Method and device for interactively displaying flight program in EFB

Abstract

The invention discloses a method and a device for interactively displaying a flight program in an EFB. Belongs to the field of electric digital data processing. Comprising the following steps: analyzing a PDF chart file to obtain a marked text; basic information of the chart is extracted from the marked text; extracting waypoints and calculating a coordinate conversion relation; extracting line segments to form track segments and combining the track segments into a flight track; and combining the basic information of the chart and the flight path to form flight program data. According to the method, the flight program can be accurately retrieved in the EFB, the flight path can be highlighted on the PDF chart, the chart reading efficiency of a pilot is improved, and the flight safety is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of flight procedure data processing, in particular to a method and device for interactively displaying flight procedures in an EFB. BACKGROUND

[0002] An electronic flight bag (EFB) is a portable tablet computer device used by pilots to consult aviation data in the cockpit. Flight procedures include standard instrument departure procedures, approach procedures and arrival procedures, which specify the flight trajectory and height, speed and other flight parameters of an aircraft during takeoff and landing. They are important information that pilots must consult during takeoff and landing. PDF format charts are the carriers of flight procedures published by official authorities of various countries. Pilots have always consulted PDF charts on EFB devices to understand detailed information of flight procedures.

[0003] On the one hand, in order to facilitate use in the small space of the cockpit, the maximum size of an EFB device does not exceed A4 paper. On the other hand, with the increasing busy degree of airport airspace, flight procedures drawn on charts are increasingly dense, and often ten or even dozens of flight procedures are crowded on a chart, with flight trajectories intersecting each other, and no distinction between line thickness and color. Although EFB supports chart zooming and other operations, pilots still make mistakes and miss flight procedures from time to time, which poses a safety hazard.

[0004] Although the prior art can generate flight procedure graphics by ARINC424 encoding or AIXM5.1 data and display them in EFB, there is no uniform standard for default parameters introduced in the graphic generation process, and the shapes of generated flight procedure trajectories are different, which cannot completely coincide with flight procedures in PDF charts. Moreover, the accuracy and compliance of flight procedure trajectories generated directly from data cannot be compared with PDF charts published by civil aviation authorities of various countries, and they cannot serve as legal flight data for pilots.

[0005] All countries publish charts in accordance with the chart compilation standards stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization, and information such as the name of a flight procedure, the corresponding runway, the navigation mode, the start / endpoint of a flight procedure, and the like, which is convenient for screening flight procedures, is only marked in the chart. Therefore, the chart directory of the current EFB device mainly includes airports, approach / departure / arrival types, chart Figure Three directories, and charts as the minimum screening condition. Pilots cannot quickly locate a chart or a flight procedure according to the name of a flight procedure, the corresponding runway, the start / endpoint of a flight procedure, the navigation mode and the like, and can only search for a flight procedure by eye when opening a PDF chart. During the process of operating an aircraft for takeoff and landing, this inefficient method of consulting flight procedures has a great impact on flight efficiency and safety.

[0006] Citation Document 1: Chinese Invention Patent, "A method for drawing flight procedures in EFB", authorized publication number: CN115390981B. This invention discloses a method for generating AIXM5.1 format flight procedure data from terminal area charts, parsing and generating GeoJson graphic data, and displaying flight procedures on the graphic component of EFB. The drawbacks of this method are that it requires pre-reading and manually compiling chart information into AIXM5.1 code, which cannot achieve complete automation. Secondly, the method introduces default climb rate, default speed, default radius and other preset values in the process of generating GeoJson graphic data, and the generated trajectory cannot completely coincide with the flight trajectory in the PDF chart. Finally, the flight trajectory graph generated by the GeoJson data driven by this method is not authenticated, and compared with the official published PDF chart, it lacks compliance.

[0007] Citation Document 2: Chinese Invention Patent Application, "A portable electronic flight bag system suitable for large aircraft platform", publication number: CN114443572A. This invention application discloses a portable electronic flight bag system, which manages airport charts with a data module and can only display charts in PDF file format, and cannot highlight or plot flight trajectories on the chart. SUMMARY

[0008] To solve the problem that the PDF chart displayed in EFB cannot perform fine condition retrieval on flight procedures, and cannot highlight a single flight procedure on the PDF chart, the method and device of the present application automatically extract flight procedure trajectories and marked text from terminal area chart PDF files, accurately retrieve flight procedures on EFB devices according to runway, navigation mode, flight procedure name or start / end point, and display the selected flight procedure in a highlighted manner on the PDF chart, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of pilots reading charts in the air and improving flight safety.

[0009] In a first aspect, the present application provides a method for interactively displaying flight procedures in EFB, comprising the following steps:

[0010] S1: Analyzing a PDF format terminal area chart file to obtain a marked text with a fixed structure.

[0011] S2: Extracting the airport, runway and navigation mode of the chart from the marked text according to a preset chart template.

[0012] S3: Extracting the names and sheet coordinates of all waypoints from the marked text, and generating a conversion relationship between sheet coordinates and latitude and longitude coordinates.

[0013] Further, the steps include:

[0014] S3-1: Select the two farthest waypoints from the waypoint set, extract the latitude and longitude coordinates of the waypoints from the waypoint data set published by the civil aviation authority according to the waypoint name; calculate the map distance according to the map coordinates of the two waypoints, calculate the actual distance according to the latitude and longitude coordinates, and calculate the map scale = map distance / actual distance, so as to calculate the map scale. According to the map coordinates of the first waypoint, the map distance and direction of the point to the map origin (the lower left corner of the map) are calculated, and the actual distance of the point to the map origin is calculated according to the scale, and then the latitude and longitude coordinates of the map origin are calculated.

[0015] S3-2: Calculate the latitude and longitude coordinates of the third point on the map according to the scale and the latitude and longitude of the map origin. Longitude Lon = Lon0 + (X*Sc) / (R*cos(Lat0)); Latitude Lat = Lat0 + (Y*Sc) / R; Where Lon0 and Lat0 are the longitude and latitude of the map origin, X and Y are the map coordinates of the third point, Sc is the map scale, and R is the radius of the earth.

[0016] S4: Extract the map coordinates of all types of line elements from the marked text, and convert the line segments into track segments.

[0017] Further, the steps include:

[0018] S4-1: Calculate the length and direction of the line segment according to the map coordinates of the line segment. Set the line segment with a length greater than the threshold value λ as a straight track segment. Set the line segment with a length less than or equal to λ as a curve segment, and combine the curve segments with the same direction and incrementally increasing or decreasing direction into an arc track segment. Calculate the center coordinates and radius of the arc track segment, and regenerate all points on the arc track segment according to the center coordinates and radius.

[0019] S4-2: Convert the map coordinates of all points on the track segment to latitude and longitude coordinates according to the coordinate conversion relationship, and calculate the actual distance of the track segment according to the latitude and longitude coordinates.

[0020] S5: Extract the flight procedure name, name position and name character direction from the marked text to generate a graphic text unit, match the graphic text unit with the track segment, and combine the track segments to generate a flight track.

[0021] Further, the steps include:

[0022] S5-1: Compare the graphic text unit with the track segment. If the name position is less than the threshold value δ from the position of the track segment, and the name character direction is the same as the direction of the track segment, then the track segment is named as the flight procedure name.

[0023] S5-2: combine the multiple trajectory segments with the same name into one flight trajectory, and set the name of the flight trajectory as the flight procedure name.

[0024] S5-3: for the flight trajectory with breakpoints, insert the trajectory segments without name but connecting the breakpoints of the flight trajectory into the flight trajectory.

[0025] S5-4: name the start point and the end point of the flight trajectory as the name of the waypoint coinciding with the start point or the end point position.

[0026] S6: combine the airport, runway, navigation mode, chart file name, flight procedure name, flight trajectory start point, flight trajectory end point and flight trajectory to generate flight procedure data.

[0027] In the second aspect, the application provides a device for interactively displaying flight procedures in an EFB, comprising:

[0028] a file storage module for storing all terminal area chart files for pilots to browse.

[0029] a database module for storing flight procedure data and waypoint data sets.

[0030] an interactive module for presenting data options of four levels of airport, runway, navigation mode and flight procedure start point or end point in the interface, and being configured to present lower level data options in the interface according to the selection.

[0031] a file processing module for obtaining the airport selected by the user from the interactive module, extracting the terminal area chart file corresponding to the airport from the file storage module, processing the chart file according to the above method, and storing the generated flight procedure data into the database module.

[0032] a graphics module for responding to the selection operation of the user in the interactive module, retrieving the flight trajectory from the database module, and retrieving the corresponding chart file from the file storage module, loading the chart file into the graphics module, and loading the flight trajectory into the graphics module in high resolution color.

[0033] Further, the graphics module further comprises: responding to the operation of the user simultaneously selecting the start point and the end point of the flight procedure in the interactive module: retrieving the approach flight procedure satisfying the start point and the end point conditions from the database module, and simultaneously displaying the approach flight procedure and the approach flight procedure and the corresponding chart.

[0034] Further, the graphics module further comprises: according to the scaling ratio, the translation distance and the rotation angle of the chart, performing mapping matrix transformation operation and updating the sheet coordinates of the flight procedure trajectory, so that the size and position changes of the flight procedure trajectory are consistent with the chart.

[0035] In a third aspect, the present application provides a portable electronic device, comprising: at least one processor, a memory and a touch display screen.

[0036] The memory is used for storing computer execution instructions.

[0037] The processor is used for executing the method for interactively displaying a flight procedure in the EFB.

[0038] The touch display screen is used for implementing the interaction module and the graphic module.

[0039] The present application has the following advantages: The method provided by the present application realizes extraction of structured text directly from an official published PDF aeronautical chart file, and automatic generation of flight procedure data and a trajectory according to the extracted text, and the extracted trajectory is completely coincident with the PDF aeronautical chart, thereby avoiding the situation that the flight trajectory generated by other methods through default parameters is inconsistent with the published flight procedure of the aeronautical chart. In addition, according to the method and the extracted data, the EFB device and the equipment provided by the present application realize fine search of a runway, a flight procedure name and a start / endpoint of a flight procedure, can accurately match the selected flight procedure in a complex aeronautical chart, and can display the trajectory of the selected flight procedure on the PDF original drawing in high light superposition, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of pilots in checking the aeronautical chart and improving flight safety. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0040] Figure 1 Main step diagram of the method for generating flight procedure data for the present embodiment.

[0041] Figure 2 Flowchart of the method for generating flight procedure data for the present embodiment.

[0042] Figure 3 Trajectory diagram of all flight procedures generated for the present embodiment.

[0043] Figure 4 Module composition diagram of the device for the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present application clearer, further detailed description will be made to the present application in combination with the drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used for explaining the present application, and are not used for limiting the present application.

[0045] Currently, pilots mainly retrieve and browse flight procedures through PDF charts displayed in EFB, and with more and more flight procedures on the charts, the way of retrieving flight procedures by pilots through naked eyes is very time-consuming, and the selected flight procedure track cannot be highlighted on the chart, and the intersection and overlapping section between flight tracks on the chart are numerous and the line color and thickness are the same, which is very easy to cause confusion and omission. This traditional flight procedure retrieval and display method causes serious trouble to pilots.

[0046] Based on this, the present application provides a method and device for interactively displaying flight procedures in EFB, which can automatically extract flight procedure information from chart PDF files, and perform fine condition retrieval and superimposed highlight display of flight tracks and charts in EFB, thereby improving the reading efficiency of pilots and improving safety.

[0047] An embodiment of the present application is to adopt the method and device for interactively displaying flight procedures in EFB.

[0048] As shown in Figure 1 , the method of an embodiment of the present application comprises the following steps: S1: parsing a PDF chart file to obtain a marked text; S2: extracting an airport, a runway and a navigation mode; S3: extracting a waypoint to generate a coordinate conversion relationship; S4: extracting a line segment and converting it into a track segment; S5: combining track segments to generate a flight track; S6: generating flight procedure data.

[0049] The detailed processing process of the embodiment method is shown in Figure 2 .

[0050] S1: parsing the ZBAA airport departure chart PDF file to obtain the marked text in Markdown format.

[0051] S2: according to a preset chart template, extracting an airport, a runway and a navigation mode of the chart from the marked text.

[0052] As according to the position of each item content in the chart template, the airport name, runway = "RWY01 / 36L / 36R", and navigation mode = "RNAV" are parsed from the marked file.

[0053] S3: extracting the name and sheet coordinates of all waypoints from the marked text, and generating a conversion relationship between the sheet coordinates and the latitude and longitude coordinates.

[0054] S3-1: Calculate the distance between each point according to the sheet coordinates, and determine the two points with the farthest distance: BOTPU and IGMOR points, whose sheet coordinates are (47, 149) and (288, 12), respectively. The latitude and longitude coordinates of the two points are (N395938, E1172849) and (N384911, E1180127), respectively, which are obtained from the published route point data set of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

[0055] S3-2: Calculate the latitude and longitude coordinates of any third point on the map, such as AA437, whose sheet coordinates are (72, 189). The process of calculating the latitude and longitude coordinates of AA437 is as follows: According to the latitude and longitude coordinates of BOTPU and IGMORP, the actual distance between the two points is 225000 meters; According to the sheet coordinates, the distance between BOTPU and IGMORP on the map is 277 millimeters; The map scale Sc is calculated as: (277 / 225000000) = 1:812274; The map distance from BOTPU to the origin point P0 (the lower left corner of the map) is 156 millimeters, and the direction is 72.5°. According to the scale, the distance from BOTPU to P0 is 126714 meters, and the latitude and longitude coordinates of the origin point P0 are (Lat0 = N393804, Lon0 = E1140355).

[0056] The horizontal actual distance Xm of AA437 to the origin point P0 is 58484 meters, and the vertical actual distance Ym is 153520 meters; Calculate the latitude and longitude coordinates of P3: longitude Lon = Lon0 + Xm / (R×cos(Lat0)); latitude Lat = Lat0+ Ym / R; where R is the Earth's radius 6371393 meters; The latitude and longitude coordinates of AA437 are (N401803, E1154459).

[0057] According to the above process, the latitude and longitude coordinates of any point on the map can be calculated.

[0058] S4: Extract the sheet coordinates of all types of line elements from the marked text, and convert the line segments into trajectory segments.

[0059] S4-1: Calculate the length and direction of the line segment according to the sheet coordinates of the line segment. Set the length threshold λ = 1 centimeter, and set the line segment with a length greater than 1 centimeter as a straight trajectory segment, and set the line segment with a length less than 1 centimeter as a curve segment. Merge the curve segments with the same direction and incrementally increasing or decreasing direction into an arc trajectory segment.

[0060] The center coordinates and radius of the arc trajectory segment are calculated, and all points on the arc trajectory segment are regenerated according to the center coordinates and radius.

[0061] S4-2: According to the conversion relationship, the sheet coordinates of all points on the trajectory segment are converted into latitude and longitude coordinates, and the actual distance of the trajectory segment is calculated according to the latitude and longitude coordinates.

[0062] S5: Extract the flight procedure name, name position and name character direction from the marked text to generate a graphic-text unit, match the graphic-text unit with the trajectory segment, and combine each trajectory segment to generate a flight trajectory.

[0063] S5-1: Set the position threshold δ=5mm, if the position distance between the graphic-text unit and the trajectory segment is less than 5mm, and the name character direction is the same as the direction of the trajectory segment, then the trajectory segment is named as the flight procedure name.

[0064] S5-2: Combine multiple trajectory segments with the same flight procedure name into one flight trajectory, such as the departure flight procedure ELKUR-9YD from the runway to the ELKUR point.

[0065] S5-3: For non-consecutive flight trajectories, insert the trajectory segment without flight procedure name but connected to the flight trajectory into the flight trajectory.

[0066] The trajectory of ELKUR-9YD has a breakpoint between AA452 and AA435 points without a marked flight procedure name, and the straight line trajectory segment AA452-AA435 is inserted into the flight trajectory of the flight procedure ELKUR-9YD.

[0067] S5-4: Name the starting point and ending point of the flight trajectory as the name of the waypoint coinciding with the position of the starting point or ending point: set the starting point of the flight trajectory ELKUR-9YD as empty, and the ending point as ELKUR.

[0068] As shown in Figure 3 , extract the marked text and process all generated flight trajectories.

[0069] S6: Combine the airport, runway, navigation mode, chart file name, flight procedure name, flight trajectory starting point, flight trajectory ending point and flight trajectory to generate flight procedure data.

[0070] The airport name, runway "RWY01 / 36L / 36R", navigation mode "RNAV", chart file name "ZBAAAD2.24-7A", flight procedure name ELKUR-9YD, flight trajectory ending point ELKUR and all point coordinates on the flight trajectory are combined into a complete flight procedure data.

[0071] As shown in Figure 4As shown, the device of an embodiment of the present application comprises:

[0072] File storage module: for storing all terminal area chart files for pilots to browse.

[0073] Database module: for storing flight procedure data and waypoint data sets.

[0074] Interaction module: for presenting data options of four levels of airports, runways, navigation modes and flight procedure start or end points in the interface; and configured to respond to selection operations to present lower-level data options in the interface according to the selection.

[0075] The screenshot of the device of the present embodiment, the left side is the interaction module, presenting a cascading menu for fine screening of flight procedures, and the pilot can select the airport ZBAA, the runway RUNWAY 36L, the flight procedure track end point IDKEX, the navigation mode RNAV, and the precise location of the 36L runway of the airport IDKE5Y from the interface in sequence.

[0076] File processing module: for obtaining the airport selected by the user from the interaction module, extracting the terminal area chart file corresponding to the airport from the file storage module, processing the chart file according to the method, and storing the generated flight procedure data into the database module.

[0077] Graphical module: for responding to the selection operation of the user in the interaction module; retrieving the flight track from the database module; retrieving the corresponding chart file from the file storage module. Loading the chart file to the graphical module, and loading the flight track in high-resolution color to the graphical module.

[0078] The screenshot of the electronic device of the present embodiment, the right side is the graphical module, according to the selection of the user in the left interaction module, the ZBAA airport AD2.24-7A.pdf chart file is loaded in the right graphical module first, and the complete flight track of the flight procedure IDKE5Y is highlighted and plotted on the PDF chart.

[0079] The graphical module further comprises: responding to the operation of the user simultaneously selecting the start point and the end point of the flight procedure in the interaction module: retrieving the approach flight procedure meeting the start point and end point conditions from the database module, and the approach flight procedure with the end point as the start point. Displaying the approach flight procedure and the approach flight procedure and the corresponding chart at the same time.

[0080] The graphical module further comprises: according to the zoom ratio, the translation distance and the rotation angle of the chart, performing mapping matrix transformation operation and updating the sheet coordinates of the flight procedure track, so that the flight procedure track and the chart always maintain consistent relative positions.

[0081] The above is only an embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the present invention in any form. Any simple modifications, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiment based on the technical essence of the present invention still fall within the scope of protection of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for interactively displaying a flight procedure in an EFB, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: S1: Parse the terminal area chart file in PDF format to obtain the marked text with a fixed structure; S2: extracting the airport, runway and navigation mode of the chart from the marked text according to a preset chart template; S3: extracting the names and map coordinates of all waypoints from the marked text, and generating a conversion relationship between the map coordinates and the latitude and longitude coordinates; S4: extracting all graphic elements of the line segment type from the marked text, and converting the line segments into trajectory segments; S5: extracting the flight program name, name position, and name text direction from the marked text to generate a graphic unit; matching the graphic unit with the trajectory segment, and combining the trajectory segments to generate a flight trajectory; S6: Generate flight procedure data by combining the airport, runway, navigation mode, chart file name, flight procedure name, flight track starting point, flight track ending point and flight track.

2. The method for interactively displaying a flight procedure in an EFB according to claim 1, wherein: The conversion relationship derivation process described in S3 is: S3-1: selecting two waypoints that are farthest from each other from the waypoints, and extracting the latitude and longitude coordinates of the waypoints from a waypoint dataset published by the civil aviation authority based on the waypoint names; Calculating the map sheet distance based on the map sheet coordinates of the two waypoints, calculating the actual distance based on the latitude and longitude coordinates, and thus calculating the map scale; and then calculating the latitude and longitude coordinates of the map sheet origin; S3-2: Based on the chart scale and the longitude and latitude of the chart origin, calculate the longitude and latitude coordinates of the third point on the chart using the following formula: Longitude Lon = Lon0 + (X×Sc) / (R×cos(Lat0)); Latitude Lat = Lat0 + (Y×Sc) / R; Wherein, Lon0 and Lat0 are the longitude and latitude of the origin of the map sheet, X and Y are the map sheet coordinates of the third point, Sc is the aeronautical chart scale, and R is the radius of the earth.

3. The method for interactively displaying a flight procedure in an EFB according to claim 1, wherein: The process of converting line segments into trajectory segments in S4 includes: S4-1: Calculate the length and direction of the line segment based on the map coordinates of the line segment; set the line segment whose length exceeds the threshold λ as a straight trajectory segment; set the line segment whose length is less than or equal to λ as a curve segment, merge the curve segments that are connected end to end and whose directions increase or decrease by the same amount into an arc trajectory segment; calculate the center coordinates and radius of the arc trajectory segment, and regenerate all points on the arc trajectory segment based on the center coordinates and radius; S4-2: According to the conversion relationship, the map coordinates of all points on the track segment are converted into longitude and latitude coordinates, and the actual distance of the track segment is calculated based on the longitude and latitude coordinates.

4. The method for interactively displaying a flight program in an EFB according to claim 1, wherein S5 include: S5-1: Compare the graphic unit with the trajectory segment. If the distance between the name position of the graphic unit and the trajectory segment is less than a threshold δ, and the direction of the graphic unit name is the same as the direction of the trajectory segment, then name the trajectory segment as the flight program name. S5-2: combining multiple trajectory segments with the same name into a flight trajectory, and setting the name of the flight trajectory to the name of the flight program; S5-3: For a flight trajectory with a breakpoint, insert a trajectory segment that has no name but is connected to the breakpoint of the flight trajectory into the flight trajectory; S5-4: Name the start and end points of the flight trajectory as the waypoints that coincide with the start or end point locations.

5. A device for interactively displaying flight procedures in an EFB, characterized in that: include: File storage module: used to store all terminal area chart files for pilots to browse; A database module: used for storing the flight program data described in the method for interactively displaying a flight program in an EFB according to claim 1 and the waypoint data set described in step S3-1 of the method for interactively displaying a flight program in an EFB according to claim 2; Interaction module: used to present data options at four levels in the interface: airport, runway, navigation mode, and flight procedure start or end point; and is configured to respond to a selection operation and present subordinate data options in the interface according to the selection; A file processing module is used to obtain the airport selected by the user from the interactive module, extract the terminal area chart file corresponding to the airport from the file storage module, process the chart file according to the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and store the generated flight procedure data in the database module; The graphics module is configured to respond to user selections in the interactive module; retrieve the flight trajectory generated in step S5 of the method for interactively displaying a flight program in an EFB as claimed in claim 1 from the database module; retrieve the corresponding chart file from the file storage module; load the chart file into the graphics module, and then load the flight trajectory into the graphics module in high-resolution color.

6. The device for interactively displaying a flight procedure in an EFB according to claim 5, wherein: The graphic module is configured to respond to the user's operation of simultaneously selecting the starting point and end point of the flight procedure in the interactive module; retrieve from the database module an approach flight procedure that meets the starting point and end point conditions and an approach flight procedure with the end point as the starting point; and simultaneously display the approach flight procedure and the corresponding flight chart.

7. The device for interactively displaying a flight procedure in an EFB according to claim 5, wherein: The graphics module is configured to perform mapping matrix transformation operations and update the map coordinates of the flight program trajectory according to the scaling ratio, translation distance and rotation angle of the chart, so that the size and position changes of the flight program trajectory are consistent with the chart.

8. A portable electronic device, characterized in that: including at least one processor, memory and touch display; The memory stores computer-executable instructions; The processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform the method for interactively displaying a flight procedure in an EFB according to any one of claims 1 to 4; The touch display screen is configured to implement the interaction module and the graphic module in the apparatus for interactively displaying a flight procedure in an EFB as claimed in claim 5 .

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