VSD Reticle Overlay for Feature Location Information
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Vertical Situation Displays (VSDs) in aircraft cockpits lack the ability to provide detailed information such as specific altitude, angle, and distance measurements for user-selected features like weather and terrain, limiting pilot situational awareness and strategic flight planning.
Innovation Solution
A flight display system that uses a reticle to overlay on user-selected features on the VSD, rendering indicators for horizontal and vertical extensions, referencing map layer data to provide raw geospatial information, and converting it into elevation and distance labels consistent with the VSD scale.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a broad vertical view of weather and terrain is provided on the VSD, then overall situational awareness is improved, but detailed information for specific features (altitude, angle, distance) is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The display information is segmented into two levels: a broad overview layer showing the entire vertical situation with weather and terrain features, and a detailed information layer that is revealed only when a user selects a specific feature. This segmentation allows the system to maintain both comprehensive overview and detailed information without overwhelming the display with all data simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a temporal dimension to the display interaction by implementing on-demand information retrieval. When a user selects a feature, the system transitions from showing only broad overview information to providing detailed altitude, angle, and distance measurements. This dimensional transition in information delivery resolves the contradiction between providing comprehensive overview and detailed feature information.
2Measurement precision
If detailed altitude, angle and distance measurements are provided for all features, then measurement precision is improved, but information overload and display clutter increase
Solution Approach 1:
Detailed measurement information (altitude, angle, distance) is applied locally only to the user-selected feature rather than being displayed for all features simultaneously. The reticle and associated measurements appear only at the location of the selected feature, providing high measurement precision where needed while keeping the rest of the display clean and uncluttered.
Solution Approach 2:
The detailed measurement information is extracted from the general display and presented separately through a reticle overlay when a feature is selected. This extraction allows the detailed measurements to be viewed without interfering with the broad overview display, resolving the contradiction between providing precise measurements and avoiding information overload.
3Measurement precision
If a reticle overlay with indicators is displayed on user-selected features, then location information precision is improved, but display element complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The reticle serves as an intermediary element between the user's selection and the detailed measurement information. It provides a visual anchor point that precisely indicates the selected feature's location while serving as the reference for displaying altitude, angle, and distance measurements. This intermediary structure improves location information precision while organizing the display elements in a coherent, manageable way.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for providing location information for a user-selected feature on an active vertical situation display (VSD) in a cockpit of an aircraft. The method includes rendering the VSD having a plurality of terrain and weather features; receiving, from a user interface, the user-selected feature from among the plurality of features on the VSD, the plurality of features including terrain features and weather features; causing a reticle to be displayed as an overlay, centered, on the user-selected feature on the VSD, responsive to receiving the user-selected feature; rendering a horizontal extension from a center of the reticle to an intersection on a vertical axis of the VSD, and a vertical extension from the center of the reticle to an intersection on a horizontal axis of the VSD. An elevation label and a distance label are positioned on the respective extensions.