Onboard aircraft systems and methods to identify moving landing platforms

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9752893-B2
Application number	US-201514813957-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2015
Priority date	Jul 30, 2015
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

A display system for an aircraft includes a sensor configured to capture data associated with a landing platform on a movable carrier. The data includes current energy parameters of the movable carrier. The display system further includes a processing unit configured to receive the data representative of the landing platform. The processing unit is further configured to generate display commands associated with the landing platform. The display system further includes a display device coupled the processing unit for receiving the display commands and operable to render first symbology representing the landing platform.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A display system for an aircraft, comprising:
a sensor positioned on the aircraft and configured to capture data associated with a landing platform on a movable carrier external to the aircraft, the data including current energy parameters of the movable carrier;
a processing unit configured to receive the data associated with the landing platform, the processing unit further configured to generate display commands associated with the landing platform; and
a display device onboard the aircraft and coupled the processing unit for receiving the display commands and operable to render first symbology representing the landing platform,
wherein the processing unit is further configured to generate display commands associated with the energy parameters of the movable carrier, and wherein the display device is further configured to render second symbology representing the energy parameters of the movable carrier,
wherein the energy parameters include at least one of a current motion direction of the movable carrier or a current speed of the movable carrier relative to the aircraft, and
wherein the second symbology includes at least one of an arrow oriented in the current motion direction of the movable carrier or a numerical value of the current speed of the movable carrier relative to the aircraft.

2. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the energy parameters include the current motion direction of the movable carrier, and wherein the second symbology includes the arrow oriented in the current motion direction of the movable carrier.

3. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the energy parameters include the current speed of the movable carrier relative to the aircraft, and wherein the second symbology includes the numerical value of the current speed of the movable carrier relative to the aircraft.

4. A display system for an aircraft, comprising:
a sensor positioned on the aircraft and configured to capture data associated with a landing platform on a movable carrier external to the aircraft, the data including current energy parameters of the movable carrier;
a processing unit configured to receive the data associated with the landing platform, the processing unit further configured to generate display commands associated with the landing platform; and
a display device onboard the aircraft and coupled the processing unit for receiving the display commands and operable to render first symbology representing the landing platform,
wherein the processing unit is further configured to generate display commands associated with the energy parameters of the movable carrier, and wherein the display device is further configured to render second symbology representing the energy parameters of the movable carrier, and
wherein the energy parameters include a current pitch and roll of the movable carrier relative to the aircraft, and wherein the landing platform of the first symbology is oriented to represent the current pitch and roll of the movable carrier.

5. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the display device is configured to render a three-dimensional synthetic view of a flight environment that includes the first symbology and the second symbology.

6. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the display device is a primary flight display.

7. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to evaluate the energy parameters and generate an alert when at least one of the energy parameters exceeds a predetermined safety margin, and wherein the second symbology represents the alert.

8. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the data further includes a height associated with the landing platform, and wherein the first symbology includes a pedestal supporting the landing platform to indicate the height associated with the landing platform.

9. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to generate the display commands that represent a three-dimensional synthetic view of a flight environment, and wherein the display device is configured to render the first symbology as the image of the landing platform overlaying the three-dimensional synthetic view of the flight environment.

10. The display system of claim 1
wherein the sensor is configured to capture a first image of the movable carrier and a second image of the movable carrier as the data associated with the landing platform, and wherein the processing unit is configured to generate the display commands based on the first image and the second image.

11. The display system of claim 10 , wherein the sensor includes at least one of an infrared camera or a millimeter wave camera.

12. A method for displaying a landing platform of a movable carrier with a display device on an aircraft, comprising the steps of:
capturing data associated with the landing platform on the movable carrier external to the aircraft with a sensor positioned on the aircraft, the data including current energy parameters of the movable carrier;
generating display commands associated with the landing platform; and
rendering first symbology representing the landing platform on the display device based on the display commands,
wherein the step of generating the display commands includes generating the display commands associated with the energy parameters of the movable carrier,
wherein the step of rendering includes rendering second symbology representing the energy parameters of the movable carrier on the display device, and
wherein the energy parameters include a current motion direction of the movable carrier, and wherein the step of rendering includes rendering the second symbology with an arrow oriented in the current motion direction of the movable carrier.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the energy parameters further include a current speed of the movable carrier relative to the aircraft, and wherein the step of rendering further includes rendering the second symbology with a numerical value of the current speed of the movable carrier relative to the aircraft.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the energy parameters further include a current pitch and roll of the movable carrier relative to the aircraft, and wherein the step of rendering further includes rendering the first symbology with an orientation representing the current pitch and roll of the movable carrier.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the step of rendering includes rendering a three-dimensional synthetic view of a flight environment that includes the first symbology and the second symbology.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the data further includes a height associated with the landing platform, and wherein the step of rendering includes rendering the first symbology with a pedestal supporting the landing platform to indicate the height associated with the landing platform.

17. The method of claim 12 ,
wherein the capturing step includes capturing a first image of the movable carrier and a second image of the movable carrier as the data associated with the landing platform, and
wherein the method further comprises identifying the energy parameters of the movable carrier from the first image and the second image.

Assignees

• Honeywell Int Inc

Inventors

• Mohideen Mohammed Ibrahim
• S Anoop
• Priyamvada Alpana

Classifications

• G05D1/0684

  on a moving platform, e.g. aircraft carrier · CPC title

• G08G5/025

  Physics · mapped topic

• G08G5/0021

  Physics · mapped topic

• B64D45/04

  Landing aids; Safety measures to prevent collision with earth's surface · CPC title

• G01C23/005 Primary

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