Aircraft Virtual Windows Using Optical Waveguides to Reduce Weight
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft window systems increase weight, drag, and maintenance costs while compromising passenger comfort and image quality due to the use of numerous external cameras, which are vulnerable to environmental damage.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing optical couplers and waveguides to capture and transmit external light through the fuselage, combined with digital image reconstruction and hybrid displays to provide a virtual window experience, offering high-quality images and reduced physical apertures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional aircraft windows are used, then passenger comfort and view quality are improved, but aircraft weight and manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy of the external environment captured by optical sensors and transmits it through optical waveguides to displays inside the aircraft. This virtual window system replicates the visual experience of conventional windows without requiring physical aperture openings, thereby reducing weight while maintaining passenger comfort and view quality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical optical system of conventional windows (glass panes, frames, seals) with an electronic-optical system consisting of digital sensors, waveguides, and displays. This substitution eliminates the need for heavy structural components while preserving the window function of providing external views
2Weight of stationary object
If external cameras are used to create virtual windows, then the number of physical apertures is reduced, but image quality deteriorates and cameras are exposed to environmental damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces optical waveguides as intermediary elements that transmit light directly from the external environment through the fuselage to internal displays. This intermediary optical transmission path eliminates the need for exposed external cameras, protecting the imaging function from environmental damage while maintaining image quality
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of placing cameras outside the aircraft to capture images and transmitting electronic signals inside, the patent inverts the approach by using optical waveguides to transmit actual light photons directly through the fuselage to displays. This reversal maintains superior image quality by capturing real light rather than processed electronic images, while eliminating external camera exposure to environmental factors
3Measurement precision
If multiple external cameras are deployed for high-quality virtual windows, then view quality improves, but air drag and manufacturing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex electronic camera systems with a simpler optical waveguide transmission system. By using optical fibers or waveguide structures to transmit light directly, the system achieves high image quality without requiring multiple complex camera assemblies, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity and air drag while maintaining measurement precision
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
This solution reduces aircraft weight and maintenance costs while enhancing passenger experience with high-quality virtual windows, enabling seamless connectivity and potential for 3D displays and interactive metaverse interactions.
Implementation Method 1
optical waveguides arranged through the fuselage to transmit the captured light from the optical couplers through the fuselage
Implementation Method 2
an optical beam expander configured to receive the captured light from at least one of the optical waveguides, to expand the captured light into a light beam carrying a visual live image
Implementation Method 3
the shared screen is semi-transparent to transmit the visual live image provided by the optical beam expander
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4~6
Figure 7
AI summary
A system for displaying a view of an external environment of an aircraft inside the aircraft comprises several optical couplers distributed across an outer surface of a fuselage of the aircraft and configured to capture light from the external environment of the aircraft; optical waveguides arranged through the fuselage to transmit the captured light from the optical couplers through the fuselage; at least one display arranged on the inside of the fuselage; and at least one of: a processing unit configured to receive the captured light from several of the optical waveguides, to reconstruct a digital live image of the external environment by combining optical information contained in the captured light across the respective optical couplers and to display the digital live image on the at least one display; and an optical beam expander configured to receive the captured light from at least one of the optical waveguides, to expand the captured light into a light beam carrying a visual live image of the external environment and to project the visual live image on the at least one display.