Wireless Logger Flight Mode for Aircraft Asset Monitoring
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless logger devices used to monitor environmental parameters of assets during aircraft transport face challenges due to restrictions on wireless data transmission during flights, resulting in 'black box' data visibility periods that can lead to delayed identification of critical issues such as temperature deviations.
Innovation Solution
A wireless logger device system that includes a power source, sensing devices, storage, a communication module, and a processor, which switches to a flight mode during takeoff and landing, allowing real-time position tracking of the aircraft using aviation-related signals, and resumes data transmission after landing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the logger device transmits data wirelessly during flight, then real-time monitoring is improved, but aircraft safety restrictions are violated
Solution Approach 1:
The logger device dynamically switches between two operational modes: a first mode during ground operations where wireless transmission is enabled for real-time data monitoring, and a second mode during flight where wireless transmission is disabled to comply with safety restrictions. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain both data visibility and flight safety by adjusting its communication behavior based on the operational context.
2Reliability
If the logger device is placed in flight mode during flight, then flight safety is maintained, but real-time position tracking is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary approach by using the aircraft's own transmission system (which remains active for flight control and communication) as a carrier for position data. The logger device receives position information from the aircraft's transmission system during flight, allowing position tracking to continue without requiring the logger's wireless transmission to be active, thus maintaining both safety and data visibility.
3Reliability
If the logger device waits until after landing to transmit data, then transmission restrictions are complied with, but response time to critical issues increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by continuously collecting and storing environmental and position data during the flight phase, even though wireless transmission is disabled. The data is prepared and buffered in advance, then transmitted immediately upon landing or at the next opportunity. This preliminary data collection eliminates the need to wait for post-flight transmission, reducing response time while maintaining compliance with flight transmission restrictions.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is for operating a wireless logger device configured to monitor an environmental-related parameter of an asset at least while the asset is onboard an aircraft and is transported by the aircraft from an origin location to a destination location. The logger device includes a power source, at least one sensing device, a storage medium, a communication module, and a processor. The method includes receiving an aviation-related signal periodically transmitted by the aircraft, by the communication module, switching, by the processor, the logger device to a flight mode, the flight mode being a power mode where the communication module performs no transmission of the measured and stored environmental-related data, and tracking, by the external control computer, the position of the aircraft using the received flight data as input data.