Aircraft Anti-Collision Alert Filtering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current anti-collision alert systems for aircraft generate a high rate of false alerts in proximity to terrain and obstacles, causing operational nuisance and potentially reducing safety as pilots may disable these systems to avoid frequent alarms, despite not always reflecting immediate danger.
Innovation Solution
A method and device for filtering anti-collision alerts based on positional uncertainties, trajectory deviations, and aircraft avoidance capabilities, using multiple thresholds and danger levels to differentiate between cautionary and urgent alerts, ensuring only critical alerts reach the crew.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If anti-collision alert systems monitor terrain and obstacles continuously, then safety monitoring capability is improved, but false alert rate increases due to positional uncertainties and topographic database granularity
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts alert generation parameters based on flight phase, aircraft performance, and environmental conditions. By changing the parameters used to evaluate collision risk (such as protection volume dimensions, alert thresholds, and monitoring sensitivity), the system maintains high safety monitoring capability while reducing false alerts generated by positional uncertainties and database granularity limitations
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an alert filtering mechanism that acts as an intermediary between the raw sensor data/database information and the final alert generation. This intermediary layer processes and validates multiple data sources (positioning systems, terrain databases, obstacle databases, flight management systems) before generating alerts, thereby reducing false alerts while maintaining comprehensive safety monitoring
2Ease of operation
If alert filtering is applied to reduce false alerts, then operational nuisance is reduced, but alert processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The alert filtering system is segmented into multiple independent evaluation modules, each responsible for specific aspects of alert validation (positioning accuracy assessment, trajectory conformity check, danger level evaluation, flight phase compatibility). This segmentation reduces operational nuisance by providing structured, modular processing while managing complexity through clear division of functions across separate evaluation components
3Object-generated harmful factors
If multiple filtering criteria are used to assess alert validity, then false alert reduction is improved, but computational load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies multiple filtering criteria selectively based on flight phase, aircraft type, and alert danger level. Not all filtering criteria are applied uniformly to all alerts - instead, the system applies appropriate subsets of criteria (positioning accuracy, trajectory conformity, danger level evaluation) based on what is necessary for each specific situation, thereby reducing false alerts while optimizing computational load and energy consumption
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a device and methods for filtering anti-collision alerts for aircraft having a locating system charting the position of the aircraft and estimating the precision of its position. A navigation system of the aircraft calculates at least the actual speed of the aircraft, the speed instruction and a first deviation between the instruction and the actual speed, and the deviation being compared with a first reference overshoot threshold. An anti-collision system generates alerts. An alarms manager of the aircraft centralizes the alerts transmitted by the terrain anti-collision equipment of the aircraft to the crew. The alerts each posses a coding of the danger level, and the danger levels form part of a first predetermined set. The alert filter according to the invention filters sets of alerts according to the coding of their danger level.