Monitoring of steering-angle during aircraft transport

摘要

The subject matter disclosed herein includes, inter alia, a method and system which enables to determine the steering-angle between the longitudinal axis of a tractor and the longitudinal axis of an aircraft which is being led by the tractor (referred to herein as “steering-angle” in short). While an aircraft is being led, the steering-angle can be repeatedly calculated and compared to a threshold value defining a mechanical steering limit. In case the comparison complies with one or more predefined conditions (e.g. the steering-angle is equal or smaller the threshold value) a warning can be generated indicating to an operator that the steering-angle has reached (or is about to reach) its limit and should be adjusted accordingly.

主权项

1. A method of determining a steering-angle between a leading vehicle and an aircraft, wherein the leading vehicle is connected to the aircraft and is configured to lead the aircraft on the ground, the leading vehicle comprising a platform and one or more scanners that are positioned on the platform, the method comprising:
a) obtaining scanning information of at one or more scanning planes of an underbelly of the aircraft, the scanning information being generated by the one or more scanners, wherein the scanning information of each of the one or more scanning planes comprises a respective group of scanned points of the aircraft's underbelly; b) determining, for each scanning plane, respective real-time geometric properties that comprise a respective real-time parabolic image, the respective real-time geometric properties including at least data indicative of ranges between scanned points in the respective group and a certain fixed point on the platform; c) determining, based on the respective real-time geometric properties, a steering-angle between a longitudinal axis of the leading vehicle and a longitudinal axis of the aircraft; and d) controlling the leading vehicle so as to maintain the steering-angle, as determined in said step c), within a certain acceptable range.