No black box with big data: the safety Revolution in the aviation industry

In the 2014, known as the "air crash Year", the MH370, MH17 was shot down, Taiwan Fuxing Airlines GE222 forced a crash, the Algerian aviation AH5017 crashed, aviation security once again become the global focus.

An industrial upgrading campaign based on the internet and large data was the first in the industry's upstream manufacturing companies.

September 26, Honeywell (Honeywell) 's senior research and development engineer Wang Rui obtained a private flight driving license ppl (private Pilot License) just over six months. If the previous 4 months of flight training, the past year, engaged in advanced aircraft cockpit related research and development work Wang Rui, experienced a transformation of thinking.

Honeywell is a leading enterprise in aerospace and the world's leading black box manufacturer. At the end of 2012, Honeywell and AVIC General Aircraft Co., Ltd. signed the "Aircraft Private Pilot License Project cooperation memo." The Flight Training (PPL project) for selected engineers began in the first quarter of 2013. This is also a crucial step in Honeywell's "HUE" (Honeywell user experience) project.

If it is not a "oolong" incident, Wang Rui is also hard to realize how much the PPL project is important to the aircraft manufacturing link. He told the 21st Century Business Review ("21CBR") Reporter: "Our team of engineers in the office has worked hard to develop a function, considered good, and spent time doing the model." The pilots were evaluated for trial, and the results were evaluated as completely useless. The reason is that during certain flight stages, pilots simply do not have the energy to disperse to this function. "And let Wang Rui laugh and cry is, the team developed the function of the original intention, is to reduce the pilot's operating load."

Now, Wang Rui began experimenting with the identity of a free engineer and using pilot thinking to develop an aircraft system. "It can be said that every minute on the plane, every action, every command of the controller, and even the conversation between the pilots, inspires me to think about my current job." I really started to understand what the pilot said about the real meaning of ' busy ', and began to realize some of the features that were not available at certain times and the possibility of improvements to existing design flaws. ”

In fact, Honeywell's "PPL Project" is only a microcosm, the aviation industry giants have begun to swing behind closed doors, from the real needs of users, to seek new technologies to achieve the human history of safer, more efficient way of flying.

Gold Rush Data

The aviation industry is born with a large data gene, an aircraft made up of millions of components and dozens of of systems, which get more than gigabytes of data through sensors, only 10% in the past few years. Until the rapid development of the Internet today, the vast amount of aviation data contained in the energy to be large-scale excitation.

Wang Peng, general manager of GE Aerospace China, told the 21CBR Reporter, "Twenty or thirty years ago, GE began to provide the first generation of engine status monitoring services, requiring pilots to manually record engine data, to later airborne equipment automatically record data, and now the aircraft in flight to send real-time data, To carry out real-time engine remote fault diagnosis (remotely diagnostics). ”

Through the engine and aircraft sensors, acquisition of Take-off and cruise data, real-time transmission to GE's Shanghai AOC Center (Aviation Customer Support Center) for analysis, once found unusual, AOC immediately to the airlines to send a notice, before the plane landed before the failure of the preparation work. Therefore, it helps to reduce take-off delays and flight cancellations.

Remote diagnostics are engine status monitoring based on two engine and aircraft reports at two standard moments in the Take-off and cruise phases. Now GE promotes flight and maintenance analytics based on large data, analyzing flight data. This can help data analysis experts and engine experts to understand the pilot's operation and the engine working state of the whole flight process more comprehensively.

In Wang Peng's view, these efforts can not only improve the safety of the flight, but also optimize the flight to reduce fuel consumption, as well as the prediction of engine failure (prognostics), reduce air parking, interruption of take-off, delay and cancellation of flights on the operation of airlines. In addition, can reduce unplanned renewal, reduce engine maintenance costs. Wang Peng said: "The maintenance cost of the engine accounted for more than 40% of the total aircraft maintenance costs, the repair of an engine is millions dollar expenditure." Remote diagnostics allow the airline to avoid some unplanned engine demolition and grounding pending inspection, greatly saving costs. ”

In fact, large data on aviation has provided a decision for GE to optimize engine design. Bin, general Manager and technical director of GE Global Research and Development Center, told 21CBR reporter, through the fault data collection and analysis, it is found that in China's engine failures, including PM10, dust, matte, chlorine and other environmental pollution is one of the main causes of damage to the engine, especially in some inter-city routes, Engine loss is extremely serious. To this end, GE is trying to use new materials and special design to customize the engine for China's environment.

In North America, GE provides flight data monitoring and analysis for several airlines, designed to reduce costs and improve engine safety performance. Recently, GE Airlines also agreed with China Eastern Airlines (2.90, 0.04, 1.4%) to provide a 15-year ONPOINTSM service solution for the ge90-115b engine used by the 20 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, including maintenance, repair and overhaul services. The total value of the service agreement during the contract period is over USD 350 million.

In addition to the "heart" engine of the plane, Honeywell's engineer Tang. Bateman invented the development of enhanced near-earth Warning System (EGPWS), strengthen the GPS positioning function, can be controlled flight crash (CFIT) before the issue of flight warning, as the use of large data to promote aviation security conditions of the model.

The FAA stipulates that all turbo jets must be equipped with EGPWS systems. Honeywell Aerospace Greater China customer business director Ai Qing told 21CBR reporter, before the advent of the system, the major airlines have 7-9 of years of controllable flight crashes, and with the help of the system, in the early 90 the number has been less than 1.

Ai Qing explained that the working principle of the EGPWS global database is to digitize the whole Earth's surface in the form of grid, especially the terrain data around the airport and the runway, corresponding to the specific location and altitude, and to match the flight altitude, speed and other information, and provide anti-collision warning. The EGPWS database, which has accumulated more than 600 million flying hours of global terrain and obstacle data, is updated every month from major airlines, Air Services Authority, government and some data providers to provide more accurate services.

Farewell to the black box?

Throughout the hundred years of human spaceflight history, every technological breakthrough seems to be a little bit of blood marching forward heroic. For example, the black box, which is closely related to the accident investigation, was invented because of the "comet" crash.

Generally speaking, the black box consists of two parts, recording the flight data recorder of the main flight parameters within 25 hours, and the dialogue and voice information of all pilots in the cockpit within 120 minutes before the flight, including the outgoing alarm information of the avionics system appearing in the cabin.

Ai Qing said: "The core technology of the black box is the flight data generated during the flight and the voice information of the cockpit, how to be recorded in the black box, and the second is how to ensure that the data media will not be destroyed in case of anomalies or accidents." ”

Therefore, the black box is the manufacture of a technical battle. "Our current black box is very high pressure and airtight, able to withstand the destructive force of the 3400G acceleration of gravity, and an ordinary person can limit the endurance is only 10G." Therefore, the black box can withstand about 20,000 feet, that is, 6000 meters deep seabed pressure without destroying its storage data, while at 1100 degrees Celsius at high temperature burning can persist for 60 minutes without damage. ”

Ai Qing admits that the importance of the black box does not yet have any equipment to replace, but from a technical point of view, Honeywell is trying to explore multiple.

In the search for MH370, the British satellite communications company, in March this year, Inmarsat, in a new model analysis, extracted key information, such as direction and distance, from the last connection between the flight and the satellite, confirming the plane's fall into the southern Indian Ocean. Although the conclusions still need to be tested by looking for black boxes and wreckage, this is no doubt a new reflection on aviation safety and accident investigation, and the real-time transmission of data from the future efficient network connection may change the way of search and rescue for the crash.

"Imagine that in the course of flight, the parameters can be seamless transmission through the satellite or ground base station, manufacturers, airlines or air traffic Control bureau can be real-time control of flight status and timely warning and data records, the security level will be greatly enhanced." Ai Qing said.

2012, Honeywell and the National Maritime Satellite Organization signed the GX Aerogem Ka-Band network connectivity technology development and airborne hardware equipment production, and will be tested in the next two quarters. Unprecedented network connection speed and bandwidth, coupled with a new satellite communication system, is expected to achieve a complete blind spot in aircraft navigation satellite connections.

In May this year, Honeywell signed a memorandum of understanding with US telephone and Telegraph Corporation (AT&T) to work in depth on air network connectivity and services in an attempt to develop a low-cost, space-based network connectivity solution for passengers, crew and drivers based on 4G The high speed Internet experience of LTE network.

"Regardless of the connection, today's network technology makes it possible to generate a lot of flight data from the cockpit in real time interaction with towers and airline operations centers." Ai Qing does not rule out the maturity of the network technology, there will be new industry changes, such as reducing the air crash analysis of the black box dependence.

Trillion Business opportunities

In all air crashes, the causes of human error accounted for nearly 90%. So, at the beginning of the world's first autopilot, the gyro stabilizer, which was designed by Honeywell scientist Lawrence Sperry in 1914, every technological innovation by the aircraft manufacturers tried to minimise the impact of human factors.

Now the Internet and the outbreak of large data, but also to the development and production of aeronautical machinery and equipment into a new era of intelligence, and the emergence of the traditional aviation industry huge business opportunities.

In 2012, a GE report, "Industrial Internet: Breaking the boundaries of intelligence and machinery", pointed out that the 15-year industrial Internet will have a 15 trillion dollar growth opportunity. In a number of industrial Internet projects launched by GE, the area of business is focused on aviation and medical care.

Honeywell, who is also bullish on the market, is doing well in airborne equipment. At present, the Honeywell Next Generation Flight Management System (NGFMS), which is equipped by British Airways for its Boeing 747-400 fleet, includes Intuvue three-dimensional weather radar, intelligent runway system, air traffic anti-collision system (TCAS) with smarttraffic technology, etc. These are new airborne devices based on EGPWS's large data and analysis that can help British Airways more efficiently plan routes at optimum altitude, Shorten flight planning time, and reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

In fact, the aviation industry giants have long been determined to gamble on the big security deal. According to data, Honeywell invested as much as $1.804 billion in research and development in 2013, while GE spent $2 billion a year on aerospace technology research and development.