Aircraft control device, aircraft, and method for controlling aircraft

• US 9,383,757 B2
• Filed: 10/29/2013
• Issued: 07/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
• Inventors: Yamasaki, Koichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dunn, Alex C
• Application Number:
  US14/430,765
• Publication Number:
  US 20150234388A1
• Time in Patent Office: 980 Days
• Field of Search: 701/302
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 7/006 Guided missiles training or simulation devices
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 9/002 for guiding a craft to a correct firing position for bombing control F41G9/02
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/104 involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/107 specially adapted for missiles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0052 for cruising combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value G01C23/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0078 for monitoring traffic from the aircraft radar or analogous systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91

Abstract

An aircraft control device determines, on the basis of relative positional relations between an individual aircraft and a target aircraft, a role of the individual aircraft with respect to the target aircraft, and a trajectory of the individual aircraft based on control operations determined according to the role of the individual aircraft. As an example, the aircraft control device represents the role of the individual aircraft with respect to the target aircraft as a numerical value and changes the role of the individual aircraft a plurality of times by changing the numerical value. Every time the role of the individual aircraft is changed, a minimum distance to target is calculated for the individual aircraft, and the role of the individual aircraft having the largest minimum distance to target is determined as the role of the individual aircraft.

Claims

1. An aircraft control device which obtains roles of a plurality of aircraft in a formation and trajectories of the plurality of aircraft, the aircraft control device comprising:

a processing unit configured to determine, on the basis of relative positional relations between the plurality of aircraft and a target aircraft, a role of an individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft, and a trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft based on control operations determined according to the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft; and

a transmitting unit configured to transmit the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft determined by the processing unit to the individual one of the plurality of aircraft,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by first determination processing, second determination processing, or third determination processing or the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by fourth determination processing,

wherein, in the first determination processing, the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is determined, according to an evaluation value based on an azimuth angle between the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft,

wherein, in the second determination processing, one of a plurality of rules, which corresponds to the relative positional relations between the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft is selected from storage configured to store the plurality of rules, which corresponds to the relative positional relations between the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft, and the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is determined from the one of the plurality of rules,

wherein, in the third determination processing, the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft is represented by a numerical value, the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is changed a plurality of times by changing the numerical value, an evaluation value indicating superiority of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft is calculated based on the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft every time the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is changed, and the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is determined from the evaluation value, and

wherein, in the fourth determination processing, a battle simulation in which a battle between the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft is simulated is performed every time the roles of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft are combined, and the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft are determined based on an evaluation value which is obtained from a result of the battle simulation and indicates superiority of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft.

2. The aircraft control device according to claim 1,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by the first determination processing, and

wherein the first determination processing applies a high evaluation value as a role of projecting a missile if the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is an aircraft in which an amount of change of the azimuth angle required for opposing the individual one of the plurality of aircraft to the target aircraft is small, applies a high evaluation value as a role of guiding the missile if the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is an aircraft in which the target aircraft and the missile are positioned near an end of a guidance range of the missile, and applies a high evaluation value as a role of detecting or tracking the target aircraft if the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is an aircraft in which the target aircraft is positioned near an end of an enemy detection range of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft.

3. The aircraft control device according to claim 1,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by the second determination processing, and

wherein the one of the plurality of rules indicates the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft, which corresponds to the relative positional relations between the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft and an index which indicates whether or not a missile reaches the target aircraft.

4. The aircraft control device according to claim 1,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by the second determination processing, and

wherein the one of the plurality of rules indicates the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft using a common name which does not specify each of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft without using a proper name which specifies the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft.

5. The aircraft control device according to claim 1,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by the second determination processing, and

wherein the one of the plurality of rules is not only randomly generated but is also arbitrarily generated in consideration of determination of a pilot of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft.

6. The aircraft control device according to claim 1,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by the second determination processing,

wherein the battle simulation in which the battle between the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft is simulated is performed by continuously using the plurality of rules before being stored in the storage along with elapsed times, and

wherein, according to the one of the plurality of rules used in the battle simulation, a score corresponding to achievement of a predetermined event in the battle simulation is added to the evaluation value of the one of the plurality of rules, and the one of the plurality of rules stored in the storage is determined based on the evaluation value.

7. The aircraft control device according to claim 6,

wherein the score with respect to the one of the plurality of rules in which the predetermined event in the battle simulation is achieved is gradient-distributed in one of the plurality of rules which is used to reach the one of the plurality of rules in which the predetermined event in the battle simulation is achieved.

8. The aircraft control device according to claim 1,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by the second determination processing,

wherein early generation creation processing is performed in which aggregations of a predetermined number of the plurality of rules are set to an individual one of the plurality of aircraft, and a predetermined number of individual ones of the plurality of aircraft is generated as an early generation,

wherein evaluation value calculation processing is performed in which an evaluation value indicating superiority of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft is calculated for each individual one of the plurality of aircraft based on the trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft determined by the battle simulation in which the battle between the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft is simulated using the predetermined number of the plurality of rules,

wherein the evaluation value calculation processing is performed every time the one of the plurality of rules configuring the individual ones of the plurality of aircraft is changed and a new generation is set, and

wherein when the change of the one of the plurality of rules reaches a predetermined generation, the one of the plurality of rules stored in the storage is determined based on the individual one of the plurality of aircraft having the highest evaluation value.

9. The aircraft control device according to claim 8,

wherein elimination and addition are performed based on the battle simulation in the one of the plurality of rules configuring the individual ones of the plurality of aircraft.

10. The aircraft control device according to claim 9,

wherein when two individual ones of the plurality of aircraft are intersected to change the one of the plurality of rules configuring the individual ones of the plurality of aircraft, the intersection is performed based on one of the two individual ones of the plurality of aircraft in which the predetermined number of the plurality of rules is smaller.

11. The aircraft control device according to claim 1,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by the third determination processing, and

wherein in the third determination processing, the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and an initial disposition position of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft are represented by a numerical value, the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the initial disposition position of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft are changed by changing the numerical value, and the evaluation value is calculated every time the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the initial disposition position of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft are changed.

12. The aircraft control device according to claim 1,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by the third determination processing, and

wherein in the third determination processing, the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft are determined for each predetermined time interval.

13. The aircraft control device according to claim 1,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by the third determination processing, and

wherein the evaluation value is calculated based on an estimation result of a trajectory of the target aircraft.

14. The aircraft control device according to claim 1,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by the fourth determination processing, and

wherein the processing unit is configured to perform the fourth determination processing so that only a predetermined number of the plurality of aircraft corresponds to a predetermined number of target aircraft corresponding to a threat level when a required time of the battle simulation for combinations of all the roles of the plurality of aircraft does not end within a predetermined time.

16. An aircraft comprising the aircraft control device according to claim 1.

15. An aircraft control device which obtains roles of a plurality of aircraft in a formation and trajectories of the plurality of aircraft, the aircraft control device comprising:

a processing unit configured to determine, on the basis of relative positional relations between the plurality of aircraft and a target aircraft, a role of an individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft, and a trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft based on control operations determined according to the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft; and

a transmitting unit configured to transmit the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft determined by the processing unit to the individual one of the plurality of aircraft,

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine one role and one trajectory, as the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft, among the roles of the plurality of aircraft and the trajectories of the plurality of aircraft obtained by at least two of the following;

i) a first determination processing in which the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is determined, according to an evaluation value based on an azimuth angle between the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft;

ii) a second determination processing in which the one of a plurality of rules, which corresponds to relative positional relations between the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft is selected from storage configured to store the plurality of rules which indicates the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft, which corresponds to the relative positional relations between the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft, and the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is determined from the one of the plurality of rules;

iii) a third determination in which the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft is represented by a numerical value, the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is changed a plurality of times by changing the numerical value, an evaluation value indicating superiority of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft is calculated based on the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft every time the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is changed, and the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is determined from the evaluation value; and

iv) a fourth determination processing in which a battle simulation in which a battle between the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft is simulated is performed every time the roles of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft are combined, and the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft are determined based on an evaluation value which is obtained from a result of the battle simulation and indicates superiority of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft.

17. A method for controlling an individual one of a plurality of aircraft which obtains roles of the plurality of aircraft in a formation and trajectories of the plurality of aircraft, the method comprising:

determining, using a processor, on the basis of relative positional relations between the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and a target aircraft, (i) a role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft and (ii) a trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft based on control operations determined according to the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft;

transmitting the determined role and the determined trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft to the individual one of the plurality of aircraft; and

determining the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by first determination processing, second determination processing, or third determination processing or determining the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft by fourth determination processing,

wherein, in the first determination processing, the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is determined, according to an evaluation value based on an azimuth angle between the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft,

wherein, in the second determination processing, one of a plurality of rules, which corresponds to relative positional relations between the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft is selected from storage configured to store the plurality of rules, which corresponds to the relative positional relations between the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft, and the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is determined from the one of the plurality of rules,

wherein, in the third determination processing, the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft is represented by a numerical value, the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is changed a plurality of times by changing the numerical value, an evaluation value indicating superiority of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft is calculated based on the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft every time the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is changed, and the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft is determined from the evaluation value, and

wherein, in the fourth determination processing, a battle simulation in which a battle between the plurality of aircraft and the target aircraft is simulated is performed every time the roles of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft are combined, and the role of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft and the trajectory of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft are determined based on an evaluation value which is obtained from a result of the battle simulation and indicates superiority of the individual one of the plurality of aircraft with respect to the target aircraft.