Ground Path Imaging Alerts for Aircraft Taxi Collision Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Smaller airports and austere landing environments lack effective monitoring systems for ground paths, relying heavily on pilot awareness, which is inadequate for collision avoidance due to insufficient air traffic control infrastructure and resources.
Innovation Solution
A system using an imaging device and a control unit with computer vision capabilities to detect and track objects on ground paths, outputting alerts to vehicles, without deep learning or artificial intelligence, housed in a runway edge lighting device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If smaller airports use traditional pilot awareness and manual monitoring, then the system complexity is reduced, but the reliability of collision avoidance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical monitoring by pilots and air traffic controllers with an automated optical detection system using cameras and image processing algorithms. The system automatically detects objects, tracks their motion, and generates alerts, eliminating the need for continuous human visual surveillance while improving reliability through consistent, uninterrupted monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system performs self-service by automatically detecting objects, tracking their trajectories, and generating alerts without requiring continuous human intervention. The system monitors itself and the environment autonomously, reducing the burden on pilots and air traffic controllers while maintaining high reliability through consistent automated surveillance.
2Reliability
If smaller airports implement sophisticated monitoring infrastructure, then the reliability of collision avoidance is improved, but the cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the monitoring function into discrete, simple components: cameras positioned at strategic locations, image processing units that detect and track objects, and alert generation systems. This modular segmentation allows the system to achieve reliable collision avoidance through multiple simple components working together, rather than requiring a single complex sophisticated infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces complex mechanical air traffic control infrastructure with simpler optical and computational components. By using cameras and image processing algorithms instead of sophisticated radar networks and centralized control systems, the patent achieves reliable monitoring with reduced infrastructure complexity and lower costs suitable for smaller airports.
3Measurement precision
If the system uses deep learning and machine learning for object detection, then the measurement precision is improved, but the use of energy and computational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs simpler, less computationally intensive image processing algorithms instead of energy-intensive deep learning models. These lighter algorithms sufficient for detecting objects, tracking their motion, and generating alerts consume significantly less computational energy while maintaining adequate precision for collision avoidance, making the system suitable for resource-constrained environments.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and a method for monitoring one or more ground paths include an imaging device configured to acquire one or more images of the one or more ground paths. A control unit is in communication with the imaging device. The control unit is configured to receive the one or more images from the imaging device, detect one or more objects within the one or more images, track motion of the one or more objects, and output an alert signal to an aircraft in response to the one or more objects moving in relation to the aircraft.