Aircraft Taxi Thrust Estimation From Acceleration Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need to determine the engine thrust of an aircraft while it is taxiing on an airport surface, as current methods lack a system or manner for pilots to report or monitor this information, which affects fuel usage estimation, emission control, and scheduling efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A computing device is used to identify the aircraft, calculate its acceleration, and compare it with predetermined data from similar aircraft to determine the engine thrust levels, including the number of engines and their operational thrust levels, by analyzing the acceleration and time period of movement along the airport surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If pilots are required to report thrust levels during taxiing, then information availability improves, but operational complexity and reporting burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically determines thrust levels by monitoring aircraft acceleration and comparing it with predetermined data, eliminating the need for pilot reporting. The system serves itself by using sensor data and computational algorithms to extract thrust information without human intervention or additional reporting burden on pilots.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual reporting process is replaced with an automated electronic system that uses acceleration sensors, communication circuitry, and computational algorithms to determine thrust levels. This substitutes the mechanical/human reporting mechanism with an automated electronic determination system.
2Measurement precision
If a system is implemented to monitor and determine thrust levels, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses acceleration as an intermediary measurement to indirectly determine thrust levels. Instead of directly measuring thrust, the system measures acceleration and uses predetermined data relationships to infer thrust information, simplifying the measurement approach while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses predetermined data collected from previous aircraft operations to establish the relationship between acceleration and thrust levels. This preliminary data preparation enables rapid, accurate thrust determination during actual operations without requiring complex real-time calculations or additional sensors.
3Productivity
If real-time thrust determination is implemented, then scheduling efficiency improves, but computational requirements and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-establishes the relationship between acceleration patterns and thrust levels through predetermined data collection and analysis. This preliminary work enables rapid real-time thrust determination during operations by simply comparing current acceleration measurements against the predetermined data, avoiding complex real-time computations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses copies of predetermined acceleration-thrust relationship data for different aircraft types and conditions. Instead of performing complex physical calculations, the system compares measured acceleration against stored reference patterns to determine thrust levels, simplifying the computational process while maintaining accuracy.
Data Source
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AI summary
A computing device to determine engine thrust of an aircraft during taxiing. The computing device includes memory circuitry configured to store computer-readable program code. Processing circuitry is configured to execute the computer-readable program code to cause the computing device to: identify an aircraft on an airport surface; calculate an acceleration of the aircraft during the taxiing of the aircraft; compare the acceleration with predetermined data from similar aircraft; and based on the comparison, determine an engine thrust for the aircraft while the aircraft is taxiing.