Method and apparatus for capturing flight trajectory induced zero gravity conditions
AssigneeOlivas & Associates, Inc.
InventorsJohn D. Olivas, Chloe Hank
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and system of instruments are disclosed for characterizing conditions within an aircraft during a flight designed to minimize gravitational effects. Scientific research can require experimentation under very low G or zero G conditions, and such conditions can be achieved in an aircraft using a specially designed trajectory to mimic freefall. Certain data can be collected during the critical portion of the trajectory to assess atmospheric, biometric, and localized information to better assess the results of the experiments.
Claims7
A method for capturing a condition within an aircraft during a microgravity flight, comprising:
- establishing an aircraft data collection unit configured for determining air speed, altitude, atmospheric pressure, heading, gravity, and acceleration;
- establishing in a different location of the aircraft a microgravity suite of sensors, including accelerometers along three orthogonal axes, pitch, roll, and yaw sensors, a local pressure sensor, a local temperature sensor, a local radiation sensor, a vibration sensor, and an acoustic sensor;
- establishing a biometric unit configured for determining heart rate, respiration rate, pulse oxygenation, and core body temperature of a user;
- flying the aircraft on a parabolic flight to establish a microgravity condition;
- collecting data from the aircraft data collection unit, the microgravity suite, and the biometric unit;
- combining the data in the aircraft data collection unit with the microgravity suite to determine a condition within the aircraft during a microgravity flight;
- and
- using the condition within the aircraft during the microgravity flight to assess a human using biometric data collected by the biometric unit.
A system for capturing a condition within a payload bay of an aircraft during a microgravity flight, comprising:
- a first data source comprising an aircraft data collection unit configured for determining air speed, altitude, atmospheric pressure, heading, gravity, and acceleration;
- a second data source comprising a data suite disposed in the aircraft payload bay, comprising accelerometers along three orthogonal axes, pitch, roll, and yaw sensors, a local pressure sensor, a local temperature sensor, a local radiation sensor, a vibration sensor, and an acoustic sensor;
- a third data source comprising a biometric unit configured for determining heart rate, respiration rate, pulse oxygenation, and core body temperature of a user;
- and
- a processor coupled to the aircraft data collection unit, the data suite, and the biometric unit, for onboard processing of data received from said first, second, and third data sources.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.