Patent Application
20110199237
The field of the disclosure relates generally to pilot situational awareness, and more specifically, to methods and systems for depicting a data driven minimum safe altitude.
Current minimum safe altitude (MSA) depictions are pre-composed, which in this case means such MSAs are only referenced to one point on the airport surface and are always depicted in a north up orientation. As a result, in order for a pilot to interpret the MSA information in an emergency situation, the pilot must first do mental translations so that they can orient themselves in relation to the “fixed” MSA and then project where the high terrain features exist in relation to their aircraft. Summarizing, current MSAs are depicted on paper or in a pre-composed electronic chart and do not consider current context of the aircraft.
A traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) is an aircraft collision avoidance system designed to reduce the incidence of mid-air collisions. TCAS is also configured to help an aircraft to avoid terrain but is primarily intended as a warning system. MSA depictions are meant to give a quick overview of the surrounding terrain and/or obstacles in the immediate area.
Current MSA's are depicted on paper or in a pre-composed electronic chart and do not consider current context of the aircraft.
In one aspect, a method for providing a minimum safe altitude indication on an aircraft display is provided. The method includes utilizing current aircraft heading and position data to generate a location and orientation for an own-ship depiction with respect to an aircraft display, utilizing the current position data, along with terrain data, to generate minimum safe altitude data for an area surrounding the aircraft and displaying on the aircraft display, about the location for own-ship depiction, the minimum safe altitudes surrounding the aircraft.
In another aspect, a minimum safe altitude display system is provided that includes a processing device, a display communicatively coupled to the processing device, and an interface communicatively coupled to the processing device. The interface is operable for providing current aircraft heading data, current aircraft position data, and terrain data to the processing device. The processing device is programmed to utilize the heading data and the position data to generate a location and orientation for an own-ship depiction with respect to the display, and further programmed to utilize the position data and terrain data, to generate minimum safe altitude data for an area surrounding the aircraft and cause the minimum safe altitude data to be displayed on the display about the location for own-ship depiction.
In still another aspect, a method of displaying minimum safe altitude information is provided. The method includes displaying an own-ship depiction, and displaying a minimum safe altitude depiction about the own-ship depiction, where the minimum safe altitude depiction maintains an orientation with the own-ship depiction.
The features, functions, and advantages that have been discussed can be achieved independently in various embodiments or may be combined in yet other embodiments further details of which can be seen with reference to the following description and drawings.
This disclosure relates generally to aircraft display configuration, and more particularly, to methods and systems for depicting a data driven minimum safe altitude. One exemplary embodiment that will be used as a familiar, but non-exclusive example throughout the disclosure, relates to flight deck display systems used in aircraft. The text will often describe fight deck display systems, however, the described system may be equally applicable to maritime and sub-mariner applications as well as extra-terrestrial navigation.
Embodiments are described herein with respect to aircraft, which include, but are not limited to, fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft operating near Earth's surface. However, such embodiments are practicable with any vehicle that is operated at a vertical displacement from some form of terrain and/or obstruction. For example, methods described herein may be used in a submarine or a submersible, for which the terrain may include a seafloor, and/or an extraplanetary vehicle, for which the terrain may include a surface of a remote body, such as the moon or a planet other than Earth. In the context of sub-sea-level travel, elevations may be expressed as negative values.
Furthermore, embodiments described herein may be used to indicate a vertical displacement of a vehicle with respect to terrain either below or above the vehicle. For example, operation of a submersible within a cave system may benefit from display of vertical displacement from both a floor and a ceiling of the surrounding terrain. For such applications, the embodiments may be modified, such as by calculating a maximum safe altitude as opposed to a minimum safe altitude.
Embodiments described herein facilitate the dynamic composition and display of a relative altitude indicator depicting a relative altitude of a vehicle in potential directions of travel. Such a relative altitude indicator may enable an operator of the vehicle to instantly determine a safe direction of travel in an emergency situation.
The embodiments may be implemented in various physical configurations based on the target platform and aircraft. The data-driven aspect of the system utilizes data elements that are grouped as procedures but accessed from individual, separate entities stored in a data-store or database. Initial EFB applications, which are primarily focused on the transition from paper to electronic displays, store procedures or charts as unique pre-composed files where particular elements exist in multiple files. In contrast to those initial EFB applications, an electronic display that includes data-driven capabilities as described herein, organizes elements based on chart or procedure definitions, but realizes and renders the display image by accessing the elements individually and applying rules or heuristics to provide the desired depiction.
Referring now to the drawings,
In the embodiment illustrated, the display screens are positioned on aircraft cockpit display panel 100. In alternative embodiments, one or more of the display screens may be positioned on an auxiliary panel, for example, the electronic flight bag display 140 which is located in the cockpit or positioned elsewhere within the aircraft. For example, and another alternative embodiment, one of the display screens may be part of a mobile device, such as an electronic flight bag, that may be viewed anywhere. During aircraft operation, the display screens are available for viewing by a pilot and/or co-pilot of the aircraft.
In the depiction, display screens 102, 104, 106, and 108 are depicted without any integrated controls and the information provided to the pilot on such screens is determined via a different user interface or through programming, for example, of a flight management system. Alternatively, display screens 110 and 112 include integrated controls 130 and 132 respectively, which allow a pilot (or copilot) to select the information that is to be displayed on display screens 110 and 112, subject to the programming associated with such “smart” displays.
Vehicle attributes described herein may include, but are not limited to, a vehicle type (e.g., a fixed wing aircraft), a vehicle capability (e.g., directions of travel, a climb capability, and/or an operating envelope), and/or a load weight. An operating envelope may include, for example, a maximum load factor for one or more directions (e.g., positive vertical acceleration and negative vertical acceleration) at one or more velocities.
An electronic flight bag 250 may be connected to avionics bus 204. Sensors 260 and 262 are associated with air data system 210 navigation system 212 respectively. A database of terrain data, sometimes referred to as a digital terrain elevation map 270, may be communicatively coupled to navigation system 212 as shown, or it may be directly coupled to avionics bus 204 such that the database is accessible by systems other than navigation system 212. In any event,
In an exemplary embodiment, digital terrain elevation map 270 is a topographical map that includes a plurality of points, each of which corresponds to a geographic position and/or geographic area. For example, each point may correspond to a geographic area approximately 100 meters square, approximately 30 meters square, or approximately 10 meters square, although other spatial resolutions are contemplated.
While the example depictions in
In at least one embodiment, as the vehicle associated with cockpit 100 travels, the MSA indicator 400 is redisplayed to reflect changes in the surrounding terrain and/or changes in the true altitude of the vehicle. In embodiments, the MSA indicator 400 rotates as the heading of the aircraft changes. In embodiments, the data utilized to provide such a rotation is based on data received via a navigation system 212, for example, aircraft heading information. Additionally, the MSA indicator 400 becomes useful for more than a single point (as is the case with a paper based MSA) since digital terrain elevation data, for example, from a map database, may be utilized to update the various elevations that are associated with the MSA indicator 400 during a flight. In summary, MSA indicator 400 is a real time, context based MSA which can be displayed, for example, on a moving map display during terminal procedures to enhance pilot situation awareness and further provides a data driven solution for the depiction of MSA information.
The above described embodiments provide the ability to take into account the current aircraft heading and location to create a more meaningful, data driven MSA depiction. Based on the context described herein, the systems that are programmed to provide the information components that are utilized to generate the MSA indicator 400 and own-ship depiction 402 are then able to give targeted information as to where the lowest/highest elevations are in the pilots' surroundings while taking a current context of the aircraft into account.
A data driven system can provide better situation awareness by taking current aircraft context into account. For example, a system (e.g., navigation system 212 will read current location data (e.g. GPS data) and heading data to develop a real-time contextual model. It can then compare this context to a static database (i.e. terrain, obstacles, etc) to create the MSA indicator 400 described herein.
While embodiments are described as using circles, annuli, and ogives to define geographic areas, the use of other shapes is also contemplated. For example, squares, rectangles, triangles, ellipses, ovals, and any other suitable geometric, curvilinear, and/or organic shape may be used with the methods and apparatus described herein. Furthermore, such shapes may be defined as contiguous, separate, and/or intersecting, and any quantity of geographic areas suitable for use with the methods described herein may be defined.
The subject matter of the present disclosure is described with specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, the description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. Rather, it has been contemplated that the claimed subject matter might also be embodied in other ways, to include different steps or combinations of steps similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. Moreover, although the terms “step,” “block,” and/or “operation” may be used herein to connote different elements of methods employed, the terms should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between various steps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described.
The methods described herein may be encoded as executable instructions embodied in a computer readable medium, including, without limitation, a storage device and/or a memory area of a computing device. Such instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform at least a portion of the methods described herein.
This written description uses examples to disclose various embodiments, which include the best mode, to enable any person skilled in the art to practice those embodiments, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
