Airplane take-off monitor with learning feature
First Claim
1. A take-off performance monitor for an aircraft comprising:
- means for inputting parameters affecting the take-off performance of the aircraft including at least environmental factors and engine power settings;
storage means for storing said parameters;
means for measuring the movement of the aircraft during a take-off roll to produce a movement signal;
means responsive at least to said movement signal for determining at least the aircraft acceleration and a corresponding aircraft velocity and for producing aircraft acceleration and velocity data;
said storage means being operable to store said aircraft acceleration and velocity data;
calculating means responsive to the input parameters and the aircraft acceleration and velocity data for calculating at least one take-off constant based upon both the input parameters and the acceleration and velocity data, said take-off constant being indicative of aircraft take-off performance;
said storage means including stored historical data corresponding to said at least one take-off constant for at least selected take-offs of the aircraft;
analyzing means for analyzing take-off performance substantially in real-time during a take-off roll by using the historical data collected from previous take-offs and the current take-off performance to produce analyzed data; and
output means for outputting the analyzed data to the pilot.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A take-off performance monitor uses a sensor to produce a movement signal proportional to the movement of an aircraft during a take-off roll and, for each take-off, historical data is generated and stored based on the movement signal. An analyzing unit of the monitor uses the historical data and current conditions to calculate a reference take-off distance, reference acceleration data and reference velocity data. This information is output to the pilor to facilitate his judgment as to the adequacy to take-off performance. In the preferred embodiment, the analyzing unit utilizes five samples of acceleration and velocity during a take-off roll to solve an equation for five constants that are indicative of take-off performance. The five constants relate to static thrust, a linear relationship between thrust and velocity, a non-linear relationship between thrust and velocity, air drag and rolling drag, and these five constants constitute at least part of the historical data. During an actual take-off the actual acceleration of the aircraft and the reference acceleration are displayed to allow the pilot to make a quantitative evaluation of the takeoff performance. This comparison can be made at velocities much below take-off velocity and thus will allow a safe abortion of abnormal take-offs. In addition to an acceleration comparison a live take-off distance, based on actual take-off acceleration, is displayed and compared to the reference take-off distance as predicted in part from historical data.
77 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A take-off performance monitor for an aircraft comprising:
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means for inputting parameters affecting the take-off performance of the aircraft including at least environmental factors and engine power settings; storage means for storing said parameters; means for measuring the movement of the aircraft during a take-off roll to produce a movement signal; means responsive at least to said movement signal for determining at least the aircraft acceleration and a corresponding aircraft velocity and for producing aircraft acceleration and velocity data; said storage means being operable to store said aircraft acceleration and velocity data; calculating means responsive to the input parameters and the aircraft acceleration and velocity data for calculating at least one take-off constant based upon both the input parameters and the acceleration and velocity data, said take-off constant being indicative of aircraft take-off performance; said storage means including stored historical data corresponding to said at least one take-off constant for at least selected take-offs of the aircraft; analyzing means for analyzing take-off performance substantially in real-time during a take-off roll by using the historical data collected from previous take-offs and the current take-off performance to produce analyzed data; and output means for outputting the analyzed data to the pilot. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A take-off performance monitor for an aircraft in which the aircraft has air drag, rolling drag and a thrust setting apparatus for setting static and dynamic thrust of the aircraft, said monitor comprising:
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means for inputting parameters affecting take-off performance of the aircraft including parameters indicative of percentage of rated thrust for a particular take-off, aircraft weight, headwind velocity, air temperature, runway slope and atmospheric pressure; storage means for storing said parameters; means for measuring the movement of the aircraft during a take-off roll to produce a movement signal; means responsive at least to said movement signal for determining at least the actual acceleration and velocity of the aircraft during the take-off roll and for producing at least aircraft actual acceleration and velocity data; said storage means being operable to store said aircraft actual acceleration and velocity data; calculating means responsive to the input parameters and the aircraft actual acceleration and velocity data to solve an aircraft performance equation to determine X number of equation constants, said calculating means being operable to solve said equation based on X number of actual acceleration values and X number of corresponding actual velocity values; said storage means including stored historical data corresponding the X number of equation constants for a plurality of previous take-offs; means for predicting a reference take-off performance for a particular take-off based at least upon the input parameters and the historical data to produce reference data; and means for outputting the reference data to the pilot. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification