Boarding Bridge Wheel Angle Control for Automatic Aircraft Docking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The manual operation of passenger boarding bridges poses risks of deformation or damage to aircraft and requires high operator skill, necessitating an efficient and safe automatic docking system, but existing solutions lack a practical method for calculating the optimal wheel frame walking strategy.
Innovation Solution
A method is proposed to calculate the optimal wheel position control angle for automatic docking by using distance detection sensors to ensure bridgehead parallelism with the aircraft fuselage, visual sensors to locate the aircraft door, and trigonometric calculations to determine the best walking path, ensuring efficient and accurate alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual operation mode is used for boarding bridge docking, then operator flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but the risk of aircraft damage and operational safety deteriorate due to high skill requirements and potential human error
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automatic docking through self-service mechanisms where the boarding bridge autonomously navigates to the aircraft door position using visual sensors for door location detection and control algorithms for path planning, eliminating the need for manual operator intervention and reducing human error risks
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operation with an automated control system that uses visual sensors, processors, and control algorithms to detect aircraft door positions and calculate optimal walking paths, substituting human operator skills with automated image processing and mathematical computation
2Productivity
If automatic docking system is implemented without optimal path calculation, then automation is achieved, but docking efficiency and time consumption deteriorate due to lack of optimized walking strategy
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-calculating the optimal walking path before the boarding bridge begins movement. The control algorithm computes the shortest path from current position to aircraft door based on visual sensor data and geometric relationships, enabling efficient navigation without trial-and-error adjustments during actual docking
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies dynamics by making the walking path adaptive and adjustable. The system continuously monitors the boarding bridge position and aircraft door location, dynamically recalculating the optimal path based on real-time feedback, and adjusts control angles to maintain the shortest trajectory throughout the docking process
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method enables precise automatic docking of the boarding bridge with the aircraft door, reducing operator error, improving safety, and enhancing efficiency by calculating the optimal wheel frame angle for the shortest path, thus reducing the risk of damage and operational costs.
Implementation Method 1
Obtaining the relative position of the door of the aircraft to be docked and the bridgehead of the passenger boarding bridge through visual sensors or other methods
Implementation Method 2
This premise can be achieved by installing a distance detection sensor (such as an ultrasonic distance detection sensor) on the left and right sides of the bridgehead
Data Source
AI summary
A method for calculating an optimal wheel position control angle of passenger boarding bridge automatic docking system includes collecting ranging information of a sensor to rotate the bridgehead direction via a distance measuring sensor on both sides of the bridgehead of the passenger boarding bridge, making the bridgehead parallel to the aircraft fuselage; collecting information of an aircraft door by a camera at the bridge head of the passenger boarding bridge to obtain a center position D of the aircraft door; in an ideal docking situation, the aircraft door should appear at the bridge head position as D″; the position where D″ is projected vertically onto the aircraft fuselage is D′, that is, the line segment DD′ is the horizontal distance deviation between the current passenger boarding bridge and the aircraft door, the line segment D′D″ is the distance between the current boarding bridge and the aircraft fuselage.