JP2655095B2 - Flight plan evaluation generation device mounted on aircraft - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an evaluation of whether or not an aircraft flight is being performed according to a previously generated flight plan, and a new flight plan adapted to the flight status of the own aircraft based on the evaluation result. The present invention relates to a flight plan evaluation and generation device mounted on an aircraft that automatically generates in real time during flight.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, in order to simplify planning of an optimal flight route of an aircraft, a ground management type flight planning system using a computer has been developed (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-273700). .

This flight planning system includes a database storing performance data of aircraft, waypoints (waypoints), weather conditions, locations of airports, and knowledge data for generating an optimal flight plan. The database is processed by a host computer installed on the ground to generate a flight plan for each aircraft.

[0004] That is, an operator or a pilot starts up the system and generates a flight plan based on weather information and navigation data.

[0005] The content of the generated flight plan is printed out, and the pilot himself can manually input the flight plan again while referring to the content, or input the content through a floppy disk. Magnetically fixed to an information recording medium such as the like, the information recording medium is carried into an aircraft, the magnetic information is read by a DTU mounted on the aircraft, and stored in a data management device or a navigation computer of the aircraft. Let me.

[0006]

However, the conventional flight planning system is of a ground management type, and the flight plan monitoring during the flight is entirely left to the pilot. For this reason, there is a risk of causing human error such as not being aware that the actual flight deviates from the flight plan due to the illusion or distraction of the pilot.

[0007] Further, in the event of a change in flight conditions such as a change in weather during flight or a failure of the aircraft, or an inability to use the intended landing airport, a cause that hinders the realization of the original flight plan occurs. It becomes necessary to change the flight plan.

[0008] However, since the aircraft is not equipped with a flight planning system capable of such a change, the pilot himself or herself re-plans during the flight or re-plans the host computer on the ground. Request and receive the result.

That is, when the replanning is performed manually, it takes a long time to perform the replanning, which makes it difficult to respond in an emergency and causes a human error. Also, when requesting re-planning from the ground host computer, the re-planning can be performed in less time than the time required for manual re-planning, but it cannot be used if there is an abnormality in the communication system. There are drawbacks.

The present invention makes it possible to evaluate the flight of an aircraft and to generate a new flight plan in real time and automatically based on the weather conditions and flight conditions surrounding the aircraft, thereby reducing human factors. To provide a flight plan evaluation and generation device mounted on an aircraft, which can prevent the occurrence of mistakes based on the information, thereby enabling highly reliable flight evaluation and generation of a new flight plan corresponding to ever-changing flight conditions. Aim.

[0011]

The constitution of the invention described in claim 1 is as follows. A weather radar, multiple sensors that detect the flight status of the aircraft including the current position, a navigation computer that calculates flight specification data based on detection signals from these sensors, and a flight planning area. Map information generating means for dynamically generating map information in accordance with the flight, weather information generating means for generating weather condition data based on radar image data from the weather radar, the generated weather condition data and the calculated flight A flight plan evaluation means for evaluating whether or not an actual flight is progressing according to an original flight plan generated in advance based on specification data and accumulated knowledge on evaluation of a flight plan for a plurality of evaluation items. If the evaluation result is negative, the flight specification data and the map information and the flight map Based on the knowledge that has been accumulated on generating down, a new flight plan to adapt to the flight status of its own, the flight route point,
It has a flight plan generating means for automatically generating each of different planning phases such as a flight path, a landing airport, an emergency landing procedure, etc., and a display means for displaying an evaluation result by the flight plan evaluating means and a new flight plan. .

[0012] Claim 2 based on the structure of Claim 1
The following invention is as follows. The invention according to claim 2 is
The flight plan evaluation means includes a knowledge base in which knowledge about the evaluation of the flight plan is stored for each item as a database, and an inference processing unit that infers an actual flight evaluation of the own aircraft based on the knowledge.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the flight plan generating means infers a new flight plan according to the flight status of the own aircraft based on the knowledge base storing knowledge on the generation of the flight plan as a database and the knowledge. And an inference processing unit.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the map information includes terrain data composed of three-dimensional vectorized altitude data serving as a criterion for determining a geographical constraint of a new flight plan. The means is for generating a new flight plan adapted to the flight situation of the own aircraft in consideration of the terrain data.

[0015]

The operation of the present invention described in claim 1 is as follows. For an aircraft in flight 0, its own flight status including its current position is detected by a plurality of sensors, flight specification data is calculated based on detection signals from the sensors, and radar image data from a weather radar. The weather condition data is generated based on the data. In addition, map information about the area to be planned is also dynamically generated according to the flight.

[0016] The flight plan evaluation means performs an actual flight according to the originally generated flight plan based on the flight specification data and weather condition data and the accumulated knowledge on the evaluation of the flight plan. Automatically evaluate whether or not there are multiple evaluation items.

When the actual flight is evaluated as not according to the originally generated flight plan,
The flight plan generating means generates a new flight plan adapted to the flight condition of the own aircraft based on the flight specification data and the map information and the accumulated knowledge on the generation of the flight plan, the flight route point and the flight path. , Landing airport, emergency landing procedure, etc. automatically generated for each different planning phase.

The generated new flight plan is displayed on the display means together with the evaluation result by the flight plan evaluation means.

The operation of the invention described in claim 2 is as follows. The flight plan evaluation means automatically infers whether or not the actual flight is proceeding according to the originally generated flight plan based on the knowledge about the flight plan evaluation stored as a database in the knowledge base for each item. And evaluate.

The operation of the invention described in claim 3 is as follows. The flight plan generating means infers and generates a new flight plan according to the flight status of the own aircraft based on the knowledge about the flight plan generation stored as a database in the knowledge base.

The operation of the invention described in claim 4 is as follows. Since the map information includes terrain data composed of three-dimensional vectorized altitude data, it is possible to take into account terrain restrictions on altitude in generating a new flight plan.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the device of the present invention.

This device comprises a navigation computer A, a data management device B, a weather information generation unit C, a flight plan evaluation unit D, a map information generation unit G, and a flight plan generation unit E.
And an integrated display device F as main means, which are mounted on an aircraft.

The navigation computer A calculates flight specification data and the like based on detection signals periodically inputted from various sensors provided at various places of the aircraft. The I / O port includes a barometric altimeter 1, an airspeed meter 2, a rotation detector 3 for detecting the number of revolutions of the engine, a fuel weight meter 4, a fuel flow meter 5, and a GPS for detecting its own coordinate position. (Global Posi
The data management device B and the like are connected together with various sensors such as 6).

The flight specification data is obtained from the navigation information such as the flight situation, lateral guidance information, the predicted coordinate position of the aircraft after a certain time, and the analysis result of the navigation information and the fuel weight. , The rate of climb, the optimal flight speed according to the flight plan, the guidance and control information realized in the flight path, and the like.

The data management device B manages and stores navigation-related information of the aircraft, and its I / O ports include the above-mentioned sensors 1 to 6 and a weather radar 7 described later, a navigation computer A, and a DTU 8. A magnetic disk device 9 for recording a flight plan and the like read from the DTU 8 and a VHF transceiver 10 are connected.

The navigation-related information referred to here includes various sensors 1
6 and the input signals from the weather radar 7, the output information including the flight specification data output from the navigation computer A, and the DTU
8 and all information including information received from the VHF transceiver 10 and the like.

The above flight plan includes an aircraft registration number,
It consists of running fuel weight, departure airport, destination airport, route standard, maximum allowable fuel, direct operation cost, etc. The initial flight plan has been generated in advance by a flight plan generation device (not shown) installed on the ground before the flight.

The VHF transceiver 10 communicates with a communication center 11 installed on the ground, and information received from the communication center 11 includes airport information, weather around the airport, airport available status, and the like. It is included.

The DTU 8 is composed of a disk drive unit for reading data recorded on the floppy disk 12, a drive electronic circuit (both not shown), and the like, and outputs information such as an initial flight plan recorded on the floppy disk 12. It is.

That is, the original flight plan planned before the flight is recorded on the floppy disk 12, and the pilot carries the flight plan onto the aircraft and reads it into the DTU 8. The read initial flight plan is transferred to the data management device A and recorded on the magnetic disk device 9, and also transferred to the navigation computer A and the flight plan evaluation unit D as flight plan evaluation means.

The weather information generation unit C as weather information generation means includes a weather radar 7 for obtaining radar reflection signals from rain clouds and thunderclouds, and a weather condition analysis unit 13.
Generates weather information in the radar coverage of.

As shown in FIG. 2, the weather condition analysis unit 13 processes an image of a radar signal to convert it into a weather echo image, a data analysis unit 15 for generating weather condition data, and a weather condition determination unit. It consists of 16.

The data analysis unit 15 analyzes the intensity of rain and clouds in the target area and the size and shape of the clouds from the weather echo image generated by the image processing unit 14, and further analyzes the weather radar 7.
If the Doppler deviation of the reflected wave can be detected, the bad airflow region is also detected.

The weather condition determination unit 16 includes the data analysis unit 1
In addition to the analysis results from the above, the navigation computer, such as information on the atmospheric pressure, wind power, wind direction, and outside air temperature from the data management device B, update data of weather information from the communication center 11 received by the VHF transceiver 10, etc. The flight specification data from A is input.

The weather condition judging section 16 analyzes the degree of influence on the flight and the weather conditions such as the atmospheric pressure distribution, the icing level, the weather forecast, etc. based on the various data thus input, and obtains the results of the analysis. Via the data bus to the flight plan evaluation unit D and the integrated display device F as display means.

The flight plan evaluation section D evaluates whether or not an actual flight is proceeding according to an originally generated flight plan based on navigation-related information including flight specification data and weather condition data. As shown in FIG. 3, it comprises a knowledge base 17, an inference processing unit 18, a working memory 19, and an input / output interface 20 with external circuits such as a navigation computer A.

The knowledge base 17 is a database in which knowledge about flight plan evaluation is recorded. The knowledge stored here is used by pilots to monitor flight plans during flight, to evaluate and determine impact,
The evaluation items for evaluating the possibility of establishment of the flight plan, the conditions thereof, the method of measuring the degree of influence on the flight when the conditions are not satisfied, the planning of avoidance measures, and the like are symbolized.

For example, in a flight plan for establishing a cruising condition, the condition that the output of the engine must be 70% or more for the evaluation item of the right engine and the evaluation item of the hydraulic power pump must be satisfied. There are conditions that must work properly.

If the output of the right engine cannot be obtained, the single engine must perform a single-shot flight, so that the influence on the flight is extremely large.

The conditions for establishing the flight plan are set for each evaluation item such as system conditions such as fuel consumption, engine output, oil pressure of the power system, icing conditions, and weather conditions such as thunderclouds. In addition, the knowledge base 17 is hierarchized and managed for each evaluation item, thereby facilitating creation and updating of the knowledge base 17 by a pilot or an operator.

For example, ailerons and flaps on the right wing,
The spoilers and the like are grouped as a right wing flight controller, and the right / left wing flight controllers are grouped as a main wing flight controller. As a result, items common to the right wing / left wing flight control devices, for example, information such as the hydraulic conditions of the right wing hydraulic power system are managed as the conditions of the main wing flight control device.

The inference processing section 18 performs inference based on knowledge such as evaluation criteria and influence determination criteria stored in the knowledge base 17 and performs actual evaluation processing.

The processing operation of the inference processing unit 18 is as follows.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Step 1 (abbreviated as S1 in the figure; the same applies hereinafter): First, an evaluation condition until the condition is satisfied is extracted from the original flight plan, and the process proceeds to step 2.

Step 2: Based on the evaluation conditions, it is evaluated whether or not a flight according to the original flight plan is being performed. Specifically, based on the evaluation method of each set evaluation item, that is, the monitoring method, whether the flight plan is valid, actually monitors the flight data and weather condition data input for each parameter. By doing.

Step 3: If an evaluation item that does not satisfy the conditions is extracted, the pilot is notified (step 3 ') and the process proceeds to step 4, and if not extracted, the process returns to step 2 to initially Evaluate whether the flight is being performed according to the flight plan.

Step 4: While obtaining the degree of influence, the pilot is notified of the degree of influence (step 3 '), and the flow advances to step 5. Impacts are categorized into emergency, abnormal, normal disability, and advice categories.

Step 5: Based on the knowledge of the degree of influence and the situation at that time, a countermeasure is drafted.
The pilot is notified of this (step 3 ′) and the process proceeds to step 6. The countermeasures include, for example, item information of countermeasures such as thundercloud avoidance and single-engine flight, related information such as arrival time, and additional information such as constraint conditions such as fuel.

Step 6: Based on various information such as the degree of influence and countermeasures, a request is made to the flight plan generation unit E to generate a new flight plan for avoiding a bad situation. To present.

Next, the map information generator G as the map information generator shown in FIG. 1 comprises a map information generator 21 and a terrain database 22 connected thereto.

The terrain database 22 compresses and stores map information including terrain data, and restores terrain data in the vicinity of a coordinate position requested by a flight plan generator E, which will be described in detail later. The terrain data is three-dimensional vectorized altitude data.

The map information generation device 21 generates map information of a predetermined area centered on the current coordinate position or arbitrary coordinate position of the aircraft, and transmits the map information to the integrated display device F.
That is, the map information generation device 21 performs a drawing process on the map information based on the restored terrain data in the terrain database 22, develops the map information in an internal frame buffer (not shown), and transmits this to the integrated display device F.

Specifically, in response to a request from the flight plan generation unit E, the terrain data in the terrain database 21 is dynamically updated with respect to the current coordinate position of the aircraft and the area where the aircraft will fly, that is, the area to be planned. I try to restore. The map information to be restored can be directly instructed by the pilot.

The integrated display device F superimposes at least the topographical data of the map information generated by the map information generating device 21 and at least the route reference of the new flight plan generated by the flight plan generating section E. , For displaying the results of the evaluation of the original flight plan in the flight plan evaluation section D, and the video is displayed on the multi-function display f.

When the result of the evaluation by the flight plan evaluation section D is negative, the flight plan generation section E as a flight plan generation means, based on the flight specification data and the terrain data, and the knowledge on the method of generating the flight plan. This is to generate a new flight plan.

Specifically, a flight plan such as a flight route point (waypoint), a landing airport, a route standard, an altitude, etc. is generated in response to a request for generating a new flight plan from the flight plan evaluation unit D. As shown in FIG. 5, it is composed of a knowledge base 23, an inference processing unit 24, a working memory 25, and an input / output interface 26.

The knowledge base 23 encodes the contents of documents such as the knowledge for flight plan generation, emergency operation procedures, etc. possessed by operators and pilots on the ground, and stores them as a database.

The inference processing unit 24 infers and generates a new flight plan based on the flight specification data output from the navigation computer A and the various knowledge stored in the knowledge base 23, and generates a new flight plan. This is to determine whether there is a geographical restriction in generating the flight plan.

The operation of the inference processing unit 24 will be described with reference to FIG. Step 1 (abbreviated as S1 in the figure; the same applies hereinafter): When a replanning request signal is input from the flight plan evaluation unit D, generation of a new flight plan is started, and the process proceeds to step 2.

Step 2: When a request from the flight plan evaluation unit D is confirmed, a planning phase is assigned, and the process proceeds to Step 3. The planning phase is
Flight plan points, flight paths, landing airports, altitudes, emergency landing procedures, etc., are subject to different flight plans. The flight path represents an actual three-dimensional route standard of the aircraft between flight routes.

Step 3: After the phases are assigned, the following planning processes (A), (B) and (C) corresponding to each phase are performed. Each planning process is the same as a knowledge base system such as a ground-based flight planning and route planning system that has been developed so far, and knowledge corresponding to each planning process is stored in the knowledge base 23. (A) The flight route point planning unit selects a route point between the departure airport and the destination airport. When selecting, constraints,
Based on information such as priority, route selection criterion, fuel, wind forecast, etc., a candidate for a combination of route points is created.

(B) The flight path planning unit plans a more specific three-dimensional route. Here, in addition to the information on the constraint conditions, fuel, weather conditions, and the like as well as the planning of the route points, the terrain database 22 is transmitted through the map information generation device 21 as necessary to perform low altitude flight and avoid dangerous areas.
Use the terrain data stored in.

If there is a topographical constraint, a request is made to the map information generating device 21 to transmit map information including topographical data together with data on the coordinate position of the plan target, for example, latitude / longitude and area covered. The map information generating device 21 restores the terrain data stored in the terrain database 22 in a frame buffer (not shown) based on the coordinate data, and sends the data to the flight plan generator E.

Along with these map information, the knowledge base 2
The knowledge of pilots and route planners stored in 3
Based on experience, the optimal flight route from the current flight point to a point where the constraint situation can be avoided is searched from a limited range of airspace. The search process creates a route candidate using, for example, a heuristic search method.

(C) In the emergency landing procedure planning section, the contents of documents such as emergency operation procedures and limit items stored in the knowledge base 23 and symbolized knowledge of pilot operation procedures in emergency situations are used. Plan emergency operating procedures. When the planning process in each phase is completed, the process proceeds to step 4.

Step 4: The flight plan generation unit E
The planning process candidates of each phase are presented to the pilot via the integrated display device F or the CDU 27. In particular, the flight route and the flight path are superimposed on the terrain data generated by the map information generation device 21 on the integrated display device F and displayed on the multi-function display f.

As a result, the new flight plan is displayed in such a manner that the pilot can easily determine visually, and the pilot can immediately grasp the new flight plan even under a critical situation.

Step 5: The pilot uses the command input button of the CDU 27 or the bezel switch of the multi-function display f (both not shown) to accept or reject the presented candidate.

If the plan is rejected, step 3
To return to the pilot with the next new flight plan candidate. If the proposed flight plan candidate is to be adopted, the process proceeds to step 6.

Step 6: The adopted new flight plan is transferred to the data management device B or the like.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention. In the above embodiment, after the original flight plan,
Although the case where a new flight plan is generated only once is described as an example, it is needless to say that a new flight plan can be regenerated according to the situation.

[0073]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an evaluation as to whether or not an actual flight is proceeding according to a flight plan is made based on data obtained by a weather radar mounted on the own aircraft and a plurality of sensors. In addition to eliminating human factors from the evaluation of the flight during the flight, the evaluation is performed based on the weather conditions and flight conditions surrounding the aircraft actually flying, improving its reliability. Can be done.

Further, the generation of a new flight plan based on the evaluation result is automatically performed by the flight plan generation means based on the flight situation data and the map information. In addition to eliminating various factors, it is possible to generate an accurate flight plan in real time that reflects a constantly changing flight situation. As a result, the burden on the pilot can be reduced, and an appropriate navigation method can be selected.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the actual flight evaluation is inferred by the knowledge about the flight plan evaluation stored for each item in the knowledge base.
In addition to the above effects, highly accurate evaluation can always be performed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a new flight plan is inferred and generated based on the knowledge about the generation of the flight plan stored in the knowledge base. can do.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the map information includes the terrain data composed of three-dimensional vectorized altitude data, it is possible to take the terrain data into consideration when generating a new flight plan. Thus, when there is a terrain restriction such as low altitude flight, an accurate flight plan can be generated according to the situation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a weather condition analysis unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a flight plan evaluation unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of the inference processing unit.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a flight plan generation unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of the inference processing unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

A navigation computer B data management device C weather information generation unit (weather information generation unit) D flight plan evaluation unit (flight plan evaluation unit) E flight plan generation unit (flight plan generation unit) F integrated display device (display unit) G Map information generation unit (map information generation means) 17, 23 Knowledge base 18, 24 Inference processing unit

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A weather radar, a plurality of sensors for detecting a flight condition of the own aircraft including a current position, a navigation computer for calculating flight data based on detection signals from these sensors, and a flight planning object Map information generating means for dynamically generating map information on an area to be obtained according to flight, weather information generating means for generating weather condition data based on radar image data from the weather radar, and the generated weather condition data And based on the calculated flight data and the accumulated knowledge on the evaluation of the flight plan, evaluate whether or not the actual flight is progressing according to the originally generated flight plan for a plurality of evaluation items. Flight plan evaluation means
If the evaluation result is negative, a new flight plan adapted to the flight situation of the own aircraft is created based on the flight specification data and the map information and the accumulated knowledge on the generation of the flight plan. Flight plan generating means for automatically generating for each of different planning phases such as flight path, landing airport, emergency landing procedure, etc., and display means for displaying the evaluation result by the flight plan evaluating means and a new flight plan, A flight plan evaluation generation device mounted on an aircraft, characterized in that these are mounted on an aircraft. 2. The flight plan evaluation means has a knowledge base in which knowledge about flight plan evaluation is stored for each item as a database, and an inference processing unit that infers an actual flight evaluation of the own aircraft based on the knowledge. The flight plan evaluation generation device mounted on an aircraft according to claim 1. 3. The flight plan generating means includes: a knowledge base storing knowledge regarding the generation of a flight plan as a database; and an inference processing unit for inferring a new flight plan adapted to the flight status of the own aircraft based on the knowledge. 3. The flight plan evaluation generation device mounted on an aircraft according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The map information includes terrain data composed of three-dimensional vectorized altitude data serving as a criterion for determining a geographical constraint of a new flight plan, and the flight plan generating means takes into account the terrain data. A new flight plan adapted to a flight condition of the own aircraft is generated.
Or a flight plan evaluation generation device mounted on an aircraft according to 3.