Systems and methods providing a fuel-efficient rta implementation with uncertain winds
AssigneeGeorgia Tech Research Corporation
InventorsClayton Patrick Tino, John-Paul Barrington Clarke
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Flight management systems and control methods for meeting a required time of arrival (RTA) with reduced fuel burn. An example method can account for probabilistic wind forecast uncertainty in RTA calculations by reformulating the speed and thrust profile problem as a multi-stage stochastic program, using a wind forecast uncertainty model to generate scenario sets for the fuel optimization problem. The method can iteratively calculate a fuel-efficient advised air speed for achieving an RTA over a flight path with an arbitrary number of recourse points.
Claims20
A computer implemented method for calculating an advised travel speed providing conformity to a target time of arrival with reduced fuel burn, comprising:
- receiving a travel plan including a travel route and a target time of arrival at a final waypoint;
- dividing the travel route into at least two discreet segments based on one or more recourse waypoints, including a first segment from a starting waypoint of the travel route to a first recourse waypoint, and a last segment from a last recourse waypoint to the final waypoint;
- selecting a first segment nominal travel speed required to meet the target time of arrival at the final waypoint based on nominal forecasted interference factors, wherein the first segment nominal travel speed is associated with a nominal expected fuel burn over the travel route;
- and
- iteratively calculating, with a computer processor, a first segment advised travel speed to satisfy the target time of arrival based on the first segment nominal travel speed and probabilistic interference factors derived at least partially from one or more forecast uncertainty models, wherein the first segment advised travel speed is associated with an advised expected fuel burn over the travel route and the advised expected fuel burn is less than the nominal expected fuel burn.
A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, effectuate a method comprising:
- receiving a travel plan including a travel route and a target time of arrival at a final waypoint;
- dividing the travel route into at least two discreet segments based on one or more recourse waypoints, including a first segment from a starting waypoint of the travel route to a first recourse waypoint, and a last segment from a last recourse waypoint to the final waypoint;
- selecting a first segment nominal travel speed required to meet the target time of arrival at the final waypoint based on nominal forecasted interference factors, wherein the first segment nominal travel speed is associated with a nominal expected fuel burn over the travel route;
- and
- iteratively calculating, by the processor, a first segment advised travel speed to satisfy the target time of arrival based on the first segment nominal travel speed and probabilistic interference factors derived at least partially from one or more forecast uncertainty models, wherein the first segment advised travel speed is associated with an advised expected fuel burn over the travel route and the advised expected fuel burn is less than the nominal expected fuel burn.
A system comprising:
- a memory operatively coupled to a processor and configured for storing data and instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform a method comprising:
- receiving a travel plan including a travel route and a target time of arrival at a final waypoint;
- dividing the travel route into at least two discreet segments based on one or more recourse waypoints, including a first segment from a starting waypoint of the travel route to a first recourse waypoint, and a last segment from a last recourse waypoint to the final waypoint;
- selecting a first segment nominal travel speed required to meet the target time of arrival at the final waypoint based on nominal forecasted interference factors, wherein the first segment nominal travel speed is associated with a nominal expected fuel burn over the travel route;
- and
- iteratively calculating, by the processor, a first segment advised travel speed to satisfy the target time of arrival based on the first segment nominal travel speed and probabilistic interference factors derived at least partially from one or more forecast uncertainty models, wherein the first segment advised travel speed is associated with an advised expected fuel burn over the travel route and the advised expected fuel burn is less than the nominal expected fuel burn.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.