Calculation of an optimized freight configuration for aircraft
At a glance
- Project leader : Dr. Helmut Sedding
- Project budget : CHF 15'000
- Project status : ongoing
- Funding partner : Innosuisse (Innovationsscheck / Projekt Nr. 70509.1 INNO-IC)
- Contact person : Helmut Sedding
Description
When loading an aircraft freight hold, the space should be used as efficiently as possible. For this it is important to take account of spatial dimension, volume and weight of goods such as pallets and crates. There is an excessively large number of possible arrangements, which is why packing optimization has long been a well-known field of research.
There are however specific requirements that cannot be solved with known 2D/3D packing algorithms. The shape of the aircraft envelope results in special conditions for possible placement. Moreover, the weight of goods exerts a position-dependent leverage effect on the aircraft wings and thus influences stability and fuel consumption of the aircraft. The weights must be balanced accordingly.
The project is now to develop algorithms that can calculate an optimized loading configuration and loading sequence.