Method and device for constructing a low altitude flight trajectory intended to be followed by an aircraft

• US 7,853,368 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2005
• Issued: 12/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus France
• Inventors: Artini, Franck
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kiswanto; Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US11/129,498
• Publication Number:
  US 20100017113A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,038 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 5/005 altimeters for aircraft G01C5/02, G01C5/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0646 to follow the profile of undulating ground

Abstract

Method and device for constructing a low altitude flight trajectory intended to be followed by an aircraft.

The device (1) comprises, in particular, a means (6) for constructing a lateral trajectory of the flight trajectory and a means (7) for constructing a vertical trajectory of the flight trajectory, over a profile section defined between two height maxima of a terrain profile, by displacing over the terrain profile a V-shaped construction profile, whose branches are determined respectively by maximum angles of climb and of descent and by selecting a position of the construction profile, for which its edges arrive tangential to the terrain profile, and no peak of the terrain profile crosses the construction profile, the position thus selected of the construction profile allowing the latter to form the part of the vertical trajectory which is situated at the level of said profile section.

Claims

1. A method performed by a computer to construct a low altitude flight trajectory to be followed by an aircraft, in particular a military transport plane, said flight trajectory comprising a lateral trajectory and a vertical trajectory, the method comprising:

providing a terrain profile pertaining to a terrain to be overflown by the aircraft together with information pertaining to the aircraft and to its environment;

constructing said lateral trajectory of the flight trajectory; and

constructing said vertical trajectory of the flight trajectory over a profile section defined between two height maxima of said terrain profile by;

displacing over said entire terrain profile a V-shaped construction profile, having two branches determined respectively by maximum angles of climb and of descent; and

selecting a position of said construction profile, at which edges of said construction profile are tangential to said terrain profile, and no peak of said terrain profile crosses said construction profile, so that the position thus selected of the construction profile allows the construction profile to form the part of the vertical trajectory which is situated at the level of said profile section,

wherein the two branches of the V-shaped construction profile join up according to a circular arc transition phase, and the method further comprises;

setting a highest summit over the entire lateral computation trajectory as a first height maximum of the two height maxima;

extracting the height maxima from the terrain profile from the highest summit, taking account of a minimum length of segments of the construction profile;

topping the height maxima by circular arc transitions;

sliding the construction profile by starting from a given height maximum topped by a transition circular arc, until the construction profile arrives in contact with a transition circular arc corresponding to a height maximum; and

sliding the edges of the construction profile to be tangential with these circular arc transitions.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two height maxima of the terrain profile, that enable defining of a profile section to be taken into account, are separated horizontally by at least a distance corresponding to a minimum length pertaining to a segment of the vertical trajectory.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in the case where the construction profile cannot be inscribed between said two height maxima, an angle between the two branches of said construction profile is increased to enable the inscription.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lateral trajectory of the flight trajectory is formed, in a horizontal plane, by a succession of branches which are rectilinear and which are separated from one another by first transition phases.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein at least one of said first transition phases, between two successive branches, corresponds to a circular arc of constant radius of curvature.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein two successive branches cross at a turning point, wherein said turning point is associated with an overfly condition pertaining to an obligation of the aircraft to overfly or not to overfly the turning point, and wherein the corresponding first transition phase takes account of the overfly condition.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vertical trajectory of the flight trajectory is formed, in a vertical plane, by a succession of segments which are rectilinear and which exhibit a constant slope.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein a slope of each of said segments is determined as a function of said terrain profile and of performance of the aircraft and lies within a domain of slope values that is limited by a maximum angle of climb and a maximum angle of descent.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein said maximum angles of climb and descent depend on flight conditions which are predicated over the corresponding segment.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said maximum angle of climb is determined from a first set of flight conditions which are predicted over said segment, the first set of flight conditions comprising:

a maximum continuous thrust of the aircraft with a faulty engine;

a predicted wind;

a predicted exterior temperature;

a mass of the aircraft;

a maximum altitude of said segment;

a predicted aerodynamic configuration of the aircraft; and

a preset speed over said segment.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said maximum angle of descent is determined from a second set of flight conditions;

which are predicted over said segment, the second set of flight conditions comprising;

an idling thrust of the aircraft with all its engines operational;

a predicted wind;

a predicted exterior temperature;

a mass of the aircraft;

a maximum altitude of said segment;

a predicted aerodynamic configuration of the aircraft; and

a preset speed over said segment.

12. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein each segment exhibits a predetermined minimum length.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein, to enable following of the terrain profile as closely as possible, account is taken of the following characteristics in constructing said vertical trajectory:

a climb at maximum angle of climb is favored with respect to a descent at maximum angle of descent, in the case where the terrain profile tends to rise between two height maxima; and

a descent at maximum angle of descent is favored with respect to a climb at maximum angle of climb, in the case where the terrain profile tends to drop between two height maxima.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the constructing of the vertical trajectory further comprises:

topping said height maxima by circular arc transitions; and

sliding said construction profile from a highest of said height maxima in said lateral trajectory until said construction profile contacts one of said circular arc transitions corresponding to another of said height maximum having a height which is less than said highest height maxima.

15. A method performed by a computer to construct a low altitude flight trajectory to be followed by an aircraft, in particular a military transport plane, said flight trajectory comprising a lateral trajectory and a vertical trajectory, the method comprising:

providing a terrain profile pertaining to a terrain to be overflown by the aircraft together with information pertaining to the aircraft and to its environment;

constructing said lateral trajectory of the flight trajectory; and

constructing said vertical trajectory of the flight trajectory over a profile section defined between two height maxima of said terrain profile by;

displacing over said entire terrain profile a V-shaped construction profile, having two branches determined respectively by maximum angles of climb and of descent; and

selecting a position of said construction profile, at which edges of said construction profile are tangential to said terrain profile, and no peak of said terrain profile crosses said construction profile, so that the position thus selected of the construction profile allows the construction profile to form the part of the vertical trajectory which is situated at the level of said profile section,

wherein the two branches of the V-shaped construction profile join up according to a circular arc transition phase, and the method further comprises;

setting a highest summit over the entire lateral computation trajectory as a first height maximum of the two height maxima;

extracting the height maxima from the terrain profile from the highest summit, taking account of a minimum length of segments of the construction profile;

topping the height maxima by circular arc transitions;

sliding the construction profile by starting from a given height maximum topped by a transition circular arc, until the construction profile arrives in contact with a transition circular arc corresponding to a height maximum; and

sliding the edges of the construction profile to be tangential with these circular arc transitions,

wherein;

in a climb phase, the method further comprises maximizing a climb slope and decreasing a descent slope to a zero descent slope, and

in a descent phase, the method further comprises maximizing a descent slope and decreasing a climb slope to a zero climb slope.