Aircraft equipment management system

• US 8,981,967 B1
• Filed: 10/26/2011
• Issued: 03/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Shore, Rebecca, Coop, William Phillip, Yourkowski, Swanee, Koreis, Rocke Robert, Hill, Lois, Sonntag, Ronald Meir
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehmood, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): Casillashernandez, Omar
• Application Number:
  US13/281,896
• Time in Patent Office: 1,238 Days
• Field of Search: 340/945, 731/56
• US Class Current: 340/945
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2045/0085 Devices for aircraft health monitoring, e.g. monitoring flutter or vibration
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/00 Designing, manufacturing, assembling, cleaning, maintaining or repairing aircraft, not otherwise provided for; Handling, transporting, testing or inspecting aircraft components, not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/006 Indicating maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0825 using optical means

Abstract

Method and apparatus for managing equipment on an aircraft. An apparatus comprises an interrogator, a display system, and a processor unit. The interrogator is configured to read information from a set of wireless tags associated with a set of equipment in an aircraft. The processor unit is configured to identify the set of equipment from the information read from the set of wireless tags by the interrogator. The processor unit is further configured to display a layout of an interior of the aircraft on the display system. The processor unit is further configured to display a number of graphical indicators for the set of equipment on the layout in a number of locations on the layout corresponding to a number of locations of where the set of equipment is located in the interior of the aircraft.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an interrogator configured to read information from a set of wireless tags associated with a set of equipment in an aircraft, and further configured to receive GPS aircraft location information;

a display system;

a processor unit configured to adjust an interrogator radio frequency based on a received GPS aircraft location, to identify the set of equipment from the information read from the set of wireless tags by the interrogator to form identified equipment, to match locations for the set of wireless tags read to locations expected for the identified equipment and to identify locations in which the information has not been read from the set of wireless tags to identify missing equipment from the interior of the aircraft;

display a layout of an interior of the aircraft on the display system;

display a first number of graphical indicators for the set of equipment on the layout in a number of locations on the layout corresponding to a number of locations of where the identified equipment is located in the interior of the aircraft and a number of locations for the missing equipment in the interior of the aircraft; and

a housing, the interrogator, the display system, and the processor unit associated with the housing to form an equipment scanner, the processor further configured to display a second graphical indicator that indicates a location of the equipment scanner within the interior of the aircraft.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a communications unit configured to establish a wireless communications link with a remote data processing system.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first number of graphical indicators identify the set of equipment.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first number of graphical indicators indicate a status of the set of equipment.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the housing is selected from one of a portable housing and a hand-held housing, and wherein the second graphical indicator indicates an orientation of the housing within the interior of the aircraft with respect to the set of equipment in the interior of the aircraft.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one wireless tag in the set of wireless tags comprises:

an antenna configured to send and receive wireless information to the processor unit;

a transceiver associated with the antenna;

a sensor associated with the wireless tag and connected to an oxygen generator in the set of equipment, wherein the sensor is configured to indicate exposure of the wireless tag to a temperature of approximately 400 degrees Fahrenheit at which the oxygen generator operates to generate oxygen and wherein the sensor provides the information to the transceiver.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the set of equipment is emergency equipment.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the emergency equipment is selected from at least one of an oxygen generator, a personal flotation device, a life raft, a flashlight, and a fire extinguisher.

9. A method for managing equipment on an aircraft, the method comprising:

receiving a GPS aircraft location;

adjusting an RFID interrogation radio frequency band based on the GPS aircraft location;

reading information from a set of wireless tags associated with a set of equipment in the aircraft;

identifying the set of equipment from the information read from the set of wireless tags by an interrogator using the interrogation radio frequency band to form identified equipment;

matching locations for the set of wireless tags read to locations expected for the identified equipment to identify locations in which the information has not been read from the set of wireless tags so as to identify missing equipment from the interior of the aircraft;

displaying a layout of an interior of the aircraft on a display system in an equipment scanner; and

displaying a first number of graphical indicators in the equipment scanner for the set of equipment on the layout in a number of locations on the layout corresponding to a number of locations of where the identified equipment is located in the interior of the aircraft and a number of locations for the missing equipment in the interior of the aircraft; and

displaying a second graphical indicator in the equipment scanner that indicates a location of the equipment scanner within the interior of the aircraft.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

sending the information to a remote database.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

generating at least one of a report and an alert based on the information.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

identifying a status of the set of equipment from the information read from the set of wireless tags.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

sending the status of the set of equipment to a remote database.

16. The method of claim 9 further comprising displaying an orientation of the equipment scanner in the interior of the aircraft.

14. An apparatus comprising:

an antenna configured to send and receive wireless information to a unit remote from the antenna;

a transceiver associated with the antenna;

a controller associated with the transceiver;

a sensor associated with the controller and a wireless tag connected to an oxygen generator, wherein the wireless tag is configured to indicate exposure of the wireless tag to a temperature of about 400 degrees Fahrenheit at which the oxygen generator operates to generate oxygen, the sensor provides the information to the controller, and the controller provides the information to the transceiver, and wherein the sensor comprises a temperature sensor connected to a memory, the memory configured to store temperatures of the oxygen generator, and to provide the temperatures to the controller;

an interrogator associated with the unit configured to receive GPS location information for an aircraft in which the antenna, transceiver, controller, and sensor are located, and also configured to interrogate the antenna using a radio frequency; and

a processor associated with the interrogator, the processor configured to adjust the radio frequency used by the interrogator based on the GPS location for the aircraft.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising:

the oxygen generator configured to generate the oxygen in an aircraft.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the sensor comprises a fuse that renders the wireless tag inoperable at a selected temperature.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the sensor comprises a deformable material configured to render the wireless tag inoperable at a selected temperature.