Aerodynamic simulation system and method for objects dispensed from an aircraft

• US 8,423,336 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2009
• Issued: 04/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: the united states of america as represented by the secretary of the navy
• Original Assignee: the united states of america as represented by the secretary of the navy
• Inventors: Bennett, John O., Waggoner, Brent A., Sweeten, James T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Craig, Dwin M
• Application Number:
  US12/639,620
• Publication Number:
  US 20110143319A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,217 Days
• Field of Search: 703/8
• US Class Current: 703/8
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 27/004 Means for launching objects from aircraft, e.g. pilot, missiles
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/301 by computer-processed or -generated image

Abstract

A system and method implemented on a computing device are provided to simulate trajectories of objects dispensed from a moving aircraft.

Claims

1. A method implemented on a computing device for simulating trajectories of objects dispensed from a moving aircraft, the computing device having a processor capable of accessing a memory and at least one input device, the method comprising:

storing object dispenser data in a database in the memory of the computing device, the object dispenser data including locations and orientations of object dispensers linked to an aircraft;

receiving input data from an input device to select an aircraft for the simulation;

retrieving object dispenser data from the database stored in the memory of the computing device to determine a location and an orientation of at least one object dispenser relative to the selected aircraft;

receiving input data from the input device to define flight conditions for the aircraft, the flight conditions including an inertial position in an inertial coordinate system, an inertial heading, and a flight speed of the aircraft;

receiving input data from the input device to define an object dispense sequence for the at least one object dispenser; and

calculating a trajectory for each object dispensed from the at least one object dispenser using the processor of the computing device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device further includes a display, and the method further comprising displaying a representation of the calculated trajectory of the at least one dispensed object on the display.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the representation of the calculated trajectory of the at least one dispensed object is displayed on the display as a two dimensional plot.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the representation of the calculated trajectory of the at least one dispensed object is displayed on the display as a three dimensional plot.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the representation of the calculated trajectory of the at least one dispensed object is displayed as an animation on the display showing relative movement of the at least one dispensed object with respect to the aircraft.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising receiving input data from the input device to adjust a viewing aspect of the animation shown on the display.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving input data from the input device to modify at least one of a location and an orientation of an object dispenser relative to the aircraft.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the location of the object dispenser is modified by changing its location along X, Y and Z axes of the aircraft.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the location of the object dispenser is also modified by changing the azimuth and the elevation of the dispenser relative to the aircraft.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising storing the modified dispenser location and orientation in the database in the memory of the computing device linked to the selected aircraft.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving input data from the input device to add at least one additional object dispenser at a new location and orientation relative to the aircraft.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising storing the at least one additional object dispenser location and orientation in the memory of the computing device linked to the selected aircraft.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the dispensed object is an expendable countermeasure.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the dispensed object is an infrared flare.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the dispensed object is one of a bomb and a sonobuoy.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the calculated trajectory of the at least one dispensed object to another computing device.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving maneuver data representing an aircraft maneuver to be executed during the simulation from the input device, the maneuver data including acceleration of the aircraft along an X axis, a Y axis, and a Z axis.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the maneuver data further includes a roll rate for the aircraft maneuver, a start time for the aircraft maneuver, and a stop time for the aircraft maneuver.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving input data from the input device to set a wind speed before calculating the trajectory of the at least one dispensed object.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving input data from the input device to set a position reference system for the simulation.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the position reference system is one of an inertial reference system, a drop point reference system, and an aircraft body reference system.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the inertial position of the aircraft includes an X axis position, a Y axis position, and an altitude of the aircraft.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the inertial heading includes yaw, pitch and roll of the aircraft relative to the Z axis, Y axis and X axis of the aircraft, respectively.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the trajectory of the at least one dispensed object is calculated in the same inertial coordinate system used to define the flight conditions of the aircraft.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the object dispense sequence sets the number of objects to be dispensed from each object dispenser during the simulation.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the object dispense sequence also sets the timing for dispensing the objects from each object dispenser.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the trajectory of each dispensed object is calculated using a trajectory model formulated for a rigid body with at least five degrees of freedom.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the dispensed object is a projectile launched from the object dispenser.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the dispensed object is gravity fed from the object dispenser.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculating step calculates trajectories for objects dispensed from a plurality of different object dispensers on the selected aircraft.

31. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a dispense direction indicator for a plurality of objects dispensed from the at least one object dispenser on the selected aircraft based on the calculated trajectories for the plurality of dispensed objects.

32. A system for simulating trajectories of objects dispensed from a moving aircraft, the system comprising:

a display;

at least one user input device;

a processor operatively coupled to the display and the at least one input device;

a memory accessible by the processor;

an object dispenser database stored in the memory, the object dispenser database including object dispenser data indicating locations and orientations of a plurality of object dispensers linked to a plurality of aircraft; and

trajectory simulation software stored in the memory for execution by the processor, the trajectory simulation software including;

a first processing sequence for generating a graphical user interface to select an aircraft for the simulation;

a second processing sequence for retrieving object dispenser data from the database stored in the memory to determine a location and an orientation of at least one object dispenser relative to the selected aircraft;

a third processing sequence for generating a graphical user interface to define flight conditions for the aircraft, the flight conditions including an inertial position in an inertial coordinate system, an inertial heading, and a flight speed of the aircraft;

a fourth processing sequence for generating a graphical user interface to define a object dispense sequence for the at least one object dispenser; and

a fifth processing sequence for calculating a trajectory for each object dispensed from the at least one object dispenser.

33. The system of claim 32, further comprising a display software module stored in the memory for execution by the processor, the display software including a processing sequence to display a representation of the calculated trajectory of the at least one dispensed object on the display.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the display software module displays the representation of the calculated trajectory of the at least one dispensed object on the display as a two dimensional plot.

35. The system of claim 33, wherein the display software module displays the representation of the calculated trajectory of the at least one dispensed object on the display as a three dimensional plot.

36. The system of claim 33, wherein the display software module displays the representation of the calculated trajectory of the at least one dispensed object as an animation on the display showing relative movement of the at least one dispensed object with respect to the aircraft.

37. The system of claim 32, wherein the trajectory simulation software further includes another processing sequence for generating a graphical user interface to modify at least one of a location and an orientation of an object dispenser relative to the aircraft.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the location of the object dispenser is modified by changing its location along X, Y and Z axes of the aircraft.

39. The system of claim 37, wherein the orientation of the object dispenser is also modified by changing the azimuth and the elevation of the dispenser relative to the aircraft.

40. The system of claim 37, wherein the trajectory simulation software further includes another processing sequence for storing the modified dispenser location and orientation in the database in the memory of the computing device linked to the selected aircraft.

41. The system of claim 32, wherein the trajectory simulation software further includes another processing sequence for generating a graphical user interface to add at least one additional object dispenser at a new location and orientation relative to the aircraft.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the trajectory simulation software further includes another processing sequence for storing the at least one additional object dispenser location and orientation in the memory of the computing device linked to the selected aircraft.

43. The system of claim 32, wherein the dispensed object is an expendable countermeasure.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the dispensed object is an infrared flare.

45. The system of claim 32, wherein the dispensed object is one of a bomb and a sonobuoy.

46. The system of claim 32, wherein the trajectory simulation software further includes another processing sequence for transmitting the calculated trajectory of the at least one dispensed object to another computing device.

47. The system of claim 32, wherein the trajectory simulation software further includes another processing sequence for generating a graphical user interface to input maneuver data representing an aircraft maneuver to be executed during the simulation, the maneuver data including acceleration of the aircraft along an X axis, a Y axis, and a Z axis.

48. The system of claim 47, wherein the maneuver data further includes a roll rate for the aircraft maneuver, a start time for the aircraft maneuver, and a stop time for the aircraft maneuver.

49. The system of claim 32, wherein the trajectory simulation software further includes another processing sequence for generating a graphical user interface to set a wind speed before calculating the trajectory of the at least one dispensed object.

50. The system of claim 32, wherein the trajectory simulation software further includes another processing sequence for generating a graphical user interface to set a position reference system for the simulation.

51. The system of claim 50, wherein the position reference system is one of an inertial reference system, a drop point reference system, and an aircraft body reference system.

52. The system of claim 32, wherein the inertial position of the aircraft includes an X axis position, a Y axis position, and an altitude of the aircraft.

53. The system of claim 32, wherein the inertial heading includes yaw, pitch and roll of the aircraft relative to the Z axis, Y axis and X axis of the aircraft, respectively.

54. The system of claim 32, wherein the trajectory of the at least one dispensed object is calculated in the same inertial coordinate system used to define the flight conditions of the aircraft.

55. The system of claim 32, wherein the object dispense sequence sets the number of objects to be dispensed from each object dispenser during the simulation.

56. The system of claim 55, wherein the object dispense sequence also sets the timing for dispensing the objects from each object dispenser.

57. The system of claim 32, wherein the trajectory simulation software calculates the trajectory of each dispensed object using a trajectory model formulated for a rigid body with at least five degrees of freedom.

58. The system of claim 32, wherein the dispensed object is a projectile launched from the object dispenser.

59. The system of claim 32, wherein the dispensed object is gravity fed from the object dispenser.

60. The system of claim 32, wherein the fifth processing sequence calculates trajectories for objects dispensed from a plurality of different object dispensers on the selected aircraft.

61. The system of claim 32, wherein the trajectory simulation software further includes another processing sequence for determining a displaying a dispense direction indicator for a plurality of objects dispensed from the at least one object dispenser on the selected aircraft based on calculated trajectories for the plurality of dispensed objects.

62. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code being adapted to be executed to implement a method for simulating trajectories of objects dispensed from a moving aircraft, said method comprising:

a first processing sequence for generating a graphical user interface to select an aircraft for the simulation;

a second processing sequence for retrieving object dispenser data from a database to determine a location and an orientation of at least one object dispenser relative to the selected aircraft;

a third processing sequence for generating a graphical user interface to define flight conditions for the aircraft, the flight conditions including an inertial position in an inertial coordinate system, an inertial heading, and a flight speed of the aircraft;

a fourth processing sequence for generating a graphical user interface to define an object dispense sequence for the at least one object dispenser; and

a fifth processing sequence for calculating a trajectory for each object dispensed from the least one object dispenser.