Method and assembly for monitoring the integrity of inertial position and velocity measurements of an aircraft
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft inertial measurement systems rely on high-grade, expensive, and heavy sensors to ensure integrity monitoring of free inertial position and velocity measurements, which is costly and weight-intensive, and lacks effective monitoring without GNSS availability.
Innovation Solution
A method combining at least one high-grade and two low-grade measurement units, with sensor and processing units, to monitor the integrity of inertial measurements by evaluating raw and processed data consistency, allowing for detection of errors and inconsistencies without GNSS, enabling the use of lighter and cheaper low-grade units while maintaining system integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If high-grade measurement units are used for integrity monitoring, then measurement reliability is improved, but system weight and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The measurement system is segmented into high-grade units for critical integrity monitoring functions and low-grade units for less critical measurements. This segmentation allows the system to achieve reliable integrity monitoring for safety-critical parameters while using lighter, cheaper sensors for other measurements, thereby reducing overall system weight and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
Different grades of measurement units are assigned to different measurement locations based on their specific requirements. High-grade units are deployed where integrity monitoring is most critical, while low-grade units are used where such stringent requirements are not necessary, optimizing the balance between reliability and weight.
2Reliability
If high-grade measurement units are used for integrity monitoring, then measurement reliability is improved, but system cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into segments with different reliability requirements. High-grade measurement units are used only where absolutely necessary for integrity monitoring, while low-grade units are used elsewhere, reducing the overall system cost while maintaining adequate reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The quality and grade of measurement units are matched to the local requirements of each measurement point. This ensures that high-cost high-grade units are only used where their superior performance is actually needed, optimizing the cost-reliability tradeoff.
3Weight of moving object
If low-grade measurement units are used, then system weight and cost are reduced, but integrity monitoring capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The measurement system is segmented such that low-grade units handle non-critical measurements while high-grade units are reserved for integrity monitoring functions. This segmentation allows the use of lighter low-grade units without compromising the integrity monitoring capability, as the critical functions are handled by the high-grade segment.
Solution Approach 2:
Low-grade measurement units are deployed in locations where integrity monitoring is not critical, reducing system weight. High-grade units are strategically placed where integrity monitoring is essential, ensuring that the overall system maintains adequate monitoring capability despite the use of lighter components elsewhere.
4Reliability
If redundant high-grade measurement units are deployed, then measurement reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The redundant measurement system is segmented into high-grade and low-grade units with different functions. This segmentation simplifies the overall system architecture by clearly defining the roles of each unit type, making the system easier to manage and maintain despite the presence of redundancy.
Solution Approach 2:
Different grades of measurement units are assigned to different locations based on local requirements. This approach reduces device complexity by avoiding the deployment of high-grade units everywhere, instead using them only where their superior performance is actually needed, while low-grade units handle other locations.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for monitoring the integrity of an inertial measurement assembly (10) of an aircraft, the measurement assembly comprising at least one high-grade measurement unit (20); and at least two low-grade measurement units (30, 40); wherein each of the measurement units (20, 30, 40) comprises a sensor unit (22, 32, 42) and a processing unit (24, 34, 44) operatively coupled to the respective sensor unit (22, 32, 42), wherein the respective sensor units (22, 32, 42) measure accelerations and angular rates of the aircraft and provide raw data based on said measurements; wherein the respective processing units (24, 34, 44) process the raw data provided by the sensor units (22, 32, 42) and provide processed data reflecting the velocity and/or attitude of the aircraft; the method comprising: at a sensor monitoring unit (50), receiving the raw data output by each of the sensor units (22, 32, 42) and evaluating according to at least one predetermined criterion whether the raw data of each sensor unit (22, 32, 42) are consistent with one another; and at an attitude monitoring unit (52), receiving the processed data output by each of the processing units (24, 34, 44) and evaluating according to at least one predetermined criterion whether the processed data of each processing unit (24, 34, 44) are consistent with one another. The invention furthermore relates to a corresponding inertial measurement assembly (10) of an aircraft with integrated integrity monitoring and an aircraft comprising such an assembly.