IP Library Granted Patent US 12,384,270
Granted Patent B2
US 12,384,270 · App. 18/400,506 · Granted Aug 12, 2025

Systems and methods for determining remaining useful energy in an aircraft

Inventors: Steven J. Foland (Garland, TX); Herman Wiegman (Essex Junction, VT)
Assignee: BETA AIR LLC
G06F1/26B60L58/10B64D27/24B64D43/00G05B19/048G06N3/08B60L2200/10G05B2219/24136
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,384,270
App. No.
18/400,506
Granted
Aug 12, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system for determining remaining useful energy in an electric aircraft, the system including a computing device where the computing device is configured to measure a internal state datum of a battery as a function of at least a sensor, receive the internal state datum from the at least a sensor, generate a useful energy remaining datum as a function of the internal state datum and a battery model, and display the useful energy remaining datum to a user.

Claims (47)

1. A system comprising:

a display; and

a computing device communicably coupled to the display, the computing device configured to:

measure an internal state data of a battery on an aircraft as a function of at least a sensor;

determine a useful energy remaining data of the battery by processing based on the internal state data;

determine a remaining flight range and at least one cruising speed based on a flight path of the aircraft, the useful energy remaining data, and a power consumption rate for the aircraft;

provide the remaining flight range and the at least one cruising speed as a function of the flight path to the display; and

provide a warning message to the display when a current cruising speed of the aircraft exceeds the at least one cruising speed based on a threshold value.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:

determine a depth of discharge of the battery based on the useful energy remaining data; and

provide a hologram of the depth of discharge to the display.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:

generate a battery degradation rate as a function of the internal state data; and

provide the battery degradation rate to the display.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the internal state data is a resistance data and the useful energy remaining data is determined based on the resistance data and a state of charge curve of the battery.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the useful energy remaining data of the battery is determined by processing the internal state data through a machine learning model trained with training data that includes correlations of internal state data and useful energy remaining data of a type of aircraft of the aircraft.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the remaining flight range and the at least one cruising speed based on the flight path of the aircraft is determined by processing the useful energy remaining data and the power consumption rate for the aircraft through a machine learning model trained with training data that includes correlations of useful energy remaining data and power consumption rates of a type of aircraft of the aircraft.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the machine learning model is trained with training data that includes correlation for power consumption rates for multiple cruising speeds of the type of aircraft of the aircraft.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the remaining flight range and the at least one cruising speed determined by processing the flight path of the aircraft, the useful energy remaining data, and the power consumption rate for the aircraft through a machine learning model trained with training data that includes correlations between remaining flight range data and flight path data.

9. A method comprising:

measuring an internal state data of a battery on an aircraft as a function of at least a sensor;

determining a useful energy remaining data of the battery by processing the internal state data through a machine learning model trained with training data that includes correlations of internal state data and useful energy remaining data of a type of aircraft of the aircraft;

determining a remaining flight range and at least one cruising speed based on a flight path of the aircraft, the useful energy remaining data, and a power consumption rate for the aircraft; and

providing the remaining flight range and the at least one cruising speed as a function of the flight path to a display.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining a depth of discharge of the battery based on the useful energy remaining data; and

displaying providing a hologram of the depth of discharge to the display.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the internal state data is a resistance data and the useful energy remaining data is determined based on the resistance data and a state of charge curve of the battery.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the training data is updated at preset intervals.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the remaining flight range and at least one cruising speed based on the flight path of the aircraft is determined by processing the useful energy remaining data and the power consumption rate for the aircraft through a second machine learning model trained with training data that includes correlations between remaining flight range data and flight path data, correlations of useful energy remaining datum and power consumption rates of a type of aircraft of the aircraft, and correlation for power consumption rates for multiple cruising speeds of the type of aircraft of the aircraft.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the machine learning model is a first machine learning model, and

the remaining flight range and the at least one cruising speed based on the flight path of the aircraft is determined by processing the useful energy remaining data and the power consumption rate for the aircraft through a second machine learning model trained with training data that includes correlations between remaining flight range data and flight path data.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

providing a warning message to the display when a current cruising speed of the aircraft exceeds the at least one cruising speed based on a threshold value.

16. A system comprising:

a display; and

a computing device communicably coupled to the display, the computing device configured to:

measure an internal state data of a battery on an aircraft as a function of at least a sensor;

determine a useful energy remaining data of the battery by processing based on the internal state data;

determine a remaining flight range and at least one cruising speed by processing a flight path of the aircraft, the useful energy remaining data, and a power consumption rate for the aircraft through a machine learning model trained with training data that includes correlations between remaining flight range data and flight path data; and

provide the remaining flight range and the at least one cruising speed as a function of the flight path to the display.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the computing device further configured to provide a warning message to the display when a current cruising speed of the aircraft exceeds the at least one cruising speed based on a threshold value.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the machine learning model is a first machine learning model, and

the useful energy remaining data of the battery is determined by processing the internal state data through a second machine learning model trained with training data that includes correlations of internal state data and useful energy remaining data of a type of aircraft of the aircraft.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the machine learning model is a first machine learning model, and

the remaining flight range and the at least one cruising speed based on the flight path of the aircraft is determined by processing the useful energy remaining data and the power consumption rate for the aircraft through a second machine learning model trained with training data that includes correlations of useful energy remaining data and power consumption rates of a type of aircraft of the aircraft.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the second machine learning model is trained with training data that includes correlation for power consumption rates for multiple cruising speeds of the type of aircraft of the aircraft.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 18, 2024
From: FOLAND, STEVEN J.; WIEGMAN, HERMAN
To: BETA AIR LLC.
Reel/Frame 066156/0712 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 17848766 · Jun 24, 2022
Continuation 17404761 · Aug 17, 2021
Related Publication 20240211009A1 · Jun 27, 2024
References Cited (37)
US 5581772A · Nanno · 1996 [cited by examiner]
US 7017061B2 · Lippert · 2006 [cited by examiner]
US 8332342B1 · Saha et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 8855954B1 · Bickford et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 9242728B2 · Morrison · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9529051B2 · Yamada · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9948380B1 · Vos et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10183590B2 · Juang et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10338150B2 · Johnson et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10989087B2 · Yokoi · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 11561596B2 · Graham · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20050138437A1 · Allen · 2005 [cited by examiner]
US 20100312744A1 · Prokhorov · 2010 [cited by examiner]
US 20110059341A1 · Matsumoto · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 20110072292A1 · Khawand · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 20120322419A1 · Gupta · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20150355702A1 · Reade · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20160274637A1 · Kang · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20170023649A1 · You · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20180079516A1 · Phan · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20180188330A1 · Yamamoto · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20180292873A1 · Shimizu · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20190187212A1 · Garcia et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190243931A1 · Feng · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20200339010A1 · Villanueva · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20210073715A1 · Yamada · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20210271303A1 · Vichare · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20210389290A1 · Zhang · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20210407303A1 · Yogesha · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20220063431A1 · Gurusamy · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20220190596A1 · Kim · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20220294027A1 · Choudhary · 2022 [cited by examiner]
Chi, et al., “Battery Charge Depletion Prediction on an Electric Aircraft”, Annual Conference of the Prognostics and Health Management Society, 2013, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
Fredericks, et al., “Supporting Information: Performance Metrics Required of Next-Generation Batteries to Electrify Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Aircraft”, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon Un… [cited by applicant]
Vratny, et al., “Battery Pack Modeling Methods for Universally-Electric Aircraft”, CEAS; 4th CEAS Air & Space Conference; FTF Congress: Flygteknik, Sep. 30, 2013, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 17/404,761, filed Aug. 17, 2021, Issued. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 17/848,766, filed Jun. 24, 2022, Issued. [cited by applicant]