight control device 100 delays the departure of aircraft 200 until the difficulty of determining flight paths in managed airspace 400-5 becomes "low" or "medium." For example, the flight control device 100 postpones scheduled departure time 1 to scheduled departure time 2. An aircraft 200 that departs from departure point A at scheduled departure time 2 will arrive at arrival point B at scheduled arrival time 2.

[0116] Figure 21 shows an example of the difficulty of determining the flight path for controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15 on a route that bypasses controlled airspace 400-5, which has a difficulty level of "high". Controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15 on a route that bypasses controlled airspace 400-5 all have a difficulty level of "medium" or "low" at their scheduled passage time. Therefore, the flight control device 100 determines a flight path that bypasses controlled airspace 400-5, which has a difficulty level of "high", and passes through controlled airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15. Aircraft 200, which departed from departure point A at scheduled departure time 1, will arrive at destination B at scheduled arrival time 1'.

[0117] Figure 22 illustrates the difficulty of determining the flight path.

[0118] The flight control device 100 can distinguish between time periods or flight directions with high difficulty and time periods or flight directions with low difficulty by increasing the temporal resolution of the difficulty of determining the flight path or the resolution of the flight direction, as shown in Figure 22, for airspace with high difficulty.

[0119] For example, in the controlled airspace 400-5, if there is a time period with a "high" difficulty level (e.g., a time resolution of 1 hour) as shown in Figure 22(a), the flight control device 100 increases the time resolution (e.g., a time resolution of 30 minutes) as shown in Figure 22(b). In the example in Figure 22(b), the time period from 0 to 30 minutes is "high" difficulty, but the time period from 30 minutes to 0 minutes is "medium" difficulty. Therefore, the flight control device 100 further increases the time resolution of the "high" difficulty time period from 0 to 30 minutes as shown in Figure 22(c) (e.g., a time resolution of 15 minutes). Then, as shown in Figure 22(c), it can be seen that the time period from 15 minutes to 30 minutes is "high" difficulty, but the time period from 0 minutes to 15 minutes is "medium" difficulty. As a result, the flight control device 100 only needs to delay the scheduled departure time of the aircraft 200 so that it does not pass through the controlled airspace 400-5 during the 15-30 minute period, which is considered "high" difficulty, thereby minimizing the delay in the arrival of the aircraft 200.

[0120] Furthermore, the flight control device 100 may increase the resolution of the flight direction of the aircraft 200 within the controlled airspace 400-5, as shown in Figure 22(d). As shown in Figure 22(d), the direction from south to north and the direction from north to south are of high difficulty, the direction from east to west is of medium difficulty, and the direction from west to east is of low difficulty. As a result, the flight control device 100 can determine any flight path that extends in the east-west direction within the controlled airspace 400-5, and does not have to detour around the entire controlled airspace 400-5, thus minimizing the increase in the length of the flight path.

[0121] Furthermore, if the managed airspace with a difficulty level of "high" is divided by altitude, as shown in Figure 6 (400-3-1 to 400-3-m), the flight control system 100 may have a difficulty level of "high" set for different flight directions in each of the divided managed airspaces. Even in this case, the flight control system 100 can increase the resolution of flight directions in each of the divided managed airspaces.

[0122] Figure 23 illustrates an example where controlled airspaces are not closely adjacent to each other.

[0123] As shown in Figure 23, even when the managed airspaces are not closely adjacent, the flight control system 100 can determine the flight path of the aircraft 200 by connecting the managed airspaces with corridors. Furthermore, if there is heavy traffic between managed airspace 400-1 and managed airspace 400-3, the flight control system 100 can connect the managed airspaces with multiple corridors, such as corridors 500-1-1 and 500-1-2.

[0124] [Example 9] Example 9 describes an example in which multiple flight control devices, each managing multiple controlled airspaces, perform local flight path determination in parallel. Figure 24 illustrates the parallel execution of local flight path determination. Figure 25 illustrates the parallel execution of local flight path determination. Figure 26 illustrates the parallel execution of local flight path determination.

[0125] For example, as shown in Figure 24, since the difficulty level of managed airspace 400-5 is "high", the flight control system 100-5 that manages managed airspace 400-5 first performs local flight path determination for managed airspace 400-5. Here, even if the local flight path determination for managed airspace 400-5 fails and the process is terminated, the only cost incurred for determining the local flight path for managed airspace 400-5, i.e., the computational amount or computation time, is wasted, as is the case in Figure 18(a). If the local flight path determination for managed airspace 400-5 is successful, then the flight control system 100-1 performs local flight path determination for managed airspace 400-1, the flight control system 100-10 performs local flight path determination for managed airspace 400-10, and the flight control system 100-15 performs local flight path determination for managed airspace 400-15, all in parallel. This shortens the overall computation time for local flight path determination. Furthermore, the global flight path determination, which is performed prior to the local flight path determination, can be carried out by any flight control device 100.

[0126] Furthermore, there are cases where computing resources are abundant and it is not necessary to minimize the penalty for failure in local flight path determination. In this case, as shown in Figure 25, local flight path determination for all managed airspaces, including the local flight path determination for managed airspace 400-5, may be performed in parallel. However, in Figure 25, there is a high possibility that the local flight path determination for managed airspace 400-5, which has a difficulty level of "high," will fail, resulting in wasted computational resources or time for determining local flight paths for all managed airspaces, including managed airspace 400-5. Therefore, the method shown in Figure 25 can be considered speculative.

[0127] Figure 26 shows the case where the local flight path determination for managed airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15 is performed in parallel, bypassing the high-difficulty managed airspace 400-5. In this case, the difficulty of determining the flight path for each of the managed airspaces 400-1, 400-4, 400-9, 400-10, and 400-15 is not high, so the possibility of failure in determining the local flight path for these managed airspaces is significantly lower compared to Figure 25.

[0128] Figure 27 illustrates the operation of each flight control device in the parallel execution of local flight path determination shown in Figure 24.

[0129] The global flight path determination, which is performed prior to the local flight path determination, may be performed by any of the flight control devices 100-1, 100-5, 100-10, or 100-15. In the example in Figure 27, the flight control device 100-1, which manages the controlled airspace 400-1 including the departure point A, performs the global flight path determination (step S4a).

[0130] Having performed a global flight path determination, the flight control unit 100-1 transmits a request to perform a local flight path determination to the flight control unit 100-5 that manages the managed airspace 400-5, which has the highest difficulty in flight path determination, based on the results of the global flight path determination (step S40b-5). Upon receiving the request to perform a local flight path determination, the flight control unit 100-5 performs a local flight path determination for the managed airspace 400-5 (step S4b-5). If the local flight path determination for the managed airspace 400-5 is successful, the flight control unit 100-5 transmits a response to the requesting flight control unit 100-1 indicating that the local flight path determination for the managed airspace 400-5 was successful.

[0131] If the local flight path determination for managed airspace 400-5 is successful, the flight control device 100-1 sends requests to the flight control devices 100-10 and 100-15, which manage managed airspaces 400-10 and 400-15, respectively, that have a lower difficulty in determining the flight path (steps S40b-10 and S40b-15). Upon receiving the requests to perform local flight path determination, the flight control devices 100-10 and 100-15 perform local flight path determination for managed airspaces 400-10 and 400-15, respectively (steps S4b-10 and S4b-15). Furthermore, the flight control device 100-1 performs local flight path determination for managed airspace 400-1, which it manages (step S4b-1). The local flight path determinations for managed airspaces 400-1, 400-10, and 400-15 are performed in parallel. If the local flight path determination for managed airspaces 400-10 and 400-15 is successful, the flight control devices 100-10 and 100-15 transmit a response to the requesting flight control device 100-1 indicating that the local flight path determination for managed airspaces 400-10 and 400-15 has been successful. If all local flight path determinations (steps S4b-1, S4b-10, and S4b-15) are successful, the flight control device 100-1 terminates the operation shown in Figure 27. In this way, the flight path spanning multiple managed airspaces 400-1, 400-5, 400-10, and 400-15 is determined.

[0132] Examples 1 to 9 described above describe an operation management device 100 that determines the flight path of an aircraft 200 flying in the air, which is a three-dimensional space. However, the operation management device 100 can also be applied to determining the movement path of various moving objects, such as submersible vehicles like AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) that submerge in water, which is a three-dimensional space, or vehicles, robots, or ships that move in a two-dimensional space.

[0133] [others] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are included. For example, the embodiments described above are described in detail to make the present invention easier to understand, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Furthermore, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. In addition, it is possible to add, delete, or replace parts of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations.

[0134] Furthermore, each of the above configurations, functions, processing units, and processing means may be implemented in hardware, either partially or entirely, by designing them, for example, using integrated circuits. Alternatively, each of the above configurations and functions may be implemented in software by having the processor interpret and execute programs that realize each function. Information such as programs, tapes, and files that realize each function can be stored in memory, recording devices such as hard disks and SSDs (solid state drives), or recording media such as IC cards, SD cards, and DVDs.

[0135] Furthermore, the control lines and information lines shown are those deemed necessary for explanatory purposes, and not all control lines and information lines are necessarily shown in the actual product. In reality, it is safe to assume that almost all components are interconnected. [Explanation of symbols]

[0136] 100, 100-i… Flight control system, 200… Aircraft, 300… Flight path determination difficulty, 400-i… Controlled airspace

Claims

1. An air traffic control system that manages the operation of an aircraft flying across multiple controlled airspaces, It manages a portion of the aforementioned multiple controlled airspaces. The difficulty in determining a flight path within the aforementioned managed airspace is shared with other flight control devices that manage other managed airspaces, and the difficulty in determining a flight path is acquired for each of the aforementioned managed airspaces. Based on the acquired difficulty in determining the flight path, a flight path spanning the multiple controlled airspaces is determined. A flight management device characterized by the following features.

2. The multiple controlled airspaces that the aforementioned aircraft will pass through when flying from the departure point to the arrival point are determined based on the difficulty of determining the flight path. For each of the determined controlled airspaces, a flight path within that controlled airspace is determined. The flight control device according to feature 1.

3. When the aforementioned aircraft flies from the departure point to the destination point, the flight path within the multiple controlled airspaces that it passes through is determined in order from the controlled airspace with the highest difficulty in determining the flight path. The flight control device according to feature 2.

4. If, when the aircraft flies the shortest route from the departure point to the destination point, there is a controlled airspace through which the difficulty of determining the flight path is equal to or greater than the standard, the departure of the aircraft will be delayed until the difficulty of determining the flight path in that controlled airspace falls below the standard. The flight control device according to feature 2.

5. If, when the aircraft flies the shortest route from the departure point to the destination point, there is a controlled airspace through which the difficulty of determining the flight path exceeds a certain standard, the aircraft will detour around that controlled airspace to determine the controlled airspace through which it flies from the departure point to the destination point. The flight control device according to feature 2.

6. The difficulty level for determining the flight path is set based on the number of aircraft required to fly within the controlled airspace. The flight control device according to feature 1.

7. The flight control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the difficulty of determining the flight path is set based on the level that restricts flight within the controlled airspace.

8. The difficulty level for determining the flight path is set based on the number of times or whether or not a flight path determination within the controlled airspace has failed. The flight control device according to feature 1.

9. The flight path determination difficulty is set based on a weighted average of past flight path determination difficulty and current flight path determination difficulty. The flight control device according to feature 1.

10. The difficulty level for determining the flight path includes a "low" difficulty level in which the flight path within the managed airspace can be determined as the shortest path, a "medium" difficulty level in which the flight path within the managed airspace can be determined as a detour path other than the shortest path, and a "high" difficulty level in which the flight path within the managed airspace cannot be determined even as a detour path. If an event corresponding to the aforementioned difficulty level "medium" repeatedly occurs in the managed airspace, the difficulty level for determining the flight path in that managed airspace will be changed to the aforementioned difficulty level "high". The flight control device according to feature 1.

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