Touchscreen Flight Control Interface for Aircraft Cockpits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft instrument panels lack an integrated and intuitive system for displaying and controlling flight-control surfaces, requiring separate equipment and multiple instruments, which complicates navigation and control.
Innovation Solution
A touch-screen instrument panel system that includes a processor, memory, and a manager to provide graphical representations of flight-control surfaces and autopilot controls, allowing pilots to control and monitor flight surfaces and engines through a single interface, replacing traditional instruments and controllers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If separate equipment and multiple instruments are used to display and control flight-control surfaces, then comprehensive control capability is achieved, but device complexity increases and ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate flight control instruments and controllers into a single integrated touchscreen display system. The main flight display, mode controller, and flight control surface indicators are merged into one unified interface, allowing pilots to control and monitor all flight surfaces through a single device rather than multiple separate instruments.
Solution Approach 2:
The touchscreen display system performs multiple functions simultaneously - it displays main flight information, shows flight control surface positions, provides mode controller functionality, and enables direct control of flight surfaces. This multi-functional approach replaces several specialized devices with one universal control system.
2Loss of information
If traditional separate instruments are used for flight control display, then system reliability is maintained, but information integration and situational awareness are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple information sources and control functions into a single touchscreen display, providing comprehensive situational awareness in one location. Flight control surface positions, mode controller information, and main flight displays are combined, eliminating information fragmentation across multiple separate instruments.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention described herein provides a flight crew with an easier and more intuitive way to control and monitor flight-control surfaces. Specifically, the invention displays all flight-control surfaces on a touch-screen display device located in an aircraft cockpit. The invention includes graphical and numerical position indicators to continuously display actual position information for flight-control surfaces. Additionally, the invention allows a flight crew to make flight-control surface adjustments through the touch-screen device. The invention further includes an engine performance indicator and a mode controller configured to display autopilot modes and to receive autopilot mode selections. A method is presented for controlling an aircraft flight-control surface via a touch screen device. The method includes receiving an indication of a flight-control surface and enabling selection of a position change. Based on the position change selection, the method includes verifying a corresponding movement and displaying an actual position of the flight-control surface.