Aircraft braking based on real time runway condition

Abstract

Disclosed is an example for performing aircraft braking based on real time runway condition. In one example, during landing, real time data of runway condition may be obtained using at least one sensor disposed around an aircraft. At least one brake factor may be determined based on the real time data of the runway condition. Aircraft braking may be controlled based on the at least one brake factor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A braking control system for an aircraft comprising:
 at least one sensor;   one or more processor in communication with the at least one sensor, the one or more processor configured to:
 receive data indicating a condition of one or more runway segment of a runway from the at least one sensor; and 
 determine a braking performance of the aircraft for the one or more runway segment; and 
   a braking controller configured to control braking of the aircraft on the runway according to the determined braking performance when an undercarriage or landing mechanism of the aircraft encounters the one or more runway segment.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor is attached to the aircraft and configured to capture the data as real-time data of images of the runway in front of the aircraft as the aircraft is landing. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a database having at least a look-up table comprising a set of reference spectral bands and intensities corresponding to a known contaminant set;
 wherein the determined braking performance is based on the condition of the one or more runway segment; and   wherein the condition of the one or more runway segment corresponds to a presence or absence of one or more contaminants on a surface of the one or more runway segment.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more contaminants on the surface of the runway comprises one or more of visible or non-visible moisture, ice, slush, brine, gravel, rocks, debris, salt, oil, fuel, or snow. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the received data indicating the condition of the one or more runway segment comprises images of the runway in front of the aircraft as the aircraft is landing;
 wherein each image is associated with a corresponding segment of the one or more runway segment;   wherein the one or more processor is further configured to:
 extract feature data from the images, wherein the feature data comprises sensed spectral bands and intensities that correspond to a captured runway image within a field-of-view of the sensor; 
 detect a presence or absence of at least one contaminant on each of the one or more runway segment by comparing sensed spectral bands and intensities with the set of reference spectral bands and intensities; 
 determine a depth of the contaminants on each runway sub-region; 
 generate a map of each of the one or more runway segment with contaminant patches in a direction of motion of the aircraft based on the determined contaminants and the depth of the contaminants; and 
 determine, using the map, the contaminated patches corresponding to each of the one or more runway segments that is determined to be in a landing path of the aircraft. 
   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more processor is further configured to:
 correlate the determined contaminated patches in the landing path of the aircraft with pre-stored runway conditions in the look-up table; and   determine the at least one braking performance corresponding to each of the one or more runway segment that is in the landing path of the aircraft from a set of pre-stored braking performances based on the correlation, wherein the set of pre-stored braking performances correspond to different runway conditions and are stored in the look-up table.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the pre-stored runway conditions comprise one or more of:
 a runway surface material;   elements or compositions of the contaminants on a surface of the runway;   category of contaminants;   an extent of a coverage or area of the contaminants;   segment-wise distribution of contaminants on the surface of the runway; and   depth of contaminants present on the surface of the runway.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the braking control unit is configured to control aircraft braking by using braking performances associated with each of the one or more runway segment when the aircraft encounters a corresponding physical runway segment upon touch-down of the aircraft. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensor comprises an imaging device. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the imaging device comprises a hyperspectral camera or a multispectral camera, each having a field-of-view within which the runway in front of the aircraft can be captured. 
     
     
         11 . A method for braking of an aircraft comprising:
 receiving, at one or more processor, data indicating a condition of one or more runway segment of a runway from at least one sensor;   determining a braking performance of the aircraft for the one or more runway segment; and   braking the aircraft according to the braking performance when an undercarriage or landing mechanism of the aircraft encounters the one or more runway segment.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one sensor is attached to the aircraft and the method further comprises capturing the data as real-time data of images of the runway in front of the aircraft as the aircraft is landing. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 providing a database having at least a look-up table comprising a set of reference spectral bands and intensities corresponding to a known contaminant set; and   wherein the braking performance is based on the condition of the one or more runway segment;   wherein the condition of the one or more runway segment corresponds to a presence or absence of one or more contaminants on a surface of the one or more runway segment.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more contaminants on the surface of the runway comprises one or more of visible or non-visible moisture, ice, slush, brine, gravel, rocks, debris, salt, oil, fuel, or snow. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the received data indicating the condition of the one or more runway segment comprises images of the runway in front of the aircraft as the aircraft is landing;
 wherein each image is associated with a corresponding segment of the one or more runway segment;   the method further comprising, at the one or more processor:
 extracting feature data from the images, wherein the feature data comprises sensed spectral bands and intensities that correspond to a captured runway image within a field-of-view of the sensor; 
 detecting a presence or absence of at least one contaminant on each of the one or more runway segment by comparing sensed spectral bands and intensities with the set of reference spectral bands and intensities; 
 determining a depth of the contaminants on each runway sub-region; 
 generating a map of each runway segment with contaminant patches in a direction of motion of the aircraft based on the determined contaminants and the depth of the contaminants; and 
 using the map to determine the contaminated patches corresponding to each of the one or more runway segments that is determined to be in a landing path of the aircraft. 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising, at the one or more processor:
 correlating the determined contaminated patches in the landing path of the aircraft with pre-stored runway conditions in the look-up table; and   determining the at least one braking performance corresponding to each of the one or more runway segment that is in the landing path of the aircraft from a set of pre-stored braking performances based on the correlation, wherein the set of pre-stored braking performances correspond to different runway conditions and are stored in the look-up table.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the pre-stored runway conditions comprise one or more of the following:
 a runway surface material;   elements or compositions of the contaminants on a surface of the runway;   category of contaminants;   an extent of a coverage or area of the contaminants;   segment-wise distribution of contaminants on the surface of the runway; and   depth of contaminants present on the surface of the runway.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising using brake performances associated with each of the one or more runway segment to brake the aircraft consistent with the braking performance when the aircraft encounters a corresponding physical runway segment upon touch-down of the aircraft. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensor comprises an imaging device. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the imaging device comprises a hyperspectral camera or a multispectral camera, each having a field-of-view within which the runway in front of the aircraft can be captured.