Determining a profile for an aircraft prior to flight using a fuel vector and uncertainty bands

• US 9,361,486 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2013
• Issued: 06/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aerodata, Inc. (Garmin Limited)
• Original Assignee: Aerodata, Inc. (Garmin Limited)
• Inventors: McDonough, Terry L., Kernast, Magnus, Padilla, Carlos E., Tillotson, Shane C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Holloway, Jason
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bendidi, Rachid
• Application Number:
  US14/088,682
• Publication Number:
  US 20150148992A1
• Time in Patent Office: 925 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/29
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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: G01M 1/122 Determining position of centre of gravity
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 1/125 of aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 1/127 during the flight
• CPC Class Codes: G06G 7/70 for vehicles, e.g. to determine permissible loading of ships , centre of gravity, necessary fuel

Abstract

A weight and center-of-gravity profile for an aircraft is determined prior to flight. An uncertainty band is determined for each of a plurality of points along a fuel vector for the planned flight. Each of the points along the fuel vector is compared to a predetermined flight limit (e.g., an FAA certified envelope). This comparison is used to decide whether the profile is suitable for flight of the aircraft. If so, an indication is provided to a user (e.g., on a display or by a text message) that the profile is suitable and the aircraft is ready for flight.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining, by at least one processor, a weight and center-of-gravity profile for an aircraft prior to flight, the determining of the profile comprising determining a respective uncertainty band for each of a plurality of points along a fuel vector for the flight, wherein the fuel vector is based on fuel consumption of the aircraft during flight, and each uncertainty band is determined based on physical characteristics of the aircraft as loaded for the flight, and wherein each respective uncertainty band is based on a sum of forward allowances and a sum of aft allowances, each of the forward allowances and each of the aft allowances determined as an allowance for a respective physical characteristic of the aircraft due to a load as calculated by a shift in distance associated with the physical characteristic multiplied by a corresponding weight for the physical characteristic;

as the aircraft is being loaded for flight, receiving data for a physical characteristic;

updating the respective uncertainty band for at least one of the points along the fuel vector based on the received data;

comparing, by the at least one processor, for each respective point of the points along the fuel vector, the profile to a flight limit;

displaying, for a user, available margins for the profile relative to the flight limit;

determining, by the at least one processor, based on the comparing whether the profile is suitable for flight of the aircraft; and

providing, by the at least one processor, an indication for the user that the profile is suitable, wherein the indication for the user is provided by causing a presentation in a user interface on a display.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the flight limit is a weight and center-of-gravity envelope.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the physical characteristics is cargo distribution, passenger seating distribution, passenger movement, water usage, cart movement, cabin crew movement, gear retraction, or flap deployment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the physical characteristics is cargo distribution, one of the aft allowances or forward allowances is a cargo allowance for the cargo, and the cargo allowance is calculated as a difference between a first moment for a uniform distribution of the cargo and a second moment for a non-uniform distribution of the cargo.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a zero-fuel weight and a zero-fuel center of gravity for the aircraft, wherein the fuel vector includes the zero-fuel weight and the zero-fuel center of gravity.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the flight limit comprises take-off parameters and in-flight parameters, wherein the take-off parameters are different from the in-flight parameters;

the fuel vector comprises a first point corresponding to a take-off condition of the aircraft and a second point corresponding to an in-flight condition of the aircraft; and

the comparing of the profile to the flight limit for the first point is based on the take-off parameters, and the comparing of the profile to the flight limit for the second point is based on the in-flight parameters.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile corresponds to an area in a two-dimensional weight and center-of-gravity space having a perimeter, and portions of the perimeter located on each side of the fuel vector are determined by the uncertainty bands of the plurality of points of the fuel vector.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising causing a presentation of the area to the user.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the at least one processor, rules that define an operation of the aircraft when in flight, wherein at least one of the uncertainty bands of the plurality of points is determined based on the rules.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions, which when executed, cause a computing system to:

determine, by at least one processor, a weight and center-of-gravity profile for an aircraft prior to flight, the determining comprising determining a respective uncertainty band for each of one or more plurality of points along a fuel vector for the flight, wherein the fuel vector is based on fuel consumption of the aircraft during flight, and each uncertainty band is determined based on physical characteristics of the aircraft as loaded for the flight, and wherein each respective uncertainty band is based on a sum of forward allowances and a sum of aft allowances, each of the forward allowances and each of the aft allowances determined as an allowance for a respective physical characteristic of the aircraft due to a load as calculated by a shift in distance associated with the physical characteristic multiplied by a corresponding weight for the physical characteristic;

as the aircraft is being loaded for flight, receiving data for a physical characteristic;

updating the respective uncertainty band for at least one of the points along the fuel vector based on the received data;

compare, by the at least one processor, for each respective point of the one or more points along the fuel vector, the profile to a flight limit;

displaying, for a user, available margins for the profile relative to the flight limit;

determine, by at least one processor, based on the comparing whether the profile is suitable for flight of the aircraft; and

provide, by at least one processor, an indication for the user that the profile is suitable, wherein the indication for the user is provided by causing presentation on a display.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the profile is defined by dimensions of weight and center-of-gravity.

12. A system, comprising:

a display;

at least one processor; and

memory storing instructions configured to instruct the at least one processor to;

determine a weight and center-of-gravity profile for an aircraft prior to flight, the determining comprising determining a respective uncertainty band for each of a plurality of points along a fuel vector for the flight, and wherein each respective uncertainty band is based on a sum of forward allowances and a sum of aft allowances, each of the forward allowances and each of the aft allowances determined as an allowance for a respective physical characteristic of the aircraft due to a load as calculated by a shift in distance associated with the physical characteristic multiplied by a corresponding weight for the physical characteristic;

as the aircraft is being loaded for flight, receiving data for a physical characteristic;

updating the respective uncertainty band for at least one of the points along the fuel vector based on the received data;

compare, for each respective point of the points along the fuel vector, the profile to a flight limit;

present, via the display, available margins for the profile relative to the flight limit;

determine based on the comparing whether the profile is suitable for flight of the aircraft; and

provide, on the display, an indication that the profile is suitable.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein:

the flight limit comprises take-off parameters and in-flight parameters, wherein the take-off parameters are different from the in-flight parameters;

the fuel vector comprises a first point corresponding to a take-off condition of the aircraft and a second point corresponding to an in-flight condition of the aircraft; and

the comparing of the profile to the flight limit for the first point is based on the take-off parameters, and the comparing of the profile to the flight limit for the second point is based on the in-flight parameters.