Obstacle Position Indicator Graphic for Aircraft Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional air traffic management systems are limited by high costs and capacity constraints, necessitating a more efficient and intuitive method for aircraft crews to detect nearby air traffic and navigational obstacles.
Innovation Solution
A flight display system with a head-up or head-worn display device that generates an obstacle position indicator graphic, using data from onboard sensors and satellite- and aircraft-centric systems to visually represent the position of nearby obstacles relative to the aircraft's field of view, including altitude and trajectory information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If ground-based control facilities are used to provide air traffic information, then air traffic management can be performed, but the system is costly to establish and maintain and has limited capacity to manage air traffic volume
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables aircraft to self-monitor and self-report their position and status using onboard sensors and transponders. The host aircraft's flight display system automatically detects and displays information about neighboring aircraft without requiring ground-based control facilities, allowing the aircraft to serve its own navigation and awareness needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical ground-based radar and control tower system with an electronic data exchange system using satellite communication and onboard sensors. Information about neighboring aircraft is obtained through electronic data links rather than through ground-based radar tracking and visual observation.
2Productivity
If ground-based control facilities provide air traffic information, then air traffic can be managed, but the volume of air traffic will exceed the management capacity of control facility-based systems
Solution Approach 1:
Each aircraft independently monitors and displays information about surrounding air traffic using its own onboard systems. This distributed approach allows unlimited scalability as each aircraft handles its own situation awareness without burdening a centralized control facility.
3Ease of operation
If air traffic controllers verbally inform flight crew of obstacle position, then air traffic information is provided, but the information is not provided in a rapid and intuitive visual manner
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces verbal communication through audio channels with visual display of graphical icons on a head-worn display device. The obstacle position indicator graphic provides immediate visual feedback about the relative position, altitude, and closure rate of neighboring aircraft, which is processed faster and with greater accuracy than verbal information.
Data Source
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AI summary
A flight display system (20) is provided for deployment on a host aircraft including at least one obstacle-tracking data source (22). In one embodiment, the flight display system includes a display device (26) and a controller (24). The controller is configured to be coupled to the obstacle-tracking data source and to receive data therefrom indicating the current position of a navigational obstacle. The controller is operably coupled to the display device and is configured to generate thereon an obstacle position indicator graphic (32) indicating the current position of the navigational obstacle relative to the current field of view of the display device.