METHODS AND SYSTEMS FACILITATING STABILIZED DESCENT TO A DIVERSION AIRPORT

• US 20170243495A1
• Filed: 02/18/2016
• Published: 08/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Moravek, Zdenek, Sosovicka, Robert, Magula, Filip, Kunes, David, Sprinarova, Katerina, Lacko, Ivan
• Granted Patent: US 10,134,289 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 9/38 Jet flaps
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0676 specially adapted for landing
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0039 Modification of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0091 for monitoring atmospheric conditions radar or analogous systems specially adapted for meteorological use G01S13/95; meteorology G01W
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for guiding or otherwise assisting operation of a vehicle to intersect a stabilized approach to a destination. One exemplary method of assisting an aircraft for landing at an airport involves obtaining, from a system onboard the aircraft, a current position of the aircraft and a current velocity of the aircraft, determining a descent strategy for the aircraft from the current position to an initialization point for a stable approach to the airport based at least in part on the current position and the current velocity, and providing indication of the descent strategy on a display device. The descent strategy is determined based on one or more validation criteria associated with the initialization point so that one or more predicted values for one or more characteristics of the aircraft satisfy the one or more validation criteria at the initialization point.

Claims

1. A method of assisting an aircraft for landing at an airport, the method comprising:

obtaining, from a system onboard the aircraft, a current position of the aircraft and a current velocity of the aircraft;

determining a descent strategy for the aircraft from the current position to an initialization point for a stable approach to the airport based at least in part on the current position, the current velocity, and one or more validation criteria associated with the initialization point, wherein the descent strategy results in one or more predicted values for one or more characteristics of the aircraft satisfying the one or more validation criteria; and

providing indication of the descent strategy on a display device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the descent strategy comprises one or more actions to decrease an energy level of the aircraft; and

providing the indication comprises providing indicia of the one or more actions on the display device in association with a route to the airport presented on the display device.

3. The method of claim 1, the initialization point comprising a flap extension point and the one or more validation criteria comprising airspeed limits for the flap extension point, wherein determining the descent strategy comprises determining the descent strategy resulting in a predicted airspeed for the aircraft at the flap extension point that satisfies the airspeed limits based at least in part on the current position and the current velocity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

determining the descent strategy comprises determining a plurality of segments along a route to the airport, each segment of the plurality of segments having an associated descent rate and an associated aircraft configuration; and

providing the indication of the descent strategy comprises providing indicia of the associated descent rate and the associated aircraft configuration proximate a respective point on the route corresponding to the respective segment of the plurality of segments.

5. The method of claim 1, the descent strategy including an aircraft configuration for a portion of a route from the current position to the airport, wherein providing the indication of the descent strategy comprises displaying symbology indicative of the aircraft configuration proximate the portion of the route.

6. The method of claim 5, the descent strategy including a descent rate for the portion of the route, wherein providing the indication of the descent strategy comprises displaying the descent rate proximate the symbology.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining meteorological information corresponding to the airport;

obtaining a flight model for the aircraft; and

determining the initialization point based on the meteorological information, the flight model, and one or more stabilization criteria for the stable approach.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a circling pattern for the aircraft to reduce an energy level of the aircraft in conjunction with the descent strategy; and

providing additional indication of the circling pattern on the display device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the descent strategy comprises:

determining a plurality of potential descent strategies from the current position to the initialization point based at least in part on the current position, the current velocity, and the one or more validation criteria associated with the initialization point; and

identifying the descent strategy as a potential descent strategy having a minimum flight time among the plurality of potential descent strategies.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the descent strategy comprises:

determining a plurality of potential descent strategies from the current position to the initialization point based at least in part on the current position, the current velocity, and the one or more validation criteria associated with the initialization point;

scoring each potential descent strategy of the plurality of potential descent strategies by weighting characteristics of the respective potential descent strategy with weighting factors assigned to the respective characteristics; and

identifying the descent strategy as an optimal descent strategy of the plurality of potential descent strategies based on the scoring.

11. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processing system coupled to the display device, cause the processing system to perform the method of claim 1.

12. A system comprising:

a display device having a map associated with a vehicle displayed thereon, the map including a graphical representation of the vehicle, a graphical representation of a destination, and a graphical representation of a route from a current position of the vehicle to the destination; and

a processing system coupled to the display device to;

determine a current energy level associated with the vehicle;

determine a strategy for navigating the vehicle from the current position to an initial point for a stable approach to the destination based at least in part on the current energy level, the current position, and one or more validation criteria associated with the initial point; and

provide indication of the strategy on the map in association with the route.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein:

the strategy comprises a plurality of segments along the route;

each segment of the plurality of segments has a travel rate and a configuration associated therewith; and

the indication comprises graphical indicia of the travel rate and the configuration for each segment of the plurality of segments at respective locations along the route corresponding to the respective segments.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the vehicle comprises an aircraft; and

the travel rate comprises a descent rate.

15. The system of claim 12, further comprising a meteorological system coupled to the processing system to provide meteorological information corresponding to the destination, wherein the processing system determines the initial point based at least in part on the meteorological information and one or more stabilization criteria for the stable approach.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a data storage element maintaining a model of the vehicle, wherein the processing system is coupled to the data storage element to obtain the model and determine the initial point based on the meteorological information, the model, and the one or more stabilization criteria.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the processing system determines a plurality of potential strategies from the current position to the initial point based at least in part on the current position, the current energy level, and the one or more validation criteria associated with the initial point and selects the strategy from among the plurality of potential strategies based on one or more selection criteria.

18. A method comprising:

obtaining, from a navigation system onboard a vehicle, a current position of the vehicle;

identifying a diversion destination for the vehicle;

obtaining, from a data storage element, a model quantifying characteristics of the vehicle;

determining an approach to the diversion destination satisfying one or more stabilization criteria using the model, the approach comprising an initialization point having one or more threshold criteria associated therewith;

determining a strategy for navigating the vehicle from the current position to the initialization point based at least in part on the current position and the one or more threshold criteria associated with the initialization point, the strategy resulting in a predicted value for a characteristic of the vehicle satisfying the one or more threshold criteria; and

providing indication of the strategy on a display device.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising displaying a graphical representation of a route to the diversion destination on the display device, wherein:

the strategy comprises one or more actions to decrease an energy level of the vehicle; and

providing the indication comprises providing indicia of the one or more actions on the display device in association with the route.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising obtaining a current speed of the vehicle from the navigation system onboard the vehicle, the one or more threshold criteria comprising speed limits associated with the initialization point, wherein determining the strategy comprises determining the strategy resulting in a predicted speed of the vehicle at the initialization point that satisfies the speed limits based at least in part on the current position and the current speed.