HUD Landing Symbology for Unprepared Surface Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rotary wing aircraft landing on unprepared surfaces, such as sandy or snowy areas, face visibility issues due to particle clouds, leading to potential accidents as pilots lose visual references during landing.
Innovation Solution
A method that assists pilots by displaying intuitive three-dimensional and two-dimensional symbols on a screen, indicating the landing point and aircraft position, which remains visible even in degraded visibility conditions, using onboard calculation means to determine the sighting axis and generate symbology that adapts to the aircraft's distance and position relative to the landing point.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If multiple conformal symbols are displayed to represent the landing zone, then the pilot receives comprehensive landing information, but the pilot's vision becomes saturated and information becomes difficult to process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the most critical landing information elements and displays them as simplified symbols on the HUD, removing unnecessary details that would contribute to visual saturation while preserving essential guidance data for the pilot
Solution Approach 2:
The landing zone information is segmented into distinct symbolic representations (such as cone symbols for terrain elevation, circular symbols for landing zone boundaries) that are spatially distributed across the HUD field of view, allowing the pilot to process information in manageable segments rather than as a dense uniform field
2Loss of information
If traditional multiple symbols are used to indicate landing zone, then comprehensive information is provided, but the symbols can be lost in particle clouds and degraded visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs high-contrast color schemes for the displayed symbols (such as bright colored cones and circular markers) that remain visible against varying background conditions including particle clouds, snow, and sand, ensuring the landing zone information remains distinguishable in degraded visibility environments
Solution Approach 2:
The HUD acts as an intermediary between the complex sensor data about the landing zone and the pilot's visual perception, translating raw terrain and position data into simplified symbolic representations that are optimized for visibility through particle-laden air and adverse weather conditions
3Device complexity
If a single three-dimensional main symbol is displayed, then visual saturation is reduced, but the symbol must convey multiple parameters (position, height, roll angle) intuitively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses three-dimensional symbolic representations (such as conical symbols with varying heights) displayed on the HUD to encode multiple parameters including terrain elevation, aircraft position, and roll angle within single visual elements, allowing the pilot to perceive multiple pieces of information simultaneously through the vertical dimension of the symbols rather than requiring multiple two-dimensional symbols
Solution Approach 2:
The symbolic representations dynamically change their parameters (such as the height of cone symbols corresponding to terrain elevation, the orientation of symbols indicating roll angle) based on real-time aircraft position and attitude data, allowing the symbols to convey multiple pieces of information through their geometric properties rather than requiring separate symbols for each parameter
Data Source
AI summary
A method of assisting piloting, which method comprises the steps of designating a landing point and determining a sighting axis. A single three-dimensional main symbol providing a conformal position of the landing point is displayed on the screen so long as it is present in a field of view along the sighting axis, the three-dimensional main symbol extending in elevation upwards from the ground from a bottom zone positioned on the ground up to a top zone positioned at a top height relative to the ground. At least while the aircraft is situated at a distance from the landing point that is less than a first threshold distance, at least one two-dimensional main symbol covering a target zone is displayed.