Patents by Inventor Jérôme Sacle

Jérôme Sacle has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11934205
    Abstract: Methods and devices for optimizing the climb of an aircraft or drone are provided. After an optimal continuous climb strategy has been determined, a lateral path is determined, in particular in terms of speeds and turn radii, based on vertical predictions computed in the previous step. Subsequently, computation results are displayed on one or more human-machine interfaces and the climb strategy is actually flown. Embodiments describe the use of altitude and speed constraints and/or settings in respect of speed and/or thrust and/or level-flight avoidance and/or gradient-variation minimization, and iteratively fitting parameters in order to make the profile of the current path coincide with the constrained profile in real time depending on the selected flight dynamics (e.g. energy sharing, constraint on climb gradient, constraint on the vertical climb rate). System (e.g. FMS) and software aspects are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Johan Boyer, Geoffrey Durand, Jérôme Sacle
  • Publication number: 20240038075
    Abstract: In the field of air navigation, a computer-implemented method includes loading an initial active flight plan for an aircraft comprising a first approach procedure to a runway up to a missed approach point ending between the missed approach point and a final point; loading a secondary flight plan comprising an approach procedure to the runway between the missed approach point and the runway, and a second missed approach procedure at the end of the approach, and ending at a second final point; receiving an instruction from an operator of the aircraft to link the initial active flight plan and the secondary flight plan; in the event of a go-around by the operator at the latest at the missed approach point, activating the missed approach procedure; otherwise, automatically selecting the secondary flight plan as active flight plan and activating the second approach.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2021
    Publication date: February 1, 2024
    Inventors: Jérôme SACLE, Marion CHAILLOU, Christophe CAILLAUD, Fabien CHOVIN, Michel ROGER
  • Publication number: 20220406198
    Abstract: A management of the elements of the context of one or more flight plans is provided. The systems, methods and computer programs allowing real-time collaborative work on and around one or more flight plans between multiple remote systems are provided. A first system comprises receiving a modification, made on a second system, to a flight plan and to a set of associated objects or to another set of non-associated objects, displaying the modification and, if the modification is validated, returning the modification, as applied to the first system, to the second system to ensure uniformity around the collaborative navigation space between remote parties.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 27, 2020
    Publication date: December 22, 2022
    Inventors: Jérôme SACLE, François TERREE, Guy DEKER
  • Publication number: 20220390959
    Abstract: Methods and devices for optimizing the climb of an aircraft or drone are provided. After an optimal continuous climb strategy has been determined, a lateral path is determined, in particular in terms of speeds and turn radii, based on vertical predictions computed in the previous step. Subsequently, computation results are displayed on one or more human-machine interfaces and the climb strategy is actually flown. Embodiments describe the use of altitude and speed constraints and/or settings in respect of speed and/or thrust and/or level-flight avoidance and/or gradient-variation minimization, and iteratively fitting parameters in order to make the profile of the current path coincide with the constrained profile in real time depending on the selected flight dynamics (e.g. energy sharing, constraint on climb gradient, constraint on the vertical climb rate). System (e.g. FMS) and software aspects are described.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2020
    Publication date: December 8, 2022
    Inventors: Johan BOYER, Geoffrey DURAND, Jérôme SACLE
  • Patent number: 10360802
    Abstract: An aid method for piloting an aircraft including acquiring an instruction intended to alter the flight plan, determining an applicability period of the instruction made up of a plurality of applicability moments of the instruction in which the application of the instruction is compatible with the operational capabilities of the aircraft and with the constraints of the flight plan, for each applicability moment of the instruction, determining an altered flight plan in case of application of the instruction at this applicability moment and calculating values of the operational parameters associated with this flight plan, and selecting an optimal applicability moment based on values of the operational parameters associated with the altered flight plan and operational parameters associated with the current flight plan.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2019
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Cédric D'Silva, Jérôme Sacle, Nicolas Rossi
  • Patent number: 10089893
    Abstract: A method for determining a minimum-thrust descent and rejoining profile in respect of a target point by an aircraft comprises a first step of computing an energy differential of the aircraft in the air ?Ea between a first initial state of the aircraft at an initial geodesic point Qi and a second final state of the aircraft at the final arrival target point Qf. The method comprises a second step of adjusting an adjustable modelled profile of altitude hm(t) and of air speed Vam(t) of the aircraft with the aid of parameters so the adjusted modelled profile of altitude h(t) and of air speed Va(t) of the aircraft ensures the consumption of the variation of energy of the aircraft in the air ?Ea in a fixed required timespan ?trequired and a fixed required altitude variation tf?ti in the required time timespan, the aircraft operating permanently in an engine regime with constant and minimum thrust.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Benoît Dacre-Wright, Jérôme Sacle, Cédric D'Silva
  • Publication number: 20180114452
    Abstract: A method for determining a minimum-thrust descent and rejoining profile in respect of a target point by an aircraft comprises a first step of computing an energy differential of the aircraft in the air ?Ea between a first initial state of the aircraft at an initial geodesic point Qi and a second final state of the aircraft at the final arrival target point Qf. The method comprises a second step of adjusting an adjustable modelled profile of altitude hm(t) and of air speed Vam(t) of the aircraft with the aid of parameters so the adjusted modelled profile of altitude h(t) and of air speed Va(t) of the aircraft ensures the consumption of the variation of energy of the aircraft in the air ?Ea in a fixed required timespan ?trequired and a fixed required altitude variation tf?ti in the required time timespan, the aircraft operating permanently in an engine regime with constant and minimum thrust.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2017
    Publication date: April 26, 2018
    Inventors: Benoît DACRE-WRIGHT, Jérôme SACLE, Cédric D'SILVA
  • Publication number: 20180061248
    Abstract: An aid method for piloting an aircraft including acquiring an instruction intended to alter the flight plan, determining an applicability period of the instruction made up of a plurality of applicability moments of the instruction in which the application of the instruction is compatible with the operational capabilities of the aircraft and with the constraints of the flight plan, for each applicability moment of the instruction, determining an altered flight plan in case of application of the instruction at this applicability moment and calculating values of the operational parameters associated with this flight plan, and selecting an optimal applicability moment based on values of the operational parameters associated with the altered flight plan and operational parameters associated with the current flight plan.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 23, 2017
    Publication date: March 1, 2018
    Inventors: Cédric D'Silva, Jérôme Sacle, Nicolas Rossi
  • Patent number: 9766091
    Abstract: A method and system is provided for determining the compatibility of an approach, to a landing runway, with an angular guidance mode, the approach being compatible with a linear guidance mode, the angular guidance being characterized by a lateral angle of precision, the linear guidance being characterized by a lateral divergence of precision. The method is implemented on a flight management system deployed aboard an aircraft and comprising a first step of determining a first distance representative of a maximum distance of use of the angular guidance, on the basis of the lateral angle of precision and of the lateral divergence of precision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: Thales
    Inventors: Christophe Caillaud, Jérôme Sacle
  • Publication number: 20160356626
    Abstract: A method and system is provided for determining the compatibility of an approach, to a landing runway, with an angular guidance mode, the approach being compatible with a linear guidance mode, the angular guidance being characterized by a lateral angle of precision, the linear guidance being characterized by a lateral divergence of precision. The method is implemented on a flight management system deployed aboard an aircraft and comprising a first step of determining a first distance representative of a maximum distance of use of the angular guidance, on the basis of the lateral angle of precision and of the lateral divergence of precision.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2015
    Publication date: December 8, 2016
    Inventors: Christophe CAILLAUD, Jérôme SACLE
  • Patent number: 9368036
    Abstract: A method for calculating a flight plan used by a flight management system of an aircraft in a runway approach phase comprises: loading an initial procedure ending at a first end point not corresponding to a threshold of the runway and a first associated missed approach procedure; determining an additional procedure and a second associated missed approach procedure; concatenating the initial procedure and the additional procedure in order to generate a continuous concatenated flight plan comprising the initial procedure, the first missed approach procedure, the additional procedure and the second missed approach procedure; loading the concatenated flight plan into an active flight plan; selecting a second procedure from a set comprising the first missed approach procedure and the additional procedure; activating the selected second procedure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: Thales
    Inventors: François Coulmeau, Jérôme Sacle, Emmanuel Dewas
  • Patent number: 9188461
    Abstract: A configured aircraft flight management aid system comprises: means of interpretation receiving data taken from external instructions from an external control center, data relating to aircraft equipment failures, cabin problems and problems related to the environment of the aircraft; means of determination receiving data from the means of interpretation and determining at least one reference constraint associated with at least one parameter representative of a flight path, a reference constraint associated with a reference parameter comprising a new constraint, different from the initial constraint when the item of data effectively necessitates following a new path, different from the initial path, and a reference constraint comprising the initial constraint when the means of determination do not have access to any data relating to an event effectively necessitating following a new path; warning means generating a warning to an operator when the path actually flown does not comply with said reference constrai
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Camille Rieunier, Jerome Sacle, Joseph Huysseune, Xavier Chazottes
  • Patent number: 9188978
    Abstract: A method for aiding navigation for an aircraft between a descent start point and a computation end point, comprises the computation steps of: collecting a flight plan consisting of a succession of waypoints and of the associated vertical constraints; determining a corridor consisting of a floor trajectory and of a ceiling trajectory defining the minimum and maximum altitudes permitted to the aircraft; splitting the corridor into several cells defined between two waypoints furthest apart and between which the ceiling trajectory is distinct from the floor trajectory; determining for at least one cell a vertical trajectory complying with the altitude constraints and comprising the longest possible IDLE segment; and a step consisting in determining and displaying maneuvering points of the aircraft making it possible to follow the target vertical trajectory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Jerome Sacle, Johan Boyer, Francois Coulmeau
  • Patent number: 9176499
    Abstract: A method is provided for managing the flight of an aircraft flying a trajectory calculated by a flight management system. The trajectory necessitates at least one transition between two different aerodynamic configurations of the aircraft. The method comprises: extraction of performance data of the aircraft from a database, at least one item of performance data being a function of an aerodynamic configuration, selection between a first determination step and a second determination step, a step of determination of a start point and of an end point of the transition between two aerodynamic configurations and engine speeds of an aircraft during a flight, the determination step being implemented by the flight management system and chosen from among the first and second determination steps, the determination step calculating the trajectory by numerical integration of the equations representative of the dynamics of the aircraft making use of the performance data of the aircraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: Thales
    Inventors: Francois Coulmeau, Jerome Sacle, Johan Boyer
  • Publication number: 20150302671
    Abstract: A method and device for determining a plurality of performance indicators relating to the flight of an aircraft and an associated computer program product are disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes calculating a first performance indicator based on an estimated time of arrival of the aircraft at the arrival location, an estimated flight time of the aircraft from its take-off until its arrival at the arrival location, and an estimated amount of fuel consumed by the aircraft up to the arrival location. The method further includes calculating at least one other performance indicator among second and third performance indicators. The second performance indicator is calculated based on a time difference between the estimated arrival time and the intended arrival time. The third performance indicator is calculated based on a consumption difference between the estimated amount of consumed fuel and the intended amount of consumed fuel and an additional quantity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2014
    Publication date: October 22, 2015
    Inventors: Jérôme Sacle, Harvé Goutelard, Patrick Delpy
  • Patent number: 9114889
    Abstract: The method concerns monitoring the approach phase of an aircraft to a runway. This method includes determining successive gateways of the aircraft relative to at least one characteristic point of an approach flight plan of the aircraft or relative to the landing location, and measuring the aircraft speed upon crossing a given gateway. The method further comprises computing a minimum deceleration distance up to a predetermined target speed associated with the gateway following said given gateway, the minimum deceleration distance being an estimated flight distance corresponding to the speed reduction of the aircraft from the measured speed to said target speed; comparing the computed minimum deceleration distance with the distance remaining to be flow to the following gateway; and generating an alert, intended for the aircraft crew, when the distance remaining to be flown to the following gateway is smaller than the computed minimum deceleration distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Jérôme Sacle, François Coulmeau, Loïc Charles
  • Publication number: 20150120100
    Abstract: A method for aiding navigation for an aircraft between a descent start point and a computation end point, comprises the computation steps of: collecting a flight plan consisting of a succession of waypoints and of the associated vertical constraints; determining a corridor consisting of a floor trajectory and of a ceiling trajectory defining the minimum and maximum altitudes permitted to the aircraft; splitting the corridor into several cells defined between two waypoints furthest apart and between which the ceiling trajectory is distinct from the floor trajectory; determining for at least one cell a vertical trajectory complying with the altitude constraints and comprising the longest possible IDLE segment; and a step consisting in determining and displaying maneuvering points of the aircraft making it possible to follow the target vertical trajectory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2014
    Publication date: April 30, 2015
    Inventors: Jerome SACLE, Johan BOYER, Francois COULMEAU
  • Publication number: 20150120095
    Abstract: A method is provided for managing the flight of an aircraft flying a trajectory calculated by a flight management system. The trajectory necessitates at least one transition between two different aerodynamic configurations of the aircraft. The method comprises: extraction of performance data of the aircraft from a database, at least one item of performance data being a function of an aerodynamic configuration, selection between a first determination step and a second determination step, a step of determination of a start point and of an end point of the transition between two aerodynamic configurations and engine speeds of an aircraft during a flight, the determination step being implemented by the flight management system and chosen from among the first and second determination steps, the determination step calculating the trajectory by numerical integration of the equations representative of the dynamics of the aircraft making use of the performance data of the aircraft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2014
    Publication date: April 30, 2015
    Inventors: Francois COULMEAU, Jerome SACLE, Johan BOYER
  • Publication number: 20150005992
    Abstract: A method for calculating a flight plan used by a flight management system of an aircraft in a runway approach phase comprises: loading an initial procedure ending at a first end point not corresponding to a threshold of the runway and a first associated missed approach procedure; determining an additional procedure and a second associated missed approach procedure; concatenating the initial procedure and the additional procedure in order to generate a continuous concatenated flight plan comprising the initial procedure, the first missed approach procedure, the additional procedure and the second missed approach procedure; loading the concatenated flight plan into an active flight plan; selecting a second procedure from a set comprising the first missed approach procedure and the additional procedure; activating the selected second procedure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2014
    Publication date: January 1, 2015
    Inventors: François COULMEAU, Jérôme SACLE, Emmanuel DEWAS
  • Publication number: 20140350755
    Abstract: A method and system for aiding piloting when selecting a trajectory of approach of an airport or airfield, implemented on at least one processor, includes a first step of selecting a landing airport or airfield, and a second step of determining, for said landing airport or airfield, all or part of the possible trajectories of approach associated with a landing runway, on the basis of a database of the airports or airfields. A third step determines, for at least one of the possible approaches, whether or not said approach is compatible with an angular guidance mode, by geometrical analysis of the approach; and a fourth step displays all of said possible approaches, for said landing airport or airfield, and of displaying the compatibility with said angular guidance mode for the approaches analyzed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2014
    Publication date: November 27, 2014
    Inventors: Christophe CAILLAUD, Jerome SACLE