Mixed Aspect Weather Display for Pilot Situational Awareness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Horizontal weather displays limit a pilot's long-range visibility when display controls are set to close range, leading to costly flight plan deviations and hazardous situations, especially in single-pilot operations where mid-to-long range weather cells are not visible.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that renders near range and mid-to-long range weather information on a single display by compressing distances while preserving relationships between the two, using criticality metrics to identify and prioritize the most critical weather indicators for rendering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If display controls are set to close range, then near-range visibility is improved, but long-range visibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The display is segmented into multiple range zones (near-range, mid-range, long-range), each rendered at different scales simultaneously. This allows the pilot to view close-range details with high precision while also seeing mid-to-long range weather cells compressed in the same display area, eliminating the need to choose between near and far range visibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a dimensional transformation by compressing mid-to-long range distances along the radial axis while maintaining angular relationships. This creates a multi-scale visualization where different range zones occupy different 'depth' layers in the display, allowing simultaneous visualization of near and far weather cells without sacrificing near-range detail precision.
2Ease of operation
If single pilot operations are used, then operational simplicity is improved, but situational awareness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges near-range and mid-to-long range weather information into a single integrated display view. By combining multiple range zones and criticality metrics in one visualization, the system compensates for the single pilot's inability to monitor multiple ranges simultaneously, maintaining situational awareness without requiring additional crew members.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies color-coded criticality metrics to weather cells, where different colors indicate different levels of weather severity and proximity. This visual encoding allows the single pilot to quickly assess both near and far range weather threats at a glance, improving situational awareness through intuitive visual cues rather than requiring detailed analysis of multiple separate displays.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for rendering near range weather information in a first aspect and mid-to-long range weather information in a second aspect includes transforming the mid-to-long range weather information to preserve certain relationships between the near range rendering and the mid-to-long range rendering while compressing distances to fit both renderings on a single display. Criticality metrics are maintained for the compressed mid-to-long range rendering by identifying the most critical weather indicator and applying it to the compressed weather cell rendering.