Aircraft Viewing Device with Transparent Danger Zone Overlay
Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for representing the aircraft environment require multiple dedicated viewing screens and lack a unified display for correlating and prioritizing graphical data from various applications, leading to potential masking of critical information and increased pilot workload in recognizing danger zones.
Innovation Solution
A device that integrates and overlays graphical data from different applications using a common display with color-coded and transparently rendered danger zones, allowing for a unified representation of environmental and cartographic data on a single screen, preserving the integrity of information and enhancing visual comfort and decision-making.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple dedicated viewing screens are used for different applications, then each application can be displayed with full detail, but the device complexity increases and the pilot workload increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple application displays (TAWS, WXR, cartographic data) into a single viewing screen by overlaying their graphical representations. Each application's data is rendered as transparent or semi-transparent layers that can be simultaneously viewed, eliminating the need for multiple dedicated screens while preserving all information.
Solution Approach 2:
The viewing screen is designed to serve multiple functions simultaneously by displaying different application data types (terrain awareness, weather radar, cartographic information) on the same display device. The screen becomes a universal interface that handles diverse graphical representations through overlay technology.
2Device complexity
If multiple graphical representations are overlaid on the same screen, then device complexity is reduced, but critical information may be masked by other data layers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different transparency qualities to different zones or layers of graphical data on the display. Critical information layers can be rendered with higher opacity or adjustable transparency levels, allowing pilots to prioritize certain data types while still viewing overlapping information. This local differentiation of visual properties prevents complete masking of critical data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses color coding and transparency variations to differentiate between various data layers and their relative importance. By assigning distinct color schemes and transparency levels to different applications, the system maintains information distinguishability even when multiple representations are overlaid on the same screen.
3Reliability
If multiple dedicated viewing screens are used for different applications, then information integrity is maintained, but the pilot workload increases in recognizing danger zones
Solution Approach 1:
By merging multiple application displays into a single overlay view, the patent reduces the pilot's cognitive and physical workload. Instead of switching between multiple screens or memorizing the positions of critical information across different displays, the pilot views all relevant data simultaneously in one integrated display, improving situational awareness and reducing operational burden.
Data Source
AI summary
Device for viewing the aerial environment for aircraft, including a display, a processor and memory configured to generate and to provide a first data processing resource, the data being a graphical representation of the aerial environment composed of colored zones, each color being associated with a danger level for the aircraft, said data comprising environmental data; and a second data processing resource for cartographic data. The device further comprises a graphical mixer to overlay the graphical representation arising from the environmental data onto a representation of the cartographic data on one viewing screen, each zone of a color of the representation of environmental data having a transparency coefficient dependent on the danger level.