System and method of automatic piloting for refueling in flight of an airplane, and airplane that includes said system

摘要

An automatic pilot system (15) configured to be installed in a receiving plane (1) to control a refueling operation of the receiving plane (1), including a first passive optical device (8), to be arranged in the receiving plane ( 1) and configured to acquire first geometric information associated with a first detection zone (22) and a second detection zone (24) belonging to an oil plane (20), said first and second detection zones being related to each other by a geometric relationship known by the automatic pilot system (15), characterized in that it also includes: - a processing means (14), configured to determine, based on the first geometric information acquired, first position information associated with a relative position of the receiving plane (1) with respect to the oil plane (20) executing a first triangulation operation based on the first geometrical information ica acquired; and - an autopilot device (2) coupled to said processing means (14) and configured to vary, based on the first position information, flight parameters of the receiving aircraft (1), including controlling the receiving aircraft in approximation a, and in alignment with, the oil plane to carry out said refueling operation in flight.