Aircraft Landing Aid Device Contour Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft landing aid devices, such as Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) and Head-Up Displays (HUD), suffer from image overload during poor visibility conditions, making it difficult for pilots to identify critical landing elements like the runway, leading to potential confusion and increased risk of go-arounds.
Innovation Solution
A system that extracts symbology from video images using a sensor, correlates this information with geographical databases, and displays it superimposed on the cockpit landscape, allowing for adaptive graphical representation based on flight phases and altitude, thereby enhancing safety and reducing visual overload.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a video image from EVS is displayed superimposed on the HUD landscape, then visibility in poor meteorological conditions is improved, but image overload occurs making it difficult to identify critical landing elements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts critical information from the video image by detecting contours and generating simplified symbology representations. Instead of displaying the complete video image, the system extracts only the essential geometric features (contours of runway, threshold, taxiway) and presents them as simplified graphical symbols overlaid on the HUD landscape, thereby eliminating visual clutter while preserving critical identification information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the video image processing into distinct functional stages: contour detection, shape recognition, symbology generation, and graphical representation. This segmentation allows the system to process the complex video data into manageable graphical elements that can be displayed without overwhelming the pilot's visual processing capacity.
2Illumination intensity
If the point of vision is delayed to lower altitude, then the chance of having a clear field of vision is improved, but the time available for identification of exterior elements is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary contour detection and symbology generation in advance, during the approach phase when the aircraft is still at higher altitude. By pre-processing the video images to extract and prepare the graphical representations of critical elements before the aircraft reaches the lower altitude point of vision, the system ensures that identification information is ready immediately when needed, eliminating the time penalty of delayed vision points.
3Reliability
If synthetic vision is used to enhance exterior view, then operational minima are improved, but confusion of interpretation between real world and EVS imaging occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs distinct graphical representations and color coding to differentiate between synthetic EVS-generated symbology and the real-world landscape view. The extracted contours and generated symbols are presented with specific visual characteristics that clearly indicate their synthetic origin, while the actual camera feed maintains its natural appearance, enabling pilots to easily distinguish and correctly interpret each source without confusion.
Data Source
AI summary
A landing aid device for an aircraft generates video images of a portion of the field of vision using a sensor situated in front of the aircraft intended for picture-taking during poor visibility conditions, and extracts contours from the video images making it possible to delimit at least one first known shape included in each image. A first head up display includes a display zone, which occupies a portion of the visor of the cockpit superimposed on the exterior landscape, and a symbology for generating information representing symbols intended to aid piloting is displayed on the display, wherein at least one first symbol comprising landing aid information is generated on the basis of the contours of the first shape and displayed on the display.