Autonomous Drogue Tracking for Aerial Refueling Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aerial fueling systems, particularly those using the probe and drogue system, require extensive training and are challenging due to complex airflow dynamics, making successful drogue basket engagement difficult, especially in adverse conditions.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize a vision-based detection source, inertial data, and a guidance processor to establish a stable drogue basket track, confirm input quality, and transition between navigation modes without user intervention, enhancing the probability of successful engagement through state estimation filters and internal state machines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual operation of probe and drogue system is used, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but extensive training is required and operation difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operation with an automated vision-based system. The receiving aircraft uses vision sensors to detect and track the drogue basket, with a guidance processor automatically calculating navigation commands to engage the drogue, eliminating the need for manually controlled probe insertion
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables the receiving aircraft to autonomously perform the fueling engagement without human intervention. The autonomous system detects the drogue, tracks its position, calculates the approach trajectory, and executes the engagement maneuver automatically, making the system self-sufficient in adverse conditions
2Reliability
If vision-based autonomous navigation is implemented, then user intervention is reduced and collision risks are minimized, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guidance processor serves multiple functions: it processes vision data to detect the drogue, tracks the drogue position, calculates navigation commands, and controls the approach maneuver. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require separate systems into a single integrated component
Solution Approach 2:
The vision-based detection system acts as an intermediary between the receiving aircraft and the drogue basket. Instead of direct manual control, the vision system provides real-time positional information to the guidance processor, which then generates appropriate navigation commands, creating a reliable automated control loop
3Measurement precision
If stable drogue tracking is achieved through filtering and state estimation, then engagement accuracy improves, but computational requirements and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback by repeatedly detecting the drogue position through vision sensors, filtering the detected positions to establish a stable track, and using this tracked position to generate updated navigation commands. This closed-loop feedback ensures accurate engagement while managing computational complexity through iterative refinement
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for managing an aerial fueling between an aircraft receiving fuel and a tanker delivering fuel. The method includes receiving, by the receiving aircraft, a fueling instruction, collecting, by the receiving aircraft based on the fueling instruction, vision data, providing, by the receiving aircraft, navigation data to the tanker, detecting, by the receiving aircraft using the vision data and relative to the tanker, a drogue associated with the tanker, determining, based on the vision data and the navigation data relative to the tanker, a track of the drogue and a distance between the drogue and the receiving aircraft, and engaging, based on the vision data and the navigation data relative to the drogue, the drogue and the receiving aircraft when distance is within a pre-selected range.