FR3044439B1 - METHOD FOR MONITORING THE OPERATION OF AN AIRCRAFT - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention essentially relates to a method for monitoring (200) the operation of an aircraft (Ai), the monitoring method (200) comprising a method (210) for collecting flight data (DATA) implemented by a device (D) for collecting flight data (DATA) from the aircraft (Ai), said collecting method (210) comprising the following steps: (a) sampling (211) of the flight data (DATA) of the aircraft aircraft (Ai) according to a predetermined frequency; (b) storing (212) the sampled flight data (DATA); (c) wireless transmission (213) of the sampled flight data (DATA) to a ground station (S); the monitoring method further comprising a method (230) for analyzing flight data (DATA) implemented in a ground station (S), the flight data analysis (DATA) method (230) comprising the following steps: wireless reception (231) in the ground station (S) of the flight data (DATA) of the aircraft (Ai); storing (232) the flight data (DATA) of the aircraft (Ai) in a database (DB) of the ground station (S); generation (233) of flight reports (Ri) from the flight data (DATA) of the aircraft (Ai) stored in the database (DB) of the ground station (S). Figure of the abstract: Figure 2.

Description

METHOD FOR MONITORING THE OPERATION OF AN AIRCRAFT

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The technical field of the invention is that of aeronautics, and more particularly that of the surveillance of an aircraft.

The invention thus relates to a method of collecting flight data of an aircraft and to a method of monitoring an aircraft.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The airlines are legally required by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to set up and execute a flight data monitoring program for their aircraft (called Flight Data Monitoring). ). The monitoring program consists of regularly analyzing recorded flight data to detect failures or early warning signs, in order to anticipate and plan maintenance operations. Flight safety is thus improved.

Currently, the monitoring program relies on the use of reports generated by an on-board equipment condition monitoring system (called "Aircraft Condition Monitoring System"). The prior art monitoring systems include an on-board aircraft surveillance system and a ground surveillance system. The on-board monitoring system comprises an acquisition, storage and data transfer box, connected to the various computers of the aircraft, such as engine computers. The ground surveillance system performs calculations and analysis of the data transmitted by the onboard data transfer box on board the aircraft.

During a flight, the on-board monitoring system acquires so-called flight data from different computers and / or sensors, for example engine rotation speeds, pressure measurements, temperature measurements, altitude or the speed of the plane. The flight data are stored in an internal memory of the onboard surveillance system. The latter then generates flight reports from these flight data.

The flight reports must then be unloaded on the ground. A first solution is to store the flight reports in an internal memory card to the on-board monitoring system, for example a PCMCIA type memory card for "Personal Computer Memory International Card Association" in English. The memory card can be unplugged and connected to a computer on the ground to unload the flight reports manually but it is a time-consuming operation.

A second solution is to transmit the reports as and when, from the on-board monitoring system to a ground station. The transmission is carried out by means of an on-board communications, addressing and reporting system (called the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System). This is an expensive system that does not allow for the exchange of large amounts of data. In addition, the transmitted reports have codified formalism which is difficult to modify since it is necessary to go through the International Civil Aviation Organization to modify it.

The flight reports are synthetically generated in the form of text files having a size of a few kilobytes. Flight data is compressed to keep only the essential information. The flight reports provide a summary of some engine and aircraft parameters on a part of the flight, that is to say a few samples of a given parameter, for example its maximum value and its minimum value, or an aggregate value of parameter, for example its average value or its standard deviation.

A report on engine operation, also known as "engine cruise report", provides, for example, average values of engine rotational speeds, exhaust gas temperature, fuel flow, and temperatures at various points in the engine. engines. The values are averaged over a time window, called the "stable" period, chosen for the low variability of the monitored parameters.

The analysis of flight data is based today mainly on the exploitation of embedded reports, unloaded on the ground. Any extension of the perimeter of monitored events usually involves the development of a new onboard reporting format in the on-board surveillance system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Moreover, in the prior art, it was possible to define configurable thresholds used in the processing of the on-board monitoring system.

However, it was very complex to have these configurable thresholds adjusted for flight data from multiple aircraft.

The present invention aims to solve the problems that have just been exposed by proposing an aircraft monitoring method for performing more elaborate processing on flight data collected in greater numbers.

The present invention therefore relates to a method of monitoring the operation of an aircraft, the monitoring method comprising a flight data collection method implemented by a flight data collection device equipping the aircraft, said method of collection comprising the following steps:

- (a) sampling the flight data of the aircraft according to a predetermined frequency;

- (b) storing the sampled flight data;

- (c) wireless transmission of sampled flight data to a ground station;

the monitoring method further comprising a flight data analysis method implemented in a ground station, the flight data analysis method comprising the following steps:

wireless reception in the ground station of the flight data of the aircraft;

storing the flight data of the aircraft in a database of the ground station;

- Generating flight reports from the flight data of the aircraft stored in the database of the ground station.

Thus, thanks to the monitoring method according to the invention, it is possible to collect a large amount of raw data during the flight of the aircraft, and then transmit them to the ground station. The amount of data collected is no longer limited by the generation of embedded reports.

In addition, the flight data is centralized in the ground station for analysis. Configurable thresholds used in the processes can thus be adjusted permanently in the ground station according to all the flight data.

The collection process may also include one or more of the following features, considered individually or in any technically possible combination.

Advantageously, the step of sampling the flight data of the aircraft is performed by means of a generic acquisition frame parameterized in the collection device. The acquisition frame is described as generic because it can be common to a set of aircraft, such as for example all the aircraft of the same fleet. This thus makes it possible to reduce the constraints for implementing the monitoring method according to the invention.

The predetermined sampling frequency is preferably greater than or equal to 1 Hz. Thus, it is possible to collect flight data both during so-called "stable" flight phases, which are the currently used flight phases, and during so-called "transient" flight phases.

The term "stable flight phases" means flight phases during which the parameters monitored have a low rate of change. For example, in the cruise phase, the engine operating parameters, the speed and the altitude of the aircraft vary very little.

The term "transient flight phases" means flight phases during which the monitored parameters vary greatly. These are, for example, the take-off, landing, climb and descent phases. More specifically, in the case of an engine monitoring system, the transient flight phases are flight phases during which the engine operating parameters, the environmental parameters of the aircraft and the instructions sent to the engine are modified throughout the flight phase.

The state of the art equipment monitoring system of the prior art only allow the monitoring of stable flight phases or the monitoring of specific points of flight. For example it is possible to generate reports at the end of the flight, when a maximum temperature value is reached during a given flight phase. Indeed, the monitoring of transient flight phases requires the ability to collect and transmit more flight data than is possible to put in the synthetic reports. The monitoring of the transient phases is more complex than the monitoring of stable phases but allows for example a better detection of damage to an aircraft's on-board system, or wear of certain components or parts of an onboard system of the aircraft. aircraft.

Preferably, the collection method further comprises, between steps (a) and (c), a step of encrypting the flight data of the aircraft. Thus, the flight data, which can for example be transmitted via a public telecommunication network, are secure.

The step of wireless transmission of flight data is for example carried out via a third and / or fourth generation mobile telephony network, respectively called 3G network and 4G network. 3G and 4G networks have much higher data rates than the on-board communication, addressing and accounting system, and thus allow the transmission of large amounts of data.

The analysis method may also include one or more of the following characteristics considered individually or in any technically possible combination:

- The analysis method further comprises a step of storing the flight reports in the database of the ground station. Thus the flight reports are archived for an indefinite duration and remain accessible at any time.

the analysis method further comprises a step of analysis of the flight reports. It is in particular possible to relate the flight ratios and wear of subassemblies of the aircraft, this being for example noted during a maintenance operation. This thus makes it possible to identify the types of use that accelerate the wear of the subsets of the aircraft.

the analysis method further comprises a step of retrieving contextual data from the database of the ground station and / or from a database external to the ground station, the contextual data being used during the search. step of generating the flight reports. Thus, the flight of the aircraft is placed in context to obtain more relevant flight reports.

the step of wireless reception of the flight data is performed in the same mode as the wireless transmission of the collection method.

Conducting ground flight data analysis provides more flexibility in software development. Indeed, in the case of a software modification concerning the processing of flight data, it is no longer necessary to update the software embedded in each aircraft. Only the modifications related to the generic acquisition frame are to be reported in each aircraft. However, these are more rare than the software changes concerning the processing of flight data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention and its various applications will be better understood on reading the following description and on examining the figures that accompany it, among which:

FIG. 1 schematically represents an exemplary context of implementation of a method of monitoring an aircraft;

FIG. 2 represents a functional diagram of a method for monitoring an aircraft, according to an embodiment of the invention.

The figures are presented only as an indication and in no way limit the invention.

For clarity, identical or similar elements are marked with identical reference characters in all the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is in particular to propose a method for collecting flight data from an aircraft in large quantities, and then transmitting them to a ground station for analysis. Flight data analysis aims to anticipate failures to optimize aircraft maintenance operations and minimize operational events such as flight delays and cancellations. Indeed, the grounding of an aircraft entails significant costs for an airline.

FIG. 1 schematically represents an exemplary context of implementation of a method of monitoring an aircraft. FIG. 1 shows several aircraft Ai (Ai, A2, ... An, where i being an integer between 1 and η, where n is the number of aircraft), for example aircraft, each comprising several subsystems Cj (Ci , C2, ... Cm, j being here an integer between 1 and m, m being a number of subsets that can be variable according to the aircraft Ai).

"Subassemblies" means the different constituent parts of an aircraft. The subsets are for example engines, flight control systems (eg engine control systems and control surfaces), or avionic systems, that is to say systems allowing navigation (eg compass and GPS ), flight control and flight control (eg speed and altitude indicators), communications, and knowledge of the flight environment (eg weather radar).

The subsystems Cj of the aircraft Ai themselves comprise components. For example, a valve is a component of a motor module, itself being a subset Cj of the aircraft Ai.

Each aircraft Ai also comprises a collection device D of flight data DATA relating to the aircraft Ai, its subsets Cj and their components. DATA flight data can come directly from subsets, such as engine rotation speeds or steering commands. The flight data DATA can also come from sensors that acquire physical quantities such as speeds, pressures and altitudes, said sensors can also be part of the components.

The collection device D includes an internal memory M for storing the flight data DATA. The collection device D furthermore comprises means for wireless TX transmission of the flight data DATA. The collection device D may for example be a state of the on-board equipment monitoring system to which is added a transmission antenna.

FIG. 1 also shows a ground station S comprising a database DB and a processing unit U able to generate flight reports R 1 from the flight data DATA. The ground station S furthermore comprises wireless reception means RX of the flight data DATA.

The wireless transmission of the flight data from the aircraft Ai is for example carried out via a third or fourth generation mobile telephony network, respectively 3G and 4G, or via any other suitable wireless network.

FIG. 2 represents a functional diagram of a surveillance method 200 of an aircraft, according to an embodiment of the invention. The monitoring method 200 comprises a first data collection method 210 of flight data DATA, carried on board the aircraft Ai, and a second method of analysis 230 of the flight data DATA, carried out in the ground station S.

The various steps relating to the collection method 210 of the flight data DATA, according to an embodiment of the invention, are for example the following, illustrated in the functional diagram of FIG. 2.

During a step 211, the collection device D of the flight data DATA on board the aircraft Ai samples, at a predetermined frequency, the flight data DATA of the aircraft Ai. 211 flight data sampling

DATA is realized by means of a generic acquisition frame. Indeed, the acquisition frame is the same on all the aircraft monitored.

In a first embodiment, the sampling step 211 begins when the engines of the aircraft Ai start, and ends when the engines of the aircraft Ai stop. In a second embodiment, for the flight data relating to a given subset, the sampling step 211 starts during the flight of the aircraft Ai and ends at the end of a given duration.

The sampling of the flight data DATA is preferably carried out with a frequency greater than or equal to 1 Hz. The flight data DATA can be collected at any time from the flight of the aircraft Ai. It is thus possible to monitor transient flight phases, where the synthetic reports of the prior art were limited to following stable flight phases or particular flight points.

The transient phase monitoring makes it possible to detect degradations of the subsets of the aircraft Ai, such as a degradation of the response time of an engine following a change of position of the throttle lever, or a degradation of the response time. equipment, for example a decrease in the opening or closing time of a valve.

After the sampling step 211, the flight data DATA is stored, during a step 212, in the internal memory M of the collection device D. The internal memory M of the collection device D is for example a card memory, a hard disk or any other memory medium capable of storing the DATA flight data.

The stored flight data DATA is then transmitted, during a step 213, to the ground station S via the TX wireless transmission means. The flight data DATA can be transmitted when the flight of the aircraft Ai is completed. In the case, for example, where the aircraft Ai is a passenger transport aircraft, the transmission step 213 of the flight data DATA can be carried out at the same time as the landing of the passengers of the aircraft Ai, or just after the landing, when the aircraft Ai rolls on the tarmac. Thus, the flight data transmission time DATA is transparent vis-à-vis the management of the air fleet by the airlines, and any interventions to be made on the aircraft Ai are anticipated at the earliest.

The flight data DATA can also be transmitted to the ground station S during the flight of the aircraft Ai, for example via a satellite link.

For security reasons, the flight data DATA can be advantageously encrypted, during a step 214, before being transmitted. Indeed, the flight data DATA can, according to a particular embodiment, be transmitted via a public telecommunication network, for example via 3G or 4G networks.

The various steps relating to the analysis method 230 of the flight data DATA, according to an embodiment of the invention, are for example the following, illustrated in the functional diagram of FIG. 2.

During a step 231, the flight data DATA is received by the ground station S via the wireless reception means RX. The flight data are then stored, during a step 232, in the database DB of the ground station S.

Flight reports Ri are then generated, during a step 233, from the flight data DATA stored in the database DB. Since the flight reports Ri are generated in the ground station S, they may no longer be subject to the formalism constraints imposed for the unloading of the reports by the on-board communications, addressing and reporting system (ACARS), the volume of data being particularly limited.

Indeed, a flight report generated by a state of the art equipment monitoring system of the prior art is a sequence of alphanumeric characters difficult to understand because of its formalism, and therefore needs to be previously decoded.

On the other hand, the format of the flight reports Ri generated in the ground station S is free since the constraints imposed by the transmission are overcome. However, it is also possible to keep the same format, for example to reuse existing algorithms, such as algorithms for monitoring the state of health of the aircraft and more particularly engines.

Furthermore, the flight data DATA can advantageously be subjected to processing, called "usage meters", for tracking the flight data DATA of the aircraft Ai in order to determine the use that is made of it. The usage meters are for example calculated during the step of generating the flight reports.

In order to calculate the usage counters, from the flight data DATA of all the aircraft Ai, the ranges of values to which the flight data DATA of a predetermined percentage of the flights belong and for a given flight phase are defined.

Then, for each flight during which flight data leaves its defined range of values, a usage counter associated with this flight data is incremented.

The value ranges are bounded by configurable thresholds, adjusted by iteration. That is, when new DATA flight data arrives, the thresholds are automatically updated.

For example, for a flight data DATA such as the altitude of the aircraft Ai, the ground station S analyzes all the samples of the altitude parameter and determines the altitude range, by defining a high threshold and a low threshold, in which are for example 99.5% of the flights for a given flight phase. As a result of a new flight, new altitude data is transmitted to the ground station S. The high threshold and the low threshold are then automatically updated.

Then, we evaluate whether this new flight took place outside the altitude range corresponding to 99.5% of the flights. If this is the case, a counter associated with the altitude parameter is incremented and an alert is raised, for example for a manual analysis to take place.

In a first implementation variant, the predetermined percentage of the flights making it possible to define the ranges of values is modified according to the feedback of experience. This percentage corresponds to flights whose use is considered normal. By contrast, the percentage of flights remaining is the flights whose use comes out of normal, these flights to be analyzed manually. Thus, following the example described above, if the number of flights whose use comes out of the normal, or 0.5% of flights, is considered too high, the predetermined percentage of the flights is adjusted, for example to a value 99.9%.

In a second implementation variant, an indicator is raised only if the high threshold or the low threshold is exceeded for a predetermined duration. This makes it possible to avoid outliers.

In a third implementation variant, an indicator is raised only if the high threshold or the low threshold is exceeded by a predetermined value, for example 200 feet in the case of altitude.

In a fourth variant of implementation, the three previous implementation variants are combined.

To perform this kind of processing in the prior art, it would be necessary to constantly be able to modify the configuration of the embedded software in all the aircraft Ai. Indeed, the updated flight data DATA of all the aircraft Ai are necessary to define the ranges of values. On the contrary, the invention makes it easier to implement this kind of processing because the DATA flight data are centralized in the ground station S.

Preferably, the flight reports Ri are also stored, during a step 234, in the database DB of the ground station S. The flight reports Ri are then archived and remain accessible at any time. In other embodiments, the flight reports may be printed for example by an operator, or may be transmitted to a third party device.

Advantageously, there is carried out a step 235 for retrieving contextual data relating to the monitored aircraft. The contextual data can be retrieved from the DB database of the ground station S, in the case for example of previous flight reports which have been archived. The contextual data can also be retrieved from an external database, for example meteorological data.

The flight of the aircraft is thus placed in context, which makes it possible to generate more useful flight reports Ri. Indeed, an aircraft Ai flying regularly over deserts is not subject to the same climatic conditions as an aircraft Ai carrying a transatlantic link. Similarly, a thunderstorm occurring during a flight may, for example, damage an engine.

After having been generated, the flight ratios Ri are analyzed, during a step 236. The flight ratios Ri can be correlated with a wear of the subsets of the aircraft Ai, noted for example during a flight operation. maintenance of the aircraft Ai. A cause-and-effect relationship can thus be established between the wear of the sub-assemblies (or their components) of the aircraft and the use, deduced from the flight reports, of which it was made. It is then possible to highlight the use practices that accelerate the wear of the subsets of the aircraft.

Thus, thanks to the process according to the invention, more elaborate treatments are carried out. This helps to better understand how Ai aircraft are used and to define, if not rules, suggestions as to how to use Ai aircraft to limit their wear.

In addition, by anticipating and performing maintenance operations before the sub-assemblies concerned fail, maintenance costs are reduced. Indeed, when a subset is brought to the end of life, that is to say until it is damaged, this can cause damage to the neighboring subassemblies, and result in damage. additional maintenance costs.

Naturally, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the figures and variants could be envisaged without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (1)

[Claim 1] [Claim 2] [Claim 3] [Claim 4] claims A method of monitoring (200) the operation of an aircraft (Ai), the monitoring method (200) comprising a method (210) for collecting flight data (DATA) implemented by a collection device (D) of flight data (DATA) equipping the aircraft (Ai), said collecting method (210) comprising the following steps: (a) sampling (211) the flight data (DATA) of the aircraft (Ai) according to a predetermined frequency, sampling being effected by means of a generic acquisition frame parameterized in the collection device (D); - (b) storing (212) the sampled flight data (DATA); (c) wireless transmission (213) of the sampled flight data (DATA) to a ground station (S); the monitoring method further comprising a method (230) for analyzing flight data (DATA) implemented in a ground station (S), the flight data analysis (DATA) method (230) comprising the following steps: wireless reception (231) in the ground station (S) of the flight data (DATA) of the aircraft (Ai): storing (232) the flight data (DATA) of the aircraft (Ai) in a database (DB) of the ground station (S); generation (233) of flight reports (Ri) from the flight data (DATA) of the aircraft (Ai) stored in the database (DB) of the ground station (S). The monitoring method (200) of claim 1 wherein the predetermined sampling frequency is greater than or equal to 1 Hz. A monitoring method (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 2 wherein the collection method (210) further comprises, between steps (a) and (c), an encryption step (214) of the data of flight (DATA) of the aircraft (Ai). Monitoring method (200) according to any of the claims [Claim 5] [Claim 6] [Claim 7] 1 to 3 wherein the step of wireless transmission (213) of flight data (DATA) is performed via a third and / or fourth generation mobile telephony network. Monitoring method (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the analysis method (230) further comprises a step of storing (234) the flight reports (Ri) in the database (DB ) from the ground station (S). A monitoring method (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the analysis method (230) further comprises a step of analyzing (236) flight reports (Ri). Monitoring method (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the analysis method (230) further comprises a step of retrieving (235) contextual data in the database (DB) of the station on the ground (S) and / or in a database external to the ground station (S), the contextual data being used during the step of generating (233) the flight reports (Ri).