Method and system for measuring the thickness of ice on a surface, notably of an aircraft, using a luminous pattern generated by diffusion in the ice

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016178352-A1
Application number	US-201514974912-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 18, 2015
Priority date	Dec 19, 2014
Publication date	Jun 23, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system and method for providing an estimate of the thickness of the ice regardless of the shape of its surface at the level of the air/ice interface. To this end the system and method measure an intensity profile of a luminous pattern generated by diffusion in the ice, which enables the system to measure the thickness of the ice even when the air/ice surface is not plane.

First claim

1 . A system for measuring a thickness of ice on a surface, in particular of an aircraft, the system comprising:
a light source configured to project a collimated beam onto the surface to generate a luminous pattern by diffusion in the ice; an imaging device configured to acquire an image of the ice including the luminous pattern; a measuring unit configured to measure on the image a luminous intensity profile of the luminous pattern; and a calculation unit configured to estimate the thickness of ice present on the surface as a function of the luminous intensity profile, wherein the measuring unit is configured to measure a width of the intensity profile and the calculation unit is configured to estimate the thickness of ice as a function of the width of the intensity profile and from at least one predetermined table.

2 . The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the light source has a wavelength between 200 nanometers and 1 micrometer inclusive.

3 . The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the light source comprises:
a laser; a pulsed light source; a light source emitting radiation outside the visible band; or a light source emitting radiation at a plurality of wavelengths.

4 . The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the imaging device is configured for double image acquisition.

5 . The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the imaging device is a high dynamic range imaging device.

6 . A method of measuring a thickness of ice on a surface, in particular of an aircraft, the method comprising:
projecting a collimated light beam onto the surface in to generate a luminous pattern by diffusion in the ice; acquiring an image of the ice including the luminous pattern; measuring on the image a luminous intensity profile of the luminous pattern; and estimating the thickness of ice present on the surface as a function of the luminous intensity profile and from at least one predetermined table, wherein: measuring the intensity profile comprises measuring a width of the intensity profile; and estimating the thickness of ice comprises estimating the thickness of ice as a function of the measured width of the intensity profile and from at least one predetermined table.

7 . The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the intensity profile is measured perpendicularly to the luminous pattern.

8 . The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the method comprises:
measuring a width of the intensity profile; and estimating the thickness of ice as a function of the width of the intensity profile and from the predetermined table.

9 . The method as claimed in claim 8 , comprising measuring the width at half the height of the intensity profile.

10 . The method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the method comprises:
acquiring a first sub-image of the ice when the light source is operating and a second sub-image of the ice when the light source is turned off; forming the image by superimposing the first and second sub-images.

Assignees

• Airbus Operations Sas
• Airbus Defence & Space Gmbh

Inventors

• Weber Marc Marcel
• Olchewsky François Antoine
• Entz Ricardo Maiko Uehoka

Classifications

• B64D15/20

  Means for detecting icing or initiating de-icing · CPC title

• G01B11/0625 Primary

  with measurement of absorption or reflection · CPC title

• G01B11/0691 Primary

  of objects while moving (G01B11/0616 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06T11/60

  Creating or editing images; Combining images with text · CPC title

• H04N23/741

  by increasing the dynamic range of the image compared to the dynamic range of the electronic image sensors · CPC title