RO113454B1 - System of monitoring and recording of airflights - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention refers to a flight-monitoring system for an aircraft, which is capable of supervising and supplying information concerning technical events or events of another nature that have a negative impact on the flight or endanger the integrity of the plane or that of the passengers. The system is made up of a subsystem (A), mounted on the aircraft being monitored (1) and one or two subsystems (B) mounted on the ground and/or in another aeroplane, subsystem (A) consists of some modules (2) for intake image and sound information during day-time and night-time supplied from the monitored places, and some modules to process such information and convey it to subsystem/s (B).

Description

The invention relates to a system for monitoring and recording the flight of an aircraft, capable of monitoring and providing information on technical or other events that adversely affect the flight's performance or endanger the integrity of the aircraft or passengers.

Known systems for recording flight parameters such as speed, altitude, maneuver angles and audio recording of calls made between pilots, as well as between them and ground control towers. Such a system comprises at least one magnetic recording device or other type of data that is the subject of the recording and which are provided by the sensors already in the construction of the aircraft.

These systems have the disadvantage that they do not provide accurate information regarding the cases of aviation accidents, especially those of a terrorist nature or in the case of aircraft hijackings, as they do not provide information on their authors, their intentions, positioning, equipping with weapons and their behavior during the event, having as effect the impossibility of taking anti-terrorist measures on the ground or in the air.

Another disadvantage of the known systems is that it does not help the crew to know exactly the nature and extent of the damage that occurred outside the unit, for example in engines, wings, fuselage, flaps, ailerons, landing gear, etc. To this is added the disadvantage that they do not transmit the information to the ground, do not allow to visualize the evolution of the plane before a disaster occurs, reading and decrypting the information stored by the system is very difficult and is done in a long time, there are high difficulties in finding the device that contains this information in cases where the area of spread of the remains is very large and the land is injured.

GB 2 255 758 discloses a flight information recording system for an aircraft. □ TV room mounted in the cocpit permanently monitors a panel on the board that contains information on the pilot's control activity. At the same time, the pilot's pulse is recorded.

Another television camera is placed on the vertical stabilizer and pointed towards the muzzle of the plane. It captures images reflected by mirrors placed in the middle of the plane and which reproduce images of the wings and the state of the surfaces on the tail of the plane.

Because the images are not transmitted to the ground, there is no possibility of intervention or warning of the pilot in case of emergency. This system is used on small and medium-sized aircraft.

The technical problem, which must be solved by the invention, consists in the creation of a flight monitoring and recording system of an airplane that is designed to ensure continuous recording or, after a predefined time, of recording video and audio information from any interior point. or outside the aircraft, for example from the cockpit, passenger compartments, track, engines, fuselage, wings, landing gear, etc. It is also required that the system ensure the visualization and listening of information both during the flight (from within the aircraft, from the ground or from another aircraft equipped with appropriate equipment), as well as after the occurrence of an aviation disaster, when required as the storage unit of the aircraft. information to be found quickly and safely.

The information monitoring and recording system, according to the invention, solves this technical problem and removes the disadvantages mentioned by the fact that it consists of a subsystem mounted on the monitored plane and a subsystem mounted on the ground and / or on another aircraft, the first subsystem comprising a module for retrieving image and sound information, day and night, from supervised locations, a module for processing and converting information received from said module, a module for storing image and sound information after conversion , a word

RO 113454 Switching switch at the supervised places, connected either with a module for rendering the image and sound information, or with a radio transmission module of the information to one of the mentioned subsystems, or simultaneously to both modules, each of the subsystems said components having an input module that takes over and processes the information transmitted by the subsystem on the plane, a module that transmits the image and sound information to a module for rendering the information, the mentioned module having the role of controlling access to the information that the first subsystem collects it from the monitored points on the monitored plane, in order to visualize and listen to it. In a variant, the subsystem has a single terminal of the transmission chain, namely the image display module, when the first subsystem does not transmit information to any of the subsystems mentioned, or the terminal is the module for transmitting information to subsystems, when these subsystems display the information, and the first subsystem does not display it. In another embodiment, the transmission chain terminal is the module for recording information from the supervised places, when the system accesses all these places without the transmission of information, viewing and listening to the information being done on the ground on a subsystem that only includes the processing modules and information display. The module for storing audio-visual information is equipped with a radio beacon that ensures its rapid and safe identification under any conditions. The transmission module also has an alarm system for the surveillance point (tracking, control tower) located on the ground.

The flight monitoring and recording system, according to the invention, has the following advantages:

- provides accurate information on the causes of aviation accidents, in particular those of a terrorist nature;

- provides information on the perpetrators of the hijackings, details on their intentions, positioning and weaponry4, as well as the mood of terrorists and passengers;

- offers the possibility of knowing precisely the nature and extent of the damage produced outside the aircraft;

- assists the ground crew and the intervention teams in making decisions;

- ensures the visualization of the evolution of the aircraft and the behavior of the crew in critical situations or of aviation catastrophe;

- ensures the rapid detection of the location of the information storage unit in the event of an air disaster;

- allows the recording of particular meteorological phenomena.

The following is an example of the realization of the system for monitoring and recording the flight of an airplane, according to the invention, in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2, which represents:

- fig.1, the block diagram of the flight monitoring and recording system;

- plane;

- how to retrieve image and sound information during day and night;

- fig.2, the distribution on the plane of the entry points of the audiovisual information into the system and the location of the component modules.

- image processing and conversion;

- the digital image and sound recording mode;

- the way of switching the digital monitored place;

- how to display the image and sound;

- the mode of digital transmission of the image and sound;

- how to capture and process the image and sound transmitted digitally;

- remote control mode for digital switching;

- how to display the image and sound.

a - radio beacon;

b - surveillance point alarm system.

RO 113454 Bl

The system consists of a subsystem A mounted on a plane 1 and a subsystem B mounted at a surveillance point on the ground or on another plane.

Subsystem A mounted on plane 1 (fig. 2) consists of several modules, according to the block diagram of fig. 1, each module having a well-established function. In a complete version, the system consists of eight types of modules. module 2, has the role of taking the image and sound information during the day and at night, and is made up of an infrared camera, protected by an enclosure that allows electronic control of the wall temperature in front of the lens, thus so that the capture of the images can be done correctly and safely even at extremely low temperatures, characteristic of the flight at high altitudes. At the same time, this enclosure ensures the necessary tightness for the operation of the camera in any weather conditions. Depending on the needs of the user, the information captured by module 2 goes into an image processing and conversion module 3, which it processes the images and sound taken by the cameras so that, on the one hand, this information is accepted by a transmission system, and on the other, a digital signal is provided. Further, the processed information is taken over by a recording module 4, which is essentially a recorder on mass storage devices (optical or magnetic devices), capable of recording both image and sound. Module 4 can also be provided with a radio beacon a.

The storage capacity is determined both by the number of installed video cameras and the set recording interval. The housing that holds the storage devices, in itself known, has to withstand fire, submersion and extremely large shocks, including those that cause the aircraft to disintegrate. At the same time, it will be provided with shock absorbers to protect the storage media on which the recording is carried out as efficiently as possible. The housing is provided with a radio beacon a, which automatically comes into operation when a strong shock occurs, thus making it possible to quickly identify its position. The next module 5 has the role of switching images and allows the crew to select the camera (s) that transmit images and sounds on the monitor in the control room. From here, the image and sound information enters a B-mode of displaying the image represented by a monitor, which displays the images and plays the sounds from the places selected by switching module 5. Separately or simultaneously, the information provided by module 5 may be introduced in a module 7, which ensures the digital transmission of the selected signals through the switching module 5, as well as the alarm of the monitoring point (tracking, control tower) located on the ground, through a manually operated system b.

For long-haul flights, the transmission can be done by satellite, in order to permanently ensure the connection with subsystem B mounted at the surveillance point located on the ground. This subsystem has a module 8 for taking the image and sound, ensuring the reception of the signals transmitted from the plane. Another module 9 has the role of switching and selecting from the ground any of the cameras that transmit signals from the plane, thus allowing precise monitoring of points and events that are of interest in special situations.

This block diagram represents the complete variant of the flight monitoring and recording system of an airplane, but it is not obligatory to install all the modules simultaneously.

For example, initially, only the download, processing and conversion modules and the registration module can be installed, and subsequently, depending on the needs and budget, the rest will be added.

RO 113454 Bl of module.

In a variant of the system, it has a single terminal of the transmission chain, namely module 6, for displaying the image, when subsystem A does not transmit information to any of subsystem B, or the terminal is module 7 for transmitting information to subsystem B. , when they display information, and subsystem A does not display it.

Another variant has as module 4 the recording of information from the supervised places, when the system accesses all these places without transmitting information, in this case, the visualization and listening of information being done only on the ground, on a subsystem B that includes modules 8 and 10, for retrieval and display of information.

Claims (5)

claims 1. Airplane flight monitoring and recording system comprising means for recording data on a carrier, characterized in that it consists of a subsystem (A) mounted on a monitored aircraft (1) and a subsystem [B] mounted at each ground and / or on another aircraft, subsystem (A) comprising a module (2) for taking image and sound information by day and night, from supervised locations, a module (3) for processing and converting information received from said module (2), a module (4) for storing image and sound information after conversion into module (3), a module (5) for switching to supervised locations, connected to either a module ( 6) to render the image and sound information, either with a module (7) for radio transmission of the information to one of the subsystems (B), or simultaneously with both modules (6) and (7), each one of the subsystems (B) referred to as having an input module [8] which takes over and processes the information transmitted by the subsystem (A), a module (9) that transmits the image and sound information to a module (10) for rendering the information, the module (9) mentioned having the role of controlling access to the information on which subsystem (A) collects it from the monitored points on the monitored plane (1), and to switch it on different viewing points in order to view and listen to this information. 2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a single transmission chain terminal, namely the image display module (6), when the system does not transmit the information to any of the subsystems (B) mentioned. 3. System as in claim 2, characterized in that, in another constructive variant, the transmission chain terminal is the module (7), for transmitting information to the subsystems (B), when these subsystems display the information, and the subsystem (A). ) does not display it. 4. System according to claims 1, 2 and 3, characterized in that the transmission chain terminal is the module (4) for recording information from the supervised places, when the system accesses all these places without transmitting information, viewing and listening information. they are grounded on a subsystem that only includes the image and sound processing module (8) and the information display module (10). 5. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the audio-visual information storage module is equipped with a radio beacon (a), which ensures its rapid and safe identification, under any conditions, and the transmission module (7). with a surveillance point (b) system on the ground or in the air.