Aircraft Landing Light System Projecting Real-Time Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional landing light systems primarily serve for night illumination and visibility, but they lack advanced functionality to provide real-time guidance and alerts during takeoff and landing phases, which is essential for modern aircraft operations.
Innovation Solution
A landing light system integrated with a control module, sources of airport features data, navigation data, flight plan data, aircraft state data, and air traffic control commands, utilizing high precision digital lights to project guidance information and alerts onto a surface, such as a runway or taxiway, in real-time, during relevant flight contexts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional landing light systems are used for night illumination, then visibility is improved, but they lack real-time guidance and alerts functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The landing light system is transformed from a single-function illumination device to a multi-functional system that simultaneously provides night illumination, real-time guidance information projection, and collision risk mitigation. The control module integrates multiple data sources (navigation, aircraft state, airport features) to enable the landing lights to perform both traditional illumination and modern guidance functions.
2Illumination intensity
If landing lights are extended out of the wing during operation, then lighting functionality is improved, but aerodynamic cleanliness is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The landing light system employs a deployable mechanism that allows the lights to be extended only when needed for operation and retracted when not in use. This dynamic configuration enables the system to maintain aerodynamic cleanliness during cruise flight while providing sufficient illumination intensity during takeoff and landing operations.
3Measurement precision
If multiple data sources are integrated for real-time guidance, then navigation precision is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control module merges multiple data sources (navigation data, aircraft state data, airport features data, air traffic control commands) into a single integrated processing unit. This consolidation approach enables real-time travelpath monitoring and guidance information generation while managing system complexity through unified architecture rather than separate independent systems.
Data Source
AI summary
Enhanced landing light systems and methods are provided. The system determines that landing lights in a landing lights assembly are on and then proceeds to identify each of the following relevant contexts: landing, taxi, and takeoff. When the aircraft is in a relevant context, the system identifies an actual travelpath and determines whether the actual travelpath matches the intended travelpath. If it does, the system generates guidance information and begins projecting the guidance information onto a landing surface. The guidance information may be digital light and comprise alphanumeric information and symbology. When the actual travelpath does not match the intended travelpath, the system generates a guidance alert and begins projecting the guidance alert onto the landing surface.