System and method for commanding a payload of an aircraft

• US 10,384,779 B2
• Filed: 08/11/2014
• Issued: 08/20/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Villar, Victor Perez, Casado, Enrique, Maza, Ivan, Caballero, Fernando
• Primary Examiner(s): Dager, Jonathan M
• Application Number:
  US14/457,084
• Publication Number:
  US 20150251756A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,835 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/00 UAVs specially adapted for particular uses or applications
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/10 autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS]
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0094 involving pointing a payload, e.g. camera, weapon, sensor, towards a fixed or moving target
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0808 specially adapted for aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft

Abstract

A system and method is provided for commanding a payload of an aircraft. A plurality of flight segments, which comprise trajectory information of the aircraft, are received. A plurality of payload commands are generated using statements of payload intents. Each one of the payload commands are synchronized with at least one of the plurality of flight segments. The system and method express the operations to be performed by the payload onboard in order to achieve the established mission goals of the aircraft.

Claims

1. A method for commanding a payload of an aircraft, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of trajectory events which comprise trajectory information of the aircraft;

generating and storing a plurality of payload commands using one or more statements of payload intent,

wherein the statements of payload intent are described using a first formal language comprising an alphabet and a plurality of lexical and syntactical rules,

wherein the first formal language is independent of payload type,

wherein the statements of payload intent comprises an operation statement and an execution interval, and

wherein the execution interval is defined by a beginning trigger relating to activation for the operation statement and an end trigger relating to deactivation for the operation statement; and

synchronizing each one of the stored payload commands with at least one of the plurality of trajectory events, wherein the beginning trigger and the end trigger are further associated with at least one of the plurality of trajectory events.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the statements of payload intent comprises a sequence of concatenated operation statements.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the statements of payload intent further comprises one or more logical operations associated with a plurality of triggers associated with the payload intent.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of trajectory events are defined by a value of one or more aircraft state variables and wherein the aircraft state variables are selected among a predefined instant, a predefined location, a predefined attitude of the aircraft or a combination thereof.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the aircraft is an unmanned air vehicle.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the operation statement comprises at least one of a command or a configuration for operation of the payload, and wherein the beginning trigger relates to activation of the command or configuration and the end trigger relates to deactivation of the command or configuration.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the beginning trigger is an explicit trigger comprising at least one of a fixed trigger or a floating trigger.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the beginning trigger is an implicit trigger comprising at least one of:

(i) a linked trigger for a first flight segment relating to a second flight segment, (ii) an auto trigger determined based on a trajectory computation, or (iii) a default trigger relating to a performance model for the aircraft.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the payload comprises a native interface provided by a system manufacturer and wherein the first formal language is independent of the native interface.

6. A system for commanding a payload of an aircraft, the system comprising:

means for receiving and processing trajectory events which comprise trajectory information of the aircraft;

means for reading data and generating payload commands using one or more statements of payload intent for commanding the payload of the aircraft,

wherein the statements of payload intent are described using a first formal language comprising an alphabet and a plurality of lexical and syntactical rules,

wherein the first formal language is independent of payload type,

wherein the statements of payload intent comprises an operation statement and an execution interval, and

wherein the execution interval is defined by a beginning trigger relating to activation for the operation statement and an end trigger relating to deactivation for the operation statement; and

,

means for synchronizing each payload command with at least one of the plurality of trajectory events of the aircraft, wherein the beginning trigger and the end trigger are further associated with at least one of the plurality of trajectory events.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the means for reading data and generating payload commands comprise a payload computation engine and a database which stores payload performance models and wherein the inputs of the payload computation engine comprise the statements of payload intents and data performance of the performance model of the payloads.

8. The system according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the statements of payload intent comprises a sequence of concatenated operation statements.

9. The system according to claim 6, wherein the statements of payload intent further comprises one or more logical operations associated with a plurality of triggers associated with the payload intent.

10. The system according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the plurality of trajectory events are defined by a value of one or more aircraft state variables.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the aircraft state variables are selected among a predefined instant, a predefined location, a predefined attitude of the aircraft or a combination thereof.

12. The system according to claim 6, wherein the aircraft is an unmanned air vehicle.

13. A system for commanding a payload of an aircraft, the method comprising:

a trajectory computation infrastructure operable to generate a plurality of trajectory events which comprise trajectory information of the aircraft;

a payload intent description language (PIDL) data structure storing PIDL statements;

a payload commands generation infrastructure operable to;

generate a plurality of payload commands using one or more PIDL statements of payload intent,

wherein the statements of payload intent are described using a first formal language comprising an alphabet and a plurality of lexical and syntactical rules,

wherein the first formal language is independent of payload type,

wherein the statements of payload intent comprises an operation statement and an execution interval, and

wherein the execution interval is defined by a beginning trigger relating to activation for the operation statement and an end trigger relating to deactivation for the operation statement; and

synchronize each one of the payload commands with at least one of the plurality of trajectory events, wherein the beginning trigger and the end trigger are further associated with at least one of the plurality of trajectory events.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the statements of payload intent comprises a sequence of concatenated operation statements.

15. The system according to claim 13, wherein the statements of payload intent further comprises one or more logical operations associated with a plurality of triggers associated with the payload intent.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the plurality of trajectory events are defined by a value of one or more aircraft state variables and wherein the aircraft state variables are selected among a predefined instant, a predefined location, a predefined attitude of the aircraft or a combination thereof.