Avionic Touch Screen Interface for Flight Plan Editing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft pilots face inefficiencies in creating and editing flight plans using traditional physical controls like knobs and buttons, which can be cumbersome and require manual adjustments for navigation and flight planning.
Innovation Solution
A touch screen graphical interface that detects physical objects and gestures, allowing pilots to interact with flight plans by selecting, modifying, and adding waypoints, approach, and departure procedures through intuitive touch and gesture recognition, replacing the need for physical controls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional physical controls (knobs and buttons) are used for flight plan creation and editing, then device reliability is maintained, but ease of operation deteriorates due to cumbersome manual adjustments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical controls (knobs and buttons) with a touch screen interface that detects physical objects and gestures. This substitution eliminates the need for separate mechanical input devices while providing more intuitive interaction for flight plan creation and editing, directly improving ease of operation without compromising reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The touch screen serves multiple functions: it displays flight plan information, accepts input for creating new flight plans, enables editing of existing plans, and recognizes various gestures (touch, drag, slide, tap, double tap, circular loop). This multi-functionality consolidates what previously required multiple separate physical controls into a single universal interface, improving ease of operation while managing device complexity
2Productivity
If touch screen interface is implemented for flight plan creation and editing, then productivity is improved through faster and more intuitive operations, but device complexity increases due to gesture recognition and signal processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The touch screen system performs self-service by automatically recognizing gestures and interpreting user intentions without requiring separate control mechanisms. The control device receives signals directly from the touch screen, identifies gesture types (touch, drag, slide, tap, double tap, circular loop), and executes corresponding flight plan operations autonomously, improving productivity while the system manages its own complexity internally
Solution Approach 2:
The control device acts as an intermediary between the touch screen and the flight management system. It receives raw touch signals, processes gesture recognition, interprets user intentions, and commands the flight management system accordingly. This intermediary layer manages the complexity of gesture recognition while enabling productive touch-based operations
3Ease of operation
If multiple gesture types are recognized (touch, drag, slide, tap, double tap, circular loop), then ease of operation is improved through intuitive interactions, but difficulty of detecting and measuring increases due to gesture differentiation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The touch screen system employs dynamic gesture recognition that adapts to different user inputs. It detects various gesture types (touch, drag, slide, tap, double tap, circular loop) by monitoring temporal and spatial characteristics of physical object movements. The system dynamically adjusts its detection parameters to differentiate between gesture types, making operation intuitive while managing the complexity of detection through adaptive processing
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus having a graphical touch screen for flight planning and navigation of an aircraft by a pilot. The touch screen may be a graphical interface operable to detect the presence and location of a physical object on or in proximity to the touch screen. The touch screen may be used to perform functions previously only accessible by knobs and buttons on avionic navigational and/or flight planning units. The apparatus may comprise the touch screen and a control device configured to receive and interpret signals from the touch screen. The control device may command the touch screen to display a map and to modify a stored route, such as a flight plan, based on pilot selections input via various gestures of the object on or proximate to the touch screen.