Aircraft intent processor

• US 10,041,809 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2017
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Navarro, Francisco, Querejeta, Carlos, Valls Hernandez, Ernesto, Garcia de Blanes, Francisco, D'Alto, Luis
• Primary Examiner(s): Shafi, Muhammad
• Application Number:
  US15/499,638
• Publication Number:
  US 20170227377A1
• Time in Patent Office: 467 Days
• Field of Search: 701 14, 701 11, 701 15, 701 3, 701 4, 701 23, 701 24, 701 27
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 23/00 Combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value, e.g. for aircraft; Combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement, e.g. distance, speed or acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/101 specially adapted for aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/003 Flight plan management
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0052 for cruising combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value G01C23/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/04 Anti-collision systems

Abstract

Example aircraft intent processors are described herein that can be used both for the prediction of an aircraft'"'"'s trajectory from aircraft intent, and the execution of aircraft intent for controlling the aircraft. An example aircraft intent processor includes an aircraft intent input to receive aircraft intent data representative of aircraft intent instructions, an aircraft state input to receive state data representative of a state of the aircraft, and a residual output. The aircraft intent processor is to calculate residual data representative of an error between a state of the aircraft commanded by the received aircraft intent data and the state of the aircraft expressed by received state data, and output the residual data via the residual output.

Claims

1. A method of predicting a trajectory of an aircraft using a trajectory computation infrastructure including an aircraft intent processor, the method comprising:

receiving, with the aircraft intent processor, aircraft intent data representative of aircraft intent instructions;

receiving, with the aircraft intent processor, state data representative of a state of the aircraft;

calculating, with the aircraft intent processor, residual data representative of an error between a state of the aircraft commanded by the received aircraft intent data and the state of the aircraft expressed by the received state data, the aircraft intent processor including an effect manager, wherein the calculating of the residual data includes;

determining, with the effect manager, an error metric from one of the aircraft intent instructions represented by the aircraft intent data; and

evaluating, with the effect manager, the error metric using the state of the aircraft commanded by the received aircraft intent data and the state of the aircraft expressed by the received state data to calculate the residual data;

outputting, with the aircraft intent processor, the residual data;

determining, with the trajectory computation infrastructure, a predicted trajectory of the aircraft;

comparing the predicted trajectory to one or more other predicted trajectories of one or more other aircraft; and

presenting a warning on a display if a potential future collision is detected.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the aircraft intent processor further includes a trigger manager, and the method further includes:

receiving, with the aircraft intent processor, aircraft intent data representative of trigger conditions for indicating when a corresponding one of the aircraft intent instructions has been executed; and

determining, with the trigger manager, whether the state data received by the aircraft intent processor fulfils one of the trigger conditions.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the trajectory computation infrastructure includes a numerical solver, and the method further includes:

providing an initial state of the aircraft to the numerical solver;

providing the residual data to the numerical solver; and

generating, with the numerical solver, the state data representing the state of the aircraft based on the residual data output by the aircraft intent processor.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving the state data is performed using the initial state of the aircraft and is subsequently performed using the state data generated by the numerical solver.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the numerical solver generates the state data based on an aircraft performance model that provides values of aircraft performance aspects.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the values of aircraft performance aspects are based on at least one of a type of the aircraft, a current motion state of the aircraft, or a current local atmospheric condition.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the numerical solver generates the state data further based on an Earth model that provides information relating to environmental conditions.

9. The method of claim 4, further including monitoring the state of the aircraft with a tracking system to provide the state data to the aircraft intent processor.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the tracking system includes a ground-based radar.

11. The method of claim 4, further including presenting the predicted trajectory on a display.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the aircraft intent processor includes an aircraft intent description language (AIDL) decoder, and the method further includes:

comparing the aircraft intent data to a set of rules; and

validating the aircraft intent data based on the comparison.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the aircraft is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

3. A method of controlling an aircraft using an aircraft intent processor, the method comprising:

receiving, with the aircraft intent processor, aircraft intent data representative of aircraft intent instructions;

receiving, with the aircraft intent processor, state data representative of a state of the aircraft;

calculating, with the aircraft intent processor, residual data representative of an error between a state of the aircraft commanded by the received aircraft intent data and the state of the aircraft expressed by the received state data, the aircraft intent processor including an effect manager, wherein the calculating of the residual data includes;

determining, with the effect manager, an error metric from one of the aircraft intent instructions represented by the aircraft intent data; and

evaluating, with the effect manager, the error metric using the state of the aircraft commanded by the received aircraft intent data and the state of the aircraft expressed by the received state data to calculate a residual;

outputting, with the aircraft intent processor, the residual data;

monitoring the state of the aircraft with a navigation system of the aircraft to provide the state data to the aircraft intent processor;

outputting a control signal to an actuator based on the residual data; and

controlling the actuator with the control signal.

14. A method including:

controlling an aircraft using a first aircraft intent processor by;

receiving aircraft intent data representative of aircraft intent instructions;

receiving first state data representative of a first state of the aircraft;

calculating first residual data representative of a first error between a state of the aircraft commanded by the received aircraft intent data and the first state of the aircraft expressed by the first state data; and

outputting the first residual data to a controller of the aircraft; and

determining, using a trajectory computation infrastructure including a second aircraft intent processor, a predicted trajectory of the aircraft by;

receiving, with the second aircraft intent processor, the aircraft intent data;

receiving, with the second aircraft intent processor, second state data representative of a second state of the aircraft;

calculating, with the second aircraft intent processor, second residual data representative of a second error between the state of the aircraft commanded by the received aircraft intent data and the second state of the aircraft expressed by the second state data;

outputting, with the second aircraft intent processor, the second residual data;

determining, with the trajectory computation infrastructure, a predicted trajectories of one or more other aircraft and

presenting a warning on a display if a potential future collision is detected.

15. The method of claim 14, further including monitoring, with a navigation system of the aircraft, the first state of the aircraft and providing the first state data representative of the first state of the aircraft to the first aircraft intent processor.

16. The method of claim 15, further including controlling, via the controller, an actuator of the aircraft based on the first residual data.