Patent ID: 8965671
Filing Date: 2015-02-24
Classification: G08G

Abstract:
1. An aircraft taxiing system, comprising: a flight control system on board an aircraft and configured to automatically taxi the aircraft; an on board electric taxi system having controls coupled to the flight control system; a flight management system (FMS) on board the aircraft and coupled to the flight control system; a data source selection module configured to automatically select, from among a plurality of guidance data sources, a guidance data source with the most accurate guidance commands wherein the FMS is programmed with instructions that, when executed by a first processor: receive runway advisories from a Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS); receive taxi route data, aircraft position data, and an airport map data from the at least one guidance data source selected by the data source selection module; couple the electric taxi system with the flight control system; in response to the taxi route data, calculate guidance speed and heading commands; in response to the runway advisories, augment the guidance speed and heading commands to avoid runway incursions; and transmit the speed and heading guidance commands to the flight control system; a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS), on board the aircraft, coupled to the flight control system, wherein the TCAS is programmed with instructions that, when executed by a second processor: receive Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data from ground traffic including from taxiing aircraft and ground vehicles; generate collision avoidance alerts in response to the ADS-B data; and transmit the collision avoidance alerts to the flight control system, wherein the flight control system is programmed with instructions that, when executed by a third processor: receive guidance commands from the FMS; receive the traffic collision avoidance alerts from the TCAS; receive information on speed of the aircraft, taxiway surface conditions, and weight of the aircraft; decide whether to implement the electric taxi system, said decision being based on the information including the speed of the aircraft, the taxiway surface conditions, and the weight of the aircraft; and in response to the guidance commands and collision avoidance alerts, compute steering commands and transmit the steering commands to the electric taxi system to automatically taxi the aircraft along a calculated taxi route.