WO2002015153A1

WO2002015153A1 - System and method for processing flight plan data

Info

Publication number: WO2002015153A1
Application number: PCT/DE2001/003061
Authority: WO
Inventors: Norbert Dixius; Ralf Heidger; Hermann Schmidt
Original assignee: H.A.N.D. Gmbh
Priority date: 2000-08-17
Filing date: 2001-08-17
Publication date: 2002-02-21
Also published as: DE10040217A1; EA200300273A1; EP1309963A1; AU2001283798A1; DE10193425D2

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for processing flight plan data in order to produce a sequence of take-offs and/or landings of aircraft and for documenting the main traffic operations and data for take-offs and/or landings of aircraft. The system comprises a communications system for the exchange of data and information between the aircraft and a control point and an electronic data processing system. Said electronic data processing system comprises a screen on which the flight plan data for several aircraft can be represented in corresponding fields and a user interface for inputting and arranging flight plan data in the corresponding fields, which can be moved freely by the user at least within predetermined areas. The aim of the invention is to provide a system and a method for processing flight plan data with the aforementioned features, enabling data inputs and modifications to be effected more quickly and more simply so that the user has more time for direct observation of the air and ground space in the area of the airport. To this end, the user interface has a touch-sensitive screen (a touch screen) so that the fields on the screen that can contain flight plan data can be selected by touching the screen in order to modify their content and can be moved in relation to other fields.

Description

System and method for processing flight plan data

The present invention relates to a system and method for processing flight plan data. Such systems and methods for processing flight plan data are primarily concerned with the production of an appropriate and desired sequence of take-offs and / or landings of aircraft, and the documentation of the essential traffic flows and traffic data obtained during take-offs and / or landings of aircraft become. For this purpose, corresponding systems and methods have a communication system for the exchange of data and information between the aircraft and a control point, and an EDP or IT system with a screen on which flight plan data of several aircraft in fields or groups of fields can be displayed, with a user interface for inputting and arranging the flight plan data obtained via the communication system or otherwise, the fields on the screen being freely movable at least within predetermined areas.

The forerunner of these more modern EDP or IT systems and procedures for processing flight plan data consisted of a tableau of so-called control strips, as are still used today at many airports. These control strips in the form of narrow paper tapes are usually printed out on a printer in the tower of an airport and are each assigned to an aircraft. Some of them contain information and data that are obtained based on communication with the aircraft, but some also contain data and information that can be obtained via flight plan systems or that were determined by the ground system.

These data include in particular the flight number, the planned time of takeoff or landing, the current time, as well as a number of other data and information. These flight strips were individually taken from the printer by a flight plan coordinator. tet, if necessary provided with handwritten notes and arranged in a desired and / or appropriate order on a board separately after take-offs and landings. After take-off or a completed landing (including reaching the intended parking position), the corresponding strips were removed from the tableau, with all further strips automatically moving up. With this system, it was also possible to remove individual strips from the tableau and re-arrange them elsewhere if the situation changed (followed by a corresponding change in the data situation).

Such coordination work requires a great deal of concentration and attention from the air traffic controller concerned. In particular, it is important to optimize the order and exact times of take-offs and landings in such a way that waiting times and, in particular, expensive waiting loops in the air are largely avoided, the different requirements and requirements of the individual aircraft also having to be taken into account, for example behind one Large-scale aircraft, because of the so-called wake, has to keep a larger distance for the next aircraft than behind a propeller aircraft. Of course, emergency situations, such as a possible lack of fuel, suddenly occurring defects in the control system or on the landing gear of an aircraft, failed landing attempts with take-off etc., require a quick reorganization of the flight schedule and the originally planned sequences and times. The system working with paper strips was considered to be in need of improvement, since the handling of the paper strips, ie their labeling and sorting and possibly re-printing, took up a lot of time and attention. For this reason, an IT-based system has been used at some larger and more modern commercial airports. In this case, the flight lanes are replaced by corresponding flight lane displays on a screen, which can be activated and / or moved using a mouse or a trackball and which show a group of flight plan fields into which information can be entered or which contain information that has already been generated automatically , It turned out, however, that these systems are, if at all, only slightly more efficient than the system with the conventional paper strips. The user must first use the mouse or trackball to move a cursor on the screen to a desired position and activate the flight strip shown there by clicking on it. Then the relevant field of this strip, which is to be changed or overwritten, must also be activated, which in turn is done by moving the cursor to this field and clicking on it. Then the user has to switch to a keyboard and enter the corresponding information or switch to another screen display in order to copy or extract information available there and after another screen change in the field. These processes are relatively time-consuming and, like the handling of the paper strips themselves, require a high level of attention and concentration.

On the other hand, it is also necessary that the flight controller performing this work carefully monitors and intervenes in the traffic flow on the entire airfield if deviations from the planning occur which are not always immediately apparent on the screen. However, this observation and monitoring time is considerably limited if the air traffic controller has to spend a relatively long time entering and changing the data on the flight strip.

Compared to this prior art, the present invention has for its object to provide a system and a method for processing flight plan data with the features mentioned, through which data entries and changes can be made faster and easier, so that the user more time for direct observation of the air and ground space in the area of the airport is available.

With regard to the corresponding system, this object is achieved in that the user interface has a touch-sensitive screen (touch screen), so that fields which contain flight plan data can be selected directly by touching the screen at a corresponding position and, if appropriate, in their position relative to others Fields can be moved. In an analogous manner, in the method that solves the problem, a touch-sensitive screen (touch screen) is used for the selection or selection of data fields. Selecting fields or groups of fields by directly touching the screen is much faster than reaching for a mouse or a trackball with moving a cursor. Even if the time saved in the individual process may appear to be small, the frequent selection of the flight strips, which is required in practice, means that the user or air traffic controller has to save a considerable amount of time for other tasks is available.

A system is particularly preferred in which, in addition to a touch screen, a special keypad with function keys is provided. At least 24 different function keys are preferably provided, and a keyboard with a total of 48 different function keys is particularly preferred, it also being expedient if all of these function keys have a clear function, ie cannot be switched over to different functions. If a switchover of the function keys is provided at all, it should be limited to a simple switchover, corresponding to a doubling of the corresponding speaking key functions. In this case, however, it is appropriate to design the keypad such that the respective functional level is clearly recognizable. For example, it would be conceivable for the keypad for the input of information for landing aircraft to be highlighted with a different color than in the state for aircraft during takeoff or takeoff preparations. Colored lighting could therefore be integrated in the keypad, which differs depending on the functional level, for example red for landings and green for take-offs. However, it is just as well possible to subdivide a larger keypad from, for example, 48 function keys into two colors or, based on other optical design features, into different keypads, a field for landings and a field for takeoffs.

Each of the function keys is clearly assigned a specific function with regard to changing or entering information in one of the fields of a flight lane.

If, therefore, one of the flight strips is selected by touching the screen, which in turn is provided with various information about the aircraft from a plurality of individual fields, it is generally sufficient to press a single function key to enter a certain standard information into an assigned field. Under certain circumstances, this standard information can also affect other fields, so that pressing a function key may also change the information content of several fields. In addition, you can limit the change or input of information to this field or to all the fields linked to it, if necessary, by specifically selecting one of the fields in one of the flight strips, while by selecting another field, the same information can optionally be pressed into the other by pressing the same function key Field can be entered. The essential information that is noted in the corresponding fields is, for example, the originally planned takeoff or landing time, the current time, the actually expected takeoff or landing time, the flight number, the type of aircraft, the type of flight (passenger or Cargo flight), the serial number in a series of previous takeoffs and / or landings, the current position of the aircraft or the distance from the airport, the fuel supply or the maximum possible flight time, the intended flight route, the flight altitude, application and approval of the engine start or taxi traffic, etc.

Part of this information is generated automatically by the communication system with the aircraft or more generally the aircraft and can therefore be accepted directly by pressing a function key, it being a prerequisite, of course, that the formats of the communication system or its output for the flight plan monitoring are the same as used in the flight strips. A corresponding conversion may have to take place.

It is understood that the various fields of a lane should form a unit, i.e. that they can only be moved together in the same relative arrangement on the screen and can thus be brought into a different order in relation to other flight strips.

Furthermore, it is provided that individual fields of the strips change their state immediately by touching the screen at the corresponding position; this is useful, for example, for fields that can basically only have two different information (for example, engines on / off, roll release yes / no , Start approval yes / no etc.). No function keys then need to be provided for the corresponding fields.

It would also be conceivable that when a field is touched (preferably after selecting the entire flight strip or the field group by touching any field), a menu window is opened which offers the choice between several standard information for the field in question, which is then also available by touching the screen appropriate place can be done. In this case, the information to be entered on the screen by touching it directly would not be restricted to fields that can only assume two states. Irrespective of this, the possibility of conventional, alpha-numeric input of data should also be possible for at least some of the fields.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention for some applications, in addition to the flight strips, a keypad is also reproduced on the screen, the buttons being able to be activated or actuated by touching the screen at the relevant point. In this case, keys for flight plan data from take-off and from landing aircraft can expediently be arranged above or below the corresponding flight strips for the take-off or landing aircraft, so that incorrect operation or incorrect assignment is almost impossible. In such a case, the air traffic controller can carry out all the necessary activities directly on the screen and does not have to use a separate keypad. However, it is not excluded that a real keypad is present and can be used parallel to the keypad shown on the screen, so that the user can choose which of the keypads he wants to use, depending on his own preference. In addition, an additional alpha-numeric keypad can also be provided for inputs that are not covered by the standard functions of the preprogrammed keys. Of course, it is also possible to have a complete alpha-numeric keypad on the _.

Display the screen and operate it by touching the touch-sensitive screen.

Further advantages, features and possible uses of the present invention will become clear from the following description of a preferred embodiment and the associated figures.

Figure 1 shows an example of a control strip and

FIG. 2 shows an example of a screen (user interface) of the system according to the invention, with several control strips being recognizable.

The control strip 1 shown in FIG. 1 contains a total of sixteen different fields, which are identified by reference numbers 2 to 17. For example, field 11 contains the flight number, field 10 the aircraft type and field 2 the current time. Some fields, such as fields 4, 6 and 7, are empty. For example, field 4 could be an order number in the order of landing aircraft, which is reduced according to the number of previous landings.

FIG. 2 shows a screen with a display of several flight strips. For example, the strips for take-off aircraft could be arranged in the left half, while those for landing aircraft could be arranged in the right half. The keypad is not shown in the present case, but the keypad could also be integrated into the screen due to the use of a touch-sensitive screen. Overall, the screen 20 according to FIG. 2 is divided into nine different fields, namely two headers 21, 22, two upper fields 23, 24, two main fields 25, 26, two lower fields 27, 28 and a footer 29.

For example, control strips or flight strips for aircraft that are taxiing and ready to take off could be arranged in the left main field 25 and the flight strips for approaching aircraft in the right main field 26. The arrangement of the individual fields within the individual flight strips in FIG. 2 differs somewhat from the representation in FIG. 1. However, it would be readily possible to display the flight strips on the main fields 25 and 26 with the same appearance as in FIG. 1. In addition, it is preferred if by touching the surface of one of the flight strips shown in the fields 25 and 26 the Touched flight strips is highlighted by colored background or a changed brightness, where it can be expediently also shown enlarged and also the The arrangement of the individual fields in the highlighted representation can be changed so that it would, for example, correspond to the representation in FIG. 1. After highlighting one of the flight strips on the screen, the desired function keys are actuated and corresponding fields of the flight strip are filled in or changed or deleted. By touching the surface of a flight lane and simultaneously moving your finger or a corresponding pointer across the screen, the flight lane is moved and re-sorts itself into the existing row of flight lanes at the position when the touch is ended at this position.

The fields 23, 24 and / or the fields 27, 28 could also have key fields, so that one could dispense with a separate, additional key field. Touching corresponding areas in fields 23, 24 or 27, 28 could then immediately change the desired change to an information field or data field in a selected flight strip.

So-called direct functions are also conceivable, i.e. by touching one of the fields 2 to 17 of the flight strip 1, its content could be changed immediately. In particular, if only two different display states are provided for this field, between which a change is made by touching the field.

Claims

_ .P claims

1.System for processing flight plan data for the purpose of establishing a sequence of take-offs and / or landings of aircraft, and for documenting the essential traffic processes and data for take-offs and / or landings of aircraft, with a communication system for the exchange of data and information between the Aircraft and a control point and with an EDP system with a screen on which flight plan data of several aircraft can be displayed in corresponding fields, and with a user interface for entering and arranging flight plan data in the corresponding fields, which can be freely moved by the user at least within predefined areas are characterized in that the user interface has a touch-sensitive screen (touch screen), so that fields on the screen, which can contain flight plan data, can be selected by touching the screen for changing their content and nd are displaceable in their position relative to other fields.

2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the fields are organized in field groups, wherein in the case of the first selection at least one of the fields, all fields of the associated group are placed in a standby state.

3. System according to claim 2, characterized in that at least some of the fields of a field group can be activated by repeated direct touching for an input and / or change of the field content.

4. System according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the fields of a field group can only be moved together in a fixed relative arrangement to one another on the screen.

5. System according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it has a keypad with function keys, the actuation of which directly results in the entry of standard information in an activated field. - -

6. System according to claim 5, characterized in that individual function keys are each assigned to a specific field type within a group of fields.

7. System according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that in addition to the display of flight plan data on a touch screen, a keypad is displayed on this screen, the keys shown can be actuated by touching the screen.

8. Process for processing flight plan data with the aid of an EDP system, the essential traffic flows being recorded and documented in order to produce a desired sequence of take-offs and / or landings of aircraft on the basis of an overview of the essential flight plan data relevant to this, and in order to To document traffic flows, additional entries and additions to the available information being made to complete and / or change the data and as a basis for a desired sequence, at least some of the information being displayed on addressable fields of a screen that can be moved at least within certain limits, characterized in that a touch-sensitive screen (touch screen) is used for the selection (selection) of data fields.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that several fields belonging together as a group are moved only by touching the screen on this.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that a plurality of standard information is provided for the input of information, each of which is assigned to different function keys, the associated standard information being accepted into a selected field by actuating a function key.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that at least some of the function keys are uniquely assigned to certain fields or a certain field type within a group of fields, the assigned standard information being adopted into the assigned field by pressing the function key if the group of fields in question is is selected, regardless of whether the relevant field was selected or activated.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that at least 24, preferably at least 48 different function keys are provided.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that the function keys are freely programmable.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that flight lane data are entered or changed by pressing keys shown on the touch-sensitive screen.