Sustained ground contact of an aircraft is determined by detecting a change in a mechanical vibration characteristic of a part of the aircraft. Apparatus for determining sustained ground contact of an aircraft includes an analyser [300] for analysing aircraft vibration signals and a trigger [310] for triggering occurrence of sustained ground contact to an aircraft control system [315] when the analyser [300] detects sustained ground contact.

Embodiments of the subject matter described herein provide an innovative method and system capable of enabling external ground control of a manned aircraft without a pilot or crew, in order to (i) move the aircraft, and (ii) command various subsystems of the aircraft. The provided method and system supports secure wireless communication between the aircraft and a remote device.

A controller for an aircraft steering system, the controller being configured to receive a steering input representative of a desired direction of travel of a steerable nose landing gear, and to receive one or more force-based inputs representative of lateral forces acting upon the nose landing gear, wherein the controller is adapted to automatically adjust the steering input based upon the force-based input(s) so as to output an adjusted steering command for a steering actuator of the nose landing gear.

Techniques for drone device control are provided. In one example, a computer-implemented method comprises: meeting, by a drone device operatively coupled to a processor, an aircraft at a first location; and guiding, by the drone device, the aircraft to a second location along a ground movement path selected from a plurality of ground movement paths associated with an airport. The guiding can comprise providing a direction indication to the aircraft; and monitoring a defined region around the aircraft for one or more hazards. The guiding can also comprise, in response to identifying a hazard from the one or more hazards related to the defined region around the aircraft, providing a hazard indication to the aircraft.

The invention relates to a method for guiding an aircraft along a reference path, said method comprising: a) when the altitude of the aircraft is greater than a threshold, estimating (E1) a relative location of the aircraft in relation to a taxiing starting point using a map of the platform and reference points on the ground, b) when the altitude of the aircraft is less than said threshold and before the aircraft is located at the taxiing starting point, estimating (E2) a relative location of the aircraft in relation to the taxiing starting point using data relating to the absolute location of the aircraft and the last relative location estimated at step a), c) when the aircraft is located at the taxiing starting point, guiding (E3) the aircraft on the basis of a location of the aircraft relative to the reference path as estimated using data relating to a set of indicators on the ground.

A system and method for setting, controlling, or maintaining a selected taxi speed and route for one or more aircraft equipped with an onboard non-engine powered drive means powering one or more aircraft wheels to move the aircraft during taxi is provided. Taxi speed and/or route can be set, maintained, or controlled by the aircraft pilot or ground traffic control in conjunction with taxi speed and travel of other aircraft and ground vehicles. A pilot activates a speed control to set and control taxi speed. The aircraft will automatically travel on the ground at that speed without input from the pilot until it is necessary to change the speed manually or automatically. Airport ground traffic control can generate taxi profiles for all non-engine driven aircraft to automatically control, subject to pilot capability to override, the taxi of multiple aircraft at an airport in conjunction with ground vehicle movement.

An aircraft drive system having a fully electric speed-proportional control and drive system for the nose wheel of an aircraft in which variable steering authority is accomplished by monitoring of the signal from a tiller and rudder pedals by a nose wheel controller in conjunction with the speed of the aircraft, in order to command and power an electromechanical steering, actuator to achieve speed-proportional variable steering authority. This provides a system with a quicker response time than current hydraulic-based systems which can help reduce nose wheel shimmy, eliminate certain nose wheel steering failure modes associated with hydraulic systems, and reduce weight when used in small-to-medium sized aircraft.

Method and device for estimating lateral speed and lateral position of an aircraft during a phase where the aircraft is traveling on the ground. The device includes a unit for determining an initial lateral position value, corresponding to lateral position with respect to axis of a runway when touching down on landing, a unit for repetitively determining, at least from runway touch down, current ground speed and a current lateral angular deviation, representing angular deviation between the current route and the heading of the runway, a unit for repetitively computing current lateral speed, from the current ground speed and current lateral angular deviation, a unit for computing a current lateral position, from current lateral speed and initial lateral position, and a link for transmitting the current lateral speed and/or the current lateral position to at least one user system.

Provided is an aircraft docking guidance system using a three-dimensional (3D) laser scanner, including a laser scanner configured to acquire data related to aircraft docking guidance and docking control; a database configured to store information related to specifications and characteristics of each aircraft type that is a target of the aircraft docking guidance and docking control using the laser scanner; a communicator configured to transmit and receive information between the laser scanner and the database; and a data analysis decision algorithm processing unit configured to determine information of an object by comparing image information acquired through the laser scanner and information stored in the database.

A method and a device for automatically piloting an aircraft on the ground comprises, when an activation control present in the cockpit of the aircraft is activated, the steps of and apparatus for determining at least one sequence of taxiing instructions as a function of static and dynamic characteristics of the aircraft and of a taxiing path to be traversed, and transmitting the determined sequence of taxiing instructions to the command system piloting the displacement systems of the aircraft so that the aircraft traverses the taxiing path.