Universal glass cockpit for in-flight and in …integrated cockpit solution developed by students of...
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© Navigation Research Group (NRG), 2009 Universal glass cockpit for in-flight and in-simulation performance analysis René Jr. Landry [email protected] Department of Electrical Engineering LASSENA (LAboratoire Spécialisé en Systèmes Embarqués, Navigation et Avionique) Universal Glass Cockpit Benoît Trocmé [email protected] The Universal Glass Cockpit (UGC) is an integrated cockpit solution developed by students of the École de Technologie Supérieure on a touchscreen surface : the iPad ®. It can be integrated with multiple platforms in a bidirectional way very easily : - A flight simulator running on any computer - The Marinvent Research Flight Simulator - A flying test bench, the Piaggio P180 Avanti It displays elements such as (and not limited to) : - Flight instruments - Navigation instruments - A map of the area Figure 1 : Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) and flight instruments displays in the UGC A Flight Management System (FMS) was also implemented and enables the creation of a flight plan inside the UGC. This will allow the automation of a number of in-flight tasks for long term navigation such as climbing, cruise and descent conditions but also passing through a number of user-defined waypoints. In consequence, it manages both Vertical Navigation (VNAV) and Lateral Navigation (LNAV) like complex FMS found in the majority of airliners. It works by activating the autopilot in the simulator and sending commands to follow the selected flight plan. The platform is easy to use by students to develop their own instruments. Another reason for its existence is for flight test engineering in real time and with wi-fi in the Marinvent's Piaggio Avanti P-180 Flying test platform. X-Plane ® flight simulator X-Plane ® is a multi-platform flight simulator oriented to public use : its purpose is not to include highly realistic models of airplanes (even if fairly accurate) or allow extreme parameterization like a professional flight simulator would do. However, it is a very complete and polyvalent simulator since it allows the selection of multiple types of aircrafts, from light acrobatic aircraft to the space shuttle, in a realistic environment. It was chosen as the flight simulator to be integrated with the UGC. Marinvent Research Flight Simulator Marinvent Corporation and ÉTS have a long time relationship and established a consortium to offer specialized academic and industrial training services for aeronautical certification, flight testing and embedded systems integration, and also supporting research and development in a high calibre academic context. Marinvent has developed a flight simulator which is located at ÉTS. It is a « design and engineering » simulator, in the way that it is not intended uniquely for specialized training, but allows testing of avionics systems as well as applications integration and evaluation. The simulator works with X-Plane ® as the background software, so that a complete environment didn't have to be redeveloped. An advantage of using that software is the ability of connecting the UGC to the Marinvent simulator. The simulator contains many genuine avionics systems, such as flight controls, touchscreen displays and an FMS. The particularity of this simulator lies in the fact that it was designed to have the closest behaviour to the Piaggio P180 Avanti test aircraft, also owned by Marinvent Corporation. New systems and interfaces can be first tested in the simulator which is a safe environment and then uploaded to the actual airplane. This is what allows the UGC to connect to the aircraft also. Figure 4 : Marinvent flight simulator The UGC and simulator at ÉTS The previously presented tools are of great use for aerospace engineering students. Three courses at ÉTS use them for projects. A new course beginning this fall, ELE641, will be given at ÉTS and focusing on embedded systems in aerospace. For the first time, students will have to use both the UGC and the Marinvent simulator in parallel. The goal is to capture metrics during a flight, calculate a selection of parameters and compare with the values of the FMS. Conclusion The work that ÉTS has done and the collaboration with Marinvent has generated a very promising setting for the LASSENA laboratory and will with no doubt help to generate some highly leading- edge projects. Some of the future evolutions of the UGC project could include the elaboration of a the UGC’s FMS, the development of a Universal Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) and it will be more and more used for academic purpose. © LASSENA, 2013 © Fig. 2/3/4 Marinvent Corporation Hadrien Lacoste Lagrange [email protected] Figures 2 and 3 : Universal Glass Cockpit aboard the Piaggio P180 Avanti Figure 6 : Block schematic showing the UGC’s components and possible connections Eventually, the UGC allows real time data monitoring, recording and playback of the real or simulated mission for later on analysis by flight test engineers. 4D Navigation A plane can then be located precisely in position and in time. Some advantages are: • Instant optimization of the flight plan • Reduction of fuel burn and carbon emissions, as well as noise footprint for each flight • Better management of the traffic • Increased security • And many more Efforts are being made to implement 4D navigation in the UGC project. A 4 dimensions (4D) flight is like regular flight with an added time constraint. Figure 5 : RTE/LEGS page of the FMS and implementation of the 4D navigation in the UGC Quentin De Smedt [email protected]
Transcript of Universal glass cockpit for in-flight and in …integrated cockpit solution developed by students of...
© Navigation Research Group (NRG), 2009
Universal glass cockpit for in-flight and in-simulation performance analysis René Jr. Landry
[email protected] Department of Electrical Engineering
LASSENA (LAboratoire Spécialisé en Systèmes Embarqués, Navigation et Avionique)
Universal Glass Cockpit
Benoît Trocmé [email protected]
The Universal Glass Cockpit (UGC) is an integrated cockpit solution developed by students of the École de Technologie Supérieure on a touchscreen surface : the iPad ®. It can be integrated with multiple platforms in a bidirectional way very easily : - A flight simulator running on any computer - The Marinvent Research Flight Simulator - A flying test bench, the Piaggio P180 Avanti
It displays elements such as (and not limited to) : - Flight instruments - Navigation instruments - A map of the area
Figure 1 : Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) and flight instruments displays in the UGC
A Flight Management System (FMS) was also implemented and enables the creation of a flight plan inside the UGC. This will allow the automation of a number of in-flight tasks for long term navigation such as climbing, cruise and descent conditions but also passing through a number of user-defined waypoints. In consequence, it manages both Vertical Navigation (VNAV) and Lateral Navigation (LNAV) like complex FMS found in the majority of airliners. It works by activating the autopilot in the simulator and sending commands to follow the selected flight plan. The platform is easy to use by students to develop their own instruments. Another reason for its existence is for flight test engineering in real time and with wi-fi in the Marinvent's Piaggio Avanti P-180 Flying test platform.
X-Plane ® flight simulator
X-Plane ® is a multi-platform flight simulator oriented to public use : its purpose is not to include highly realistic models of airplanes (even i f f a i r l y a c c u r a t e ) o r a l l o w e x t r e m e parameterization like a professional flight simulator would do. However, it is a very complete and polyvalent simulator since it allows the selection of multiple types of aircrafts, from light acrobatic aircraft to the space shuttle, in a realistic environment. It was chosen as the flight simulator to be integrated with the UGC.
Marinvent Research Flight Simulator
Marinvent Corporation and ÉTS have a long time relationship and established a consortium to offer specialized academic and industrial training services for aeronautical certification, flight testing and embedded systems integration, and also supporting research and development in a high calibre academic context. Marinvent has developed a flight simulator which is located at ÉTS. It is a « design and engineering » simulator, in the way that it is not intended uniquely for specialized training, but allows testing of avionics systems as well as applications integration and evaluation. The simulator works with X-Plane ® as the background software, so that a complete environment didn't have to be redeveloped. An advantage of using that software is the ability of connecting the UGC to the Marinvent simulator.
The simulator contains many genuine avionics systems, such as flight controls, touchscreen displays and an FMS. The particularity of this simulator lies in the fact that it was designed to have the closest behaviour to the Piaggio P180 Avanti test aircraft, also owned by Marinvent Corporation. New systems and interfaces can be first tested in the simulator which is a safe environment and then uploaded to the actual airplane. This is what allows the UGC to connect to the aircraft also.
Figure 4 : Marinvent flight simulator
The UGC and simulator at ÉTS
The previously presented tools are of great use for aerospace engineering students. Three courses at ÉTS use them for projects. A new course beginning this fall, ELE641, will be given at ÉTS and focusing on embedded systems in aerospace. For the first time, students will have to use both the UGC and the Marinvent simulator in parallel. The goal is to capture metrics during a flight, calculate a selection of parameters and compare with the values of the FMS.
Conclusion The work that ÉTS has done and the collaboration with Marinvent has generated a very promising setting for the LASSENA laboratory and will with no doubt help to generate some highly leading-edge projects. Some of the future evolutions of the UGC project could include the elaboration of a the UGC’s FMS, the development of a Universal Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) and it will be more and more used for academic purpose.
© LASSENA, 2013 © Fig. 2/3/4 Marinvent Corporation
Hadrien Lacoste Lagrange [email protected]
Figures 2 and 3 : Universal Glass Cockpit aboard the Piaggio P180 Avanti
Figure 6 : Block schematic showing the UGC’s components and possible connections
Eventually, the UGC allows real time data monitoring, recording and playback of the real or simulated mission for later on analysis by flight test engineers.
4D Navigation
A plane can then be located precisely in position and in time. Some advantages are: • Instant optimization of the flight plan • Reduction of fuel burn and carbon emissions, as well as noise footprint for each flight • Better management of the traffic • Increased security • And many more
Efforts are being made to implement 4D navigation in the UGC project. A 4 dimensions (4D) flight is like regular flight with an added time constraint.
Figure 5 : RTE/LEGS page of the FMS and implementation of the 4D navigation in the UGC
Quentin De Smedt [email protected]
