The Boeing Company

Theboeing Company

Ralf Rene Shu-Zhong Cabos

Nils Kneuper

Andreas Sindlinger

Andre Lutz

Matthew Bonbright Hendrian

Jonas Schulze

Garoe Gonzalez Parra

Jennifer Mayer

Sabine Rath

Theresa Emsbach

A system and a method include a phase determination control unit configured to receive position data of an aircraft, determine variables from messages received from the aircraft, apply fuzzy logic to the variables to determine scores for possible phases of flight of the aircraft, identify a highest score among the possible phases of flight, and determine the highest score as an actual phase of flight of the aircraft.

Systems and methods for determining a phase of flight of an aircraft

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for determining a flight plan for an aircraft, including: determining one or more regions that intersect an initial flight path and comprise at least one terrain feature having an elevation greater than an elevation threshold; for each respective region: determining a flight area based on the initial flight path and an elevation threshold line; determining one or more segments of the initial flight path that comprise one or more terrain features having an elevation greater than the elevation threshold; and determining a modified flight path for each respective segment by: determining a plurality of descent gradients along the respective segment; and moving the respective segment of the initial flight path in the safe descent direction if any of the plurality of descent gradients would collide with any of the one or more terrain features.

Efficient flight planning for regions with high elevation terrain

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method that includes: collecting seat sensor data associated with a plurality of seats in a vehicle; selecting a first subset of data from the collected seat sensor data; providing the first subset of data to a fault detection model; receiving, from the fault detection model, one or more detected seat component faults; and generating, based on the one or more detected seat component faults, a seat condition map associated with the vehicle.

Seat component fault determination and prediction

A system for taking into account micro wind conditions in a region. The system comprises a plurality of aerial vehicles within the region and a wind speed calculator. Each of the plurality of aerial vehicles has an altitude sensor and a GPS receiver. The wind speed calculator is configured to determine wind vectors within the region using measurements from the plurality of aerial vehicles.

System for taking into account micro wind conditions in flight plans for aerial vehicles

A method includes determining a first speed value based on a first signal from a first data source. The method also includes determining a second speed value based on a second signal from a second data source. The method further includes determining a first likelihood of icing value based on a third signal from a third data source. The method also includes determining a second likelihood of icing value based on a fourth signal from a fourth data source. The method further includes performing a first comparison between the first speed value and the second speed value and performing a second comparison between the first likelihood of icing value and the second likelihood of icing value. The method also includes generating sensor reliability data based on the first comparison and the second comparison and displaying situational awareness data based on the sensor reliability data.

System and method for improved pilot situational awareness

Techniques for updating wake separation distance between aircraft are described. A sensors mesh within a flight path of an aircraft is used to detect when a wake vortex from the aircraft has drifted onto the sensor mesh. A minimum wake separation distance and separation interval for following aircraft are determined based on the various sensor measurements, environmental conditions, and aircraft properties. The minimum wake separation distance and separation interval are used to minimize aircraft separation distances between aircraft that are required due to wake vortex turbulence caused by aircraft during flight.

Wake vortex separation determination

A restricted airspace monitoring system and method include a restricted airspace monitoring control unit that is configured to determine if a restricted airspace is active through monitored positions of a plurality of aircraft within an airspace that includes the restricted airspace and/or restriction notice information.

Restricted airspace monitoring systems and methods

A method, vehicle, and system for calculating the location of a center of mass of the vehicle and transferring fuel to move the location of the center of mass are provided. The location of the center of mass of the vehicle is determined by measuring or calculating forces acting on the vehicle that counteract the gravitational forces on the vehicle. The location of the center of mass is calculated by determining on a moment arm of the gravitational force that counteracts the moment arms of the other forces acting on the vehicle. Fuel can be transferred among differently-located fuel tanks in the vehicle to move the location of the center of mass to a position in which at least some of the other forces acting on the vehicle are reduced, which may increase the speed and/or efficiency of the vehicle.

Automatic adjustment of center of mass of a vehicle

A system is presented. The system comprises sunlight sensors and GPS receivers in a region, an aerial vehicle, a solar panel, and a flight plan generator. The aerial vehicle is within the region. The aerial vehicle has a rechargeable battery. The solar panel is physically connected to the aerial vehicle and operably connected to the rechargeable battery. The flight plan generator is configured to create a flight plan within the region for the aerial vehicle based on measurements from the sunlight sensors within the region.

Recharging an aircraft in a region using areas of increased sunlight within the region

A vehicle, includes a vehicle and a strain gauge. The vehicle includes a vehicle body component exposed to an exterior of the vehicle. The strain gauge is coupled with the vehicle body component.

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Braunschweig, Germany

Ralf Rene Shu-Zhong Cabos