Panel Selector Display for Multi-Panel Chart Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pilots and vehicle operators face challenges in maintaining situational awareness when navigating with large-scale enroute charts and avionics charts, as existing display systems struggle to effectively display geographical and navigational information across multiple panels, making it difficult to determine the current panel's position relative to the entire chart and the operator's location.
Innovation Solution
A display system that includes a primary display unit capable of receiving position information and control inputs, featuring a panel selector toggle and thumbnail display to show the full chart divided into panels, with an ownship indicator to depict the vehicle's position relative to the chart, allowing users to easily switch between panels and maintain situational awareness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If enroute charts are displayed at high detail scale, then navigational information is accessible, but the entire chart cannot be displayed at once making panel location unclear
Solution Approach 1:
The enroute chart is divided into multiple panels that can be displayed sequentially. Each panel represents a specific geographic region and can be navigated to individually, allowing detailed viewing of specific areas while maintaining awareness of the overall chart structure through panel sequence navigation.
Solution Approach 2:
A mini-map display is introduced as an intermediary element that shows the relationship between the current panel and the overall chart. The mini-map acts as a mediator that provides contextual information about panel location without requiring the user to view the entire large-scale chart at once.
2Measurement precision
If chart display applications are designed for single-panel viewing, then detailed navigation information is accessible, but intuitive movement between panels is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The chart is segmented into multiple panels that can be navigated through a structured sequence. The display system maintains the ability to access detailed navigational information in each panel while providing intuitive controls for moving between panels through the sequence.
Solution Approach 2:
The panel navigation system maintains continuous useful action by providing seamless transitions between panels. The display system keeps the chart context continuously available through the mini-map, allowing users to move between panels without losing situational awareness or having to restart the navigation process.
3Ease of operation
If moving maps are focused to high detail, then immediate vicinity situational awareness is improved, but surrounding areas and spatial relationships are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The map is segmented into multiple panels that can be viewed in sequence. Each panel provides detailed information about its specific geographic region, while the mini-map provides an overview of surrounding areas. This segmentation allows users to maintain detailed awareness of the immediate vicinity while preserving context about surrounding neighborhoods, suburbs, and localities.
Solution Approach 2:
The mini-map adds another dimension to the display by providing a reduced-scale overview of the entire chart area. This dimensional addition allows users to simultaneously view detailed information in the main display and contextual information about surrounding areas in the mini-map, eliminating the trade-off between detail and context.
Data Source
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AI summary
An aircraft-based or vehicle-based system and method for enhancing situational awareness via a display system for displaying map-based charts (e.g., terminal charts, enroute charts, avionics charts) displays an active map-based chart (specifically an active panel of the map-based chart) and superimposes over the displayed active panel a panel selector display, e.g., a thumbnail display of the active enroute chart with a subset of the information provided by the enroute chart and divided into its component panels. The panel selector display highlights the currently displayed active panel and provides an ownship indicator showing the approximate position of the aircraft or vehicle relative to the currently active enroute chart.