Aircraft Lateral Flight Plan Modification via Intermediate Point Calculation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for modifying an aircraft's flight plan during low-altitude flight fail to maintain the original flight path orientation after changes, such as deleting, adding, or moving waypoints, leading to potential obstacles being re-exposed on the modified route.
Innovation Solution
The method involves calculating an intermediate point between the upstream and downstream waypoints to ensure the aircraft returns to the initial flight plan course, using circles and tangential lines to define this point, allowing the aircraft to maintain the original flight path orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the flight plan is modified by deleting, adding, or moving waypoints, then the aircraft can avoid obstacles or adapt to new conditions, but the aircraft arrives at the downstream waypoint with a different course, causing subsequent flight-path portions to differ from the initial plan and potentially exposing new obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary calculation step that computes a specific intermediate point between the upstream and downstream waypoints. This intermediate point serves as a mediator that ensures the aircraft's flight path passes through it, guaranteeing that the aircraft arrives at the downstream waypoint with the same course as the initial flight plan. This resolves the contradiction by allowing flight plan modification while maintaining flight path consistency through the mediating role of the calculated intermediate point.
2Ease of operation
If the aircraft follows a modified path to return to a downstream waypoint, then the flight plan can be updated to reflect current conditions, but the flight-path portions connecting waypoints become non-identical to the initial plan, requiring additional safety checks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by calculating the intermediate point before the aircraft executes the modified flight path. This pre-calculation ensures that the flight path is designed to pass through the computed intermediate point, guaranteeing that the aircraft will arrive at the downstream waypoint with the correct course. This preliminary calculation simplifies the overall process by eliminating the need for complex post-modification safety checks, as the path is pre-configured to maintain consistency.
3Productivity
If the aircraft uses standard turning radius calculations for modified waypoints, then the flight path can be quickly recalculated, but the aircraft cannot maintain the original course orientation at downstream waypoints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the turning radius adaptive rather than uniform. The system calculates a specific intermediate point that takes into account the local geometric requirements for maintaining the original course orientation. This allows the turning radius to vary locally at critical points (the intermediate point and downstream waypoint) while maintaining standard calculations elsewhere, thus achieving both quick recalculation and precise course orientation maintenance.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for automatically modifying a lateral flight plan of an aircraft includes modifying means adapted to modify the flight plan by an action to chosen among the following actions: deleting, adding and moving at least one waypoint of an initial flight plan (T1). The modified flight plan (T3) includes one downstream waypoint (P6) defined as the waypoint on which the aircraft gets back to the initial flight plan (T1), and one upstream waypoint (P4) preceding the downstream waypoint (P6). By defining an intermediate point (P5′) between the upstream (P4) and downstream (P6) waypoints, the coordinates are calculated in order to allow the aircraft to reach the downstream waypoint (P6) with the same course as the initial flight plan (T1).