Aircraft remote monitoring system

Abstract

An assembly is disclosed that facilitates monitoring one or more aircraft that are on the ground at an airport or other facility. The assembly includes a web based camera that can pan, tilt and zoom, as well as a base that can pan independent of the movement of the camera. The assembly can be selectively affixed to any aircraft service vehicle, such as a fuel truck, to monitor one or more the craft during processes such as fueling, baggage or passenger unloading, and the like. The camera can be operated remotely and/or from the service vehicle to provide relatively constant surveillance of the aircraft. The camera is housed within a protective environmental chamber so that the assembly can be utilized outdoors substantially indefinitely.

1 . An assembly configured for selective mounting to an aircraft service vehicle, comprising: 
 a camera having one or more of tilt, pan and zoom capabilities;    a base to which the camera is operatively associated, the base having pan capabilities;    means for selectively mounting the assembly to the aircraft service vehicle; and    an environmental chamber operatively associated with the base and enveloping the camera.    
   
   
       2 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the chamber includes one or more sensors to sense environmental conditions within the chamber.  
   
   
       3 . The assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the chamber includes one or more environmental controls operative to adapt environmental conditions within the chamber in response to one or more readings taken by one or more of the sensors.  
   
   
       4 . The assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of a temperature sensor, pressure sensor and humidity sensor.  
   
   
       5 . The assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more environmental controls comprise at least one of a heater, fan, humidifier, de-humidifier, cooling unit, air conditioner and valve.  
   
   
       6 . The assembly of  claim 3 , further comprising: 
 a transceiver that facilitates transmitting output data and receiving input data.    
   
   
       7 . The assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the camera, base and environmental controls is configured to be controlled remotely.  
   
   
       8 . The assembly of  claim 7 , wherein output data is selectively presented on a display.  
   
   
       9 . The assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the assembly is mounted upon a cab of the service vehicle and the display is located within the cab.  
   
   
       10 . The assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the display comprises a TFT or LCD monitor.  
   
   
       11 . The assembly of  claim 9 , wherein a controller is located within the cab for controlling at least one of the camera and the base.  
   
   
       12 . The assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the controller within the cab comprises a joystick.  
   
   
       13 . The assembly of  claim 8 , wherein output data comprises at least one of video data, environmental sensor data and fueling attribute data.  
   
   
       14 . The assembly of  claim 13 , wherein fueling attributes comprise at least one of an authorization code of a person who initiated a fueling process, a snapshot of an individual who connected fueling equipment, an image of an aircraft before a fueling process is initiated, an image of an aircraft after a fueling process has been completed, a breakdown of fuel additives, sales information, credit card information, credit card validation data, a quantity of fuel administered, one or more flow rates occurring during a fueling process, time stamp data and date stamp data.  
   
   
       15 . The assembly of  claim 14 , wherein data regarding fuel flow is acquired with at least one of optical pulsers, quadrature pulsers and single ended pulsers.  
   
   
       16 . The assembly of  claim 7 , wherein an 802.11 b/g standard is utilized for wireless communications for the assembly.  
   
   
       17 . The assembly of  claim 7 , wherein a 10BaseT TCP/IP connection is utilized for communications for the assembly.  
   
   
       18 . The assembly of  claim 3 , wherein power is provided to the assembly via a vehicle associated therewith.  
   
   
       19 . The assembly of  claim 18 , wherein an extra battery is included within the vehicle for providing power to the assembly.  
   
   
       20 . The assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the camera is operatively associated to the base via a slip ring.  
   
   
       21 . The assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the chamber comprises at least one of plastic and metal.  
   
   
       22 . The assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the means for mounting comprises at least one of bolts, nuts, washers, screws, rivets, welds, snaps, clasps, buckles, tabs, hooks, latches, ropes, chords, lashings, glues, tapes, nails and adhesives.  
   
   
       23 . The assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the camera is a web based camera.  
   
   
       24 . The assembly of  claim 3 , further comprising: 
 a controller that arbitrates between local and remote commands, where local commands serve to control the camera and/or base from the aircraft service vehicle and remote commands serve to control the camera and/or base from locations remote from the aircraft service vehicle.    
   
   
       25 . The assembly of  claim 24 , wherein the controller allows for remote or local control of the camera or base, respectively, while concurrently allowing for remote or local control of the base or camera, respectively.  
   
   
       26 . The assembly of  claim 25 , further comprising: 
 a local access point operatively associated with the controller that facilitates transmission of the remote commands and receipt and display of video data from the camera via the controller; and    a remote access point operatively associated with the controller that facilitates transmission of the remote commands and receipt and display of video data from the camera via the controller.    
   
   
       27 . The assembly of  claim 26 , wherein the local access point comprises: 
 a control enabling device within the aircraft service vehicle; and    a display within the aircraft service vehicle.    
   
   
       28 . The assembly of  claim 27 , wherein the control enabling device comprises a joystick.  
   
   
       29 . The assembly of  claim 26 , further comprising: 
 a power conditioning component that facilitates converting power from one or more batteries to respective formats usable by at least one of the camera, base, controller, local access point and remote access point.    
   
   
       30 . The assembly of  claim 26 , wherein the remote access point is wirelessly associated with the controller.  
   
   
       31 . The assembly of  claim 26 , further comprising: 
 a fueling control system operatively associated with the controller, wherein the fueling control system regulates fueling of an aircraft by the aircraft service vehicle and acquires fueling attribute data and provides the fueling attribute data to a display device via the controller.    
   
   
       32 . The assembly of  claim 26 , wherein the controller is operatively associated with a multi-port hub.  
   
   
       33 . The assembly of  claim 26 , wherein the controller causes the camera to enter an automated state when the vehicle is not active wherein the camera pans back and forth within a predetermined range.  
   
   
       34 . The assembly of  claim 33 , wherein the controller allows a user to over-ride the automated state of the camera.  
   
   
       35 . A system adapted to monitor one or more aircraft from an aircraft service vehicle with which the system is operatively associated, the system comprising: 
 a multi-port hub operatively associated with at least one of a camera and a base, where the camera is operatively associated with the base and the camera is configured to at least one of pan, tilt and zoom, and the base is configured to pan;    a wireless access point operatively associated with the multi-port hub, the wireless access point serving as a point of presence for a wireless network within which the system is operated and allowing one or more remote devices to send data to and receive data from at least one of the camera and base.    
   
   
       36 . The system of  claim 35 , further comprising: 
 a local camera control operatively associated with at least one of the camera and base and facilitating control over at least one of the camera and base, the local camera control being located in the aircraft service vehicle.    
   
   
       37 . The system of  claim 36 , further comprising: 
 a local display operatively associated with the camera for displaying camera data to a user within the vehicle.    
   
   
       38 . The system of  claim 36 , further comprising: 
 a fueling control system operatively associated with the multi-port hub, wherein the fueling control system regulates fueling of an aircraft by the aircraft service vehicle and acquires fueling attribute data, wherein one or more remote devices can at least one of receive the attribute data and control the fueling control system via the wireless access point.    
   
   
       39 . The system of  claim 35 , further comprising: 
 a diversity antenna operatively associated with the wireless access point.    
   
   
       40 . The system of  claim 35 , further comprising: 
 a power conditioning component that facilitates converting power from one or more batteries to respective formats usable by at least one of the camera, base, wireless access point and multi-port hub.    
   
   
       41 . The system of  claim 35 , further comprising: 
 an environmental housing operatively associated with the base and substantially isolating the camera from an external environment.    
   
   
       42 . The system of  claim 41 , further comprising: 
 one or more sensors operable to sense environmental conditions within the housing; and    one or more environmental controls operative to adapt one or more environmental conditions within the chamber in response to one or more readings taken by one or more of the sensors.    
   
   
       43 . The system of  claim 35 , further comprising: 
 means for selectively mounting the camera, base and housing to the aircraft service vehicle.    
   
   
       44 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein conflicting commands are arbitrated based upon a first come first serve basis.