Aircraft wake sensing

A method of controlling a flight of a follower aircraft that flies behind a leader aircraft, the method comprising:

• obtain information on a wake produced by the leader aircraft and experienced by the follower aircraft by;
• providing a model simulating a dynamic behavior of the follower aircraft, the model operating on variables representing the following six degrees of freedom of the follower aircraft:
• position on a longitudinal axis, position on a transverse axis, position on a height axis, angle of roll, angle of pitch, and angle of yaw, the model further operating on time derivatives of the six degrees of freedom;
• repetitively carrying out the following three operations in an iterative manner:
• using the model simulating the dynamic behavior of the follower aircraft to simulate a response of the follower aircraft to an estimated aerodynamic context exclusively based on data only from the follower aircraft free from any data communicated by the leader aircraft, an estimated position of the follower aircraft with respect to a model of the wake, and data indicating aerodynamic effects experienced by the follower aircraft due to motion of the follower aircraft;
• estimating measurements carried out by the follower aircraft based on the simulated response of the follower aircraft to the estimated aerodynamic context, whereby the measurements that are estimated are dependent on the position of the follower aircraft relative to the wake;
• and
• adjusting the estimated aerodynamic context based on a comparison between the measurements that have been estimated and actual measurements carried out by the follower aircraft to reduce a deviation between the measurements that have been estimated and the actual measurements;
• extracting the information on the wake from the estimated aerodynamic context;
• and
• using the information on the wake obtained to define a target for a flight controller in the follower aircraft.

A non-transitory machine readable storage medium on which a computer program is stored, the computer program enabling a processor to;

• provide a model simulating a dynamic behavior of a follower aircraft, the model operating on variables representing the following six degrees of freedom of the follower aircraft:
• position on a longitudinal axis, position on a transverse axis, position on a height axis, angle of roll, angle of pitch, and angle of yaw, the model further operating on time derivatives of the six degrees of freedom;
• repetitively carry out the following three operations in an iterative manner:
• use the model simulating the dynamic behavior of the follower aircraft to simulate a response of the follower aircraft to an estimated aerodynamic context exclusively based on data only from the follower aircraft free from any data communicated by a leader aircraft, an estimated position of the follower aircraft with respect to a model of the wake, and data indicating aerodynamic effects experienced by the follower aircraft due to motion of the follower aircraft;
• estimate measurements carried out by the follower aircraft based on the simulated response of the follower aircraft to the estimated aerodynamic context, whereby the measurements that are estimated are dependent on the position of the follower aircraft relative to the wake;
• and
• adjust the estimated aerodynamic context based on a comparison between the measurements that have been estimated and actual measurements carried out by the follower aircraft to reduce a deviation between the measurements that have been estimated and the actual measurements;
• extract the information on the wake from the estimated aerodynamic context;
• and
• use the information on the wake obtained to define a target for a flight controller in the follower aircraft.

A flight computer adapted to;

• provide a model simulating a dynamic behavior of a follower aircraft, the model operating on variables representing the following six degrees of freedom of the follower aircraft:
• position on a longitudinal axis, position on a transverse axis, position on a height axis, angle of roll, angle of pitch, and angle of yaw, the model further operating on time derivatives of the six degrees of freedom;
• repetitively carry out the following three operations in an iterative manner:
• use the model simulating the dynamic behavior of the follower aircraft to simulate a response of the follower aircraft to an estimated aerodynamic context exclusively based on data only from the follower aircraft free from any data communicated by a leader aircraft, an estimated position of the follower aircraft with respect to a model of the wake, and data indicating aerodynamic effects experienced by the follower aircraft due to motion of the follower aircraft;
• estimate measurements carried out by the follower aircraft based on the simulated response of the follower aircraft to the estimated aerodynamic context, whereby the measurements that are estimated are dependent on the position of the follower aircraft relative to the wake;
• and
• adjust the estimated aerodynamic context based on a comparison between the measurements that have been estimated and actual measurements carried out by the follower aircraft to reduce a deviation between the measurements that have been estimated and the actual measurements;
• extract the information on the wake from the estimated aerodynamic context;
• and
• use the information on the wake obtained to define a target for a flight controller in the follower aircraft.

A non-transitory machine readable storage medium on which a computer program is stored, the computer program enabling a processor to;

• obtain information on a wake produced by a leader aircraft and experienced by a follower aircraft by;
• providing a model simulating a dynamic behavior of the follower aircraft, the model operating on variables representing the following six degrees of freedom of the follower aircraft:
• position on a longitudinal axis, position on a transverse axis, position on a height axis, angle of roll, angle of pitch, and angle of yaw, the model further operating on time derivatives of the six degrees of freedom;
• repetitively carrying out the following three operations in an iterative manner:
• using the model simulating the dynamic behavior of the follower aircraft to simulate a response of the follower aircraft to an estimated aerodynamic context exclusively based on data only from the follower aircraft free from any data communicated by the leader aircraft, an estimated position of the follower aircraft with respect to a model of the wake, and data indicating aerodynamic effects experienced by the follower aircraft due to motion of the follower aircraft;
• estimating measurements carried out by the follower aircraft based on the simulated response of the follower aircraft to the estimated aerodynamic context, whereby the measurements that are estimated are dependent on the position of the follower aircraft relative to the wake;
• and
• adjusting the estimated aerodynamic context based on a comparison between the measurements that have been estimated and actual measurements carried out by the follower aircraft to reduce a deviation between the measurements that have been estimated and the actual measurements;
• extracting the information on the wake from the estimated aerodynamic context;
• and
• using the information on the wake obtained to define a target for a flight controller in the follower aircraft.

A flight computer adapted to;

• obtain information on a wake produced by a leader aircraft and experienced by a follower aircraft by;
• providing a model simulating a dynamic behavior of the follower aircraft, the model operating on variables representing the following six degrees of freedom of the follower aircraft:
• position on a longitudinal axis, position on a transverse axis, position on a height axis, angle of roll, angle of pitch, and angle of yaw, the model further operating on time derivatives of the six degrees of freedom;
• repetitively carrying out the following three operations in an iterative manner:
• using the model simulating the dynamic behavior of the follower aircraft to simulate a response of the follower aircraft to an estimated aerodynamic context exclusively based on data only from the follower aircraft free from any data communicated by the leader aircraft, an estimated position of the follower aircraft with respect to a model of the wake, and data indicating aerodynamic effects experienced by the follower aircraft due to motion of the follower aircraft;
• estimating measurements carried out by the follower aircraft based on the simulated response of the follower aircraft to the estimated aerodynamic context, whereby the measurements that are estimated are dependent on the position of the follower aircraft relative to the wake;
• and
• adjusting the estimated aerodynamic context based on a comparison between the measurements that have been estimated and actual measurements carried out by the follower aircraft to reduce a deviation between the measurements that have been estimated and the actual measurements;
• extracting the information on the wake from the estimated aerodynamic context;
• and
• using the information on the wake obtained to define a target for a flight controller in the follower aircraft.