JP3538026B2 - Landing guidance system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a landing guidance system for guiding an aircraft to a runway as a landing point, and more particularly, to a simple runway without landing guidance support equipment, which can be used in day and night, slightly bad weather conditions. Even at times, the aircraft is safely guided, and almost no ground equipment is required, so that the equipment mounted on the aircraft can be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general airports, a landing guidance system for guiding an aircraft to a runway, which is a landing point, by a ground facility is mainly applied. This type of system is large because ground equipment is the mainstream,
The number of ground workers will also be huge.

In this type of system, ASR (Air
port Surveillance Radar: Airport Surveillance Radar, ILS
(Instrument Landing System: Instrument Landing Guidance System), PAR (Precision Approach Radar), VOR (Very High Frequency Omnidirectional R)
systems such as adio Range (ultra-high frequency omnidirectional radio beacon) are intricately intertwined.

By the way, in the landing guidance system, it is conceivable that commuters connecting local cities, municipalities, and the like will be developed in the future. In this case, providing a large-scale facility centered on the ground as in the above-described system would cost a great deal of money. This forces the aircraft to make an autonomous landing.

In view of the future, there is a demand for a system that can safely land on the runway by the aircraft itself, day or night or in bad weather, without considering ground facilities. Have been.

[0006]

As described above, in the above landing guidance system, when realizing a commuter connecting local cities, municipalities, and the like, large-scale facilities centered on the ground cannot be expected. There is a need for a system that can safely land on a runway without being affected by day or night or in bad weather.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an aircraft with a safe runway without the need for large-scale ground facilities and only by providing a simple device to the aircraft without being affected by day or night or bad weather. An object of the present invention is to provide a landing guidance system capable of performing landing guidance.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a landing guidance system that guides a flying object to land along a centerline on a runway that is a landing point. And in order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, heat sources are arranged at both ends of the runway center line extension,
The flying object is provided with an infrared imaging device capable of capturing and tracking heat generated from a heat generation source, creating an infrared image in an imaging visual field including a runway from a detection output of the infrared imaging device, and The heat source image located at the approach end of the upper runway is tracked so that it is on the center line of the infrared image, and after that, the heat source image located at the other end of the runway comes on the center line By controlling the traveling direction of the flying object as described above, the flying object can be guided to land on the center line on the runway.

According to this configuration, the flying object is equipped with the infrared imaging device capable of capturing and tracking heat,
By arranging heat sources at both ends on the center line extension of the runway, heat generated from each heat source is captured and tracked by this infrared imaging device, and the runway is obtained from the results of the capture and tracking. An infrared image in the field of view including the image is created, and the pilot is operated while showing the infrared image to the pilot, so that the pilot can grasp the position of the runway from the infrared image, and based on this position information, Thus, the aircraft can be guided to land on the runway without guidance from the ground.

[0010] As a result, large-scale ground facilities for guiding landing of the flying object around the runway are not required, and the flying object can be landed on the runway without being affected by day or night or in some bad weather. It is possible to guide.

In addition, the flying object creates and displays an infrared image in the field of view including the runway from the detection and tracking results obtained by the infrared imaging device, and displays each thermal image on the displayed infrared image. By controlling the flight direction of the flying object so that the source image is on a predetermined center line in the infrared image, the landing object can be guided along the center line of the runway, Only by effectively utilizing the infrared imaging device mounted on the body, it is possible to safely and surely guide the flying object to the runway, and it is also possible to reduce the cost of the entire system.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a landing guidance system according to the present invention, and reference symbol A in the figure indicates, for example, an aircraft. In this system, the aircraft AP is connected to a runway R which is a landing point.
The driver is guided to land on the center line C on WY.

In this embodiment, the runway RW
Heat sources B1 and B2 are arranged at both ends on the center line C extension of Y, respectively. The aircraft AP has an infrared imaging device capable of capturing and tracking heat generated from the heat sources B1 and B2, as will be described in detail later.

As shown in FIG. 2, this infrared imaging apparatus has, for example, a height direction AZ and an azimuth direction
It is supported by a gimbal mechanism 11 that can move to L. The gimbal mechanism 11 includes a movable first housing 11a and a fixed second housing 11b. This first
As shown in FIG. 2A, the housing 11a of the
By means of c, it is rotatable in the azimuth direction indicated by arrows EL1-EL2 in the figure. Further, the first housing 11a is the same as FIG.
As shown in (b), the rotating portion 11d supports the infrared imaging device 21 so as to be rotatable in the height direction indicated by arrows AZ1-AZ2 in the figure. For this reason, the infrared imaging device 21 includes a lens 21a provided in front thereof.
In each of the rotating parts 11c and 11d as indicated by arrows EL1-EL in the figure.
2 or in the elevation direction indicated by arrows AZ1-AZ2 in the figure.
B2 can be captured and tracked.

Next, the heat sources B1 and B2 and the aircraft AP
The configuration of the on-board device 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, FIG. 3 shows a configuration of the heat sources B1 and B2.

In FIG. 3, the heat sources B1 and B2 are constituted by a heating element 31 and heating plates 32a and 32b.
Among them, the hot plates 32a and 32b are, for example, both sides 1m × 1
m, which is heated by the heating element 31 to about 300 to 500 ° C. The heating element 31 is used for a nichrome wire or an infrared electric stove.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the on-board device 2.
Here, the aircraft AP up to about 5 km on one side of the runway RWY
Is approaching at a descent angle of 3 °, the altitude at that time is about 250
m. Then, the infrared imaging device 21 sets the imaging field of view 3
When the approach end of the runway RWY is captured at the center of the field of view in °, it is possible to capture a distance of about 2 km before and 9.5 km ahead.

This infrared imaging device 21 has a visual field of 3 ° × 3.
The imaging signal of about ° is input to the two-dimensional image tracking unit 22.
The two-dimensional image tracking unit 22 performs tracking processing on the heat source B1 disposed at the approach end of the runway RWY based on the runway information included in the imaging signal. Then, the two-dimensional image tracking unit 22
Transmits the infrared image information obtained by the tracking process to the image processing unit 23
Output to The image processing unit 23 mixes the image of the scan conversion, the tracking point, the tracking cursor, and the like, that is, superimposes, so that the input infrared image information can be displayed on the general display 24.

Regarding the superimposing process,
By comparing or mixing two infrared images having a time difference, angle information for steering is displayed on the infrared image. Further, the two-dimensional image tracking unit 22 outputs a tracking error signal in the elevation direction AZ and the azimuth direction EL obtained by the tracking processing to the torque drive control unit 25. Torque drive control unit 25
Converts the input tracking error signal into a torque drive signal and outputs the torque drive signal to the two-axis spatially stable gimbal mechanism control unit 26.
The two-axis space stabilizing gimbal mechanism control unit 26 performs drive control processing of the gimbal mechanism unit 11 in the elevation direction AZ and the azimuth direction EL based on the input torque drive signal, and thereafter, the elevation AZ obtained by the control processing. And azimuth direction EL
Is sent back to the torque drive control unit 25. Then, the torque drive control unit 25 outputs the gimbal angle signal to the image processing unit 23.

As described above, these infrared imaging devices 2
The loop of the heat source tracking is completed by the loop configured by the one and two-dimensional image tracking unit 22, the torque drive control unit 25, and the two-axis space stable gimbal mechanism control unit 26.

The specific processing operation of the on-board device 2 having the above configuration will be described below with reference to an example of the general display 24 in FIG. First, the infrared image shown in FIG. 5 is an image of offset tracking, in which reference numeral 41 denotes a vertical AZ tracking center line, and reference numeral 42 denotes an azimuthal EL tracking center line. Reference numeral 43 denotes a state in which the gimbal angle information in the elevation direction AZ is superimposed as a cursor, and according to this state, the current axis and the center axis of the infrared imaging device 21 are shifted by an angle θAZ. I have. That is, the pilot steers the aircraft AP such that the tracking center line 41 and the car 43 overlap.

Further, reference numeral 44 denotes a state in which the gimbal angle information of the azimuth direction EL is superimposed as a cursor, and according to this state, it indicates that the axis of the machine is directed more upward by an angle θEL than the infrared imaging device 21. . Therefore,
The pilot lowers the aircraft AP while keeping the Casa 44 at an angle of 3 ° with respect to the EL tracking center line 42.

Thereafter, the pilot looks at the infrared image shown in FIG.
While rotating the fuselage, set the heat source B2 to the AZ tracking center line 4
1 and the state shown in FIG.

In the above description, the infrared imaging device 21
It is described that an infrared image is created from the output of the above, and the tracking processing of the target heat sources B1 and B2 is performed using the gimbal angle information while viewing the infrared image. In consideration of the attitude angle of the aircraft AP, tracking processing is executed using a rate sensor that detects an angular velocity component due to the movement of the aircraft AP.

Next, as another example of the above embodiment, an example in which a rate sensor is added to a platform on which the infrared imaging device 21 is mounted will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a circuit block diagram, and FIG. 8 is an angle relation diagram.

In this example, as shown in FIG. 7, by applying negative feedback to the gimbal torque input, the platform is completely separated from the movement of the vehicle and is stabilized in space.

Here, when the infrared imaging device 21 captures the target heat source B1, the visual line angle signal λ obtained at that time is input to the adder 51. The adder 51 subtracts the aircraft attitude angle signal θm from the input line-of-sight angle signal λ. The output of the adder 51 is subtracted by the adder 52 by the gimbal angle signal θG. Then, a sensor error angle signal ε is obtained from the angle relationship diagram of FIG. 8, and the sensor error angle signal ε is input to the infrared sensor 53 of the infrared imaging device 21.

The infrared sensor 53 outputs a target visual change component of the heat sources B1 and B2. The output of the infrared sensor 53 is input to the gimbal torque generator 55 via the adder 54, and is converted into a sensor angular velocity component δθs for driving the gimbal mechanism 11. This sensor angular velocity component δθs is converted into a gimbal angular velocity component δθG by subtracting it in advance from an attitude angular velocity component δθm given from the aircraft AP by an adder 56, and then converted into a gimbal angle signal θG by an integrator 57. Is input to the adder 52. Also, the sensor angular velocity component δθs
Is converted into a sensor angle signal θs by being input to the rate sensor 58, and thereafter is fed back to the adder 54. The attitude angular velocity component δθm is calculated by the integrator 5
At 9, the signal is converted into an aircraft attitude angle signal θm,
Is input to

Therefore, if the above configuration is used in the horizontal direction, if the aircraft AP is steered so that the gimbal angle signal θG becomes zero, the sensor axis and the machine axis coincide. If the gimbal angle signal .theta.G is steered so as to be the landing descent angle of the aircraft AP, the landing can be performed at a fixed descent angle.

As described above, according to the above embodiment,
The aircraft AP has an infrared imaging device 2 capable of capturing and tracking heat.
1, the center line C of the runway RWY
By arranging the heat sources B1 and B2 at both ends on the extension, respectively,
1, the heat generated from B2 is captured and tracked, an infrared image in the field of view including the runway information is created from the results of the capture and tracking, and the infrared image is displayed to the pilot on the comprehensive display 24. I'm trying to steer. For this reason,
The pilot can grasp the position of the runway RWY from the infrared image displayed on the general display 24, and based on this position information, moves the aircraft AP to the runway RWY without guidance from the ground.
It is possible to guide landing. Therefore, runway RW
No large-scale ground facilities are needed around the Y to guide the aircraft AP to the landing, and the aircraft AP can be moved to the runway RWY without being affected by day or night or in case of some bad weather.
It is possible to guide landing.

For the aircraft AP, an infrared image in the field of view including runway information is created from the results of acquisition and tracking obtained by the infrared imaging device 21 and displayed on the general display 24. By controlling the nose of the aircraft AP so that the respective heat sources B1 and B2 indicated by 24 are on the AZ tracking center line 41, the aircraft AP can be guided to land along the center line C of the runway RWY. The infrared imaging device 21 mounted on the aircraft AP
Only by effectively using, the aircraft AP can be safely and reliably landed on the runway RWY, and the cost of the entire system can be reduced.

In the above description, the pilot looks at the infrared image displayed on the general display
Although the description has been made assuming that P is steered, the present invention can also be implemented by automatically steering.

FIG. 9 shows a circuit configuration of the on-board device 2 for automatically steering the aircraft AP. In FIG. 9, the same parts as those in FIG. 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and only different parts will be described.

That is, the output of the infrared sensor 53 is B2
It is sent to the point detector 61. Then, the B2 point detector 61 detects, for example, the position or amount of deviation of the heat source B2 from the AZ tracking center line on the infrared image, and outputs this deviation to the steering control device 62 as an error signal. The steering controller 62 receives a gimbal angle signal θG obtained by the integrator 57.

Then, the steering control unit 62 determines the center line C of the runway RWY based on the error signal from the B2 point detector 61 and the gimbal angle signal θG from the integrator 57.
The aircraft AP is steered to land along the top. It should be noted that this steering process is performed by the steering control device 62.
Can be realized by a microcomputer program.

Therefore, according to the above configuration, it is not necessary for the pilot to steer the aircraft AP, it is possible to automatically steer and guide the landing along the center line C of the runway RWY.

In the above embodiment, the infrared imaging device 21 has been described.
It is needless to say that the present invention can be implemented by an optical imaging device using a light beam other than one. In this case, detectors to be captured and tracked by the optical imaging device are arranged at both ends of the runway RWY on the extension of the center line C. Then, an image image in the field of view including the runway is created and displayed from the output of the optical imaging device, and the detected object image arranged at the approach end of the runway RWY on the displayed image image is displayed. Tracking is performed so as to be on the center line of the image image, and thereafter, the traveling direction of the aircraft AP is controlled so that the detector image arranged at the other end of the runway comes to the center line.

It should be noted that the present invention is not necessarily limited to the scope of the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0039]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
Provide a landing guidance system that can safely guide an aircraft to a runway without requiring large-scale ground facilities, simply by providing an aircraft with simple devices, and without being affected by day or night or bad weather. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a landing guidance system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration of an infrared imaging device and a gimbal mechanism unit equipped with the infrared imaging device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a heat source in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration of an onboard device of the aircraft in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an infrared image displayed on the integrated display of the onboard device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of an infrared image displayed on the general display device also shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a circuit block diagram showing another example of the on-board device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an angle relation diagram used in the on-board device shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a circuit block diagram showing another example of the on-board device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

AP ... aircraft, B1, B2 ... heat source, C ... Central line, RWY ... runway, 11 ... Gimbal mechanism 21 ... Infrared imaging device, 22 ... two-dimensional image tracking unit, 23 ... Image processing unit, 24 ... Comprehensive display, 25: torque drive control unit, 26 ... 2-axis space stable gimbal mechanism controller, 61 ... B2 point detector, 62 ... steering control device.

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A landing guidance system for guiding a flying object to land along a center line on a runway as a landing point, wherein the flying object includes an optical imaging device using a light beam, and At both ends on the center line extension of the road, detectors to be captured and tracked by the optical imaging device are arranged, respectively, and at the flying object, the runway is obtained from the output of the optical imaging device. Is created and displayed in the imaging field of view including the image field of view, and the detector image arranged at the approach end of the runway on the displayed image image is positioned on a center line which is a reference in the image image. Tracking, and thereafter, controlling the traveling direction of the flying object so that the detector image arranged at the other end of the runway comes to the center line, thereby moving the flying object to the center line on the runway. Invite to land along A landing guidance system characterized by being guided. 2. A landing guidance system for guiding a flying object to land along a center line on a runway as a landing point, wherein a heat generating source is disposed at each of both ends of a center line extension of the runway. An infrared imaging device capable of capturing and tracking heat generated from the heat generation source is provided on the flying object, and an infrared image in an infrared imaging field of view including the runway is obtained from an output of the infrared imaging device. Is created and displayed, and the heat source image located at the approach end of the runway on the displayed infrared image is tracked such that it is located on the center line which is a reference in the infrared image, and thereafter, By controlling the traveling direction of the flying object so that the heat source image arranged at the other end of the runway is on the center line, the flying object can be guided to land along the center line on the runway. Landing characterized by Electrical system. 3. An infrared imaging device for capturing and tracking heat generated from the heat source, based on a capture and tracking result obtained by the infrared imaging device, wherein the flying object is in an infrared imaging field of view including the runway. Infrared image creation display means for creating an infrared image and displaying it on a display, a heat generation source image on the runway approach end side of the runway on the center line on the infrared image by tracking processing of the infrared imaging device, The offset tracking / steering angle to be displayed so as to be coincident with the scanning angle information obtained at the time of the tracking process and to be displayed on the infrared image as horizontal and vertical angle information for steering the nose of the flying object. Information display means, based on the steering angle information displayed on the infrared image by the offset tracking and steering angle information means, the other heat generation source image of the runway on the infrared image is an infrared image in To match the line, by performing the steering in the horizontal direction of the aircraft landing guidance system according to claim 2, characterized in that to be able to land directed to the center line of the runway. 4. The infrared imaging device is mounted on a gimbal mechanism that is movable in horizontal and vertical directions, and the offset tracking / steering angle display means is a gimbal mechanism obtained at the time of tracking processing of the infrared imaging device. The tilt angle information in the horizontal and vertical directions of the section is displayed on the infrared image as horizontal and vertical angle information for steering the nose of the flying object. Landing guidance system. 5. The steering angle information display means includes: an infrared image created by the infrared image creation display means; and horizontal and vertical tilt angle information of a gimbal mechanism obtained during tracking processing. By performing the superimposing process using the obtained infrared image and the tilt angle information of the gimbal mechanism in the horizontal and vertical directions at that time, the horizontal and vertical directions for controlling the nose of the flying object are obtained. 5. The landing guidance system according to claim 3, wherein angle information is displayed on the infrared image. 6. The offset tracking / steering angle information display means obtains the superimposed information from a vertical reference line and a vertical reference line, one of which is crossed at a predetermined position and one of which is used as the center line. The vertical cursor displayed at a position corresponding to the difference between the horizontal tilt angle of the gimbal mechanism unit and the previous horizontal tilt angle, and the horizontal reference line are obtained by the superimposing process. The horizontal cursor displayed at a position corresponding to a difference between the vertical tilt angle of the gimbal mechanism and the previous vertical tilt angle is displayed on the display. 5. The landing guidance system according to any one of 5. 7. The offset tracking / steering angle information display means includes means for offsetting a heat source image arranged on the runway approach side of the infrared image so as to coincide with a cross point between the vertical and horizontal reference lines. 7. The method according to claim 3, wherein
A landing guidance system according to any one of the above. 8. An image position for detecting a shift position or a shift amount of the heat generation source image on the other side on the infrared image from the center line during tracking processing of the infrared imaging device. Detection means, based on the detection result of the image position detection means, and information on the horizontal and vertical inclination angles of the gimbal mechanism obtained during the tracking processing of the infrared imaging device, the runway on the infrared image The steering control means for performing steering of the flying object so that the other heat generation source image coincides with the center line of the infrared image, is provided. Landing guidance system.