Runway maintenance apparatus
AssigneeRoboxi AS
InventorKen Erik Steine
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aerodrome maintenance apparatus for monitoring runway and taxiway conditions and remotely reporting the status of the runway or taxiway. The apparatus comprises a drive unit operable to provide self-controlled rolling movement of the apparatus along a surface of a runway or taxiway of the aerodrome, a detection unit comprising one or more sensors configured to detect one or more parameters of the surface, and a communications unit comprising a transceiver arranged to transfer data derived from the detection unit from the apparatus to a remote server. The apparatus is arranged, in use, to move along the surface and transfer data representative of one or more parameters of the surface to a remote server.
Claims39
An aerodrome maintenance apparatus for monitoring runway and taxiway conditions and remotely reporting the status of the runway or taxiway, the apparatus comprising:
- a drive unit operable to provide self-controlled rolling movement of the apparatus along a surface of a runway or taxiway of the aerodrome;
- a detection unit comprising one or more sensors configured to detect one or more parameters of the surface;
- and
- a communications unit comprising a transceiver arranged to transfer data derived from the detection unit from the apparatus to a remote server, wherein
- the apparatus is arranged, in use, to move along the surface and transfer data representative of one or more parameters of the surface to a remote server.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the transceiver of the communications unit is operable to receive instruction information from a remote server, and the communications unit is arranged, in use, to communicate the instruction information to one or more of the drive unit and the detection unit.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the one or more sensors of the detection unit comprises a friction meter arranged to measure and output data representative of a friction level of the surface.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the one or more sensors of the detection unit comprises an FOD sensor arranged, in use, to detect the presence of foreign object debris, FOD, on the surface.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the detection unit comprises a transmissometer operable to measure an ambient attenuation of light and output data representative of runway visibility.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the detection unit comprises a fire detector having an infrared sensor arranged, in use, to monitor ambient thermal radiation and detect fires.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the detection unit comprises a runway light detector, arranged to detect the presence of runway lights and check the proper functioning of lights on the runway.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the detection unit comprises an infrared thermal sensor for detecting the surface temperature of the runway surface.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the drive unit is arranged, in use, to autonomously effect movement of the apparatus based on data derived from the detection unit.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim further comprising:
- a maintenance unit arranged, in use, to perform maintenance operations on the surface.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim further comprising:
- a power unit having a rechargeable power source;
- a solar panel module, arranged to harvest solar energy and provide, in use, charge to the power source.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein a surface of the apparatus is provided with one or more interface parts for mounting components onto the apparatus.
An apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the detection unit is arranged such that each time a measurement is taken by the sensors location data is recorded so as to link each measurement with the location of the apparatus.
A system for monitoring and maintaining runway and taxiway conditions, comprising:
- an apparatus according to any preceding claim;
- and
- a remote server arranged, in use, to transfer data to and from the communications module of the apparatus, via a wired or wireless connection.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.