Aircraft Lateral Avoidance Trajectories for Terrain Conflict Decisions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft operators face challenges in quickly determining the safest lateral avoidance maneuver during emergencies, particularly when wind factors complicate trajectory evaluation, leading to potential incorrect decisions under stress.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for calculating lateral avoidance trajectories by obtaining aircraft and terrain data, determining intersection points, and providing real-time indications to aid in safe maneuver decisions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the aircraft operator manually evaluates lateral avoidance trajectories considering wind factors, then the decision accuracy may improve, but the time required for evaluation increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates and stores multiple lateral avoidance trajectories (left turn, right turn, straight flight) with their respective terrain intersection points before emergency situations occur. During emergencies, the system simply retrieves and displays these pre-computed trajectories, eliminating the need for real-time manual calculation while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical evaluation process with an automated computer-based system that calculates trajectories, determines terrain intersections, and presents results to the operator. This substitution of human cognitive processing with automated computation resolves the contradiction between accuracy and speed.
2Reliability
If the aircraft operator performs detailed trajectory evaluation under stress, then the decision quality may improve, but the operator's cognitive load increases leading to potential incorrect decisions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs the complex trajectory evaluation and terrain intersection analysis automatically without requiring the operator to mentally process these details. The computer system serves itself by autonomously calculating trajectories, determining intersections with terrain databases, and presenting clear visual indications, thereby reducing cognitive load while maintaining decision quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a computer-based intermediary system between the operator and the complex trajectory evaluation task. This intermediary handles the computationally intensive calculations and terrain intersection analyses, presenting simplified results to the operator and thus reducing cognitive load while preserving decision reliability.
3Loss of information
If the system calculates multiple trajectories (current, left, right) with terrain intersection analysis, then the information provided to the operator improves, but the computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the trajectory evaluation into three distinct, pre-calculatable scenarios: current trajectory, left turn trajectory, and right turn trajectory. Each trajectory is independently calculated and analyzed for terrain intersections, allowing the computational task to be divided into manageable segments that can be processed efficiently and presented separately to the operator.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for calculating lateral avoidance trajectories for an aircraft includes obtaining data indicative of current aircraft position, current track, current roll, current airspeed, current vertical speed, current altitude, and maximum achievable roll of the aircraft. The method includes calculating a current trajectory of the aircraft and calculating a left trajectory and right trajectory of the aircraft corresponding to the aircraft turning left/right at the maximum achievable roll from the current aircraft position. The method also includes obtaining local terrain elevation grid data; determining intersections between the local terrain elevation grid, and each of the current trajectory, left trajectory, and right trajectory and providing an indication, of any intersections between the local terrain elevation grid, and each of the trajectories.