Aircraft Collision Avoidance via Automatic Load Factor Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft anticollision systems, such as TCAS, require pilots to manually execute avoidance maneuvers, which can lead to abrupt load factor variations, exceeding the flight envelope, and disrupting air traffic, as tracking vertical speed presets is not intuitive and can result in dynamic and risky maneuvers.
Innovation Solution
The system automatically determines and transmits avoidance presets expressed in terms of load factor, allowing an automatic guidance device to execute optimal and accurate maneuvers, reducing load factor variations and providing better control and safety, while also offering a flight director for manual intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pilots manually perform avoidance maneuvers based on vertical speed presets, then collision avoidance is achieved, but abrupt load factor variations occur and flight envelope limits may be exceeded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical control by pilots with an automatic guidance system that computes and executes avoidance maneuvers. The system transforms vertical speed presets into load factor commands and automatically controls the aircraft, eliminating the harmful abrupt variations caused by manual control while maintaining collision avoidance effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The automatic guidance system continuously monitors aircraft state and adjusts control commands in real-time to maintain optimal avoidance maneuvers. The system uses feedback from aircraft sensors to modulate load factor commands, preventing excessive variations and ensuring smooth transitions while achieving the required vertical displacement for collision avoidance
2Reliability
If pilots manually track vertical speed presets during avoidance maneuvers, then collision avoidance is achieved, but pilot workload increases and trajectory deviation occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables the aircraft to perform avoidance maneuvers autonomously without requiring continuous pilot intervention. The automatic guidance system self-manages the entire avoidance process from computing maneuvers to executing control commands, significantly reducing pilot workload while maintaining collision avoidance reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual piloting task with an automatic guidance system that handles all aspects of avoidance maneuver execution, freeing the pilot from high-workload manual control while ensuring precise trajectory management and minimal deviation from the planned avoidance path
3Reliability
If corrective avoidance maneuvers are executed, then collision risk is reduced, but air traffic disruption increases especially in dense traffic zones
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adapts avoidance maneuvers to minimize air traffic disruption while maintaining collision avoidance effectiveness. The automatic guidance system computes optimal maneuver profiles that achieve the necessary vertical separation with minimal horizontal deviation and smooth transitions, reducing the harmful impact on surrounding air traffic especially in dense traffic zones
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes control parameters from aggressive vertical speed commands to modulated load factor commands that achieve the same collision avoidance objective with smoother aircraft response. This parameter transformation enables the aircraft to perform necessary avoidance maneuvers while generating fewer disruptive effects on air traffic flow
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a method and system for avoiding collision between an aircraft A and an intruder aircraft. The method and system involve determining avoidance presets to avoid a collision between the aircraft A and the intruder aircraft, in which the avoidance presets comprise a vertical speed preset. The presets are determined from avoidance information received from an anticollision system, and the determined avoidance presets are transmitted to at least one guidance device that guides the aircraft A based on the avoidance presets.