Automatic Piloting System for Aircraft In-Flight Refueling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current in-flight refueling systems require manual pilot intervention for precise alignment and positioning, which is costly and limits compatibility with generic tanker aircraft, and existing automated solutions either require significant structural modifications or lack precision.
Innovation Solution
An automatic piloting system for aircraft that uses a combination of GPS, passive optical detectors, and image recognition to autonomously guide the receiver aircraft to the tanker, allowing for precise alignment and refueling without modifying the tanker aircraft, using existing beacon lights or passive signal sources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual pilot intervention is used for precise alignment and positioning, then positioning precision is improved, but pilot workload and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The receiver aircraft autonomously performs alignment and positioning using its own optical detectors and image processing systems to detect beacon lights on the tanker aircraft, eliminating the need for continuous manual pilot intervention while maintaining centimeter-level positioning precision
Solution Approach 2:
Manual mechanical control by the pilot is replaced with an automated optical-mechanical system that uses optical detectors to capture images of beacon lights, processes these images to determine relative position, and automatically adjusts flight parameters to achieve precise alignment and positioning
2Extent of automation
If automated solutions with structural modifications to tanker aircraft are implemented, then automation level is improved, but manufacturing cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is designed to work with any generic tanker aircraft by using passive optical detection of existing beacon lights rather than requiring specialized structural modifications, making the solution universally applicable to multiple aircraft types without increasing manufacturing costs
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of modifying the tanker aircraft with active transmission systems, the receiver aircraft creates a digital representation (image) of the beacon lights on the tanker and processes this copied visual information to achieve automated alignment, eliminating the need for expensive structural modifications to the tanker
3Adaptability or versatility
If passive optical detectors and image recognition are used, then compatibility with generic tanker aircraft is improved, but measurement precision may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses multiple optical detectors positioned at different locations on the receiver aircraft to capture images of the beacon lights from different angles, allowing for triangulation and stereoscopic vision to achieve centimeter-level precision while maintaining compatibility with generic tanker aircraft
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously processes images from optical detectors to determine the relative position between aircraft, uses this feedback information to calculate alignment errors, and automatically adjusts flight parameters in real-time to maintain centimeter-level precision throughout the refueling operation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables precise, automatic in-flight refueling at a centimeter level without structural modifications to the tanker aircraft, reducing pilot workload and production costs, and ensuring compatibility with various tanker aircraft.
Implementation Method 1
a first optical device (8) and a second optical device (10), for example a first video camera and a second video camera, each set on a respective wing of the receiver aircraft (1), preferably in a lower portion of each respective wing, and configured for acquiring films and/or images in the visible or in the infrared
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic-piloting system (15) configured for being set on a receiver aircraft (1) and for controlling operations of in-flight refuelling of said receiver aircraft (1), comprising: first detection means (8), set on the receiver aircraft (1) and configured for acquiring first geometrical information associated to a first detection area (22) and a second detection area (24) belonging to a tanker aircraft (20), the first and second detection areas being linked together by a geometrical relation known to the automatic-piloting system (15); processing means (14), configured for determining, on the basis of the first geometrical information acquired, first position information associated to a relative position of the receiver aircraft (1) with respect to the tanker aircraft (20); and an automatic-pilot device (2) coupled to the processing means (14) and configured for varying flight parameters of the receiver aircraft (1) on the basis of the first position information.