Aircraft Trajectory Calculation With Environmental Benefit Index
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft mission calculation systems are inefficient in defining optimized trajectories that consider environmental constraints, particularly in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and often require multiple iterations to adjust mission assumptions, leading to non-optimal flight times and increased fuel consumption.
Innovation Solution
An aircraft mission calculation system that includes an environmental benefit index calculation module to determine reference trajectories minimizing carbon dioxide production, allowing users to select operational specifications and display environmental benefit indicators, enabling the calculation of potential trajectories with reduced fuel consumption and emissions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If multiple iterations are performed to adjust mission assumptions in existing flight plan systems, then the trajectory solution can be refined, but the time consumption and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates and stores performance data, meteorological information, and trajectory parameters in databases before actual mission planning. This preliminary preparation allows the flight plan system to quickly retrieve and process information without requiring multiple iterative calculations during mission preparation, thus reducing time consumption while maintaining trajectory optimization precision
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms the complex iterative optimization problem into a parameter-based calculation approach by using pre-stored performance data and meteorological parameters. By changing the optimization parameters and using correlation functions, the system can directly compute optimal trajectories without repeated iterations, resolving the contradiction between precision and time consumption
2Device complexity
If existing flight plan systems provide single navigation solutions based on sum of input criteria, then the system complexity is reduced, but the ability to meet stringent customer criteria and achieve optimal flight time is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the flight plan calculation into multiple independent modules: performance calculation module, meteorological analysis module, trajectory optimization module, and environmental benefit calculation module. Each module handles specific criteria independently and provides results that are integrated to form the complete flight plan. This segmentation allows the system to handle complex customer criteria without overwhelming complexity, improving flight efficiency while maintaining manageable system architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed with multi-functionality to handle diverse customer criteria including passenger comfort, satellite connectivity, weight constraints, and environmental considerations. The universal architecture can process different types of input criteria and generate optimized trajectories that meet various mission requirements, thereby improving productivity without requiring separate specialized systems for each criterion
3Object-generated harmful factors
If aircraft manufacturers improve aircraft design to reduce emissions, then the aircraft performance is enhanced, but the environmental impact of trajectories compared to base trajectories is not easily controlled or quantified
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by calculating and displaying an environmental benefit index that quantifies the environmental impact of optimized trajectories compared to base trajectories. The environmental benefit calculation module computes this index based on fuel consumption differences, and the display system presents this information to users. This feedback mechanism allows users to understand and control the environmental impact, resolving the information loss problem while maintaining emission reduction goals
Data Source
AI summary
An aircraft mission calculation system is configured to calculate an environmental benefit index. The system includes an aircraft trajectory calculation engine, able to calculate at least one potential mission trajectory between a geographic point of origin and a geographic point of destination. The aircraft trajectory calculation engine comprises an environmental benefit index calculation module, able to activate the calculation engine. The environmental benefit index calculation module is able to determine an environmental benefit index (GI) of the potential trajectory from the first amount of carbon dioxide (Q1(TR1)) produced on a first reference trajectory defining a fastest mission, the second amount of carbon dioxide produced on a second reference trajectory (Q2(TR2)), defining a mission minimizing the amount of carbon dioxide produced, and the potential amount of carbon dioxide produced on the potential trajectory.