Method contributing to making safe a synthetic graphics representation of the view outside an aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9489758-B2
Application number	US-201514723694-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2015
Priority date	May 28, 2014
Publication date	Nov 8, 2016
Grant date	Nov 8, 2016

Abstract

A method of contributing to making safe a synthetic vision display of an aircraft for displaying on viewing means an at least partial view in perspective of the environment of the aircraft together with piloting symbology. During the method, at least one check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) is defined that is situated in the environment and that co-operates with a reference point (Pr) of the aircraft to form a first straight line (D P ). Thereafter, a first display function (F 1 ) is used to calculate display coordinates (a 1 ,b 2 ), (a 2 ,b 2 ), (a 3 ,b 3 ) for each check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) on the viewing means, and then the inverse (F 2 ) −1 of a second display function (F 2 ) is used together with the display coordinates (a 1 ,b 2 ), (a 2 ,b 2 ), (a 3 ,b 3 ) to calculate a second straight line (D S ) passing through the reference point (Dr). Finally, the first and second lines (D P , D S ) corresponding to a common check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) are compared in order to define whether the synthetic vision display is trustworthy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of contributing to making safe a synthetic graphics representation of the view outside an aircraft, the aircraft having at least one viewing means on which it is possible to display firstly an at least partial view in perspective of the environment of the aircraft and secondly piloting symbology for the aircraft, a roll axis (X 10 ) extending from the rear of the aircraft to the front of the aircraft, a yaw axis (Z 10 ) extending upwards perpendicularly to the roll axis (X 10 ), and a pitching axis (Y 10 ) extending from right to left perpendicularly to the roll and yaw axes (X 10 , Z 10 ), together forming a local reference frame (X 10 , Y 10 , Z 10 ) tied to the aircraft, the method comprising:
determining while the aircraft is in flight at least the heading and the attitude of the aircraft by an attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) of the aircraft and determining a reference point (Pr) of the aircraft;
displaying on the viewing means of the aircraft while the aircraft is in flight for a pilot of the aircraft to view a synthetic graphics representation of the view outside the aircraft representing an at least partial view in perspective of the environment of the aircraft and piloting symbology for the aircraft;
defining at least one check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) situated in the environment of the aircraft, each check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) co-operating with the reference point (Pr) to form a respective first straight line (D P1 , D P2 , D P3 ) passing through the reference point (Pr) and the respective check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ), the position of each first line (D P1 , D P2 , D P3 ) being known in the local reference frame (X 10 , Y 10 , Z 10 ) tied to the aircraft;
using a first display function (F 1 ), which takes into account the heading and the attitude of the aircraft determined by the AHRS of the aircraft, to calculate the display coordinates (a 1 ,b 1 ), (a 2 ,b 2 ), (a 3 ,b 3 ) of each check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) on the viewing means, wherein each pair of display coordinates (a 1 ,b 1 ), (a 2 ,b 2 ), (a 3 ,b 3 ) represents a respective one of the check points (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) displayed on the viewing means while taking into account the heading and the attitude of the aircraft;
using the inverse (F 2 ) −1 of a second display function (F 2 ), which takes into account the heading and the attitude of the aircraft determined by the AHRS of the aircraft, together with the display coordinates (a 1 ,b 1 ), (a 2 ,b 2 ), (a 3 ,b 3 ) to calculate a second straight line (D S1 , D S2 , D S3 ) for each check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ), each second line (D S1 , D S2 , D S3 ) passing through the reference point (Pr) of the aircraft and the respective check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ), the first display function (F 1 ) and the second display function (F 2 ) being distinct;
comparing each first line (D P1 , D P2 , D P3 ) with each second line (D S1 , D S2 , D S3 ) corresponding to the same check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ); and
defining that the at least partial view in perspective of the environment of the aircraft is trustworthy if each first line (D P1 , D P2 , D P3 ) and each second line (D S1 , D S2 , D S3 ) corresponding to the same check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) presents an angular difference that is less than or equal to a predetermined margin.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) is defined in the local reference frame (X 10 , Y 10 , Z 10 ), and then the position of each check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) is calculated in a terrestrial reference frame (X, Y, Z).

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein three check points (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) are defined co-operating with the reference point (Pr) to form three first lines (D P1 , D P2 , D P3 ) that are not coplanar.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the first check point P 1 is situated on the roll axis of the aircraft and the check points P 2 , P 3 are situated on the pitching axis (Y 10 ) at a first distance L 1 from the reference point Pr, the method further comprising:
displaying a first artificial horizon line, first attitude marks, and first heading marks on the viewing means from the display coordinates (a 1 ,b 1 ), (a 2 ,b 2 ), (a 3 ,b 3 ) of each check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ), the first artificial horizon line passing through the display coordinates (a 2 ,b 2 ), (a 3 , b 3 ) corresponding to the check points (P 2 , P 3 ), the first attitude marks being equidistant and parallel to the first artificial horizon line and the first heading marks ( 19 ) being segments that are equidistant and parallel to a direction perpendicular to the first artificial horizon line and passing through the display coordinates (a 1 ,b 1 ) of the first check point P 1 ;
determining additional points (P′ 1 , P′ 2 , P′ 3 ) by means of the inverse (F 2 ) −1 of the second display function (F 2 ), the additional points (P′ 1 , P′ 2 , P′ 3 ) lying on the lines (D S1 , D S2 , D S3 ) at a second distance L 2 from the reference point Pr;
determining additional display coordinates (a′ 1 ,b′ 1 ), (a′ 2 ,b′ 2 ), (a′ 3 ,b′ 3 ) of each additional point (P′ 1 , P′ 2 , P′ 3 ) on the viewing means by using the first display function (F 1 ); and
displaying a second artificial horizon line, second attitude marks, and second heading marks on the viewing means on the basis of the additional display coordinates (a′ 1 ,b′ 1 ), (a′ 2 ,b′ 2 ), (a′ 3 ,b′ 3 ), the second artificial horizon line passing through the additional display coordinates (a′ 2 ,b′ 2 ), (a′ 3 ,b′ 3 ) corresponding to the additional points (P′ 2 , P′ 3 ) the second attitude marks being equidistant and parallel to the second artificial horizon line, and the second heading marks being segments parallel to a direction perpendicular to the second artificial horizon line and passing through the additional display coordinates (a′ 1 ,b′ 1 ) of the first additional points P′ 1 .

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) is characterized by a first line (D P1 , D P2 , D P3 ) positioned relative to the longitudinal row axis (X 10 ) and passing through the reference point (Pr), and by a distance L from the reference point (Pr).

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the reference point (Pr) is characterized by first coordinates in a terrestrial reference frame (X, Y, Z) and each check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) is a point known from a database having second coordinates that are known in the terrestrial reference frame (X, Y, Z), the first line (D P1 , D P2 , D P3 ) corresponding to a check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) being determined from the first coordinates of the reference point (Pr) and from the second coordinates of the check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ).

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) is selected to be in the field of the at least partial view in perspective.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each check point (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) is selected so as to scan the at least partial view in perspective in a given time interval.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, when the at least partial view in perspective is not trustworthy, the display of the at least partial view in perspective on the viewing means is modified in order to inform a pilot of the aircraft.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of displaying on the viewing means includes displaying the at least partial view in perspective of the environment of the aircraft on the viewing means using the first display function (F 1 ) and displaying the piloting symbology on the viewing means using the second display function (F 2 ).

11. The method according to clai

Assignees

• Airbus Helicopters

Inventors

• Ott Adrien

Classifications

• H04N7/183

  for receiving images from a single remote source · CPC title

• G01C23/005 Primary

  Flight directors (indicating arrangements specially adapted for rotary gyroscopes G01C19/32) · CPC title

• G06T11/60 Primary

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

• G06T7/004

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06T7/70

  Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80) · CPC title