Device and process for documentary assistance of an aircraft operator, in particular a pilot of the aircraft

• US 7,188,006 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2002
• Issued: 03/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus France
• Inventors: Salvado, Felipe, Populus, Free
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Dalena
• Application Number:
  US10/105,795
• Publication Number:
  US 20020143440A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,806 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/13, 701/14, 701/29, 701/34, 701/39, 244/158.R, 340/971, 702/81, 702/82
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202

Abstract

The documentary assistance device (1) comprises sources of computer data (S1 to Sn, B1 to Bp) relating to said aircraft, to elements of the latter, as well as to the outside environment, an interrogation means (2) capable of being activated by an operator so as to generate a request for information relating to the execution of at least one particular task, an information presentation means (5), and a central processing unit (6) searching the data sources (S1 to Sn, B1 to Bp) in response to the creation of a request for information by the interrogation means (2), for data relating to the execution of the task, collecting these data and transmitting them, in the form of information, to the information presentation means (5) with a view to their presentation to the operator.

Claims

1. A device for documentary assistance of at least one operator of an aircraft, in particular a pilot of the aircraft, for assisting said operator in the execution on the aircraft of at least one of a plurality of different tasks, said documentary assistance device being carried on board said aircraft and comprising:

a plurality of sources of computer data comprising at least data relating to said aircraft, to elements of the latter, as well as to the outside environment;

an activatable interrogation means, serving as interface between said operator and said documentary assistance device and capable of being activated by said operator so as to generate a request for information relating to the execution of at least one of said tasks;

an information presentation means;

a central processing unit linked to said data sources, to said interrogation means and to said information presentation means and capable of searching said data sources, in response to the creation of a request for information by said interrogation means, for data relating to the execution of the corresponding task, of collecting the data thus searched for and of transmitting them, in the form of information, to said information presentation means with a view to their presentation to the operator; and

at least one monitoring means monitoring at least one particular parameter and capable of automatically activating said interrogation means so as to generate a request for information, as a function of the results of said monitoring, wherein;

said sources of computer data comprise systems existing on the aircraft and associated with elements of said aircraft, wherein said central processing unit is capable of searching all said sources of computer data for all the data relating to the execution of a task and of collecting them into a plurality of groups, wherein for each situation there are a plurality of groups exhibiting levels of details which differ, which makes it possible to tailor the documentary assistance to the level of knowledge of the operator and to his need for information at the relevant instant, for properly pinpointing the situation,

said information presentation means present at least one of these levels to the operator, said operator being able to select the other levels by way of said interrogation means so as to display the level which he wishes to consult,

said interrogation means and said information presentation means form part of one and the same dialogue interface comprising at least one screen and one keyboard, and

said screen displays at least one navigation zone intended for creating requests for information and for selecting information to be presented and a work zone intended for presenting the selected information.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sources of computer data comprise databases.

3. A process for documentary assistance of at least one operator of an aircraft, in particular a pilot of the aircraft, for assisting said operator in the execution on said aircraft of at least one of a plurality of different tasks, according to which process a request for information relating to the execution of a task is generated, and upon the generation of such a request, the following operations are carried out successively and automatically:

a) data relating to the execution of said task is searched for in a plurality of sources of computer data comprising at least data relating to said aircraft, to elements of the latter, as well as to the outside environment;

b) the data thus searched for is collected; and

c) information associated with at least some of the data thus collected is presented to said operator, by way of an information presentation means, wherein

in step a), all the data relating to the execution of said task is searched for in all said sources of computer data which comprise systems existing on the aircraft and associated with elements of said aircraft,

wherein in step b), for each situation there are a plurality of groups exhibiting levels of detail that differ and the data are collected according to several levels of details, which makes it possible to tailor the documentary assistance to the level of knowledge of the operator and to his need for information at the relevant instant, for properly pinpointing the situation, and

wherein in step c), at least one of these levels is presented to the operator, said operator being able to select the other levels so as to display the level which he wishes to consult, and

said request for information is generated automatically, as a function of the result of the monitoring of a parameter.

4. The process as claimed in claim 3, wherein in step c), at least some of the following information is presented to the operator, following the search for data:

the data themselves;

the place where the data are located;

the result of a processing carried out on the basis of the data; and

a proposal of calculation on the basis of the data.

5. The process as claimed in claim 3, wherein a tree-like list making it possible to access the various information available is displayed.

6. The process as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:

providing the operator access to a set of calculational assumptions taken into account when performing the process; and

logically organizing the data by grouping the data by subject matter to make the operator'"'"'s analysis of the data easier.

7. The process as claimed in claim 3, wherein as a function of the operational context, an access which will point to the appropriate sections from among all available documents is proposed, to provide an advanced mode of consultation in respect of the documentation available on board the aircraft.

8. The process as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:

pre-positioning a cursor over a field to be filled in; and

providing a help means and on-line help.

9. The process as claimed in claim 3, further comprising providing access to on-board electronic documentation according to a contextual mode, in which information of the operational context is available to the process, so as to pre-position the documentation.