Aircraft Navigation System With Pre-Verified Trajectory Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional aircraft navigation requires extensive planning and verification, especially during replanning due to unexpected situations, which can be time-consuming and burdensome for pilots.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for navigating an aircraft that prepares and verifies multiple trajectories before flight, allowing the onboard flight management system to switch to an alternative trajectory during flight without pilot intervention, reducing the need for extensive manual planning and verification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If multiple trajectories are pre-prepared and verified before flight, then replanning time during flight is reduced, but the initial planning and verification workload increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by preparing and verifying multiple alternative trajectories before the flight starts. The flight management system stores these pre-verified trajectories and can automatically switch between them during flight without requiring new verification, thus reducing replanning time while managing complexity through automated selection algorithms.
2Reliability
If the pilot manually plans and verifies new trajectories during flight, then trajectory accuracy and safety are maintained, but pilot workload increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flight management system performs self-service by automatically selecting and switching between pre-verified trajectories based on current flight conditions, obstacles, and weather data. This automation maintains trajectory safety through algorithmic decision-making while significantly reducing pilot workload, as the pilot only needs to monitor and approve the system's selections rather than manually planning each trajectory.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the flight management system continuously monitors flight conditions, obstacle detections, and weather updates, then uses this feedback to automatically select the most appropriate pre-verified trajectory. The pilot receives feedback about the system's selection rationale and can intervene if needed, maintaining safety while reducing routine workload.
3Reliability
If extensive verification steps are performed for each new trajectory, then flight safety is improved, but reaction time to unexpected situations decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs the time-consuming verification steps in advance, before the flight begins. Multiple alternative trajectories are pre-verified by the flight management system using obstacle data, weather information, and airspace constraints. During flight, the system only needs to select from these pre-verified options based on current conditions, maintaining flight safety through the quality of pre-verification while achieving fast reaction speeds by eliminating repeated verification cycles.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for navigating an aircraft, comprising a flight planning system configured to prepare a set of at least three different trajectories for a flight from a departure point to a destination point, a flight verification system configured to verify each trajectory of the set of trajectories, an onboard flight management system to be installed at an aircraft and having a storage unit for storing the set of trajectories, wherein the flight management system is configured to select one of the trajectories from the set of trajectories as an active trajectory for a current flight of the aircraft, wherein the flight management system includes a replanning unit configured to change, during the current flight, the active trajectory by selecting a second trajectory from the set of trajectories as the active trajectory for the current flight, such as to continue the current flight based on the second trajectory t.