Automatic Aircraft Landing on Moving Platform via Motion Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Landing an aircraft, particularly an unmanned aircraft, on a moving and floating platform like an aircraft carrier is challenging due to wave motions and cross winds, making precise landings difficult and dependent on human intervention, which complicates the implementation of automatic landings.
Innovation Solution
An automated procedure that involves detecting the position and motion data of the landing platform, determining a reference position and alignment, and transmitting this information to the aircraft's landing control device to precalculate the touchdown point and time, allowing the aircraft to maintain a constant attitude and approach path, thereby neutralizing platform motions and ensuring a safe landing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional approach procedures are used with constant recorrecting of aircraft attitude, then the aircraft can adapt to platform movements, but the aircraft flies a rolling course increasing danger of imprecise landing or crash landing
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates the touchdown point and time by detecting platform position and motion data before the aircraft reaches the landing spot. This allows the aircraft to plan its approach path in advance, avoiding constant attitude corrections during the approach phase and eliminating the rolling course problem that leads to unsafe landings.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously detects the actual position of the landing spot and motion data of the platform, then uses this feedback information to adjust and optimize the pre-calculated touchdown point and time. This closed-loop control ensures the aircraft maintains a stable approach path while adapting to platform movements, improving both safety and precision.
2Extent of automation
If manual landing control with landing control officer is used, then visual contact and correction signals can be provided, but the process is very dependent on human capabilities making automatic landings hardly implementable
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces the manual visual monitoring and radio communication process with an automated detection and control system. Sensors on the platform detect position and motion data, which are then processed by a control algorithm to automatically determine the optimal touchdown point and time, eliminating dependence on human capabilities while maintaining high reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables the aircraft to autonomously determine its own landing approach parameters by receiving platform motion data and independently calculating the optimal touchdown point and time. This self-service capability allows unmanned aircraft to perform automatic landings without human intervention, achieving both high automation and reliability.
3Measurement precision
If the aircraft constantly aligns with the moving landing spot, then the intended landing spot can be reached, but the aircraft has to fly a rolling course due to constant platform motions
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of constantly adjusting the aircraft attitude to track the moving landing spot, the system pre-calculates the touchdown point and time based on predicted platform position. This allows the aircraft to fly a simple, stable approach path while the platform moves, eliminating the complex rolling course while maintaining precise landing spot accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
A procedure and system are provided for automatically landing an aircraft, particularly an unmanned aircraft on a moving, particularly floating landing platform, for example, on an aircraft carrier, the aircraft being equipped with an automatic navigation device and an automatic landing control device. The procedure includes detecting the position of an intended landing spot, detecting motion data of the landing platform, determining at least one imminent point in time at which the landing spot takes up a reference position, transmitting the point in time and the reference position of the landing spot to the landing control device of the aircraft, and controlling the aircraft such that it reaches the landing spot at the point in time.