Stabilized Glide Path Indicator for Aircraft Carrier Landing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft glide path indicators on moving vessels, such as aircraft carriers, face challenges in maintaining a stable visual descent path for pilots due to the vessel's motion, which can lead to inaccurate landing profiles, especially in low visibility conditions.
Innovation Solution
A glide path indicator system comprising a light emitter and a camera, both stabilized to account for the vessel's motion, with a common stabilization module to maintain a constant and steady visual descent path, and a mechanism to prevent light interference from the emitter reaching the camera, allowing for accurate image capture and transmission for assessment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the glide path indicator is mounted on a moving vessel, then the indicator can be used in mobile platforms such as aircraft carriers, but the vessel's motion causes instability in the glide path and inaccurate landing profiles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic stabilization by mounting the light emitter and camera on stabilizing mechanisms (such as gimbals or vibration isolation systems) that actively counteract vessel motion. This allows the glide path indicator to maintain a stable optical reference frame despite the mobile platform's movement, resolving the contradiction between mobility and stability.
2Measurement precision
If the camera captures images of the aircraft along the glide path, then accurate assessment of descent profile is enabled, but light from the emitter interferes with the camera's ability to capture clear images
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic action by synchronizing the light emitter and camera operation in time slots. The light emitter operates during periods when the camera is not capturing images, or the camera captures images during brief intervals when the light is dimmed or off. This temporal separation eliminates light interference while maintaining both functions, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and light interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the harmful light effect from the system by using optical filters on the camera that block the specific wavelength emitted by the light emitter. This allows the camera to capture images of the aircraft without being overwhelmed by the emitter's light, resolving the contradiction between enabling accurate descent profile assessment and preventing light interference.
3Reliability
If both the light emitter and camera are stabilized separately, then each component maintains its function independently, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the stabilization functions by coupling the light emitter and camera together on a common stabilizing platform or gimbal system. This single stabilization mechanism simultaneously stabilizes both components, maintaining their functional reliability while reducing overall system complexity compared to separate stabilization systems. The coupled arrangement ensures both components move together as a unified stabilized unit.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a glide path indicator (2) comprising a light emitter (20) configured to emit a visible light signal that defines a glide path (14) for use by a pilot of an approaching aircraft (10), and a camera (22) configured to capture images of the approaching aircraft (10), the camera (22) being arranged such that at least part of the glide path (14) defined by the light emitter (20) is located within a field of view of the camera (22). The glide path indicator (2) may be mounted to a vehicle (4), for example, an aircraft carrier. The glide path indicator (2) may further comprise a stabilization module (26) configured to stabilize the light emitter (20) and the camera (22) so as to reduce or eliminate the effects of the vehicle's motion on the glide path (14) and the field of view of the camera (22).