# US 12,112,646 B2 · Apparatus, method and system relating to aircraft systems

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- Number: US 12,112,646 B2
- Document ID: US12112646B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/056,390
- Filed: 2019-05-16
- Published: 2021-07-22
- Granted: 2024-10-08
- Earliest claimed: 2018-05-18
- Assignees: University of Bath
- Applicants: University of Bath
- Inventors: David Cleaver; Jonathan Du Bois; Pejman Iravani
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12112646B2

## CPC

- G08G 5/21: located onboard the aircraft
- G08G 5/55: for a single aircraft
- G01C 21/20: Instruments for performing navigational calculations (G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence)
- G01C 21/3867: {Geometry of map features, e.g. shape points, polygons or for simplified maps}
- G01C 21/3881: {Tile-based structures}
- G01C 23/00: Combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value, e.g. for aircraft; Combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement, e.g. distance, speed or acceleration
- G05D 1/0055: {with safety arrangements}
- G05D 1/0202: {specially adapted to aircraft}
- G05D 1/101: {specially adapted for aircraft}
- G05D 1/46: Control of position or course in three dimensions [3D]
- G05D 1/617: Safety or protection, e.g. defining protection zones around obstacles or avoiding hazards (arrangements for controlling the position or course of two or more vehicles for avoiding collisions therebetween G05D1/693; arrangements for reacting to or preventing system or operator failure G05D1/80)
- G08G 5/34: for flight plan modification
- G08G 5/53: for cruising
- G08G 5/57: for unmanned aircraft
- G08G 5/74: for monitoring terrain
- G08G 5/80: Anti-collision systems
- G08G 5/59: in accordance with predefined flight zones, e.g. to avoid prohibited zones
- G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93})
- G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S)
- G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES

## Abstract

A method for controlling flight of an aircraft system comprises deriving a liability map using mapping data related to one or more ground hazard categories, wherein each ground hazard category is associated with a type of hazard on a ground surface. The liability map comprises a plurality of risk liability values (L1 and/or L2) associated with the one or more ground hazard categories. The liability map is used to control one or more parameters for controlling flight of the aircraft system.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for controlling flight of an aircraft system, the method comprising:
deriving a two-dimensional liability map using mapping data related to one or more ground hazard categories, wherein each ground hazard category is associated with a type of hazard on a ground surface, wherein the two-dimensional liability map comprises a plurality of risk liability values (L1) associated with the one or more ground hazard categories; and
using the liability map to control one or more parameters for controlling flight of the aircraft system, wherein deriving the two-dimensional liability map comprises:
dividing a ground surface region of interest into a discretized two-dimensional grid;
for each element of the grid, deriving an amount of area of that element that falls within a relevant ground hazard category;
for each ground hazard category, estimating a consequence value (CY) based on a size of the aircraft system; and
for each element of the grid, estimating a first risk liability value (L1) based on the derived amount of area of the element and the estimated consequence value, wherein estimating a first risk liability value (L1) comprises:
L1=Σarea ratio for a particular ground hazard*consequence value(CY).

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein deriving the amount of area of the element that falls within a relevant ground hazard category comprises the use of mapping data.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more parameters for controlling flight are controlled in relation to the first risk liability values (L1).

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising controlling a flight parameter forming part of a collision avoidance procedure.

### Claim 5

A flight control system for controlling an aircraft system, and comprising a processor and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said flight control system is operative to:
derive a two-dimensional liability map using mapping data related to one or more ground hazard categories, wherein each ground hazard category is associated with a type of hazard on a ground surface; and
wherein the two-dimensional liability map comprises a plurality of risk liability values (L1 or L2) associated with the one or more ground hazard categories; and
use the liability map to control one or more parameters for controlling flight of the aircraft system, whereby said flight control system is operable to derive the two-dimensional liability map by:
dividing a ground surface region of interest into a discretized two-dimensional grid;
for each element of the grid, deriving an amount of area of that element that falls within a relevant ground hazard category;
for each ground hazard category, estimating a consequence value (CY) based on a size of the aircraft system; and
for each element of the grid, estimating a first risk liability value (L1) based on the derived amount of area of the element and the estimated consequence value, wherein estimating a first risk liability value (L1) comprises:
L1=Σarea ratio for a particular ground hazard*consequence value(CY).

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

A flight control system operative to perform the method as defined in claim 1.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The flight control system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the aircraft system is an unmanned aircraft system (UAS).

### Claim 8

A method for controlling flight of an aircraft system, the method comprising:
deriving a three-dimensional liability map using mapping data related to one or more ground hazard categories, wherein each ground hazard category is associated with a type of hazard on a ground surface, wherein the three-dimensional liability map comprises a plurality of risk liability values associated with the one or more ground hazard categories; and
using the liability map to control one or more parameters for controlling flight of the aircraft system, wherein the step of deriving a three-dimensional liability map is based on a plurality of possible failure modes of the aircraft system and respective probability frequencies of the occurrence of each possible failure mode, and the plurality of failure modes comprises two or more of: uncontrolled glide, controlled glide, and break-up.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein deriving the three-dimensional liability map comprises:
dividing a volume of interest into a discretized three-dimensional grid of voxels centered on nodes;
for each node estimating a dispersion pattern for an aircraft system as a result of each failure mode;
for each failure mode estimating a risk liability value for that failure mode; and
summing all the estimated risk liability values for the plurality of failure modes to estimate a second risk liability value (L2) for each node.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein estimating a risk liability value for a particular failure mode at a particular node is based on the dispersion pattern for that failure node in relation to the position of the node in relation to the ground surface, and the position of the node in relation to first risk liability values of elements of a two-dimensional liability map.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein one or more parameters for controlling flight are controlled in relation to the risk liability values (L1).

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein one or more parameters for controlling flight are controlled in relation to second risk liability values (L2).

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising controlling a flight parameter forming part of a collision avoidance procedure.