SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING HELICOPTER HEALTH AND LOCATION

• US 20140214286A1
• Filed: 01/28/2013
• Published: 07/31/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Chandran, Nagarajan, Iyer, Vidhyashankaran Ramamoorthy, Ramana, Kanniganti Venkata
• Granted Patent: US 8,914,205 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/51
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0283 Predictive maintenance, e.g. involving the monitoring of a system and, based on the monitoring results, taking decisions on the maintenance schedule of the monitored system; Estimating remaining useful life [RUL] preventive maintenance, i.e. planning maintenance according to the available resources without monitoring the system G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station

Abstract

A system and method combines integrated system health usage monitoring and flight tracking of a helicopter, and transmits the information to monitoring sites for managing flight operations in real time, thereby providing the functionality of both system health and flight tracking and reducing weight related constraints faced by helicopters. With enhanced availability of system health data, vital information for maintenance and flight position data-stream, operations, flight dispatch and maintenance can plan for required services more efficiently.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring health and itinerary of an aircraft, comprising:

monitoring the health of a system on the aircraft;

tracking the location of the aircraft;

correlating the health and location; and

transmitting the correlated health and location to a managing site.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

translating data acquired from the monitoring step into one of a plurality of condition indicators; and

transmitting the data to the managing site.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoring, tracking, and correlating are accomplished by a single system architecture.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

transmitting the correlated health and location when a threshold is exceeded.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

translating the correlated health and location periodically.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

calculating a remaining useful life of the system based on parametric data, condition indicators, flight conditions, and operation data; and

transmitting the useful life to the managing site.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a typical usage of the system for comparison with the monitored health of the system.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoring the health comprises:

monitoring the vibration of the system.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoring the health comprises:

monitoring the performance of the system.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the system comprises at least one of the systems selected from the group consisting of an engine, a rotor, and a turbine.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining the remaining route of the aircraft; and

the correlating step considers the remaining route.

12. A method of monitoring health and itinerary of a helicopter, comprising:

determining the health of at least one helicopter component;

determining current flight parameters of the helicopter;

correlating the health and the current flight parameters; and

transmitting the correlated health and current flight parameters for analysis by a monitoring station.

13. A system for monitoring the health, and the location, of a helicopter, the system comprising:

a monitoring device configured to;

monitor the health of a system on the helicopter;

determine the location of the helicopter; and

correlate the health and location; and

a data link coupled to the monitoring system and configured to;

transmit the correlated health and location to a ground site.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein:

the monitoring device is further configured to translate data acquired from the monitoring step into one of a plurality of condition indicators; and

the data link is further configured to transmit the data to the managing site.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the monitoring device comprises single system architecture by consolidating health monitoring and flight tracking.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein:

the monitoring device is further configured to calculate a remaining useful life of the system including components; and

the data link is further configured to transmit the useful life to the managing site.

17. The system of claim 13 wherein the monitoring device is further configured to:

monitor the performance of the engine.

18. The system of claim 13 wherein the system comprises at least one of the systems selected from the group consisting of engines, rotors and transmission.

19. The system of claim 13 wherein the monitoring device is further configured to:

determine the remaining route of the helicopter; and

consider the remaining route.

20. The system of claim 13 wherein the monitoring device is further configured to:

monitor available engine power and other systems operational margins.