A method is provided for establishing availability of a two-engine aircraft for a predefined ETOPS flight. The method may include calculating a probability of a dual independent engine shutdown sequence for each of a climb phase, a plurality of cruise phases including an ETOPS phase, and a descent phase into which the predefined ETOPS flight is divisible. The shutdown sequence may be composed of events that for each phase may include events having respective, conditional probabilities specific to a model of the two-engine aircraft, a product of which is the probability of the shutdown sequence for the respective phase. The method may include calculating the risk of the shutdown sequence as a function of a sum of the probabilities for the phases, and establishing availability of the aircraft based on the risk and a preexisting baseline. A similar method is provided for establishing availability of an ETOPS flight path.

A system, apparatus, and method for the measurement, collection, and analysis of radio signals are provided. A transport host device, including an unmanned aerial vehicle, can transport a scanning device into desired locations for autonomously collecting radio data for a wireless network, thereby enabling the rapid interrogation and optimization the wireless network, including in locations and spatial areas where previously known systems and methods have been impractical or impossible.

Example aircraft intent processors are described herein that can be used both for the prediction of an aircraft's trajectory from aircraft intent, and the execution of aircraft intent for controlling the aircraft. An example aircraft intent processor includes an aircraft intent input to receive aircraft intent data representative of aircraft intent instructions, an aircraft state input to receive state data representative of a state of the aircraft, and a residual output. The aircraft intent processor is to calculate residual data representative of an error between a state of the aircraft commanded by the received aircraft intent data and the state of the aircraft expressed by received state data, and output the residual data via the residual output.

Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft can provide opportunities to incorporate aerial transportation into transportation networks for cities and metropolitan areas. However, VTOL aircraft may be noisy. To accommodate this, the aircraft may utilize onboard sensors, offboard sensing, network, and predictive temporal data for noise signature mitigation. By building a composite understanding of real data offboard the aircraft, the aircraft can make adjustments to the way it is flying and verify this against a predicted noise signature (via computational methods) to reduce environmental impact. This might be realized via a change in translative speed, propeller speed, or choices in propulsor usage (e.g., a quiet propulsor vs. a high thrust, noisier propulsor). These noise mitigation actions may also be decided at the network level rather than the vehicle level to balance concerns across a city and relieve computing constraints on the aircraft.

A flight management system with core and supplementary modules is proposed. The core module may include generic applications that implement generic functionalities related to a flight management of the aircraft. The supplementary module may include supplementary applications that implement supplementary functionalities specific to an entity to which the aircraft belongs. The supplementary module may be divided into principal and auxiliary partitions (or entities), and the supplementary applications, also referred to as principal applications, may be implemented in the principal partition. One or more auxiliary applications may be implemented in the auxiliary partition. Each auxiliary application may be associated with one or more principal applications such that the execution of the principal application requires the associated auxiliary application to be executed.

A preexisting FMS system may be upgraded to increase its functionality by optimizing the control of autopilot and auto-throttle functions and replacing other preexisting components with different components for enhancing the functionality of the FMS system. The preexisting IRU, CADC, DME receiver and DFGC in the upgraded FMS system are in communication with the legacy AFMC but, instead of employing the legacy EFIS, the EFIS is replaced by a data concentrator unit as well as the display control panel and integrated flat panel display, and a GPS receiver. The upgraded FMS system is capable of iteratively controlling the autopilot and auto-throttle during all phases of flight and of such increased functionality as increased navigation database storage capacity, RNP, VNAV, LPV and RNAV capability utilizing a GPS based navigation solution, and RTA capability, while still enabling the legacy AFMC to exploit its aircraft performance capabilities throughout the flight.

A travel path setting apparatus includes an information acquiring unit, a memory, a predictable scenario creating unit, and a path searching unit. The information acquiring unit acquires surrounding information on a surrounding situation of a movable body. The memory stores a probability model related to the surrounding situation of the movable body. The predictable scenario creating unit creates, on a basis of the surrounding information and the probability model, a plurality of predictable scenarios for each of a plurality of predetermined times in future. The predictable scenarios are each the surrounding situation of the movable body that is predicted for corresponding one of the predetermined times. The path searching unit searches for and sets the travel path on a basis of the predictable scenarios created by the predictable scenario creating unit.

A method for managing avionic data between a flight management system FMS and one or more clients, the FMS comprising resources accessible through avionic services Ci (1,n); the execution of the Ci (1,n) determining an avionic functionality Fj (1,m); each of the Fj (1,m) associated with an intrusiveness parameter I.sub.k and a criticality parameter C.sub.k; the method comprises the steps of receiving a request specifying the call to an Fj (1,m); and determining a predefined execution right for a Ci (1,n), dependent on the predefined intrusiveness and/or criticality parameters associated with the Fj (1,m). Developments describe particularly the comparison of the execution rights, notice of a rejection, various avionic services and functionalities, the management of criticality ranges, consideration of the flight context, etc. Software and system aspects are described (e.g. equipment of EFB type).

A manufacturing system includes a plurality of manufacturing process stations for processing a workpiece, and at least one drone for transferring the workpiece among the manufacturing process stations. It is preferable that the manufacturing system includes a detecting station for detecting contamination or corrosion of the at least one drone, and a washing station for washing the at least one drone.

A computer-implemented method of communicating with an unmanned aerial vehicle includes transmitting a first message via a communications transmitter of a lighting assembly for receipt by an unmanned aerial vehicle. The first message includes an identifier associated with the lighting assembly, and the lighting assembly is located within a proximity of a roadway. The method also includes receiving a second message from the unmanned aerial vehicle via a communications receiver of the lighting assembly. The second message includes an identifier associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle. The method further includes transmitting a third message via the communications transmitter of the lighting assembly for receipt by the unmanned aerial vehicle. The third message includes an indication of an altitude at which the unmanned aerial vehicle should fly.