Conformal Traffic Target Display with Perspective View
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current graphical displays in craft operations, such as aircraft or submarines, inadequately represent the relative location of traffic targets, limiting the operator's ability to quickly determine potential threats and navigate effectively, especially in situations with multiple targets.
Innovation Solution
A perspective view conformal display system that uses layered icon sizes and indexing lines to provide quick and easy access to depth and relational position data of traffic targets, where closer targets appear larger and indexing lines indicate altitude, ascension rate, or direction, enhancing depth perception and threat assessment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If current display technology is used to show traffic target locations, then sensor data can be displayed, but the relative location and depth information of targets cannot be adequately represented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from traditional 2D display representations to a 3D perspective view that incorporates depth information. Targets are rendered with varying sizes and positions based on their actual distance from the craft, allowing operators to perceive relative location and depth relationships directly on the display without additional complexity in the underlying sensor system.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the display are used to represent different depth ranges. The system applies conformal projection where closer targets appear larger and more detailed while farther targets are smaller, creating local variations in display quality that correspond to spatial relationships. This allows accurate representation of relative position without requiring uniform high-resolution rendering across the entire display.
2Productivity
If traditional display representations are used, then display area is maintained, but operators cannot quickly determine which targets pose the greatest threats
Solution Approach 1:
By implementing a 3D perspective view on the display, the system encodes depth information through the vertical position and size of target representations. Operators can immediately assess threat levels by observing the relative positions and sizes of targets on the display, eliminating the need to manually interpret additional depth data while maintaining full display area utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs color coding to indicate different depth ranges and target priorities. Targets at different distances are rendered in different colors or color intensities, allowing operators to quickly identify closest and most threatening targets through color differentiation rather than requiring detailed positional analysis.
3Loss of information
If conformal display with varying icon sizes is implemented, then depth perception is enhanced, but processor load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies conformal projection by varying the size parameter of target icons based on their distance from the craft. This parameter change directly encodes depth information in a way that is intuitively understood by operators. The processor load remains manageable because the size calculation is a simple mathematical operation based on distance data already available from sensors, rather than requiring complex 3D rendering.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and method for displaying traffic targets in a conformal perspective view. The system comprises a display screen for graphical display of data, one or more sensors for obtaining traffic data regarding traffic targets, and one or more processors for receiving traffic data from the one or more sensors and providing input to the display screen. The display screen displays traffic targets as icons in a 3-dimensional graphical representation of real space. The display size of the icons is selected from a finite set of sizes which correspond to a finite set of distance ranges based on the distance to the traffic targets.