Thermocline display

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9972110-B2
Application number	US-201514821684-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 7, 2015
Priority date	Aug 7, 2015
Publication date	May 15, 2018
Grant date	May 15, 2018

Abstract

Various implementations described herein are directed to a device having a display and a computer configured to receive data from one or more sensors. The data may include positional data and thermocline data. The computer may be configured to display a first image associated with a chart map of a body of water that identifies areas having a thermocline layer based on the positional data and the thermocline data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device, comprising:
a marine based multifunction display configured to interface with a global positioning system (GPS) sensor and one or more sonar sensors;
the marine based multifunction display comprising:
a display; and
a computer configured to:
receive, from the global positioning system (GPS) sensor, positional data comprising GPS data;
receive, from the one or more sonar sensors, sonar scanning data;
determine thermocline data based on the sonar scanning data, wherein determining the thermocline data comprises determining a depth range corresponding to a thermocline region associated with a body of water as identified in the sonar scanning data; and
display a first image comprising a chart map of the body of water that identifies areas of the body of water having a thermocline layer based on the positional data and the thermocline data.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further configured to:
display the first image on a first portion of the display; and
display a second image associated with the sonar scanning data that identifies underwater features below a surface of the body of water along with identifying a vertical depth of the thermocline layer based on the thermocline data, wherein the second image is displayed on a second portion of the display different than the first portion;
wherein the computer is configured to simultaneously display the first and second images on a split screen of the display.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the computer is configured to automatically identify the underwater features below the surface of the body of water based on the sonar scanning data, automatically identify the vertical depth of the thermocline layer based on the thermocline data, and automatically display the second image on the display based on the sonar scanning data and the thermocline data.

4. The device of claim 2 , wherein the second image comprises a sonar image having a shaded region that overlays a portion of the sonar image identified as the thermocline layer.

5. The device of claim 2 , wherein the second image comprises a sonar image having a vertical depth scale displayed along with the sonar image, and wherein the vertical depth scale provides information related to a depth of the thermocline layer.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the information related to the depth of the thermocline layer comprises an indication for an upper boundary depth of the thermocline layer and another indication for a lower boundary depth of the thermocline layer.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the computer is configured to automatically identify the areas of the body of water having the thermocline layer based on the positional data and the thermocline data and automatically display the first image on the display based on the positional data and the thermocline data.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first image identifies a position of the device on the body of water based on the positional data along with identifying the areas of the body of water having the thermocline layer.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sonar sensors are configured to detect the thermocline layer in the body of water, and wherein the sonar data comprises the thermocline data received from the one or more sonar sensors, and wherein the one or more sonar sensors comprise multiple transducer elements having one or more of a right scanning transducer, a left scanning transducer, a down scanning transducer, and a conical down beam transducer.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first image includes one or more highlights to the identified areas having a thermocline layer.

11. A multi-function marine based apparatus, comprising:
a communication interface configured to interface with a global positioning system (GPS) sensor and one or more sonar sensors;
a display;
a processor; and
memory having instructions that cause the processor to:
receive, from the global positioning system (GPS) sensor, positional comprising GPS data;
receive, from the one or more sonar sensors, sonar scanning data;
determine thermocline data based on the sonar scanning data, wherein determining the thermocline data comprises determining a depth range corresponding to a thermocline region associated with a body of water as identified in the sonar scanning data,
on a first portion of the display, display a first image comprising a chart map of the body of water that identifies areas of the body of water having a thermocline layer based on the positional data and the thermocline data, and
on a second portion of the display different than the first portion, display a second image associated with the sonar scanning data that identifies underwater features below a surface of the body of water along with identifying a vertical depth of the thermocline layer based on the thermocline data.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the memory includes instructions configured to automatically identify the areas of the body of water having the thermocline layer based on the positional data and the thermocline data and automatically display the first image on the display based on the positional data and the thermocline data.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the memory includes instructions configured to automatically identify the underwater features below the surface of the body of water based on the sonar data, automatically identify the vertical depth of the thermocline layer based on the thermocline data, and automatically display the second image on the display based on the sonar data and the thermocline data.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more sonar sensors are configured to detect the thermocline layer in the body of water, and wherein the sonar scanning data comprises the thermocline data received from the one or more sonar sensors.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first image includes one or more highlights to the identified areas having a thermocline layer.

16. A method, comprising:
receiving, at a marine based multi-function display (MFD) configured to interface with a global positioning system (GPS) sensor and one or more sonar sensors, positional data comprising GPS data, wherein the positional data is received from the global positioning system (GPS) sensor;
receive, at the MFD, sonar scanning data, wherein the sonar scanning data is received from the one or more sonar sensors;
determine thermocline data based on the sonar scanning data, wherein determining the thermocline data comprises determining a depth range corresponding to a thermocline region associated with a body of water as identified in the sonar scanning data;
on a first portion of a marine electronics device, displaying a first image comprising a chart map of the body of water that identifies areas of the body of water having a thermocline layer based on the positional data and the thermocline data; and
on a second portion of the marine electronics device that is different than the first portion, displaying a second image associated with the sonar scanning data that identifies underwater features below a surface of the body of water along with identifying a vertical depth of the thermocline layer based on the thermocline data.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
automatically identifying the areas of the body of water having the thermocline layer based on the positional data and the thermocline data; and
automatically displaying the first image on the display based on the positional data and the thermocline data.

Assignees

• Navico Holding As

Inventors

• Steward Lucas Dale

Classifications

• G06T11/26

  Drawing of charts or graphs · CPC title

• G01S7/6272

  producing cursor lines and indicia by electronic means · CPC title

• G01S7/6218

  providing two-dimensional coordinated display of distance and direction · CPC title

• G06F3/14

  Digital output to display device {; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units} · CPC title

• G01S19/19

  Sporting applications · CPC title