SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AIRCRAFT FLIGHT TRACKING AND DATA COLLECTION

• US 20110246000A1
• Filed: 03/28/2011
• Published: 10/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cloudahoy, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cloudahoy, Inc.
• Inventors: Shavit, Tsachi C.
• Application Number:
  US13/072,868
• Publication Number:
  US 20110246000A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/14
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0026 located on the ground
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0043 Traffic management of multiple aircrafts from the ground G08G5/003 takes precedence; data processing specially designed for resource management, e.g. scheduling or allocating time, human or machine resources G06Q10/06

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for automated collection and analysis of aircraft flight data. In accordance with one aspect, a system for collecting flight data associated with an aircraft is provided to transmit collected flight data to a remote system for storage and processing. In accordance with another aspect, a remote system utilizes received aircraft location data to determine whether an aircraft flight incident has occurred, and to alert appropriate emergency services. In accordance with another aspect, a remote system analyzes received aircraft flight data and quantitatively evaluates performance of a pilot. In yet another aspect, a system is provided for graphical and textual display of collected aircraft flight data and pilot performance evaluation data.

Claims

1. A system for collecting flight data associated with an aircraft, the system comprising:

a data logger comprising;

a memory unit for storing flight data;

a processing unit coupled to the memory unit and configured to supply the memory unit with flight data, wherein the processing unit is further configured to reorder and prioritize stored flight data prior to transmission; and

a transmitting and receiving unit coupled to the processing unit and adapted to transmit stored flight data to a remote system and receive data from a remote system; and

a global positioning system receiver having an output coupled to provide global positioning data to the processing unit.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is further configured to compress stored flight data for transmission and decompress received data.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to prioritize stored flight data in order to transmit the most recently acquired global positioning data before other data.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is further configured to automatically start and stop data transmission based on an aircraft speed.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is further configured to encrypt stored flight data for transmission and decrypt received data.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the global positioning system receiver comprises a wide area augmentations system enabled global positioning system receiver.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitting and receiving unit comprises a cellular telephony transmitter and receiver.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to automatically stop data logging when the aircraft has come to a complete stop.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to automatically stop data transmission when speed of the aircraft exceeds a minimum value.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the data received from the remote system comprises account information, comprising at least one of the following:

an account name;

a list of selectable aircraft serial numbers;

a list of selectable pilot names;

an account logo; and

an account status.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the flight data comprises digitized cockpit audio data, comprising at least one of the following:

intercom audio data;

audio data of cockpit ambient sounds;

audio data from an aircraft communication radio.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine engine RPM based on samples of the audio data of cockpit ambient sounds.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the flight data comprises aircraft avionics data, including at least one of the following:

airspeed;

heading;

rate of turn;

bank and pitch angles;

engine status;

radio and navigation aid status;

fuel quantity;

landing gear status;

flight surface status; and

propeller status.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the data logger comprises a smartphone.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the remote system comprises:

a server having a server memory unit;

a server processing unit coupled to the memory unit; and

a server transmitting and receiving unit coupled to the processing unit,

wherein the server transmitting and receiving unit is configured to receive flight data transmitted from the data logger, and

wherein the server processing unit is configured to store the received flight data in a database in the server memory unit.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the database comprises a structured query language database.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the server processing unit is further configured to:

provide access to flight data stored on the database via a remote access web-browser; and

display flight data stored on the database in a remote access web-browser.

18. A method of collecting flight data, the method comprising:

collecting aircraft flight data via a data logger;

collecting global positioning system data via a global positioning receiver;

prioritizing the flight data for transmission; and

transmitting the flight data to a remote system comprising a remote system memory, a remote system processor, and a remote system transmitter and receiver.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising compressing the flight data prior to transmitting the flight data.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising prioritizing flight data stored by the data logger in order to transmit the most recently acquired global positioning data before other data.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising starting and stopping data transmission according to an aircraft speed.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

encrypting flight data stored by the data logger for transmission; and

decrypting received data.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the global positioning system receiver comprises a wide area augmentations system enabled global positioning system receiver.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein the data logger comprises a transmitting and receiving unit comprising a cellular telephony transmitter and receiver.

25. The method of claim 18, further comprising stopping collecting of aircraft flight data when the aircraft has come to a complete stop.

26. The method of claim 18, further comprising stopping transmitting of the flight data when a speed of the aircraft exceeds a minimum value.

27. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving data from the remote system, wherein the data received from the remote system comprises account information, comprising at least one of the following:

an account name;

a list of selectable aircraft serial numbers;

a list of selectable pilot names;

an account logo; and

an account status.

28. The method of claim 18, wherein the flight data comprises digitized cockpit audio data, comprising at least one of the following:

intercom audio data;

audio data of cockpit ambient sounds;

audio data from an aircraft communication radio.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein further comprising determining engine RPM based on samples of the audio data of cockpit ambient sounds.

30. The method of claim 18, wherein the flight data comprises aircraft avionics system data, including at least one of the following:

airspeed;

heading;

rate of turn;

bank and pitch angles;

engine status;

radio and navigation aid status;

fuel quantity;

landing gear status;

flight surface status; and

propeller status.

31. The method of claim 18, wherein the data logger comprises a smartphone.

32. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

providing access to flight data stored on a database via a remote access web-browser; and

displaying flight data stored on the database.

33. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program for collecting flight data associated with an aircraft, the computer program comprising instructions for:

collecting flight data during an aircraft flight;

storing the flight data in a computer readable memory;

collecting global positioning data from a global positioning receiver;

prioritizing the flight data for transmission;

transmitting the flight data to a remote system; and

receiving stored data from the remote system.

34. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions for compressing the flight data.

35. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions for prioritizing the stored flight data in order to transmit most recently acquired global positioning data before other data.

36. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions for starting and stopping data transmission according to aircraft speed.

37. The non-transitory computer readable medium claim 33, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions for

encrypting the stored flight data for transmission;

and

decrypting received data.

38. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions for stopping collecting of data when the aircraft has stopped.

39. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions for stopping data transmission when a speed of the aircraft exceeds a minimum value.

40. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the stored data received from the remote system is account information, comprising at least one of the following:

an account name;

a list of selectable aircraft serial numbers;

a list of selectable pilot names;

an account logo; and

an account status.

41. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the flight data comprises digitized cockpit audio data, comprising at least one of the following:

intercom audio data;

audio data of cockpit ambient sounds;

audio data from an aircraft communication radio.

42. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 41, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions determining engine RPM based on samples of the audio data of cockpit ambient sounds.

43. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the flight data comprises aircraft avionics system data, including at least one of the following:

airspeed;

heading;

rate of turn;

bank and pitch angles;

engine status;

radio and navigation aid status;

fuel quantity;

landing gear status;

flight surface status; and

propeller status.

44. A system for collecting aircraft flight data, comprising:

means for collecting flight data comprising;

means for storing flight data;

means for transmitting stored flight data to remote means for storing and processing flight data and receiving data from the remote means; and

means for processing stored flight data, wherein the stored flight data is reordered and prioritized by the processing means prior to transmission; and

means for receiving global positioning system data.