Determining landing sites for aircraft

• US 9,520,066 B2
• Filed: 04/21/2010
• Issued: 12/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Spinelli, Charles B., Offer, Bradley William, Bruce, Alan Eugene, Lusardi, Robert, Cuspard, Steven Furman
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, John Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sood, Anshul
• Application Number:
  US12/764,797
• Publication Number:
  US 20110264312A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,428 Days
• Field of Search: 701 3- 4, 701/7, 701/16, 701/400, 701408-412, 701/415, 340945-951, 244/75.1, 244/76.R, 244/175, 244/177, 244/186
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0039 Modification of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0056 in an emergency situation, e.g. hijacking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/02 Automatic approach or landing aids, i.e. systems in which flight data of incoming planes are processed to provide landing data landing aids fitted in or to aircraft B64D45/04; visual or acoustic landing aids B64F1/18

Abstract

A routing tool is disclosed. The routing tool is configured to determine a landing site for an aircraft by receiving flight data. The routing tool identifies at least one landing site proximate to a flight path and generates a spanning tree between the landing site and the flight path. According to some embodiments, the landing sites are determined in real-time during flight. Additionally, the landing sites may be determined at the aircraft or at a remote system or device in communication with the aircraft. In some embodiments, the routing tool generates one or more spanning trees before flight. The spanning trees may be based upon a flight plan, and may be stored in a data storage device. Methods and computer readable media are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for generating safe ingress flight paths to an identified landing site for an aircraft, the method comprising:

generating, by a processing device, a spanning tree for the identified landing site by

producing a plurality of possible approach paths by starting at a touchdown point on the identified landing site and building each of the plurality of possible approach paths from the touchdown point outward while minimizing altitude changes while moving away from the touchdown point,

identifying obstructions proximate the identified landing site, and

eliminating any obstructed possible approach paths of the plurality of possible approach paths that conflict with the obstructions to produce a plurality of allowed approach paths to the touchdown point;

storing, in a data storage device, the spanning tree including the allowed approach paths;

providing information from the spanning tree in the data storage device to an in-flight display for use by aircraft personnel; and

providing a countdown timer with each of the plurality of allowed approach paths indicating a time in which the allowed approach path remains available as an option for the identified landing site.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the processing device, flight data corresponding to a flight path, wherein receiving the flight data comprises receiving the flight data at a routing tool associated with the aircraft during planning of a flight.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the flight data comprises receiving the flight data at a routing tool associated with the aircraft during a flight.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the flight data comprises receiving the flight data at an off-board routing tool associated with an air traffic control system before a flight is commenced.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

detecting, by the processing device, an emergency condition during a flight of the aircraft; and

in response to detecting the emergency, transmitting data to the air traffic control system indicating occurrence of the emergency; and

receiving the spanning tree from the air traffic control system.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the flight data comprises receiving the flight data at an off-board routing tool associated with an air traffic control system during a flight.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting an emergency condition during a flight of the aircraft.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

in response to detecting the emergency, retrieving the spanning tree from the data storage device; and

passing the spanning tree to a display system of the aircraft.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a vertical profile view of a glide path for approach to the identified at least one landing site.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

querying the spanning tree with respect to a given location;

determining, by a processing device, a minimum altitude needed to reach the touchdown point from the given location; and

following, by the processing device, one of the allowed approach paths to the touchdown point of the spanning tree that minimizes altitude loss during ingress to the touchdown point on the identified at least one landing site.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of possible approach paths crosses over itself at a point such that a heading associated with a first route over the point is different than a heading associated with a second route over the point.

12. A routing tool for generating safe ingress flight paths to an identified landing site for an aircraft, the routing tool comprising a database configured to store flight data corresponding to a flight path for the aircraft, and a routing module configured to:

generate a spanning tree for the identified landing site by

producing a plurality of possible approach paths by starting at a touchdown point on the identified landing site and building each of the plurality of possible approach paths from the touchdown point outward while minimizing altitude changes while moving away from the touchdown point,

identifying obstructions proximate the identified landing site, and

eliminating any obstructed possible approach paths of the plurality of possible approach paths that conflict with the obstructions to produce a plurality of allowed approach paths to the touchdown point;

store, in a data storage device, the spanning tree including the allowed approach paths;

provide information from the spanning tree in the data storage device to an in-flight display for use by aircraft personnel; and

provide a countdown timer with each of the plurality of allowed approach paths indicating a time in which the allowed approach path remains available as an option for the identified landing site.

13. The routing tool of claim 12, wherein the routing tool comprises a component of an air traffic control system.

14. The routing tool of claim 12, wherein the spanning trees are generated before a flight is commenced.

15. The routing tool of claim 12, wherein the spanning trees are generated in real-time, in response to detecting an emergency during a flight of the aircraft.

16. The routing tool of claim 12, further comprising a performance learning system for generating an aircraft performance model, wherein the aircraft performance model is used to generate the spanning tree.

17. The routing tool of claim 12, further comprising:

storing, in a data storage device, the spanning tree including the allowed approach paths at a storage device;

querying the spanning tree with respect to a given location;

determining a minimum altitude needed to reach the touchdown point from the given location; and

following one of the allowed approach paths to the touchdown point of the spanning tree that minimizes altitude loss during ingress to the touchdown point on the identified at least one landing site.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon, the execution of which by a processor cause a routing tool to:

generate a spanning tree for an identified landing site by

producing a plurality of possible approach flight paths by starting at a touchdown point on the identified landing site and building each of the plurality of possible approach paths from the touchdown point outward while minimizing altitude changes while moving away from the touchdown point,

identifying obstructions proximate the identified landing site, and

eliminating any obstructed possible approach paths of the plurality of possible approach paths that conflict with the obstructions to produce a plurality of allowed approach paths to the touchdown point;

store, in a data storage device, the spanning tree including the allowed approach paths;

provide information from the spanning tree in the data storage device to an in-flight display for use by aircraft personnel;

display a vertical profile view of a glide path for approach to the identified at least one landing site that includes current aircraft position; and

providing a countdown timer with each of the plurality of allowed approach paths indicating a time in which the allowed approach path remains available as an option for the identified landing site.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, having computer executable instructions stored thereon, the execution of which by a processor further cause a routing tool to:

detect an emergency at the aircraft during a flight of the aircraft; and

in response to detecting the emergency, display the spanning tree including the allowed approach paths for selection of the identified at least one landing site.