# US 12,216,200 B2 · Airport stand arrangement > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,216,200 B2 - Document ID: US12216200B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/420,147 - Filed: 2020-01-09 - Published: 2022-03-03 - Granted: 2025-02-04 - Earliest claimed: 2019-01-11 - Assignees: Adb Safegate Sweden AB - Applicants: ADB Safegate Sweden AB - Inventors: Anders Berkmo; Peter Håkansson; Alexander Strandberg - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12216200B2 ## CPC - G01S 13/91: for traffic control (G01S13/93 takes precedence) - B64F 1/002: {Taxiing aids} - G01S 13/865: {Combination of radar systems with lidar systems} - G01S 13/867: {Combination of radar systems with cameras} - G06F 3/14: Digital output to display device {; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units} - G08G 5/20: Arrangements for acquiring, generating, sharing or displaying traffic information (arrangements for monitoring traffic G08G5/72) - G08G 5/22: located on the ground - G08G 5/51: for control when on the ground, e.g. taxiing or rolling - G01S 2013/916: {Airport surface monitoring [ASDE]} - G08G 5/21: located onboard the aircraft - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - B64F: GROUND OR AIRCRAFT-CARRIER-DECK INSTALLATIONS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH AIRCRAFT; DESIGNING, MANUFACTURING, ASSEMBLING, CLEANING, MAINTAINING OR REPAIRING AIRCRAFT, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; HANDLING, TRANSPORTING, TESTING OR INSPECTING AIRCRAFT COMPONENTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - 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}) ## Abstract The disclosure relates to airport stand arrangement (100,200,300) comprising: a display (130); a radar-based system (110R); and one or more additional systems selected from laser-based systems (110L) and imaging systems (110C), wherein said radar-based system (110R) and said one or more additional systems together form a combined system (110,210,310), wherein the airport stand arrangement (100) is configured, based on output data from said combined system (110), to detect and track (S108,S110) an aircraft (10) within a stand area (20) when said aircraft (10) is approaching a stand within the stand area (20) for parking at a parking position (160) therein, and configured, based on said detection and tracking of the approaching aircraft (10), to provide (S114,S116) pilot maneuvering guidance information on said display (130) for aiding a pilot of the approaching aircraft (10) in maneuvering the aircraft (10) towards said parking position (160). ## Claims ### Claim 1 An airport stand arrangement comprising: a display; a radar-based system; and one or more additional systems selected from laser-based systems only; wherein said radar-based system and said one or more additional systems together form a combined system, wherein the airport stand arrangement is configured, based on output data from said combined system, to detect and track an aircraft within a stand area when said aircraft is approaching a stand within the stand area for parking at a parking position therein, and configured, based on said detection and tracking of the approaching aircraft, to provide pilot maneuvering guidance information on said display for aiding a pilot of the approaching aircraft in maneuvering the aircraft towards said parking position, wherein output data from the radar-based system includes radar-based detection and tracking data but is absent of image data, and wherein the airport stand arrangement is configured to detect and track the approaching aircraft based on a spatially resolved weighted average of combined output data from said radar-based system and from said one or more additional systems, wherein the spatially resolved weighted average is determined based on statistical weights for the radar system and the one or more additional systems, respectively. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the airport stand arrangement is configured to determine the statistical weights based on associated output data from the respective systems of the combined system. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the airport stand arrangement is configured to determine a visibility based on output data from said one or more additional systems and determine said statistical weights based on said visibility. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 1, wherein two or more systems of the combined system each are distanced from each other so as to, at each position in time, detect the approaching aircraft using different collection angles. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 4, wherein at least one system of the combined system is arranged such that an associated area of coverage thereof extends over a portion of the stand area which portion at least partly overlaps with a part of the stand area being blocked, by a blocking structure in the stand area, from detection and tracking using remaining systems of the combined system. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the blocking structure in the stand area is a passenger bridge. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 5, wherein said at least one system is arranged on, or at, the blocking structure. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the airport stand arrangement is further configured to determine a visibility based on output data from one or more of said additional systems, and in response to said visibility being lower than a first visibility threshold, to detect and track the approaching aircraft based on output data from the radar-based system. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 8, further comprising wireless transmitting means, and wherein the airport stand arrangement is configured, in response to said visibility being lower than a second visibility threshold, lower than said first visibility threshold, to wirelessly transmit, using the wireless transmitting means, a signal comprising said pilot maneuvering guidance information to the approaching aircraft. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 1, wherein an area of coverage of the radar-based system extends further out from the parking position than associated areas of coverage of said one or more additional systems as defined along a direction along which the approaching aircraft is expected to enter the stand area, wherein the airport stand arrangement is configured to, based on output data from the radar-based system, detect and track the approaching aircraft in the area of coverage of the radar-based system for allowing the approaching aircraft to approach the stand and enter into the associated areas of coverage of the one or more additional systems, and whereby the airport stand arrangement is configured to, based on output data from said one or more additional systems, detect and track the approaching aircraft within associated areas of coverage of said one or more additional system. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the airport stand arrangement is further configured to, based on the output data from said one or more additional systems, determine an aircraft type and/or model of the approaching aircraft based on output data from said one or more additional systems. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the airport stand arrangement is further configured, in response to the airport stand arrangement being unable to determine the aircraft type and/or model of the approaching aircraft, to provide further pilot maneuvering guidance information instructing the pilot to stop the aircraft. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the airport stand arrangement is further configured to, by use of a laser-based system of the one or more additional systems, detect a backscattering signal originating from a volume at the stand area, and in response to the airport stand arrangement being able to detect said backscattering signal: provide further pilot maneuvering guidance information instructing the pilot to approach the stand, determine if a signal pattern of the backscattering signal corresponds to at least one pre-defined signal pattern of a library of allowed signal patterns, and in response to the airport stand arrangement being unable to determine if a signal pattern of the backscattering signal corresponds to the at least one pre-defined signal pattern of the library of allowed signal patterns: detect and track the approaching aircraft based on output data from the radar-based system, and in response to the airport stand arrangement being unable to detect said backscattering signal: provide further pilot maneuvering guidance information instructing the pilot to stop the aircraft. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said airport stand arrangement is further configured: to, as a first determination step, determine whether an aircraft is present or not at said parking position based at least on output data from said one or more additional systems, and to, in response to a negative determination in said first determination step and as a second determination step, determine whether an aircraft is present or not at said parking position based on output data from said radar-based system; to transmit an aircraft-present-signal in response to a positive determination in any of said first and second determination steps; and to transmit an aircraft-not-present-signal in response to a negative determination in both of said first and second determination steps. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said arrangement is further configured to detect and track other objects within the stand area. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 15, wherein said arrangement is further configured to detect and track said other objects within the stand area in parallel with said detection and tracking of the approaching aircraft during said maneuvering of the approaching aircraft towards the parking position. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 16, wherein said arrangement is further configured to predict if the approaching aircraft is on a collision course with any of said other objects, and, in response to a collision course being predicted, to provide further pilot maneuvering guidance information instructing the pilot to stop the aircraft. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the airport stand arrangement is configured to, based on at least a speed and direction of each of said other objects and a speed and direction of the approaching aircraft, determine if said other objects are predicted to leave the stand area before the approaching aircraft is predicted to arrive, and, in response to determining that said other objects are not predicted to leave the stand area before the approaching aircraft is predicted to arrive: to provide further pilot maneuvering guidance information instructing the pilot to stop the aircraft. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the airport stand arrangement is configured to identify an event at the stand area based on the detection and tracking of said other objects within the stand area. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 19, wherein the airport stand arrangement is configured to identify an event at the stand area based on selectively detecting and tracking an object of said other objects at a specific location at the stand area, wherein said specific location is determined based on an aircraft type and/or model of the aircraft in the stand and output data from the combined system. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 19, wherein the event is one from the list of: arrival of a food delivery truck, arrival of a baggage delivery truck, arrival of stop chocks at a wheel of the aircraft, arrival of a fueling truck, arrival of a passenger bus, arrival of a cleaning company, arrival of water supply, arrival of a waste truck and arrival of a ground power unit. ### Claim 22 (depends on 15) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 15, wherein said detection and tracking of said other objects is based on output data from the radar-based system, and wherein said detection and tracking of the approaching aircraft is based on output data from said one or more additional systems. ### Claim 23 (depends on 1) The airport stand arrangement according to claim 1, wherein under a condition the airport stand arrangement determines a visibility within the stand area due to adverse weather conditions is lower than a visibility threshold, the airport stand arrangement applies a greater statistical weighting to output data from the radar system than for the one or more additional systems. ### Claim 24 A method for detecting and tracking an aircraft within a stand area when said aircraft is approaching a stand within the stand area for parking at a parking position therein, wherein said detection and tracking is based on output data from a radar-based system and output data from one or more additional systems selected from laser-based systems only, the method comprising: determining a visibility based on output data from one or more of said one or more additional systems in response to said visibility being lower than a first visibility threshold: detecting and tracking the approaching aircraft includes output data from said radar-based system, the output data from the radar-based system includes radar-based detection and tracking data but is absent of image data, wherein the detecting and tracking includes determining a spatially resolved weighted average of combined output data from said radar-based system and from said one or more additional systems, wherein the spatially resolved weighted average is determined based on statistical weights for the radar system and the one or more additional systems, respectively. ### Claim 25 (depends on 24) A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer code instructions which when executed by a device having processing capability are adapted to perform the method according to claim 24.