Vertical speed indicator generating system, device, and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9815566-B1
Application number	US-201514640304-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 6, 2015
Priority date	Mar 6, 2015
Publication date	Nov 14, 2017
Grant date	Nov 14, 2017

Abstract

A system, device, and method for generating a vertical speed indicator (VSI) are disclosed. The VSI generating system may include a source of first vertical speed (V/S) data, a source of second V/S, an image generator (IG), and a display system. The IG may be configured to acquire first V/S data; acquire second V/S data; and generate image data as a function of the first V/S data and the second V/S data. The first V/S data could include actual V/S, and the second V/S data could include a target V/S other than a manually-selected V/S. The image data could be representative of an image of an aircraft VSI comprised of at least one indication of the actual V/S, and at least one indication of the target V/S other than a manually-selected V/S.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for generating a vertical speed indicator (VSI), comprising:
a source of actual vertical speed data;
a source of computed vertical speed data;
an image generator including at least one processor coupled to a non-transitory processor-readable medium storing processor-executable code and configured to:
acquire actual vertical speed data representative of an actual vertical speed measured as a rate of change of altitude being experienced by an aircraft;
acquire computed vertical speed data representative of a computed vertical speed computed as a rate of change of altitude by a vertical flight guidance algorithm;
generate image data as a function of the actual vertical speed data and the computed vertical speed data, where
the image data is representative of an image of an aircraft VSI comprised of
at least one of a graphical indication and a numerical indication of the actual vertical speed, and
at least one of a graphical indication and a numerical indication of the computed vertical speed; and

provide the image data to at least one display unit; and

the display unit configured to:
receive the image data; and
present the image of the aircraft VSI to the right of an image of an altimeter and an image of an attitude indicator to the left of the image of the altimeter, where
a first computed vertical flight direction is provided by an image of a flight director overlaying the image of the attitude indicator, and
a second computed vertical flight direction is provided by the at least one of a graphical indication and a numerical indication of the computed vertical speed within the aircraft VSI, whereby
an alignment or nonalignment between the graphical indications of the actual vertical speed and the computed vertical speed and an equality or inequality between the numerical indications of the actual vertical speed and the computed vertical speed enhances a pilot's situational awareness of the aircraft's actual vertical flight with respect to the computed vertical flight by enabling the pilot to view the actual vertical speed and the computed vertical speed in the same indicator.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the source of the first vertical speed data, the second vertical speed data, or both is a flight management system.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computed vertical speed is a speed-based vertical speed.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the speed-based vertical speed is dependent upon a manually-selected source of speed.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computed vertical speed is determined as a function of a predicted vertical flight path.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the predicted vertical flight path is a flight idle descent path.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a source of manually-selected vertical speed data, where
the image generator is further configured to:
acquire and include manually-selected vertical speed data representative of a manual selection of vertical speed in the function for generating the image data, where
the image of the aircraft VSI is further comprised of at least one of a graphical indication and a numerical indication of the manually-selected vertical speed, whereby
 an alignment or nonalignment between the graphical indications of the manually-selected vertical speed and the computed vertical speed and an equality or inequality between the numerical indications of the manually-selected vertical speed and the computed vertical speed enhances a pilot's situational awareness of the aircraft's manually-selected vertical flight with respect to the computed vertical flight by enabling the pilot to view the manually-selected vertical speed and the computed vertical speed in the same indicator.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the source of manually-selected vertical speed data is a pilot interface system configured to receive the manual selection of vertical speed.

9. A device for generating a vertical speed indicator (VSI), comprising:
an image generator including at least one processor coupled to a non-transitory processor-readable medium storing processor-executable code and configured to:
acquire actual vertical speed data representative of an actual vertical speed measured as a rate of change of altitude being experienced by an aircraft;
acquire computed vertical speed data representative of a computed vertical speed computed as a rate of change of altitude by a vertical flight guidance algorithm;
generate, image data as a function of the actual vertical speed data and the computed vertical speed data, where
the image data is representative of an image of an aircraft VSI comprised of
at least one of a graphical indication and a numerical indication of the actual vertical speed, and
at least one of a graphical indication and a numerical indication of the computed vertical speed; and

provide the image data to at least one display unit configured to present the image of the aircraft VSI to the right of an image of an altimeter and an image of an attitude indicator to the left of the image of the altimeter, where
a first computed vertical flight direction is provided by an image of a flight director overlaying the image of the attitude indicator, and
a second computed vertical flight direction is provided by the at least one of a graphical indication and a numerical indication of the computed vertical speed within the aircraft VSI, whereby
an alignment or nonalignment between the graphical indications of the actual vertical speed and the computed vertical speed and an equality or inequality between the numerical indications of the actual vertical speed and the computed vertical speed enhances a pilot's situational awareness of the aircraft's actual vertical flight with respect to the computed vertical flight by enabling the pilot to view the actual vertical speed and the computed vertical speed in the same indicator.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein the computed vertical speed is a speed-based vertical speed.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the speed-based vertical speed is dependent upon a manually-selected source of speed.

12. The device of claim 9 , wherein the computed vertical speed is determined as a function of a predicted vertical flight path.

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the predicted vertical flight path is a flight idle descent path.

14. The device of claim 9 , wherein
the image generator is further configured to:
acquire and include manually-selected vertical speed data representative of a manual selection of vertical speed in the function for generating the image data, where
the image of the aircraft VSI is further comprised of at least one of a graphical indication and a numerical indication of the manually-selected vertical speed, whereby
an alignment or nonalignment between the graphical indications of the manually-selected vertical speed and the computed vertical speed and an equality or inequality between the numerical indications of the manually-selected vertical speed and the computed vertical speed enhances a pilot's situational awareness of the aircraft's manually-selected vertical flight with respect to the computed vertical flight by enabling the pilot to view the manually-selected vertical speed and the computed vertical speed in the same indicator.

15. A method for generating a vertical speed indicator (VSI), comprising:
acquiring, by an image generator including at least one processor coupled to a non-transitory processor-readable medium storing processor-executable code, actual vertical speed data from a source of

Assignees

• Rockwell Collins Inc

Inventors

• Innis John D
• Moore Daniel I

Classifications

• B64D43/02 Primary

  for indicating aircraft speed or stalling conditions · CPC title

• B64D47/00

  Equipment not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• G01C23/00

  Combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value, e.g. for aircraft; Combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement, e.g. distance, speed or acceleration · CPC title