Performance and failure assessment monitor

Claim 2

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft during a landing maneuver including: means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating signals representative of the state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined point on the ground; predictor means connected to receive some of said signals representative of the state of the aircraft for generating therefrom signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point; means to store predetermined portions of said predictor means generated signals; means to compare said stored predictor signals of what should be happening with said state signals of what is happening and to generate signals representative of the correlation therebetween; and means for displaying said signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point including means to display said correlation signals with respect to said predetermined point so that the uncertainty of the predictor signals can be judged.

Claim 3

The monitoring means defined in claim 1 wherein said predictor means operate in a time scale substantially faster than real time, said predictor means including: lateral predictor means for generating signals representative of the future lateral state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point; longitudinal predictor means for generating signals representative of the future longitudinal state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point; flare predictor means for generating signals representative of the predicted flare maneuver of the aircraft; and means to combine the signals from said longitudinal predictor means and said flare predictor means to produce signals representative of the predicted longitudinal position of the aircraft at landing touchdown.

Claim 4

The monitoring means defined in claim 1 including: altitude loss calculation means connected to receive said state signals and to calculate therefrom the vertical distance that will be traveled before the descent of the aircraft can be stopped; means for comparing said vertical distance output of said altitude loss calculation means to the altitude of the aircraft and for generating signals indicative of whether the aircraft can be held off the ground and; means for displaying landing and go around strategy based on whether the aircraft can be held off the ground.

Claim 5

The monitoring means defined in claim 1, wherein said predictor means include: means to predict the future state of the aircraft when the aircraft is being flown by an autopilot; and means to predict the future state of the aircraft when the aircraft is being flown by the pilot.

Claim 6

The monitoring means defined in claim 1, wherein said predictor means include: means to predict the future lateral state of the aircraft after the aircraft has touched down; and means to predict the distance along the runway that will be traveled to bring the aircraft to a stop.

Claim 7

The monitoring means defined in claim 1, including: threshold means connected to receive said correlation signals and to compare said correlation signals against predetermined levels, said threshold means generating output signals when said correlation signals indicate lack of correlation below said predetermined level; and means connected to receive said threshold means output for display of said lack of correlation.

Claim 8

The monitoring means defined in claim 1, including: failure verification means for verifying the existence of a failure, said failure verification means including means to compare failure indications from components of the aircraft with said correlation signals to determine if the failure indication is valid and if the failure indicating component is adversely affecting the operation of the aircraft, and means connected to inhibit the reversion of failure indicating components when the failure therein is not verified.

Claim 9

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals from said derivation means, said predictor means including model means for simulating the future physical states of the aircraft in reference to said state variable signals and for producing model signals representative of said future physical states; display means connected to said model means to display said future physical states of said aircraft; storage means for holding predetermined portions of said model signals; and comparitor means for comparing the correlation between said held portions of said model signals with selected state variable signals and for producing correlation signals representative of the correlation therebetween, said correlation signals being a measure of the certainty of said predictor means and being displayed as such by said display means.

Claim 10

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals from said derivation means, said predictor means including model means for simulating the future physical states of the aircraft in reference to said state variable signals and for producing model signals representative of said future physical states; display means connected to said model means to display said future physical states of said aircraft; storage means for holding predetermined portions of said model signals; and comparitor means for comparing the correlation between said held portions of said model signals with selected state variable signals and for producing correlation signals representative of the correlation therebetween, said correlation signals being a measure of the certainty of said predictor means and being displayed as such by said display means.

Claim 11

The monitoring means defined in claim 8, wherein said model means include: a lateral predictor model for predicting the lateral position of the aircraft at landing touchdown thereof; a longitudinal predictor model; and a flare predictor model, the predictions of said longitudinal predictor model and said flare predictor model being combined to predict the longitudinal position of the aircraft at landing touchdown thereof.

Claim 12

The monitor means defined in claim 8, including: failure verification means connected to receive failure indications from components of the aircraft and correlation signals from said comparitor means, said failure verification outputs when failure indications and correlation signals confirming degraded performance are received thereby; and means responsive to said failure verification means output to allow operational components of the aircraft to be exchanged with those components whose failure has been so verified.

Claim 13

The monitor means defined in claim 10, including: first threshold means for comparing said correlation signals to first predetermined standards and for producing degraded performance signals to said failure verification means when said correlation signals are outside the predetermined standards; and second threshold means foR comparing said correlation signals to secure predetermined standards which are outside the first predetermined standards, said second threshold means producing takeover signals which are displayed to the pilot by said display means.

Claim 14

The monitoring means defined in claim 8, including attitude command means, said attitude command means having: command model means connected to said state variable signals which generate therefrom command outputs which are available to control automated flight controls of the aircraft.

Claim 15

The monitoring means defined in claim 8 including short period models for assessing the stability of the control of the aircraft, said short period models having: averaging means connected to sense the effective deflection of control surfaces on said aircraft and to produce outputs representative thereof: filter means connected to receive predetermined state variable signals for converting said predetermined state variable signals into equivalent control surface command signals; and correlation means connected to receive said equivalent control surface command signals and said averaging means outputs as inputs thereto, said correlation means producing correlation outputs based on the correlation of the inputs fed thereto, whereby said correlation outputs are a measure of the stability of the control of the aircraft.

Claim 16

The monitoring means defined in claim 8 including means for monitoring the rollout of the aircraft after the aircraft has landed, said rollout monitoring means having: predictor means for generating signals representative of the future lateral excursion of the aircraft from state variable signals fed thereto; means for generating signals representative of the actual lateral displacement of the aircraft on the runway; and means for combining said future lateral excursion signals and said lateral displacement signals into uncertainty signals; whereby said uncertainty signals and said lateral displacement signals are sent to said display means for display.

Claim 17

Means for controlling the gain parameters of an autopilot of an aircraft to achieve optional performance thereof and for assessing the resulting autopilot performance, said autopilot controlling means including: means for generating signals representative of the state of the aircraft as sensed by sensors in the aircraft; prediction means having models with selectable sets of parameter gains therein, said models being initialized by selected state signals and thereafter generating output signals representative of future aircraft behavior therefrom using said selectable sets of parameter gains; and means for holding and comparing the outputs of said models for minimum values, whereby said set of parameter gains producing the minimum values can be used to reconfigure the gain parameters of the autopilot.

Claim 18

Means for controlling the gain parameters of an autopilot of an aircraft to achieve optional performance thereof and for assessing the resulting autopilot performance, said autopilot controlling means including: means for generating signals representative of the state of the aircraft as sensed by sensors in the aircraft; prediction means having models with selectable sets of parameter gains therein, said models being initialized by selected state signals and thereafter generating output signals representative of future aircraft behavior therefrom using said selectable sets of parameter gains; and means for holding and comparing the outputs of said models for minimum values, whereby said set of parameter gains producing the minimum values can be used to reconfigure the gain parameters of the autopilot.

Claim 19

The means defined in claim 15 including: display means connected to receive and display said model output signals when the set of parameter gains producing the minimum value is being used in said models.

Claim 20

The means defined in claim 15 wherein said models include: a lateral predictor model for predicting future lateral positions of the aircraft for a predetermined interval; a longitudinal predictor model; and a flare predictor model; the predictions of said longitudinal predictor model and said flare predictor model being combined to predict the longitudinal positions of the aircraft for a predetermined interval.

Claim 21

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft during a landing maneuver including: means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating signals representative of the state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined point on the ground; predictor means connected to receive some of said signals representative of the state of the aircraft for generating therefrom signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect tO said predetermined ground point, said predictor means including altitude loss calculation means connected to receive some of said state signals and to calculate therefrom the vertical distance that will be traveled before the descent of the aircraft can be stopped; means for comparing said vertical distance output of said altitude loss calculation means to the altitude of the aircraft and for generating signals indicative of whether the aircraft can be held off the ground; and means for displaying said signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point including means for displaying landing and go around strategy based on whether the aircraft can be held off the ground.

Claim 22

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft during a landing maneuver including: means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating signals representative of the state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined point on the ground; predictor means connected to receive some of said signals representative of the state of the aircraft for generating therefrom signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect tO said predetermined ground point, said predictor means including altitude loss calculation means connected to receive some of said state signals and to calculate therefrom the vertical distance that will be traveled before the descent of the aircraft can be stopped; means for comparing said vertical distance output of said altitude loss calculation means to the altitude of the aircraft and for generating signals indicative of whether the aircraft can be held off the ground; and means for displaying said signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point including means for displaying landing and go around strategy based on whether the aircraft can be held off the ground.

Claim 23

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft during a landing maneuver including: means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating signals representative of the state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined point on the ground; predictor means connected to receive some of said signals representative of the state of the aircraft for generating therefrom signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point, said predictor means including means to predict the future state of the aircraft when the aircraft is being flown by an autopilot and means to predict the future state of the aircraft when the aircraft is being flown by the pilot; and means for displaying said signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point.

Claim 24

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft during a landing maneuver including: means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating signals representative of the state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined point on the ground; predictor means connected to receive some of said signals representative of the state of the aircraft for generating therefrom signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point, said predictor means including means to predict the future state of the aircraft when the aircraft is being flown by an autopilot and means to predict the future state of the aircraft when the aircraft is being flown by the pilot; and means for displaying said signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point.

Claim 25

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft during a landing maneuver including: means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating signals representative of the state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined point on the ground; predictor means connected to receive some of said signals representative of the state of the aircraft for generating therefrom signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point, said predictor means including means to predict the distance along the runway that will be traveled to bring the aircraft to a stop and means to predict the future lateral state of the aircraft after the aircraft has touched down; and means for displaying said signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point.

Claim 26

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft during a landing maneuver including: means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating signals representative of the state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined point on the ground; predictor means connected to receive some of said signals representative of the state of the aircraft for generating therefrom signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point, said predictor means including means to predict the distance along the runway that will be traveled to bring the aircraft to a stop and means to predict the future lateral state of the aircraft after the aircraft has touched down; and means for displaying said signals representative of the future state of the aircraft with respect to said predetermined ground point.

Claim 27

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals from said derivation means, said predictor means including model means for simulating the future physical states of the aircraft in reference to said state variable signals and for producing model signals representative of said future physical states; means for assessing the environmental disturbances through which the aircraft may be flying, said environmental assessment means having means connected to predetermined state variable signals for weighting and combining them, and means for averaging said combined predetermined state variable signals into signals representative of an assessment of the environmental disturbances through which said aircraft is flying; and display means connected to said model means and said assessment means to display said predicted future physical states of said aircraft and the uncertainty thereof due to the environmental disturbances.

Claim 28

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals from said derivation means, said predictor means including model means for simulating the future physical states of the aircraft in reference to said state variable signals and for producing model signals representative of said future physical states; means for assessing the environmental disturbances through which the aircraft may be flying, said environmental assessment means having means connected to predetermined state variable signals for weighting and combining them, and means for averaging said combined predetermined state variable signals into signals representative of an assessment of the environmental disturbances through which said aircraft is flying; and display means connected to said model means and said assessment means to display said predicted future physical states of said aircraft and the uncertainty thereof due to the environmental disturbances.

Claim 29

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals froM said derivation means, said predictor means including model means comprised of a lateral predictor model for predicting the lateral position of the aircraft at landing touchdown thereof, a longitudinal predictor model, and a flare predictor model, the predictions of said longitudinal predictor model and said flare predictor model being combined to predict the longitudinal position of the aircraft at landing touchdown thereof; and display means connected to said model means to display said lateral and longitudinal position predictions of said aircraft at landing touchdown thereof.

Claim 30

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals froM said derivation means, said predictor means including model means comprised of a lateral predictor model for predicting the lateral position of the aircraft at landing touchdown thereof, a longitudinal predictor model, and a flare predictor model, the predictions of said longitudinal predictor model and said flare predictor model being combined to predict the longitudinal position of the aircraft at landing touchdown thereof; and display means connected to said model means to display said lateral and longitudinal position predictions of said aircraft at landing touchdown thereof.

Claim 31

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals from said derivation means, said predictor means including model means for simulating the future physical states of the aircraft in reference to said state variable signals and for producing model signals representative of said future physical states, said model means including short period models for assessing the stability of the control of the aircraft, said short period models having averaging means connected to sense the effective deflection of control surfaces on said aircraft and to produce outputs representative thereof, filter means connected to receive predetermined state variable signals for converting said predetermined state variable signals into equivalent control surface command signals, and correlation means connected to receive said equivalent control surface command signals and said averaging means outputs as inputs thereto, said correlation means producing correlation outputs based on the correlation of the inputs fed thereto, whereby said correlation outputs are a measure of the stability of the control of the aircraft; and display means connected to said model means to display said future physical states of said aircraft.

Claim 32

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals from said derivation means, said predictor means including model means for simulating the future physical states of the aircraft in reference to said state variable signals and for producing model signals representative of said future physical states, said model means including short period models for assessing the stability of the control of the aircraft, said short period models having averaging means connected to sense the effective deflection of control surfaces on said aircraft and to produce outputs representative thereof, filter means connected to receive predetermined state variable signals for converting said predetermined state variable signals into equivalent control surface command signals, and correlation means connected to receive said equivalent control surface command signals and said averaging means outputs as inputs thereto, said correlation means producing correlation outputs based on the correlation of the inputs fed thereto, whereby said correlation outputs are a measure of the stability of the control of the aircraft; and display means connected to said model means to display said future physical states of said aircraft.

Claim 33

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals from said derivation means, said predictor means including model means for simulating the future physical states of the aircraft in reference to said state variable signals and for producing model signals representative of said future physical states; display means connected to said model means to display said future physical states of said aircraft; and attitude command means having command model means connected to said state variable signals which generate therefrom command outputs which are available to control automated flight controls of the aircraft.

Claim 34

Means for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals from said derivation means, said predictor means including model means for simulating the future physical states of the aircraft in reference to said state variable signals and for producing model signals representative of said future physical states; display means connected to said model means to display said future physical states of said aircraft; and attitude command means having command model means connected to said state variable signals which generate therefrom command outputs which are available to control automated flight controls of the aircraft.

Claim 35

The monitoring means defined in claim 24, including: failure verification means for verifying failure indications from components of the aircraft through comparison with similar indications and wherein said attitude command means also include: means to compare said command outputs of said command model means with outputs of the aircraft autopilot and for producing command correlation signals therefrom, and first threshold means for comparing said command correlation signals to first predetermined standards and for producing degraded performance signals to said failure verification means for comparison with said failure indications.

Claim 36

The monitoring means defined in claim 25, wherein said attitude command means also include: second threshold means for comparing said command correlation signals to second predetermined standards which are outside the first predetermined standards, and second threshold means producing takeover signals which are displayed to the pilot by said display means.

Claim 37

MeaNs for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference including means for generating signals representative of the actual lateral displacement of the aircraft on a runway; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals from said derivation means, said predictor means including model means for simulating the future physical states of the aircraft in reference to said state variable signals and for producing model signals representative of said future physical states including means for generating signals representative of the future lateral excursion of the aircraft from state variable signals fed thereto; display means; and means for combining said future lateral excursion signals and said lateral displacement signals into uncertainty signals, whereby said uncertainty signals and said lateral displacement signals are sent to said display means for display.

Claim 38

MeaNs for monitoring the operation of an aircraft including: derivation means operatively connected to sensors on the aircraft for generating state variable signals which represent the physical state of the aircraft with respect to a predetermined reference including means for generating signals representative of the actual lateral displacement of the aircraft on a runway; predictor means connected to receive selected state variable signals from said derivation means, said predictor means including model means for simulating the future physical states of the aircraft in reference to said state variable signals and for producing model signals representative of said future physical states including means for generating signals representative of the future lateral excursion of the aircraft from state variable signals fed thereto; display means; and means for combining said future lateral excursion signals and said lateral displacement signals into uncertainty signals, whereby said uncertainty signals and said lateral displacement signals are sent to said display means for display.

Claim 39

The monitoring means defined in claim 27 including: threshold means connected to receive said future lateral excursion signals, said threshold means producing an output to said display means for display when said future lateral excursion signals exceed predetermined levels.

Claim 40

The monitoring means defined in claim 27 including: means for determining the distance the aircraft has travelled on the runway after landing; means for determining the distance the aircraft travels past a predetermined point on the runway before landing; means for computing the stopping distance of the aircraft from its velocity and acceleration; and means for combining the aforesaid distances into a signal representative of the distance the aircraft will travel beyond the predetermined point before stopping, which stopping signal is fed to said display means.

Claim 41

The monitoring means defined in claim 29 including: means for generating a signal representative of the deceleration of the aircraft; and threshold means for producing an output for display on said display means when said deceleration signal is below a predetermined level set in said threshold means.