AIRCRAFT INTENT PROCESSOR

• US 20150253779A1
• Filed: 03/05/2015
• Published: 09/10/2015
• 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, Garca de Blanes, Francisco, D'Alto, Luis
• Granted Patent: US 9,658,623 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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. An apparatus comprising:

an aircraft intent processor comprising;

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 an aircraft; and

a residual output;

wherein the aircraft intent processor is to;

calculate residual data representative of an error between a state of the aircraft commanded by the aircraft intent data and the state of the aircraft expressed by the state data; and

output the residual data via the residual output.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the aircraft intent input is to receive aircraft intent data representative of trigger conditions for indicating when a corresponding one of the aircraft intent instructions has been executed, the aircraft intent processor further comprising:

a trigger manager to determine whether the state data received by the aircraft state input fulfils one of the trigger conditions.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the aircraft intent processor further comprises:

an effects manager to calculate the residual data by;

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

evaluating 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.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

an actuator to control the flight of the aircraft;

a flight control system to control the actuator; and

a navigation system to monitor the state of the aircraft and provide the state data representative of the state of the aircraft to the aircraft state input.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the flight control system comprises a controller to output a control signal to the actuator based on the residual data received from the aircraft intent processor.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a trajectory computation infrastructure having a numerical solver to;

generate the state data based on the residual data output by the aircraft intent processor; and

provide the state data to the aircraft intent processor.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the state data generated by the numerical solver is estimated state data.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising a tracking system to provide present location data of the aircraft to the numerical solver.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the numerical solver is to predict a behavior of the aircraft based on the aircraft intent data and the present location data.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the state of the aircraft is defined by six degrees of freedom.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the aircraft intent data is in the form of aircraft intent description language.

12. A system comprising:

an aircraft having an actuator and a first aircraft intent processor; and

an air traffic control station to monitor the aircraft, the air traffic control station having a second aircraft intent processor, wherein;

aircraft intent data representative of aircraft intent instructions is received by the aircraft and the air traffic control station;

the aircraft is to execute the aircraft intent instructions using the first aircraft intent processor, the first aircraft intent processor comprising;

a first aircraft intent input to receive the aircraft intent data;

a first aircraft state input to receive first state data representative of a first state of the aircraft; and

a first residual output, wherein the first aircraft intent processor is to;

calculate 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

output the first residual data via the first residual output; and

the air traffic control station is to predict the trajectory of the aircraft using the second aircraft intent processor.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the aircraft further comprises:

a flight control system to control the actuator;

a navigation system to monitor the first state of the aircraft and provide the first state data representative of the first state of the aircraft to the first aircraft state input; and

a controller to output a control signal to the actuator based on the first residual data.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the second aircraft intent processor comprises:

a second aircraft intent input to receive the aircraft intent data;

a second aircraft state input to receive second state data representative of a second state of the aircraft; and

a second residual output, wherein the second aircraft intent processor is to;

calculate 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; and

output the second residual data via the second residual output.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the air traffic control station comprises:

a trajectory computation infrastructure; and

a numerical solver to generate the second state data based on the second residual output from the second aircraft intent processor, and to provide the second state data to the second aircraft intent processor.

16. A method of controlling an aircraft or predicting a trajectory of the aircraft using an aircraft intent processor comprising an aircraft intent input, an aircraft state input, and a residual output, the method comprising:

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

receiving, with the aircraft state input, state data representative of a state of the aircraft;

calculating 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; and

outputting the residual data via the residual output.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the aircraft intent processor further comprises a trigger manager, and the method further comprises:

receiving, with the aircraft intent input, 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 state input fulfils one of the trigger conditions.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the aircraft intent processor further comprises an effects manager, and the method further comprises:

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

evaluating, with the effects 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; and

outputting the residual from the effects manager.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the aircraft comprises an actuator, a flight control system and a navigation system, and the method further comprises:

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

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

controlling the actuator with the control signal.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the aircraft intent processor is part of a trajectory computation infrastructure having a numerical solver, and the method further comprises:

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

providing the residual data to the numerical solver; and

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