System, method, and computer program product for predicting cruise orientation of an as-built airplane

• US 20090157363A1
• Filed: 12/13/2007
• Published: 06/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Purcell, Timothy W., Walls, Stephen A., Hawkinson, Dean A., Barnes, John G., Wilson, Douglas L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,326,587 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/8
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/00 Designing, manufacturing, assembling, cleaning, maintaining or repairing aircraft, not otherwise provided for; Handling, transporting, testing or inspecting aircraft components, not otherwise provided for

Abstract

Illustrative computer-executable methods, systems, and computer software program products predict cruise orientation of an as-built airplane. In illustrative embodiments, nominal orientation of an as-built airplane is input. Deviation from the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane is automatically computed, and the computed deviation from the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane is applied to the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane.

Claims

1. A computer executable method for predicting cruise orientation of an as-built airplane, the method comprising:

inputting nominal orientation of an as-built airplane;

automatically computing deviation from the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane; and

applying the computed deviation from the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane to the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically computing deviation from the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane includes:

inputting angular variation of at least one aerodynamically significant feature of the as-built airplane relative to the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane; and

automatically transforming the angular variation of the at least one aerodynamically significant feature into angular offsets of the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein automatically transforming the angular variation includes:

formatting the angular variation of the at least one aerodynamically significant feature of the as-built airplane into an input vector;

formatting a plurality of transformation factors that correlate a plurality of angular variations of aerodynamically significant features with angular offsets of components of cruise orientation into a transformation matrix; and

multiplying the transformation matrix by the input vector to obtain an output vector with angular offsets of components of the predicted cruise orientation of the as-built airplane.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the input vector includes a column matrix having a plurality of rows corresponding to angular variation of a plurality of aerodynamically significant features of the as-built airplane.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein formatting a plurality of transformation factors includes:

formatting a first aerodynamic model into a first aerodynamic model matrix;

formatting a second aerodynamic model into a second aerodynamic model matrix; and

multiplying the first aerodynamic model matrix by the second aerodynamic model matrix to obtain the transformation matrix.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one aerodynamic model matrix chosen from the first aerodynamic model matrix and the second aerodynamic model matrix includes a linearization.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the output vector includes a column matrix having a plurality of rows that correspond to offset angles relative to the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane.

8. A computer executable method for predicting cruise orientation of an as-built airplane, the method comprising:

inputting nominal orientation of an as-built airplane;

formatting angular variation of at least one aerodynamically significant feature of the as-built airplane into an input vector;

formatting a plurality of transformation factors that correlate a plurality of angular variations of aerodynamically significant features with angular offsets of components of cruise orientation into a transformation matrix;

multiplying the transformation matrix by the input vector to obtain an output vector with angular offsets of components of the predicted cruise orientation of the as-built airplane, and

applying the angular offsets of components of the predicted cruise orientation of the as-built airplane to the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the input vector includes a column matrix having a plurality of rows corresponding to angular variation of a plurality of aerodynamically significant features of the as-built airplane.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein formatting a plurality of transformation factors includes:

formatting a first aerodynamic model into a first aerodynamic model matrix;

formatting a second aerodynamic model into a second aerodynamic model matrix; and

multiplying the first aerodynamic model matrix by the second aerodynamic model matrix to obtain the transformation matrix.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one aerodynamic model matrix chosen from the first aerodynamic model matrix and the second aerodynamic model matrix includes a linearization.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the output vector includes a column matrix having a plurality of rows that correspond to offset angles relative to the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane.

13. A system for predicting cruise orientation of an as-built airplane, the system comprising:

a first computer processing component configured to automatically compute deviation from nominal orientation of an as-built airplane; and

a second computer processing component configured to apply the computed deviation from the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane to the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the first computer processing component includes:

a third computer processing component configured to automatically transform angular variation of at least one aerodynamically significant feature of the as-built airplane relative to the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane into angular offsets of the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the third computer processing component includes:

a fourth computer processing component configured to automatically format the angular variation of the at least one aerodynamically significant feature of the as-built airplane into an input vector;

a fifth computer processing component configured to automatically format a plurality of transformation factors that correlate a plurality of angular variations of aerodynamically significant features with angular offsets of components of cruise orientation into a transformation matrix; and

a sixth computer processing component configured to automatically multiply the transformation matrix by the input vector to obtain an output vector with angular offsets of components of the predicted cruise orientation of the as-built airplane.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the input vector includes a column matrix having a plurality of rows corresponding to angular variation of a plurality of aerodynamically significant features of the as-built airplane.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the fifth computer processing component includes:

a seventh computer processing component configured to format a first aerodynamic model into a first aerodynamic model matrix;

an eighth computer processing component configured to format a second aerodynamic model into a second aerodynamic model matrix; and

a ninth computer processing component configured to multiply the first aerodynamic model matrix by the second aerodynamic model matrix to obtain the transformation matrix.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein at least one aerodynamic model matrix chosen from the first aerodynamic model matrix and the second aerodynamic model matrix includes a linearization.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the output vector includes a column matrix having a plurality of rows that correspond to offset angles relative to the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane.

20. A computer software program product for predicting cruise orientation of an as-built airplane, the method comprising:

first computer program code means for automatically computing deviation from nominal orientation of an as-built airplane; and

second computer program code means for applying the computed deviation from the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane to the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane.

21. The computer software program product of claim 20, wherein the first computer program code means includes:

third computer program code means for automatically transforming angular variation of at least one aerodynamically significant feature relative to the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane into angular offsets of the nominal orientation of the as-built airplane.

22. The computer software program product of claim 21, wherein the third computer program code means includes:

fourth computer program code means for formatting the angular variation of the at least one aerodynamically significant feature of the as-built airplane into an input vector;

fifth computer program code means for formatting a plurality of transformation factors that correlate a plurality of angular variations of aerodynamically significant features with angular offsets of components of cruise orientation into a transformation matrix; and

sixth computer program code means for multiplying the transformation matrix by the input vector to obtain an output vector with angular offsets of components of the predicted cruise orientation of the as-built airplane.

23. The computer software program product of claim 22, wherein the input vector includes a column matrix having a plurality of rows corresponding to angular variation of a plurality of aerodynamically significant features of the as-built airplane.

24. The computer software program product of claim 22, wherein the fifth computer program code means includes:

seventh computer program code means for formatting a first aerodynamic model into a first aerodynamic model matrix;

eighth computer program code means for formatting a second aerodynamic model into a second aerodynamic model matrix; and

ninth computer program code means for multiplying the first aerodynamic model matrix by the second aerodynamic model matrix to obtain the transformation matrix.

25. The computer software program product of claim 24, wherein at least one aerodynamic model matrix chosen from the first aerodynamic model matrix and the second aerodynamic model matrix includes a linearization.