Automated Fuel Efficiency Tracking and Aircraft Route Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Determining fuel consumption efficiency in aircraft is challenging due to dynamic environmental and operational factors, and existing methods require significant manual effort from flight crews, making them impractical.
Innovation Solution
An automated system tracks and collects data on configuration, environmental, and flight path factors using onboard systems like Flight Management Systems and Airplane Condition Monitoring Systems, normalizing fuel efficiency performance and optimizing aircraft/engine combinations for routes, with real-time data transmission to airline computer systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual tracking of fuel consumption and environmental factors is implemented, then measurement precision of fuel efficiency is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to significant burden on flight crew
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by having the aircraft automatically track and record its own fuel consumption data, environmental factors, and flight parameters through onboard sensors and systems, eliminating the need for manual data collection by flight crew while maintaining high measurement precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual tracking system with an automated electronic system that uses onboard sensors, flight management systems, and computer processors to automatically collect, store, and analyze fuel efficiency data, thereby reducing crew workload while improving measurement accuracy
2Ease of operation
If automated data collection system is implemented, then ease of operation is improved by reducing flight crew burden, but device complexity increases due to integration of onboard systems
Solution Approach 1:
The system leverages existing multi-functional onboard aircraft systems such as Flight Management Systems (FMS) and Airplane Condition Monitoring Systems (ACMS) that already perform multiple functions including navigation, performance monitoring, and data recording, thereby avoiding the need for separate dedicated hardware and reducing overall system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a ground-based computer system that acts as an intermediary to receive, process, and analyze data from multiple aircraft, performing the complex normalization and comparison calculations that would be too computationally intensive for individual aircraft systems, thereby simplifying the onboard equipment requirements
3Productivity
If real-time data transmission is implemented, then productivity is improved through immediate optimization capabilities, but use of energy increases due to air-to-ground communication
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic data transmission rather than continuous real-time communication, sending collected fuel efficiency and flight data at regular intervals or at key flight stages, which reduces the energy consumption of air-to-ground communication systems while still enabling timely analysis and optimization
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary data collection and preprocessing onboard during flight, preparing data for transmission in advance, and conducts the computationally intensive normalization and optimization analysis on the ground after data receipt, thereby reducing the need for high-power onboard processing and communication during critical flight phases
Data Source
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AI summary
An automated system tracks and records factors that affect fuel consumption. Configuration factors such as the actual engine(s) used in the airplane (102), weight, weight distribution, engine pressure, engine rotation speeds, etc.; environmental factors such as wind speed and direction, temperature, altitude and air pressure, etc.; and flight path factors such as actual route flown, distance flown, take-off/landing requirements for the airports, etc. are tracked and recorded. The resulting data is used to "normalize" the fuel efficiency of each airplane and engine. Normalized data for an airline's fleet of airplanes and engines are used to find optimal airplane/engine combinations for the routes serviced by the airline. The collected data itself can be sent from the aircraft during flight or, a notification message can be sent from the aircraft to the airline computer system (104) to have the collected data downloaded from the airplane at the next landing.