Patent ID: 11928979
Assignee: AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE SAS
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 7:
8. A method for assisting an air or maritime traffic controller in avoiding a potential conflict, detected within a predetermined path-prediction horizon, between a first path of a first aircraft and a second path of a second aircraft or between a first path of a first vessel and a second path of a second vessel, each path being in accordance with a navigation plan and comprising a plurality of segments formed between a plurality of navigation points, the method being implement by a computing device comprising at least a processor and a memory, the method comprising the following steps:
determining at least one peripheral lateral envelope of the first path, the peripheral lateral envelope defining a lateral navigation surface attainable by the first aircraft or by the first vessel from a current position of the first aircraft or of the first vessel,
dividing the peripheral lateral envelope into a longitudinal plurality of adjacent sections next to one another and delineated by transition lines marking the change of section, each transition line intersecting a segment of the first path at a first point of intersection, and an edge of the peripheral lateral envelope at a second point of intersection,
discretizing each transition line into a finite number of transition points, wherein the spacing between two adjacent transition points is determined according to a predetermined time interval,
defining, for each transition point, of each transition line, a finite number of avoidance paths each comprising a plurality of rectilinear segments which are formed between the current position of the first aircraft, the position of the current transition point, and a predetermined meeting point, and
determining for each transition point of each transition line, using a conflict detection algorithm, a potential conflict between the avoidance path defined for the respective transition point and the second path, wherein a potential conflict is detected when a horizontal separation distance between the avoidance path and the second path is less than a predetermined horizontal separation distance (D), and
calculating at least one outline of a conflict avoidance surface, from a plurality of transition point positions for which the conflict detection algorithm has not determined a potential conflict between the respective avoidance path and the second path, the outline of conflict avoidance surface comprising portions of transition lines which transition points are not in potential conflict with the second path.