Automatic Aircraft Separation Management via Speed Control Orders
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for managing aircraft separation in air traffic control are inefficient, leading to saturation in heavily loaded airport areas and increased guidance instructions, as they rely on manual control and lack automation for optimizing separation maneuvers.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that automatically calculate and apply speed control orders to a following aircraft to acquire and maintain a time separation from a preceding aircraft, using prior movement data and real-time adjustments to ensure precise positioning and speed matching, even before the start of a maneuver, thereby anticipating and optimizing separation maneuvers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual control methods are used for aircraft separation, then air traffic controllers can directly manage aircraft positions, but the terminal zones become saturated and guidance instructions increase
Solution Approach 1:
The following aircraft's onboard system autonomously calculates and executes separation maneuvers without continuous controller intervention. The system self-determines speed adjustments and timing based on received target aircraft data, transforming the manual control process into an automated self-service operation that increases capacity while reducing instruction complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system calculates and prepares separation maneuvers in advance based on predicted target aircraft movements. By determining speed control orders before the separation maneuver begins and anticipating target aircraft position changes, the system optimizes separation execution and reduces the need for reactive guidance instructions
2Speed
If speed control orders are calculated and applied immediately, then separation maneuver response is fast, but precision in acquiring time separation is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculations of the target aircraft's movement and the required speed control orders before the separation maneuver begins. This advance preparation allows the system to have precise separation targets ready, enabling both fast response when maneuvers start and high precision in achieving the desired time separation
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the actual time separation between aircraft and compares it with the target separation value. Based on this feedback, the system adjusts speed control orders in real-time, ensuring both rapid response to separation requirements and precise achievement of the desired time separation accuracy
3Reliability
If the referent aircraft follows the target aircraft closely to maintain separation, then separation is maintained, but unnecessary accelerations and decelerations occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system calculates the optimal speed profile in advance, determining when speed adjustments are necessary and when the aircraft can maintain constant speed. By anticipating separation requirements and target aircraft movements, the system minimizes unnecessary accelerations and decelerations while ensuring separation is maintained through planned, energy-efficient speed changes
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method and device for automatically managing the separation between two aircraft following one another. The device (1) comprises a means (6, 7) for automatically calculating, prior to performing a function to acquire and maintain separation, orders for controlling speed that enable a trailing aircraft to acquire and maintain a time separation relative to a target aircraft preceding the former.