METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MERGING MEASUREMENTS OF FLIGHT PARAMETERS OF AN AIRCRAFT

• US 20190316933A1
• Filed: 04/09/2019
• Published: 10/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV)
• Inventors: Brot, Patrice, Sapin, Olivier
• Granted Patent: US 11,435,203 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 43/02 for indicating aircraft speed or stalling conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/165 combined with non-inertial navigation instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 3/08 with provision for safeguarding the apparatus, e.g. against abnormal operation, against breakdown
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 13/025 indicating air data, i.e. flight variables of an aircraft, e.g. angle of attack, side slip, shear, yaw
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0221 Preprocessing measurements, e.g. data collection rate adjustment; Standardization of measurements; Time series or signal analysis, e.g. frequency analysis or wavelets; Trustworthiness of measurements; Indexes therefor; Measurements using easily measured parameters to estimate parameters difficult to measure; Virtual sensor creation; De-noising; Sensor fusion; Unconventional preprocessing inherently present in specific fault detection methods like PCA-based methods

Abstract

Method and system for merging measurements of flight parameters of an aircraft. The system is for merging measurements of flight parameters of an aircraft, linked to one another by at least one equation, and includes at least one acquisition module for acquiring at least one measurement of flight parameters, a scoring module for attributing a first validity score to the equations by checking whether the measurement or measurements of flight parameters are a solution or solutions of the equation or equations, a scoring module for attributing a second validity score to failure scenarios involving one or more acquisition modules from the first validity scores, a determination module for determining the validity of the measurements of flight parameters from the second validity scores, consolidation module for consolidating the measurements of flight parameters, a transmission module for transmitting the consolidated measurements of flight parameters to a user device.

Claims

1. A method for merging measurements of flight parameters of an aircraft, the measurements of flight parameters being linked to one another by at least one equation, comprising:

an acquisition step, implemented by at least one acquisition module, comprising acquiring at least one measurement of at least one flight parameter;

a first scoring step, implemented by a first scoring module, comprising attributing respectively a first validity score to the equation or to each of equations linking the measurements of the flight parameters to one another, the first validity score being determined by checking whether the measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters are a solution or solutions of the equation or equations;

a second scoring step, implemented by a second scoring module, comprising attributing respectively a second validity score to one or more failure scenarios, each of the failure scenarios involving one or more acquisition modules, the second validity score for a failure scenario considered being determined from the first validity score or scores attributed to the equation or equations linking the measurements of the flight parameters acquired by the acquisition module or modules involved respectively in the failure scenario considered;

a determination step, implemented by a determination module, comprising determining validity of the measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters from the second validity score or scores;

a consolidation step, implemented by a consolidation module, comprising consolidating the measurements of the flight parameter or parameters as a function of the validity of the measurements determined in the determination step; and

a transmission step, implemented by a transmission module, comprising transmitting the consolidated measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters to a user device.

2. The method according to claim 1, herein the first scoring step comprises substeps, each of the substeps being implemented for each of the equations and comprising:

a first computation substep, implemented by a first computation submodule, comprising computing an absolute value of a result of the equation with no second term from the measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters involved in the equation;

a comparison substep, implemented by a comparison submodule, comprising comparing the absolute value of the result with at least one predetermined threshold value; and

a first scoring substep, implemented by a first scoring submodule, comprising attributing the first validity score to the equation from the comparison of the absolute value of the result with the predetermined threshold value or values.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the absolute value of the result is compared in the comparison substep with a predetermined threshold value, and wherein:

the first validity score attributed is equal to 1 if the absolute value of the result is below the predetermined threshold value,

the first validity score attributed is equal to 0 if the absolute value of the result is above or equal to the predetermined threshold value.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the absolute value of the result is compared in the comparison substep with a first predetermined threshold value and a second predetermined threshold value, the first predetermined threshold value being lower than the second predetermined threshold value, the first validity score attributed being equal to 1 if the absolute value of the result is below the first predetermined threshold value, the first validity score attributed being equal to 0, if the absolute value of the result is above or equal to the second threshold value,

the first validity score attributed being greater than 0 and less than 1 according to a monotonic function decreasing from 1 to 0 as the absolute value of the result increases, if the absolute value of the result is above or equal to the first predetermined threshold value and if the absolute value of the result is below the second predetermined threshold value.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first scoring step comprises:

a second computation substep, implemented by a second computation submodule, comprising computing a statistical value, from a classification method, from the equation or equations and from the measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters; and

a second scoring substep, implemented by a second scoring submodule, comprising attributing the first validity score by taking account of the statistical value.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second scoring step comprises substeps, each of the substeps being implemented for each of the failure scenarios and comprising:

a first identification substep, implemented by a first identification submodule, comprising identifying, out of the equation or equations, the equation or equations linking the measurements of flight parameters acquired by the acquisition module or modules involved in the failure scenario, the acquisition module or modules identified further corresponding to the acquisition module or modules for which the failure scenario assumes that the acquisition module or modules provide non-erroneous measurements; and

a third scoring substep, implemented by a third scoring submodule, comprising attributing the second validity score as a function of the first validity score of the equation or equations identified in the first identification substep.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the second validity score attributed in the third scoring substep is equal to a result of a combination by a fuzzy “

AND”

operator of the first validity score or scores of the equation or equations identified in the first identification substep.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the determination step comprises a second determination substep, implemented by a second determination submodule for each of the measurements of the flight parameter or parameters, comprising determining validity of the flight parameter measurement, the validity of the flight parameter measurement being equal to a result of a combination by a fuzzy “

OR”

operator of the second validity scores attributed to the failure scenarios involving the acquisition module configured to acquire the flight parameter measurement.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the second validity score attributed in the third scoring substep is equal to 1 if the equation or all the equations identified in the first identification substep have a first attributed validity score equal to 1, and wherein the second validity score attributed in the third scoring substep is equal to 0 if at least one of the equations identified in the first identification substep has a first validity score different from 1.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the determination step comprises substeps, each of the following substeps being implemented for each of the measurements of the flight parameter or parameters and comprising:

a third identification substep, implemented by a third identification submodule, comprising identifying the failure scenario or scenarios involving the acquisition module configured to acquire the flight parameter measurement, for which the second attributed validity score is equal to 1; and

a first determination substep, implemented by a first determination submodule, comprising determining the validity of the flight parameter measurement from the failure scenario or scenarios identified in the third identification substep, the flight parameter measurement being valid if there is at least one failure scenario for which the second validity score attributed is equal to 1, otherwise the flight parameter measurement is not valid.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second scoring step comprises:

a second identification substep, implemented by a second identification submodule, comprising identifying, out of the equations, one or more first equations linking the measurements of flight parameters acquired by the acquisition module or modules involved in the failure scenario, the acquisition module or modules identified further corresponding to the acquisition module or modules for which the failure scenario assumes that the acquisition module or modules provide non-erroneous measurements, and one or more second equations linking the measurements of flight parameters acquired by the acquisition module or modules involved in the failure scenario and for which the failure scenario assumes that the acquisition module or modules supply erroneous measurements; and

a fourth scoring substep, implemented by a fourth scoring submodule, comprising attributing the second validity score to each of the failure scenarios from the equation or equations identified in the second identification substep.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the second validity score attributed in the fourth scoring substep is equal to 1 for the failure scenario or scenarios involving the acquisition module or modules configured to acquire the measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters linked by the equation or equations identified in the second identification substep, if the first equation or equations identified in the second identification substep have a first attributed validity score equal to 1 and if the second equation or equations identified in the second identification substep have a first attributed validity score equal to 0, and wherein the second validity score attributed in the fourth scoring substep is equal to 0 for the failure scenario or scenarios involving the acquisition module or modules configured to acquire the measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters linked by the equation or equations which are not identified in the second identification substep.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein, for the failure scenario or scenarios involving one or more acquisition modules configured to acquire the measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters linked by the first equation or equations identified in the second identification substep, the second validity score is equal to a result of a combination by a fuzzy “

AND”

operator of the first validity score or scores attributed to the first equation or equations linking the flight parameters, and wherein, for the failure scenario or scenarios involving none of the acquisition modules configured to acquire the measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters linked by the equation or equations identified in the second identification substep, the second validity score is equal to 0.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the determination step comprises a second determination substep, implemented by a second determination submodule for each of the measurements of the flight parameter or parameters, comprising determining validity of the flight parameter measurement, the validity of the flight parameter measurement being equal to a result of a combination by a fuzzy “

OR”

operator of the second validity scores attributed to the failure scenarios involving the acquisition module configured to acquire the flight parameter measurement.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the determination step comprises substeps, each of the following substeps being implemented for each of the measurements of the flight parameter or parameters and comprising:

a third identification substep, implemented by a third identification submodule, comprising identifying the failure scenario or scenarios involving the acquisition module configured to acquire the flight parameter measurement, for which the second attributed validity score is equal to 1; and

a first determination substep, implemented by a first determination submodule, comprising determining the validity of the flight parameter measurement from the failure scenario or scenarios identified in the third identification substep, the flight parameter measurement being valid if there is at least one failure scenario for which the second validity score attributed is equal to 1, otherwise the flight parameter measurement is not valid.

16. A system for merging measurements of flight parameters of an aircraft, the measurements of flight parameters being linked to one another by at least one equation, comprising:

at least one acquisition module configured to acquire at least one measurement of at least one flight parameter;

a first scoring module configured to attribute respectively a first validity score to the equation or to each of equations linking the measurements of the flight parameters to one another, the first validity score being determined by checking whether the measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters are a solution or solutions of the equation or equations;

a second scoring module configured to attribute respectively a second validity score to one or more failure scenarios, each of the failure scenarios involving one or more acquisition modules, the second validity score for a failure scenario considered being determined from the first validity score or scores attributed to the equation or equations linking the measurements of the flight parameters acquired by the acquisition module or modules involved respectively in the failure scenario considered;

a determination module configured to determine validity of the measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters from the second validity score or scores;

a consolidation module configured to consolidate the measurements of the flight parameter or parameters as a function of the validity of the measurements determined by the determination module; and

a transmission module configured to transmit the consolidated measurement or measurements of the flight parameter or parameters to a user device.

17. An aircraft comprising a system according to claim 16.