Variable-Intensity Visual Aids for Aircraft Display Misalignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cockpit display systems face issues with angular misalignment between depicted visual aids and actual runway features due to inaccuracies in navigation and aerodrome mapping data, leading to reduced pilot trust and situational awareness.
Innovation Solution
A system that varies the intensity of visual aids on aircraft display units based on the quality of navigation and reference data, providing a fading effect to align visual aids with actual features, using an image generating processor and integrating navigation, terrain, and weather data sources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If visual aids are depicted with constant intensity on display units, then the information is clearly visible to pilots, but angular misalignment with actual visible features distracts and reduces pilot trust and situational awareness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by transitioning from constant-intensity visual aids to variable-intensity visual aids that dynamically adjust their brightness based on alignment quality. The visual aid intensity is modulated in real-time according to the calculated angular misalignment between depicted features and actual surveyed locations, creating a dynamic display that adapts to data quality variations across different portions of the display.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by applying different intensity levels to different portions of visual aids based on their specific alignment quality. Rather than uniformly adjusting all visual aids, the system calculates angular misalignment for each visual aid or segment and applies localized intensity modifications, allowing well-aligned features to maintain constant intensity while misaligned features are dimmed proportionally to their misalignment degree.
2Loss of information
If navigation and aerodrome mapping data are used to depict visual aids, then flight information is provided to pilots, but inherent data errors cause angular misalignment with actual runway features
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by calculating the angular misalignment between depicted visual aids and their actual surveyed locations, then using this calculated error information to adjust the display intensity of visual aids. This closed-loop feedback mechanism allows the system to compensate for inherent data errors by providing visual feedback to pilots about the reliability of displayed information, dimming misaligned features to indicate lower confidence in their positional accuracy.
3Productivity
If data from un-augmented global satellite navigation system is used, then navigation information is provided, but position accuracy errors of up to 100 meters cause significant misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by using the quality parameter (position accuracy) of navigation data to control the intensity parameter of visual aids. When position accuracy is poor (e.g., un-augmented GPS with 100-meter errors), the corresponding visual aids are displayed at reduced intensity. This parameter transformation allows the system to convey uncertainty information to pilots through visual intensity modulation, enabling them to weigh the reliability of displayed navigation information appropriately.
4Ease of manufacture
If aerodrome mapping database is digitized from paper charts using CAD tools, then mapping information is made available, but inherent inaccuracies remain that affect visual aid alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements beforehand cushioning by pre-calculating and compensating for expected inaccuracies in aerodrome mapping data during the database creation process. The system incorporates quality parameters that anticipate potential alignment errors from digitization processes, and uses these predetermined quality indicators to adjust visual aid intensity in advance, cushioning the impact of manufacturing imprecision on flight safety and pilot trust.
Data Source
AI summary
A present novel and non-trivial system, module, and method for varying the intensity of a visual aid depicted on an aircraft display unit. Visual aids could represent visible features such as markings on a runway surface. Data representative of visual aids may be provided by a navigation reference data source with errors inherent in the data which may be measured by one or more quality parameters. Also, errors associated with quality parameters are inherent in navigation data which provided positional information. Because of these errors, the depiction of visual aids on an egocentric display unit may appear misaligned with the corresponding visible feature. To compensate for the misalignment, an image generating processor generates visual aid data representative of at least one variable-intensity visual aid, wherein the intensity of each visual aid varies and such variation is based upon at least one quality parameter of the data.