Enhance Aircraft Performance and Optimisation through utilisation of Artificial Intelligence

Project Information

PERF-AI

Grant agreement ID: 815914

DOI

10.3030/815914

Project closed

EC signature date 10 October 2018

Start date 1 November 2018

End date 31 October 2020

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Total cost

€ 705 125,00

EU contribution

€ 568 550,00

Coordinated by

SAFETY LINE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PERF-AI (Enhance Aircraft Performance and Optimisation through utilisation of Artificial Intelligence)

Reporting period: 2019-11-01 to 2020-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

For the Operation of Commercial aircraft, airlines use manufacturer data that are common to all aircraft from the same type. However, during its lifecycle, performances (fuel consumption, speed, etc) for each individual aircrat will change as engines are ageing, aircraftt strucrure can me modified, etc. Through PERF-AI, we apply machine learning technologies to flight data to identify the change in performance for each individual aircraft and provide airlines with updated data that in turn will allow to operate more efficiently. Safety Line has been working since several years on the optimization during climb phase using Artificial Intelligence (OptiClimb). Thanks to PERF-AI, we will be able to provide extended services to the airline industry and possibly to manufacturers. At the end of the project we were able to create tail specific performance model for individual aircraft and use actual data to propose optimized flight path to be flown by the pilots for new flights. This approach can reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by a few percents, which is very significant at the industry level.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project started in November 2018 and performed the following tasks :

- decoding and pre-processing of aircraft flight data
- worked on the problem definition and data engineering
- identification of relevant machine learning techniques to issue performance data
- Issue performance tables compatible for the use of Flight Management System
- developed optimization algorithms based on the use of aircraft data

The updated performance data provide pilots and engineers with more accurate figures for flight preparation and execution. Through optimization, it is possible to achieve significant savings and reduce CO2 emissions.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Due to the amount of data and the number of parameters that influences aircraft performances, it is a challenge to identify statistical models that fit real aircraft performances. New statistical approaches allowed to do so and statistical and algorithm techniques provided updated performance models. The results will allow to optimize flight trajectories according to actual performance and reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions generated by the aviation industry. This can add up to other ways to reduce aircraft emissions : lighter material, new engines and provide a few more percents of CO2 reduction that is highly needed in the aviation industry.

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