Self-contained flight data recorder with wireless data retrieval

• US 6,898,492 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2001
• Issued: 05/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Micrologic Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Micrologic Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: de Leon, Hilary Laing, Quiros, Roland E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MANCHO, RONNIE M
• Application Number:
  US09/803,889
• Publication Number:
  US 20020035416A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,533 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/13, 701/14, 701/35, 701/120, 701/207, 701/213, 340/438, 340/439, 340/3.5, 340/3.3, 340/531, 340/945, 340/825.72, 244/189, 244/190, 342/29, 342/36, 342/30, 342/357.09, 342/357.13, 342/357.08, 455/66, 375/130
• US Class Current: 701/35
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

A flight recorder designed for small aircraft captures various onboard flight data in real-time and stores it in non-volatile memory. Recorded data includes aircraft'"'"'s instantaneous position, altitude, attitude, engine RPM, G forces, flap position, cockpit voice and others. These data are obtained from various sensors which are integrated into the recorder. At the end of a flight the recorded data is downloaded into a computer using a wireless communications data transceiver also integrated into the recorder. It does not require removal or attaching any equipment to be able to download data. In addition to accident investigation, applications include training, preventive maintenance and asset monitoring.

Claims

1. A method of recording aircraft position data comprising:

providing an onboard flight data recorder unit and a ground-based data retrieving station, wherein said onboard flight data recorder unit is comprised of a single physical enclosure containing a central processing unit, a plurality of sensors for monitoring an aircraft'"'"'s condition, a global position system (GPS) receiver, a non-volatile memory for recording flight data and a wireless communications transceiver for retrieving said data, said flight data recorder mounted on an aircraft floor or wall;

providing a GPS communications antenna;

connecting the recorder to the aircraft power supply and ignition switch; and

computing the difference between current and previous coordinates generated by the GPS receiver and then storing the difference instead of the coordinates thereby saving memory space.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein recorded position data is converted to absolute coordinates by the ground-based data retrieving station by adding a first recorded difference to the initial coordinates resulting in a first absolute coordinate and then adding to it a next recorded difference to produce a second absolute coordinate and so on, wherein said initial coordinates are recorded at the start of every flight.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein periodically recording aircraft position and flight data at certain time intervals is set before the start of every flight by transmitting a desired interval to the flight data recorder.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein a recording time interval can be automatically varied in flight depending on aircraft speed by:

computing a speed of the aircraft by estimating a distance traveled between two points and dividing by a time traveled;

comparing said speed with pre-set values to determine if the aircraft is taxiing, cruising or taking off or landing; and

setting the time interval to a highest value if the speed is equivalent to taxiing, intermediate value if cruising and a lowest value if taking off or landing.