Energy Efficient Integrated Design of FlightManagement Systems and Autopilots

The amount of emissions to the atmosphere is currently an important environmental concern as
policy makers and Heads of State are starting to demonstrate a strong interest in energy efficient
transportation, in particular energy efficient aircraft. However, current autopilot technology will
often not take into account the energy used to perform a given maneuver which can lead to
potentially larger fuel consumption and larger atmospheric emissions than what is strictly
necessary. The task of energy optimization is typically left to a flight management system (FMS).
However, the next generation aircraft will require additional functionality in fuel efficiency that can
benefit from a tighter and better interaction of the FMS and the autopilot subsystems. For such a
scenario, this research proposes to perform an integrated design of the FMS-autopilot ensemble
to be more energy efficient. A first collaborative effort of the applicants, has involved the study of
energy efficient autopilot design methods for fixed set points. We now propose to study…TOBECONT’D…

Faculty Supervisor:

Luis Rodrigues

Student:

Partner:

Mechtronix

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

Concordia University

Program: