Aircraft Time Constraint Checking Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current flight management systems face difficulties in managing multiple successive time constraints for aircraft, as they require extensive calculation capacity to ensure compliance with each constraint, especially when constraints are defined as time windows, leading to potential failure in fulfilling subsequent constraints due to optimized speed profiles focused on initial constraints.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that estimate the current aircraft speed and compare it to required times of arrival at each waypoint, calculating minimum and maximum arrival times based on possible speeds to determine feasibility of successive time constraints without recalculating the entire speed profile, providing pilots with real-time information on constraint fulfillment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the flight management system calculates the complete speed profile through iterative loops to fulfill time constraints, then the accuracy of constraint fulfillment is improved, but the computational load and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the constraint checking process into two distinct phases: a fast feasibility check phase that provides immediate guidance to pilots, and a subsequent detailed speed profile calculation phase. This segmentation allows the system to provide rapid feedback without the computational burden of complete iterative calculations, resolving the contradiction between accuracy and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a preliminary check before full speed profile calculation to determine whether constraint fulfillment is even possible. This preliminary action filters out impossible scenarios early, avoiding unnecessary computational resources being spent on infeasible problems, thus reducing overall computational complexity while maintaining accuracy for viable cases.
2Reliability
If the system calculates the speed profile to fulfill the first time constraint, then the first constraint is satisfied, but subsequent time constraints may become impossible to fulfill
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs a preliminary multi-constraint feasibility check before the aircraft begins its flight or before entering a constraint sequence. This preliminary action evaluates whether the given constraints are mutually compatible and can be fulfilled together, preventing the situation where satisfying the first constraint makes subsequent constraints impossible. If constraints are found to be incompatible, the system can alert the pilot beforehand, allowing for alternative planning.
3Measurement precision
If multiple successive time constraints are imposed on the flight management system, then the scheduling precision is improved, but the computational load exceeds the capacity of embedded computers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the constraint management into a lightweight preliminary feasibility check that can be performed by embedded computers with limited power, and a more intensive detailed calculation that only proceeds when the preliminary check indicates feasibility. This segmentation allows multiple constraints to be managed without exceeding the computational power of embedded systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a partial check approach where only the essential feasibility determination is performed by the embedded computer using simplified calculations. The full detailed speed profile calculation is performed partially or selectively only when needed, rather than always performing the complete computationally intensive calculation for every constraint scenario.
Data Source
AI summary
A time constraint checking device performs a method for checking whether an aircraft is able to fulfill a plurality of successive time constraints corresponding to required times of arrival at a plurality of corresponding waypoints. The method includes comparing, for each of the waypoints, a comparison value depending on the time constraint with either an estimated time of arrival or minimum and maximum possible times of arrival based on speeds of the aircraft. The method performs different comparisons depending on whether the time constraints for a particular waypoint are a single time value or a time window, and an optimized time of arrival for meeting all future time constraints is also possible.