US 12,073,730 B2
Supporting an aircraft in a reduced-engine taxi operation
Martin Baudin, Wiesbaden (DE); and Marco Gaertner, Sinntal-Sannerz (DE)
Assigned to The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed by THE BOEING COMPANY, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed on Oct. 29, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/452,866.
Prior Publication US 2023/0133862 A1, May 4, 2023
Int. Cl. G08G 5/00 (2006.01); B64D 45/00 (2006.01); G06T 11/00 (2006.01); G06T 11/20 (2006.01)
CPC G08G 5/0047 (2013.01) [B64D 45/00 (2013.01); G06T 11/001 (2013.01); G06T 11/206 (2013.01); G08G 5/0021 (2013.01); B64D 2045/0075 (2013.01); G06T 2200/24 (2013.01)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for planning operation of an aircraft at an airport, the aircraft having fuel-consuming systems that include multiple engines, the apparatus comprising:
a communications device configured to communicate with the aircraft;
a memory device configured to store computer-readable program code; and
a processing circuit configured to access the memory and execute the computer-readable program code to cause the apparatus to:
access information that describes a taxi operation of the aircraft between a gate and a runway of the airport for a flight of the aircraft;
determine a recommendation for reduced-engine taxi operation of the aircraft based on the information, the recommendation dividing the reduced-engine taxi operation into steps including a reduced-engine step performed without one or more of the multiple engines running, and an all-engines step performed with all of the multiple engines running, wherein the recommendation is determined utilizing first and second machine learning (ML) models to divide the reduced-engine taxi operation into the reduced-engine and all-engine steps, wherein the first ML model is trained to produce a first prediction of fuel burn for the fuel-consuming systems for all-engine taxi operation of the aircraft, and the second ML model is trained to produce a second prediction of fuel burn for select ones of the fuel-consuming systems for reduced-engine taxi operation of the aircraft;
plot a route for the taxi operation on a diagram of the airport, between the gate and the runway;
annotate the route on the diagram with an indication of the recommendation for the taxi operation, the indication of the recommendation including indications of the steps into which the reduced-engine taxi operation is divided, the route annotated to indicate segments of the route over which the steps are performed; and
generate a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes the diagram with the route and the indication of the recommendation, the GUI being displayed on a touchscreen display by which an operator of the aircraft can manipulate the annotated route.