Aircraft Engine Status Indication System for Start Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft engine flight deck displays lack explicit and easy-to-use information for pilots to determine engine start/recovery progress, automation modes, and operational states, leading to increased crew workload and potential errors during engine start or recovery processes.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that provide explicit and intuitive engine start/recovery information, including graphical and alphanumeric indicators for target idle running speed, predicted core speed, and automation mode, to aid pilots in quickly assessing engine status and making timely decisions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional engine display screens present detailed engine parameter data, then engineers can monitor engine status, but crew workload increases and response time decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The display is segmented into multiple functional zones: a primary indicator showing the simplified engine state (starting, running, or stopped), secondary indicators showing detailed parameters only when needed, and a timer display showing time to running. This segmentation allows the system to present comprehensive information while hiding complexity from the crew during normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of presenting all detailed engine parameters continuously and requiring the crew to interpret them, the system inverts the approach by presenting a simplified, intuitive state indicator first, and only providing detailed parameters when the simplified view is insufficient. This reduces the cognitive load on the crew while maintaining information availability.
2Measurement precision
If the system provides detailed engine parameter monitoring, then engine status can be accurately determined, but the time required for crew interpretation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary processing of engine parameters to determine the simplified state indicator (starting, running, or stopped) and the time to running before the crew needs to interpret the data. This pre-computation eliminates the need for the crew to manually analyze multiple parameters in real-time, reducing their interpretation time while maintaining accurate status detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides continuous feedback to the crew through the simplified state indicator and timer display, allowing them to immediately understand engine status without manual analysis. The timer display provides feedback on time to running, enabling the crew to make informed decisions about when to expect the engine to be fully operational without needing to continuously monitor detailed parameters.
3Device complexity
If the display shows current core speed only, then the display remains simple, but the crew cannot determine when the engine is running without estimation
Solution Approach 1:
The system adds a temporal dimension to the display by showing the time to running in addition to the current core speed. This time dimension provides the crew with critical information about when the engine will be fully operational, enabling them to plan actions accordingly without adding significant visual complexity to the display.
Solution Approach 2:
The simplified state indicator (starting, running, or stopped) acts as an intermediary between the complex engine parameters and the crew's decision-making process. This intermediary translation layer converts detailed parameter data into intuitive state information that the crew can quickly understand and act upon, bridging the gap between technical data and operational decision-making.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method and a system for indicating a target idle running speed, a predicted core speed, a predicted time to running, current engine state or automation modes of an operating aircraft engine, and indicating that the current core speed of the aircraft engine is less than a target idle running speed or is abnormally decreasing towards a target idle running speed. The indicators may be visual or aural. The visual indicators may include graphical or numeric symbols indicating the target idle running speed, the direction of core speed change, the predicted core speed at some future time, or current engine state or automation mode.