Methods and systems for health monitoring for aircraft

• US 8,666,569 B2
• Filed: 11/10/2009
• Issued: 03/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Goodrich, Jeff, Grabill, Paul, Brotherton, Tom, Luppold, Rob
• Primary Examiner(s): To, Tuan C.
• Application Number:
  US12/615,974
• Publication Number:
  US 20100057277A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,575 Days
• Field of Search: 701/14, 701/3, 707/803, 707/802, 340/945, 340/971, 340/973
• US Class Current: 701/14
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/60 Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0883 wherein the data carrier is removable

Abstract

A method for health monitoring for an aircraft includes the steps of obtaining vibration data for the aircraft, obtaining navigation data for the aircraft, and determining a measure of health of the aircraft using the vibration data and the navigation data.

Claims

1. A method for health monitoring for an aircraft, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining vibration data for the aircraft via a health monitoring system;

obtaining navigation data for the aircraft via a navigation system;

fusing the vibration data and the navigation data, thereby generating fused data; and

determining a measure of health of the aircraft using the fused data via a processor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the vibration data comprises information pertaining to vibrations of one or more aircraft components during flight of the aircraft, and the step of obtaining the vibration data comprises the step of measuring the vibration data using the health monitoring system of the aircraft during flight of the aircraft; and

the navigation data comprises information pertaining to movement of the aircraft during flight, and the step of obtaining the navigation data comprises the step of measuring the navigation data using the navigation system of the aircraft during flight of the aircraft.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the step of obtaining the vibration data further comprises the step of supplying the vibration data to the processor; and

the step of obtaining the navigation data further comprises the step of supplying the navigation data to the processor.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the processor is disposed onboard the aircraft.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the processor is disposed on a ground station in communication with the aircraft.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

obtaining aircraft-specific information as to a make-up of the aircraft; and

downloading the aircraft-specific information to a database, to thereby generate a customized database for the aircraft;

wherein the step of determining the measure of health of the aircraft comprises the step of determining the measure of health of the aircraft using the vibration data, the navigation data, and the customized database.

6. The method of step 1, further comprising the steps of:

generating a vibration signature of the aircraft; and

generating a plurality of flight regime characteristics of the aircraft;

wherein the step of fusing the vibration data and the navigation data comprises the step of fusing the vibration signature and the flight regime characteristics of the aircraft, to thereby generate the fused data.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:

calculating a plurality of stresses and strains of a plurality of components of the aircraft; and

interpreting the plurality of stresses using the fused data, to thereby generate interpreted data.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of:

estimating a measure of useful life for use of the plurality of components of the aircraft using the interpreted data.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of:

performing condition based maintenance on the estimated measures of life.

11. A system for health monitoring for an aircraft, the system comprising:

a health monitoring system configured to at least facilitate measuring vibration data for the aircraft during flight of the aircraft;

a navigation system configured to at least facilitate measuring navigation data for the aircraft during flight of the aircraft; and

a processor coupled to the health monitoring system and the navigation system, the processor configured to at least facilitate;

fusing the vibration data and the navigation data, thereby generating fused data; and

determining a measure of health of the aircraft using the fused data.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein:

the health monitoring system is further configured to at least facilitate generating a vibration signature of the aircraft using the vibration data;

the navigation system is further configured to at least facilitate generating a plurality of flight regime characteristics of the aircraft using the navigation data; and

the processor is further configured to at least facilitate fusing the vibration signature and the flight regime characteristics of the aircraft, to thereby generate the fused data.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to at least facilitate estimating a measure of useful life for use of the plurality of components of the aircraft using the fused data.

14. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a database; and

a set-up tool configured to at least facilitate;

obtaining aircraft-specific information as to a make-up of the aircraft; and

downloading the aircraft-specific information to the database;

wherein, to thereby customize the database for the aircraft;

wherein the processor is coupled to the database and further configured to at least facilitate determining the measure of health of the aircraft using the vibration data, the navigation data, and the database as customized by the set-up tool.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein:

the health monitoring system comprises a plurality of accelerometers; and

the navigation system comprises;

a global positioning (GPS) receiver; and

a plurality of inertial navigation sensors.

16. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a housing;

wherein the health monitoring system and the navigation system are disposed within the housing.