Aircraft Air Data Error Detection via Flight Envelope Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft and engine control systems face challenges in reliably detecting erroneous air data, particularly when multiple sources are affected by the same issue, such as icing, leading to potential loss of control or engine failure.
Innovation Solution
A method that automatically monitors air parameters like speed and temperature in relation to pressure altitude, checking if they fall within a characteristic envelope (flight or environmental) to determine if the data is correct, and invalidating erroneous data points to prevent system failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If redundant measurement sources are used to detect erroneous data through comparison, then detection reliability is improved, but the system cannot detect errors when all sources are affected by the same cause (such as icing)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from comparing data across multiple sources (horizontal dimension) to validating data against a flight envelope model (vertical dimension). By checking whether measured parameters fall within the physically possible flight envelope, the system can detect errors even when all measurement sources are simultaneously affected by the same fault condition.
Solution Approach 2:
The flight envelope acts as an intermediary reference model between the measurement sources and the validation logic. Instead of directly comparing multiple sensor readings, the system uses the flight envelope as a mediator to indirectly validate whether the data is physically plausible, enabling detection of systematic errors affecting all sources.
2Reliability
If specific ice detection logic based on abnormal variations in speed or temperature is implemented, then icing detection capability is improved, but variations outside predicted thresholds cannot be detected and other types of faults remain undetected
Solution Approach 1:
The flight envelope validation system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it detects icing conditions, identifies other sensor failures, validates data consistency, and ensures safety margins are maintained. This single universal approach replaces multiple specialized detection logics, providing broader fault coverage while maintaining icing detection capability.
3Reliability
If current air parameters are monitored against pressure altitude using characteristic envelopes, then detection of erroneous data is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flight envelope is pre-calculated and stored as reference data before flight operations. During flight, the system only needs to query the pre-computed envelope and check whether current parameters fall within the valid range, rather than performing complex real-time calculations. This preliminary preparation significantly reduces online computational complexity.
Data Source
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Figure 3
AI summary
- Method and device for the automatic detection of erroneous air data on an aircraft. - The device (1) includes means (2) for verifying whether a pair of parameters, namely a current air parameter and a current pressure altitude parameter, is located within a characteristic envelope which indicates limits, within which the aircraft is likely to operate.