Patent Application
20190384490
The present disclosure generally relates to an aircraft, and more particularly relates to systems and methods for an aircraft display and control system.
Aircraft are often fitted or retrofitted with touchscreen displays to provide an easy way to interact with various systems of the aircraft. The touchscreen displays, particularly in older aircraft which are being retrofitted with the touchscreen displays, are often limited in size, which limits the amount of data visible on a screen. When an input device, such as a virtual keyboard, is displayed on the touchscreen, even less space is available for other data on the touchscreen display. Accordingly, the size limitation for the touchscreen displays can make it difficult to effectively interact with the touchscreen display.
In one embodiment, for example, an aircraft is provided. The aircraft may include, but is not limited to, a touch screen display, a memory configured to store rules defining a relationship between a plurality of data fields, and a processor communicatively coupled to the touch screen display and the memory, the processor configured to determine when a data field displayed on the touch screen display is selected by a user, determine at least one data field which is related to the selected data field based upon the rules defining the relationship between a plurality of data fields stored in the memory, generate display data for the touch screen display, the display data comprising a virtual keyboard and a contextual awareness display area, the contextual awareness display area displaying the selected field and the at least one data field which is related to the selected data, and update the selected data field based upon input from the virtual keyboard.
In an embodiment, for example, a method of operating a contextual awareness system for an aircraft is provided. The method may include, but is not limited to, generating, by a processor, contextual awareness display data for the contextual awareness system and outputting the contextual awareness display data to a touch screen display, the contextual awareness display data comprising a plurality of data fields, receiving, by the processor, input selecting one of the plurality of data fields from the touch screen display, determining, by the processor, at least one related data field to the selected one of the plurality of data fields based upon a chunking rule associated with the selected one of the plurality of data fields, generating, by the processor, updated contextual awareness display data for the contextual awareness system and outputting the updated contextual awareness display data to the touch screen display, the updated contextual awareness display data comprising a virtual keyboard and a contextual awareness display area, the contextual awareness display area displaying the selected one of the plurality of data fields and the at least related data field to the selected one of the plurality of data field, and updating the selected data field based upon input to the virtual keyboard.
The detailed description will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements, and wherein:
The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the invention. As used herein, the word “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Thus, any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. All of the embodiments described herein are exemplary embodiments provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention which is defined by the claims. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary, or the following detailed description.
In accordance with an embodiment, a contextual awareness system for an aircraft is provided. As discussed in further detail below, the contextual awareness system identifies and displays data fields which are related to a selected data field, thereby providing contextual awareness for a user for the selected data field, as discussed in further detail below.
The contextual awareness system 110 includes at least one processor 114. The processor 114 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a physics processing unit (PPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a microcontroller, or any other logic unit or combination thereof. While the processor 114 is illustrated as being part of the contextual awareness system 110, the processor 114 may be shared by one or more other systems in the aircraft 100.
The contextual awareness system 110 further includes a memory 116. The memory 116 may be any combination of volatile and non-volatile memory. The memory 116 may store non-transitory computer readable instructions for operating the contextual awareness system 110, as discussed in further detail below. While
The memory 116 further stores a chunking database defining rules for chunking data fields. Chunking, as used in this context, refers to data fields which may be related to one-another for a variety of reasons. As discussed in further detail below, a data field that a user has selected to update may be related to other data fields. The rules associated with the data field the user is operating upon define how related data fields are presented to the user to give contextual awareness to the user when entering data into the selected data field.
The aircraft 100 further includes at least one control system 120 communicatively connected to the contextual awareness system 110 via any wired or wireless communication system. The control system 120 may be, for example, an engine, a brake, a vertical stabilizer, a flap, landing gear, automatic flight control system, autopilot, autothrottle, autobrakes or any other control system of the aircraft 100 or any combination thereof. The control system 120, based upon input from the contextual awareness system 110 may control the aircraft 100 based upon input from the contextual awareness system 110. For example, movement of the aircraft 100 may be controlled based upon user input to the contextual awareness system 110.
The aircraft 100 further includes at least one data acquisition system 130. The data acquisition system 130 may include, for example, a radio to receive data from air traffic control, sensors to determine data about the aircraft (e.g., air speed sensors, altitude sensor, or the like), or any other data generation or receiving system, or any combination thereof. The data from the data acquisition system may be used to automatically populate one or more data fields presented on the touch screen display 112.
As seen in
As seen in
The exemplary touch screen display 112 further includes a contextual awareness display area 320. The contextual awareness display area 320 includes the selected data field, in this example data field 1, as well as other data fields which are related to the selected data field. In the embodiment illustrated in
When there is not enough screen space on the touch screen display 112 to display all of the data fields related to the selected data field, while maintaining a large enough area for the user input interface 300, the processor 114 may cause the related data fields to scroll within the contextual awareness display area 320 or otherwise provide controls (e.g., an arrow) which allow a user to scroll between the related data fields such that the user can maintain contextual awareness of all of the related data fields.
As discussed above, the memory 116 may store chunking rules which define a relationship between the data fields. While the data fields which are related may also be visually neighboring on the default view of touch screen display 112 (i.e., the display illustrated in
The chunking rules stored in the memory 116 may relate data fields for a variety of different reasons. In one embodiment, for example, data fields may be chunked together for the purpose of conceptualizing a concept. For example, a pilot may need to conceptualize wind direction and wind speed as a single thing. As another example, a pilot may need to conceptualize density altitude as a single thing, which is composed of a barometric setting, pressure altitude and outside air temperature. Accordingly, as visually indicated in
The chunking rules in the memory 116 may further include rules grouping data fields based upon a flow in space. For example, an origin data field, a destination data field and an alternate data field may be chunked together via a rule grouping data fields based upon a flow in space. Another exemplary rule may group together data fields which are sub-attributes of the same realization. For example, a wind direction data field, a wind speed data field and a wind gust data field may be chunked together as sub-realization rule based upon the realization of wind. Another rule may group data fields based upon variables which combine together to create a new construct. For example, a barometric setting (baro set), pressure altitude and outside air temperature can be combined to construct a density altitude. Another rule may group data fields based upon a flow in time. For example, if the touch screen display 112 is displaying a landing checklist, data fields for flaps and vref may related, and thus displayed together. As another example of a flow in time rule, when a pre-flight checklist is being displayed, chucks of graphics for a synoptic page may be displayed within a certain checklist section. Another rule may be based upon components of a calculation. For example, a fuel weight, a number of passengers, a passenger weight and a location of weight may all be data fields related to a gross weight and balance of the aircraft calculation. As another example, data fields for wind direction, wind speed, wind altitude and aircraft speed may be chunked together via a rule for calculating optimal lateral flight path and vertical plan.
The chunking rules may also be used to indicate when a task is “finished to the brain” and/or “finished to the system.” For example, when an action on a cognitively logical chunk is complete, the processor 114 may close a chunk of related data fields purposefully to indicate the complete step. In other words, the user input interface 300 may automatically close when user input is received to all of the related data fields, or a subset of the related data fields when less then all of the related data fields require input in a given step. This strategy might also be used in, for example, a flight deck to bring together several systems to aid error mitigation. For example, a chunk of data fields may be related to a task, such setting a vertical altitude constraint on a waypoint. When a user sets the vertical altitude constraint and closes the dialog box, it may feel to the user as if they have completed the task, but there may be other remaining tasks if the user wants the aircraft to descend: Arm VNAV, and reset the altitude selector. Here the chunking rules might relate the constraint chunk from the Cross Dialog box, the Arm VNAV chunk from FMS/AFCS, and the Set ASEL chunk from AFCS, and only then, “close” the user input interface 300 when all of the related data fields for the task have been completed.
Accordingly, when a data field on the touch screen display 112 is selected, the processor 114 evaluates one or more rules in the database stored in the memory 116 to determine which other data fields are related to the selected data field. The various rules may be dependent upon a phase of flight. For example, a data field may be related to two chunks of data fields depending upon the whether the aircraft is in, for example, a take-off phase or a cruising phase. In an off-roading vehicle, as an example in a non-aircraft embodiment, data fields which are related may depend upon whether the vehicle is on a road or off-road. For example, when the vehicle is on a highway few input configuration settings may be needed, or even related. In contrast, when the vehicle is off-road, related settings could include tire-pressure adjustments, transfer case settings, sway bar settings, locker settings, brake settings and the like.
As discussed above, certain data fields may be related with respect to a task. In other words, both fields may be needed to be filled, selected, or otherwise interacted with to complete the task. Accordingly, when a first data field is interacted with, the next data field may automatically be selected by the processor 114 to indicate the next step in the task. Using the interfaces of
The processor 114 then monitors the touch screen display 112 for input selected a data field displayed on the touch screen display 112. (Step 1020). The input may be, for example, a user touching a location of the touch screen display corresponding to one of the data fields displayed on the display. While the above description has discussed that the input being a touch on a touch screen display, the input could be from a mouse, a touch pad, a microphone, gesture controls, a track ball, or any other type of user input or any combination thereof. When no input is received, the processor 114 continues to generate the display data as discussed above, including updating any data fields as necessary based upon input from the data acquisition system 130.
When user input is received selecting one of the data fields displayed on the touch screen display 112, the processor 114 analyzes the chunking rules stored in the memory to determine which other data fields are related to the selected data field. (Step 1030). As discussed above, the selected data field may be related to different data fields depending upon a phase of flight of the aircraft. In one embodiment, for example, the memory 116 may store a look-up table which stores related data fields upon a phase of flight, or any other category related to the subject vehicle. However, the chunking rules may be organized in any manner.
The processor 114 then generates updated contextual awareness display data based upon the determined related data fields. (Step 1040). The updated contextual awareness display data includes the user input interface 300 and the contextual awareness display area 320. As discussed above, the user input interface 300 may include a virtual keyboard. The size and format of the keyboard may vary depending upon the size of the contextual awareness display area 320, which is dependent upon the number of related data fields to the selected data field. The contextual awareness display area 320 includes the selected data field and the related data fields. As discussed above, when the number of related data fields exceeds the available space on the touch screen display, the updated contextual awareness display data may include controls to scroll through the related data fields or may automatically scroll through the data fields.
The processor 114, upon receiving input for the selected data field, may then update the selected data field based upon the user input. (Step 1050). The update may include, for example, updating the display data to reflect the new value and, if applicable, sending the update to any aircraft system which utilizes the selected data field. For example, the processor 114 may send the updated value for the data field to an FMS.
When there is a task associated with the selected data field based upon the chunking rule associated with the selected data field (Step 1060), the processor 114 may optionally automatically select the next data field in the task. (Step 1070). The user may then update the newly selected data field as discussed in step 1050. The process may be repeated until all of the tasks associated with the selected data field are complete.
When there is no task associated with the selected data field, or none remaining, the processor 114, or a processor associated with another aircraft system such as an FMS, may generate control instructions based upon the updated data field(s). (Step 1080). The control instructions may be, for example, an update to a flight plan for the aircraft 100, change an altitude of the aircraft 100, change a direction of the aircraft 100, a landing speed computation, which is dependent upon density altitude, may be used to set different braking intensities in an autobrake system, or the like. The processor 114 then returns to Step 1010 and generates updated contextual awareness display data which closes the virtual keyboard and returns the touch screen display to the default state.
Accordingly, the contextual awareness system 110 provides an input system to the aircraft 100 which provides contextual awareness for the input, thereby eliminating the need for a user to navigate between multiple screens to evaluate all of the related data. One benefit for the contextual awareness system 110, in addition to providing contextual awareness for an input, is that it simplifies input into a system for the aircraft, and, thus, control of the aircraft 100.
While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description of the invention, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment of the invention. It being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
The present application claims benefit of prior filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/685,444, filed Jun. 15, 2018, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62685444 | Jun 2018 | US |
