Patent Application
20100274417
This application claims priority to French Patent Application Number 09 01945, entitled System and Method of Interaction and Holistic Representation of Tasks, filed on Apr. 22, 2009.
The field of the invention is that of systems and associated methods of interaction and graphical representation of the tasks to be performed in the course of the conduct of a complex technical process stretching over time. It applies notably to the conduct of an aircraft flight or mission. The term “flight” is intended to mean not only the flight of the aircraft properly speaking but also the phases of flight preparation, taxiing, takeoff, flight and landing of the aircraft. The term “mission” is more suitable for designating a military aircraft flight having a particular aim (reconnaissance, surveillance, interception, destruction, etc.).
By dint of the complexity of modern aircraft and the various procedures necessary for piloting and navigation, the management of a flight or of a mission of a modern aircraft requires a large number of tasks to be accomplished by the pilot or crew. To do their work, nowadays crews have at their disposal sophisticated man-machine interfaces composed essentially of viewing screens and control posts disposed on the instrument panel and interfaced with the Flight Management System (FMS). By dint of technological progress, it is possible for high-resolution screens of large size and electronic computers to be disposed on the instrument panel, thereby making it possible to display a large number of flight data and parameters. Thus, back in 1997, patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,141 from the company Dassault described in a precise manner an onboard system comprising an electronic computer, selection means and large display screens making it possible to display the various items of information necessary for piloting and navigation. Technology no longer being a strong constraint, it is therefore fundamental to determine the best way of graphically representing the data and the necessary information in such a way that the pilot can accomplish his work in the most intuitive possible manner and, of course, under the best possible safety conditions.
Among the conventional representations of the tasks to be accomplished, it is possible to group the information by flight phase. Thus, the pilot can have at his disposal on a screen all the information necessary to configure the cockpit before landing. Patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,707,475 from the company Honeywell entitled “System for selecting and displaying flight management system procedures” describes this type of representation. This scheme is notably implemented on the “Falcon” from the company Dassault. It is also possible to display “check-lists” or “To do lists” of the tasks to be accomplished. The latter technique is notably implemented on the aeroplanes of the Airbus and Boeing companies. Of course, the pilot also uses flight manuals which may be in paper form or in electronic form. All these systems exhibit certain drawbacks. The pilot or the crew do not have precise knowledge of the workload awaiting them. Thus, they are missing the “pace” of the mission. Moreover, the information on the tasks accomplished or not accomplished in the past is not provided to them. Thus, if in the course of the previous flight phase, a task was not performed completely, it is almost certain that this item of information will be lost. Finally, in the course of a flight phase, nothing indicates to them that certain tasks are prohibited.
The system and the method according to the invention do not exhibit these drawbacks. Unlike the current systems and methods which are of sequential type, the system and the method according to the invention are of global or holistic types.
More precisely, the subject of the invention is a viewing system comprising at least first means making it possible to process and to store the various data necessary for the accomplishment of a technical or industrial process, second means making it possible to determine the various tasks to be accomplished by a user in the course of the process on the basis of the previous data, a computer for generating graphical images associated with a viewing device and a man-machine interface with the said viewing device, characterized in that the said viewing device displays a succession of graphical icons, each icon representing a task to be accomplished, the various icons being ordered according to a time scale extending from the start to the end of the process.
The invention applies most particularly to aircraft instrument panel viewing systems, the technical process being a flight or a mission of the said aircraft, the user being one of the members of the crew of the aircraft.
Advantageously, the viewing device displays a symbol representative of the aircraft, the position of the symbol on the time scale representing the aircraft at the present instant in such a way that the icons disposed before the symbol represent the past tasks and that the icons disposed after the symbol represent the future tasks.
Advantageously, the icons representing the tasks performed have a different representation from the icons representing the tasks yet to be performed; the icons representing the tasks not performed and which ought to have been have a different representation from the icons representing tasks performed or to be performed. Moreover, certain icons represent prohibited tasks. Finally, certain icons represent the tasks to be performed by a given operator.
Advantageously, when a determined time interval comprises a large number of tasks, the man-machine interface comprises means making it possible either to carry out a “zoom” of this time interval, or an expansion, or a reorganization. Moreover, a symbol linking at least two icons can be representative of the tempo at which the tasks represented by the said two icons are carried out. Finally, when a new future task of alarm type appears, a specific icon is displayed.
Advantageously, the man-machine interface comprises means making it possible to reveal for an icon representing a given task, either other icons representing associated tasks, or graphical windows, or menus.
Advantageously, the time scale is horizontal and the viewing device also displays, under the line of the graphical icons, either a vertical cross-sectional view of the terrain overflown in the course of the flight or mission, or a vertical cross-sectional view of the flight plan.
Preferably, the icons have the form of circles of different size. They can also have the form of polygons or a set the geometric shapes, circles and polygons.
Advantageously, the time scale is centred on the present instant and is limited to a shorter duration than that of the complete process.
The invention will be better understood and other advantages will become apparent on reading the description which follows given without limitation and by virtue of the appended figures among which:
For clarity reasons, the exemplary viewing system described below according to the invention relates to the aeronautical field and more precisely to that of aircraft instrument panels. Of course, the system according to the invention could apply to other technical fields such as the management of industrial manufacturing processes.
A viewing system according to the invention for aircraft is represented in
In this
The representations of the circles can be representative either of the importance of the task, or of its accomplishment. Thus, the icons representing the tasks performed have a different representation from the icons representing the tasks yet to be performed, the icons representing the tasks not performed and which ought to have been, also have a different representation from the icons representing tasks performed or to be performed, finally certain icons represent prohibited tasks. In the same way, certain icons can represent tasks to be performed by a given operator. Finally, when a new future task of alarm type appears, a specific icon is displayed as indicated on the icon 17 of
When a task is performed or when a task which ought to have been performed has not been performed in time, its change of representation is automatic, driven by the computer, without human interventions. It should be noted that the tasks performed can, to simplify the graphics, be totally deleted. The size of the circles can be used for these various representations. Thus, a task accomplished such as the task 11 of
The icons can comprise a symbol representative of the task to be accomplished, preferably using the symbols conventionally used in aeronautics. Thus, the icon of
Other secondary icons, representing for example the state of the resources available to accomplish the task, can also be grafted onto a main icon. Thus, the icon 13 is added to the icon 10. As indicated in
When the number of tasks to be accomplished in a given time span is very significant, the graphics then comprising a large number of icons in a restricted space, it is then possible, for clarity reasons, either to “zoom” in on this space, or to temporally expand it, or to “explode”, or carry out a “reorganization”. This operation is better known by the term “decluttering”. It consists in exploding the secondary tasks around a main task in such a way that they do not overlap, that they are linked to the main task and that they are clearly apparent. By way of example, this operation is represented in
Another mode of representation consists in representing in an intuitive form all the tasks to be accomplished in a given time span by linking them together by a “tempo” symbol 18 as indicated in
The time scale can also comprise a symbol 16 representing the aircraft at the present instant. It is of course possible to represent the entire time scale. When the number of tasks is considerable, it may be more judicious to use a “sliding” window, the time scale being centred on the present instant and being limited to a shorter duration than that of the complete process.
To complement the tasks scale, it is possible to add, as represented in
Thus, at any moment the pilot has at his disposal all the information relating to what he has done, what he has not done and what he has to do. Moreover, the tempo, the “pace” of what he will have to do, is indicated to him very clearly, making it possible to anticipate certain tasks.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09 01945 | Apr 2009 | FR | national |
