Runway Exiting System for Aircraft Position and Deceleration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Pilots face difficulties in finding suitable exits from runways, especially in low visibility conditions, leading to increased taxi time, delayed arrivals and departures, and safety concerns due to occupied runways.
Innovation Solution
A runway exiting system that determines the current position and deceleration rate of an aircraft using GPS signals and a digital map database, providing real-time guidance on suitable exit points through a display system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the pilot decelerates the aircraft to a relatively low speed to ensure an appropriate exit is not missed, then the aircraft can safely find an exit, but the aircraft remains on the runway for a longer period of time
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-calculating and displaying suitable exit points and required deceleration rates before the pilot needs to make a decision. The processor determines appropriate exits and displays them on the runway map, allowing the pilot to identify the correct exit in advance rather than searching during deceleration, thus reducing runway occupancy time while maintaining safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides continuous feedback to the pilot by displaying the aircraft's current position on the runway map, the calculated deceleration rate, and highlighted suitable exit points. This real-time feedback enables the pilot to adjust deceleration and exit selection dynamically, ensuring both safe exit finding and optimized runway occupancy time.
2Reliability
If the pilot visually searches for a safe exit point from the runway, then the pilot can identify an appropriate exit, but in low visibility situations the pilot may have difficulty finding an appropriate exit
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary - the electronic display system with runway map - that mediates between the pilot and the physical runway environment. Instead of relying solely on visual search, the display provides augmented information about exit locations, current position, and recommended deceleration rates, enabling accurate exit identification even in low visibility conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the mechanical visual search process with an electronic information display system. The processor calculates and displays exit information based on aircraft position and deceleration rate, substituting the pilot's visual inspection with electronic computation and presentation, thereby overcoming visibility limitations.
3Reliability
If the pilot opt for a taxiway further down the runway in low visibility situations, then the pilot ensures safe exit clearance, but the aircraft burns more fuel and taxi time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameter of exit selection by calculating optimal exit points based on real-time aircraft position and deceleration rate rather than using fixed or pre-determined exits. This dynamic parameter adjustment allows the system to identify the closest safe exit that can be reached at the current deceleration rate, minimizing both fuel consumption and taxi time while maintaining safety clearance.
4Ease of operation
If the aircraft remains on the runway for an extended period, then the pilot can search for an appropriate exit, but other aircraft waiting to land may need to circle the airport
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-identifying and displaying multiple suitable exit points and their corresponding deceleration requirements before the pilot needs to make a decision. This allows the pilot to quickly select an appropriate exit without extended search time, thereby reducing runway occupancy and improving throughput for other aircraft while maintaining ease of exit search.
Data Source
AI summary
A runway exiting system is configured to determine a suitable exit off of a runway for an aircraft. The runway exiting system includes a housing, and one or more processors within the housing that are configured to determine a current position of the aircraft on the runway, determine a current rate of deceleration of the aircraft on the runway, and determine the suitable exit off of the runway for the aircraft based, at least in part, on the current position of the aircraft on the runway and the current rate of deceleration of the aircraft on the runway.