Sky Veil Rendering for Brown-over-brown Display Disorientation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Brown-over-brown display situations in aircraft displays, where no sky is rendered, can cause pilot confusion and disorientation, particularly when flying near terrain or during landing.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that renders a sky veil on the aircraft display, using a processor to selectively render a partially transparent sky veil in the same color as the sky, which is continuously displayed between the zero pitch reference line and the edges of the display, helping to maintain pilot situational awareness during such situations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the entire background of the PFD renders only terrain (brown-over-brown situation), then terrain information is fully displayed, but pilot confusion and disorientation occur due to absence of sky reference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by rendering a semi-transparent sky veil specifically in the upper portion of the display above the terrain, rather than uniformly across the entire display. This localized application provides sky reference information exactly where pilots need it for orientation, while maintaining full terrain visibility in the lower portions of the display.
Solution Approach 2:
The sky veil acts as an intermediary element between the terrain display and the pilot's visual system. It provides a visual cue that mediates the transition from a completely terrain-filled display to a display with sky reference, reducing the harmful effect of brown-over-brown situations without blocking terrain information.
2Reliability
If a sky veil is rendered on the display, then pilot situational awareness is improved during brown-over-brown situations, but display complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial action by rendering the sky veil with semi-transparency rather than full opacity. This partial application provides sufficient sky reference information to improve situational awareness while avoiding excessive visual information that would complicate the display and potentially distract the pilot.
Solution Approach 2:
The sky veil's transparency parameter is optimized to balance information provision and display simplicity. By adjusting the transparency parameter, the system provides adequate sky reference without creating excessive visual complexity, resolving the contradiction between reliability and device complexity.
3Reliability
If the sky veil is continuously displayed, then pilot situational awareness is maintained during brown-over-brown situations, but visual distraction may occur during normal operations
Solution Approach 1:
The sky veil is localized to the upper portion of the display where sky reference is most needed for orientation, rather than being applied uniformly across the entire display. This localization reduces visual distraction during normal operations while maintaining situational awareness benefits during brown-over-brown situations.
Solution Approach 2:
The semi-transparent nature of the sky veil provides partial visual information that is sufficient for maintaining situational awareness without being excessive enough to cause distraction during normal flight operations.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
Methods and systems are provided for improving pilot situational awareness during brown-over-brown display situations. An image is rendered, on a display, that includes one of, or both, rendered terrain and rendered sky. A sky veil is at least selectively rendered on a portion of the display. The sky veil, when rendered, is rendered at least partially transparent and in a manner that portions of the sky veil that overlap with rendered sky are not discernable, and rendered terrain is viewable through portions of the sky veil that overlap with terrain.