Tactile interface for the flight management system of an aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10055116-B2
Application number	US-201514879796-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 9, 2015
Priority date	Oct 10, 2014
Publication date	Aug 21, 2018
Grant date	Aug 21, 2018

Abstract

A graphic interaction method for piloting an aircraft, comprises receiving an indication of an object selected on a display screen of the aircraft; determining one or more flight plan revisions of the aircraft associated with the selected object and displaying one or more of said flight plan revisions; receiving an indication of selection of a displayed revision; determining a revision type associated with the revision displayed and selected; and as a function of the revision type determined, displaying a tactile interface data entry graphic symbol. Developments notably concern the symbology used, the validation or the modification of a selected revision, the taking account of the flight context, the taking account of the speed of manipulation of the tactile interface, etc. System and software aspects are described. In particular, the human-machine interface may be exclusively of tactile type.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for piloting an aircraft with a graphical interaction computer, the method comprising:
receiving an indication of an object selected on a display screen of the aircraft;
determining one or more flight plan revisions of the aircraft associated with the selected object and displaying one or more of said flight plan revisions;
receiving an indication of a selected revision of the one or more displayed revisions;
determining a revision type associated with the selected revision;
displaying a tactile interface data entry graphic symbol as a function of the determined revision type, said data entry graphic symbol being selected from a plurality of data entry graphic symbols;
detecting a movement of a finger on or over the display screen to measure a cognitive load of a pilot of the aircraft; and
modifying the displayed entry graphic symbol as a function of the measurement of the cognitive load of the pilot of the aircraft.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving data after displaying the data entry graphic symbol.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising modifying the received data.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising validating the selected revision.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising modifying the selected revision.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the data entry graphic symbol comprises distributing said display spatially and/or temporally.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving or determining a parameter associated with the selected object.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining one or more flight plan revisions of the aircraft is a function of said parameter associated with the selected object.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining and/or displaying the tactile interface data entry graphic symbol is a function of said parameter associated with the selected object.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining and/or displaying the tactile interface data entry graphic symbol is a function of one or more parameters comprising: the amount of data to enter, the type of revision to be made, the entry unit type, the display range, the representation type, and one or more predefined criteria.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the displayed entry graphic symbol is further a function of a measurement of a flight context of the aircraft.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the measurement of the flight context of the aircraft includes a measurement of a turbulence of the aircraft.

13. A system for piloting an aircraft, the system comprising:
a graphical interaction computer configured to:
receive an indication of an object selected on a display screen;
determine one or more flight plan revisions of the aircraft associated with the selected object and displaying one or more of said flight plan revisions;
receive an indication of a selected revision of the one or more displayed revisions;
determine a revision type associated with the selected revision;
display a tactile interface data entry graphic symbol as a function of the determined revision type, said data entry graphic symbol being selected from a plurality of data entry graphic symbols;
detect a movement of a finger on or over the display screen to measure a cognitive load of a pilot of the aircraft; and
modify the displayed entry graphic symbol as a function of the measurement of the cognitive load of the pilot of the aircraft.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the graphical interaction computer comprises at least one of a PFD principal flight display, an ND/VD navigation display, and an MFD multifunction display.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the graphical interaction computer comprises at least one of Flight Management System type avionic means, Electronic Flight Bag type non-avionic means, augmented, and virtual reality means.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the graphical interaction computer comprises only tactile type interface means.

Assignees

• Thales Sa

Inventors

• Coulmeau François
• Bonamy Frédéric
• Mazoyer Patrick

Classifications

• G08G5/0047

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01C21/00

  Navigation; Navigational instruments not provided for in groups G01C1/00 - G01C19/00 (measuring distance traversed on the ground by a vehicle G01C22/00; control of position, course, altitude or attitude of vehicles G05D1/00; traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968) · CPC title

• G06F3/0488 Primary

  using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures · CPC title

• G06T19/006

  Mixed reality (object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00) · CPC title