Aircraft Flight Control Using Ground Hazard Liability Maps
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Solution Overview
Problem
The integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into national airspace is hindered by the risk of collisions with ground hazards and potential damage to humans or structures due to the lack of effective collision avoidance and risk liability assessment.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that derive a liability map using mapping data related to ground hazard categories, associating each category with risk liability values to control aircraft flight parameters, enabling the determination of risk liability values and safe flight paths to avoid hazards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If unmanned aircraft systems are integrated into national airspace, then productivity and application versatility improve, but the risk of collision with ground hazards and potential damage to humans or structures increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary mapping of ground hazards before flight operations, creating a liability map that identifies and categorizes hazards in advance. This pre-assessment enables the aircraft to plan safe flight paths that avoid identified hazards, resolving the contradiction by preparing protective measures before the harmful collision risk materializes
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a liability map as an intermediary between the aircraft navigation system and ground hazards. This map serves as a mediator that translates hazard information into actionable flight control parameters, allowing the aircraft to operate in national airspace while maintaining safe distances from hazards through computed risk liability values
2Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional obstacle avoidance methods are used, then collision risk is reduced, but the system lacks comprehensive risk liability assessment and autonomous decision-making capability
Solution Approach 1:
The system transforms traditional binary obstacle avoidance into a multi-parameter risk assessment by introducing ground hazard categories, risk liability values, and weighted scoring mechanisms. This parameter expansion enables autonomous decision-making by providing the aircraft's control system with quantifiable metrics for evaluating flight path safety and making informed decisions about route selection and hazard response
Solution Approach 2:
The liability map system implements continuous feedback by constantly monitoring the aircraft's position relative to mapped hazards and dynamically adjusting flight parameters. The system provides feedback loops where risk assessments are updated in real-time based on changing flight conditions, enabling autonomous systems to adapt their decision-making based on ongoing risk evaluation rather than static avoidance rules
3Measurement precision
If detailed ground hazard mapping is performed, then risk liability assessment accuracy improves, but system complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the ground environment into distinct hazard categories (such as populated areas, infrastructure, natural features) and assigns different risk weights to each category. This segmentation approach improves assessment accuracy by treating different ground features differently, while managing system complexity through standardized category definitions and modular processing of hazard data
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local quality by assigning different risk liability characteristics to different geographic locations based on the specific hazard categories present in each area. Rather than using uniform avoidance parameters, the system tailors risk assessment and flight control parameters to the local hazard profile, improving precision while processing only relevant local data rather than entire datasets
Data Source
AI summary
A method for controlling flight of an aircraft system comprises deriving a liability map using mapping data related to one or more ground hazard categories, wherein each ground hazard category is associated with a type of hazard on a ground surface. The liability map comprises a plurality of risk liability values (L1 and/or L2) associated with the one or more ground hazard categories. The liability map is used to control one or more parameters for controlling flight of the aircraft system.