Automatic strategic offset function

• US 8,185,258 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2010
• Issued: 05/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Dey, Michael E., Cornell, Bradley D., Gunn, Peter D., Myers, Robert J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Algahaim, Helal A
• Application Number:
  US12/713,629
• Publication Number:
  US 20100161159A1
• Time in Patent Office: 816 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/301, 701/4, 701/205, 340/945, 340/979
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0034 Assembly of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0052 for cruising combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value G01C23/00

Abstract

A system may generate a modified flight plan for an aircraft based on an original flight plan. The system may provide an automatic strategic offset function that includes an autoflight system; a sensor system including at least one of a global positioning system, an inertial reference unit, or an air data computer; and a flight management computer. The flight management computer may be operably coupled with the autoflight system and/or the sensor system. The flight management computer may process a flight plan of the vehicle and generate a non-uniform offset value in the vertical and/or lateral orientation between the flight plan and a boundary. The offset value may be used to create an offset flight plan for navigating an aircraft.

Claims

1. A navigation system comprising:

a flight system configured to determine a published flight plan of an aircraft and a boundary around the flight plan;

a location sensor configured to determine a location of the aircraft with respect at least one of the published flight plan or the boundary; and

a flight controller configured to;

generate two or more flight plan segments, each flight plan segment to include an origination point that is proximate a termination point of a preceding segment, the two or more segments being contained within the boundary and offset from the published flight plan, wherein the offset is a random offset value that results in creation of the flight plan segments that are within the boundary and variably offset from the published flight plan; and

generate a modified flight plan by connecting the two or more flight plan segments to create a continuous navigable flight plan that includes varying offsets from the published flight plan; and

navigate the aircraft along the modified flight plan.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the flight controller generates one or more offset values for a flight plan segment defined between successive published waypoints of the flight plan.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a display device to display the modified flight plan.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the flight controller generates the offsets based at least in part on an operator input.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the flight system controls the aircraft to navigate along the modified flight plan using the location sensor.