Dynamic Minimum Safe Altitude Depiction for Aircraft Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current minimum safe altitude (MSA) depictions are pre-composed and lack context, requiring pilots to perform mental translations to orient themselves with respect to the aircraft, as they do not consider the aircraft's current heading and position, making it difficult to interpret in emergency situations.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize current aircraft heading and position data to dynamically generate and display minimum safe altitude information on an aircraft display, maintaining orientation with the own-ship depiction, incorporating terrain data to provide a real-time, context-based MSA indication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If pre-composed MSA depictions are used, then the display is simple and static, but the pilot must perform mental translations to orient themselves, reducing situational awareness
Solution Approach 1:
The MSA depiction dynamically rotates and reorients based on the aircraft's current heading and position, transforming the static north-up display into a dynamic context-aware display that automatically aligns with the aircraft's orientation, eliminating the need for mental translation by the pilot
Solution Approach 2:
The display parameters (orientation, position, rotation angle) are continuously changed based on real-time aircraft heading and position data, allowing the MSA depiction to adapt to the aircraft's current context while maintaining accurate terrain safety information
2Reliability
If pre-composed MSA depictions are used, then the chart structure is fixed, but it does not consider current aircraft context, reducing emergency response effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The MSA display transitions from a fixed pre-composed chart to a dynamic depiction that continuously adapts to the aircraft's current heading and position, providing context-relevant terrain safety information that enhances emergency response effectiveness by showing safe altitudes relative to the aircraft's actual orientation
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses real-time aircraft heading and position data as feedback to continuously update and reorient the MSA depiction, creating a closed-loop system where the display automatically adjusts to maintain relevance to the aircraft's current context and flight path
3Loss of information
If dynamic MSA depiction is implemented, then context awareness is improved, but the processing and display complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flight display system performs multiple functions simultaneously: it displays the primary flight information, dynamically generates the MSA depiction, and automatically orients the terrain safety information relative to the aircraft's heading, consolidating these functions into a single integrated display system that reduces overall complexity despite the enhanced capabilities
Data Source
AI summary
A method for providing a minimum safe altitude indication on an aircraft display is described. The method includes utilizing current aircraft heading and position data to generate a location and orientation for an own-ship depiction with respect to an aircraft display, utilizing the current position data, along with terrain data, to generate minimum safe altitude data for an area surrounding the aircraft, and displaying on the aircraft display, about the location for own-ship depiction, the minimum safe altitudes surrounding the aircraft.