Aircraft Border-Sensing Navigation for Low-Light Taxiway Guidance

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional autonomous navigation systems for aircraft are time-intensive, computationally demanding, and less reliable in inclement weather or low light conditions, necessitating more efficient and environmentally resilient navigation solutions.

Innovation Solution

A navigation system for aircraft utilizing a light source and sensor to reflect light from a surface, generating data that maps light intensities to positions, identifying borders between paved and unpaved areas, and using statistical techniques to determine navigation paths based on these borders.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Extent of automation

If visible light cameras are used to capture and analyze images to identify runways or taxiways, then navigation can be performed autonomously, but the process becomes time-intensive and computationally demanding

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveautonomous navigationVSAvoidtime-intensive processing

Core Design Contradiction:

Extent of automationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential border detection task from full image analysis. Instead of analyzing all pixels in captured images, the system specifically identifies border regions between paved and unpaved surfaces, reducing computational scope while maintaining autonomous navigation capability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the image processing task into distinct components: border detection, border verification, and navigation decision-making. This segmentation allows the system to focus computational resources on the most critical aspect (border identification) rather than processing the entire image comprehensively

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Extent of automation

If visible light cameras are used to capture and analyze images to identify runways or taxiways, then navigation can be performed autonomously, but the system becomes computationally demanding

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveautonomous navigationVSAvoidcomputational demand

Core Design Contradiction:

Extent of automationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Rather than analyzing the entire image to find borders, the system inverts the approach by looking for characteristic border patterns and verifying them against expected geometric properties. This inversion reduces computational complexity by focusing on what borders should look like rather than searching through all possible image features

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

3Extent of automation

If visible light cameras are used to capture images for navigation, then the system can identify runways or taxiways, but reliability decreases in inclement weather such as rain or snow or in low light conditions

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveautonomous navigationVSAvoidperformance in adverse conditions

Core Design Contradiction:

Extent of automationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces passive visible light camera systems with an active illumination system using lasers. This substitution allows the system to actively illuminate the target area rather than relying on ambient light, enabling reliable operation in low light conditions and improving contrast between paved and unpaved surfaces regardless of weather conditions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

Improves navigation efficiency and computational resource use, enhancing performance in low light and adverse weather conditions.

Implementation Method 1

illuminating a surface using the light source to cause light to be reflected from the surface; detecting the light and generating data representing the light using the light sensor

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectLight reflection: Reflection

Data Source

PatentEP3958237B1Navigation systems and methods for operation

Publication Date: 2025.10.08 AURORA FLIGHT SCIENCES CORP

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AI summary

A navigation system for an aircraft includes a light source, a light sensor, one or more processors, and a computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the navigation system to perform functions. The functions include illuminating a surface using the light source to cause light to be reflected from the surface and detecting the light and generating data representing the light using the light sensor. The data maps intensities of the light to respective positions on the surface. The functions further include identifying within the data a subset of the data that corresponds to a border and causing navigation of the aircraft based on a position of the border indicated by the subset of the data.