CH707446A2 - Method of controlling a space engaged by multiple fixed and / or mobile stations. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention describes a method and a system of control of a space (1). The method comprises the steps - making measurements (m2, m22) of at least one physical quantity in multiple stations (2, 22) installed or moving in said space, - transmitting the measurements (m2, m22) to a control unit (3) interconnected to the stations (2, 22), each measurement (m2, m22) being associated with a position (S2, S22) of the station (2, 22) which carried out the measurement (m2, m22); - calculate, in the control unit (3), virtual measurements (v2, v22) of the physical quantity associated with the respective positions (S2, S22) of the stations (2, 22) in space, the virtual measurement (v2) of each station ( 2) being calculated through the measurements (m22) of the physical quantities received by the other stations (22) in the space, - transmitting the virtual measurement (v2, v22) to each station (2, 22) in the respective position (S2, S22).

Description

Field of application

[0001] The present invention relates to a method of controlling a space engaged by multiple stations, and in particular by fixed and / or mobile stations in space. The stations are for example aircraft that engage an air space or boats that engage a navigation space.

[0002] Still more particularly, the control method comprises a step of detecting one or more characteristics of the space, for example the distance between two or more stations, and a step of displaying said features, for example in a system of collision. The invention also refers to a control system of a space engaged by multiple stations, and in particular by fixed and / or mobile stations in space.

Known art

[0003] Methods of controlling a space engaged by multiple stations are known, for example methods for controlling an airspace occupied by aircraft, such as airliners, or for controlling a navigation space engaged by vessels, such as cruise or cargo ships . Methods for controlling road traffic are also known, generally associated with a navigation instrument on a road vehicle.

[0004] These control methods include measurements of physical quantities on board a space-engaging station, for example a radar detection carried out on board the aircraft in an air space or of a vessel at sea. Once the surveys have been carried out, it is possible to view the surveys by means of a graphic representation, for example a radar screen installed on the station, thus allowing a pilot or commander to govern the station.

[0005] However, the known control methods are available only on board the most advanced stations, on which it is envisaged to install expensive instruments, such as radar. In fact, radar equipment cannot be available on a plane or on a small touring boat, given its considerable cost; however, the absence of such equipment prevents us from exploiting useful information for transit in space.

[0006] Furthermore, even in the event that the above equipment is installed on board a station, it may be damaged or subject to unexpected malfunctions, causing in some cases significant problems and risks for passengers. Just think of the danger in case of irreparable damage to a radar on an airliner, during the flight, which would prevent a pilot from being able to detect the distance from other airplanes or from atmospheric formations or from the ground.

[0007] A further limitation of the known methods is the impossibility of supplying and representing some characteristics of the space that are not directly detectable by the station. For example, a level of turbulence in a given area of the space not yet traversed by the aircraft cannot be detected and represented, and consequently it is not possible, according to known methods, to avoid the area where turbulence will be suffered, with severe nuisance for passengers and fuel consumption.

[0008] Some meteorological radar systems are able to separate a signal returning from the ground with respect to a signal returning from cumulus-shaped formations, and to identify the cumulative formations based on the return signals. However, these systems are effective only for the identification of heaps up to a predetermined distance, not exceeding 60-80 nautical miles.

[0009] A control method capable of detecting turbulence and planning an air route, avoiding areas affected by turbulence, would allow considerable fuel savings and a more pleasant journey.

[0010] Other features that cannot be detected are, for example, the distance from other aircraft or atmospheric formations in the space behind the aircraft, since the radar has a limited coverage to the area substantially in front of the cockpit.

[0011] The technical problem underlying the present invention is to devise a method of controlling a space that is also available on stations without advanced instrumentation and preferably also in stations equipped with such instrumentation, to overcome faults in the on-board instrumentation , but also that of providing some features of the space that are not directly detectable, so as to be able to improve a route or a path of the mobile station, with gain of time and savings in consumption, as well as improvement in travel comfort, overcoming the limitations and drawbacks that still afflict the known control methods.

Summary of the invention

[0012] The basic idea of the present invention is to establish a communication network between a plurality of stations, fixed and / or mobile, which engage different areas of a space, each station being equipped with its own means for detecting the characteristics of the space within the detection range, and to communicate the characteristics detected to a control unit, the latter being able to calculate the characteristics of the space around a station based on the characteristics of the space detected by the other stations in the space, and to communicate the features calculated at the station. In other words, the characteristics calculated and sent to the station are virtual or estimated characteristics based on the information detected by the other stations. Advantageously, even a station without an instrumentation to carry out surveys can benefit from the surveys carried out by other stations which are equipped with such instrumentation, and receive a reprocessing of the information representative of the characteristics of the space of interest.

[0013] In particular, the calculated characteristics are displayed in an interface or virtual instrumentation of the station. For example, a plurality of radar detections are detected by a plurality of stations which engage the space in different positions, and the control unit receives the readings and calculates a virtual radar detection to be transmitted to a station without a radar or to a station with a damaged radar. The virtual radar detection is also transmitted in other circumstances, at the request of a station or automatically to it, for example when the station requires greater clarity on large scales of radar use, in space; advantageously, both the areas near the station and the areas far from it and not directly detectable by the station, can have a high graphic resolution or the same resolution.

[0014] In one aspect of the invention, the measurements made by each station are transmitted together with a position of the station in space, at its speed with respect to the ground, and at its direction, and the control unit calculates the values to be transmitted to the station without radar or with damaged radar, based on the location and dynamic data of the latter and of the stations that performed the detection. The "dynamic data" include the position of the station in space, its speed relative to the ground, or its direction, also considering the variations in time of said position, speed or direction, and in particular the variations in the time elapsed between the transmission or receiving data from / to the station and receiving or transmitting data to / from the control panel.

[0015] Naturally, according to the present invention, what has been said above with reference to a radar instrumentation, can be carried out with instrumentation of another type. Moreover, the calculated characteristics are preferably also transmitted to stations equipped with functioning equipment, such as radar.

[0016] Advantageously, the calculated characteristics can be compared to the detected characteristics or can be supplied in substitution of the detected characteristics, for example in case of damage or absence of the instrumentation, or integrate and complete the detected features. In particular, a virtual radar represented on the basis of the characteristics calculated by the control unit and transmitted to a station, can represent both the flight space in front of the aircraft, and the space behind it, thus overcoming the limitations of a real radar or hardware instrumentation, also in consideration of the enormous difference in speed between the cloud masses and the aircraft.

[0017] The foregoing said by way of example with reference to an aircraft is valid for other mobile stations, for example for a boat or for a vehicle on rubber. Similarly, what has been said with reference to a radar instrumentation is valid for other instruments suitable to carry out surveys of space, for example through a GPS device. Moreover, in one aspect of the present invention, the measurements are also carried out by one or more fixed stations, such as a terrestrial or satellite station.

[0018] In one aspect of the present invention, the characteristics of the space detected are for example the distance from the ground, from other stations, a level of air turbulence, a position, a height, a temperature, etc., etc.

[0019] The solution idea underlying the invention is also to provide a portable or integrated device in a station, for example in an aircraft, interconnected via network, for example through an Acars network, to a control center. This connection is preferably made by means of a satellite, which in turn is connected both to the control unit and to the stations in space. The control center performs various re-elaborations on the data detected by the stations and received from them, and transmits the processed data to other stations that are about to engage the same airspace.

[0020] In one aspect of the present invention, the device for the virtual graphic representation is itself equipped with instrumentation suitable for making measurements, for example a speed, position, altitude, etc. detection. In another aspect, the device does not carry out the measurements directly but is able to receive these measurements from the on-board instrumentation of the station and is able to transmit the measurements and receive the data reprocessed by the control panel, to display them on an interface, for example, a graphical interface available to the pilot, during the flight, for real-time reading of flight conditions, such as turbulence level or virtual radar.

[0021] It is worth reiterating that the method according to the present invention can be implemented through iPad devices or similar portable devices, suitable both for measuring the measurements on mobile stations, and for transmitting them, and for representing them, using for this purpose equipment that the iPad is already equipped with, such as sensors, cameras or other hardware and / or software components. Various levels of integration between the portable device, for example the iPad, and the systems on board mobile and / or fixed stations in space, such as a Flight Management System, are also provided and are within the scope of the invention. (FMS) already equipped with sensors and hardware and / or software instruments capable of performing the aforementioned measurements, transmissions and representation, such as for example a GPS, inertial platforms for wind positions and calculation, radar for cloud detection, etc. . In other words, the instrumentation for performing the detection, transmission, calculation, representation can be integrated into the station and / or portable. The system solves some considerable technical problems. As regards turbulence, for example, it allows to provide an objective so-called "turbulence carryover", that is calculated on the basis of the turbulence values detected by other stations in a specific position and not based on a subjective sensation of another pilot who is been affected by turbulence in a nearby flight area. Receiving an objective turbulence level allows you to vary a route or to schedule a preferential route in advance, with considerable fuel savings and improved flight comfort.

[0022] The reproduction of virtual instrumentation on the interface of the device has a significant technical advantage in the case of broken on-board instrumentation, that is when the pilot can still take advantage of the data detected by other aircraft in neighboring flight spaces, suitably reworked and retransmitted from the central control, or how much a pilot of an airplane lacking of on board instrumentation can make use of the virtual instrumentation, and that is of the surveys calculated by the central station.

[0023] Advantageously, a virtual radar has low costs compared to a real radar; moreover, the virtual radar can be referred to both the space in front and the one behind the plane (ie 360 °) while a real radar refers only to the space in front (180 °) to the plane.

[0024] In one aspect of the present invention, the graphic interface for representing the data calculated by the control unit is integrated in a device already present on the market, for example in an I-Pad or Tablet or in another portable device; advantageously, even the pilots of tourist aircraft can use the portable device as a radar. Of course, nothing prevents the device from being integrated into the aircraft cockpit.

[0025] On the basis of the solution ideas described above, the technical problem is solved by a method of controlling a space characterized by: making measurements of at least one physical quantity in multiple stations installed and / or mobile in space; transmitting the measurements to a control panel interconnected to the stations, each measurement being associated to a position and to the dynamic data of the station that carried out the measurement; calculate, in the control unit, virtual measurements of the physical quantity associated with respective positions and with the movements of the stations in the space, the virtual measurement of each station being calculated through the measurements of the physical quantities received by the other stations in the space; transmit the virtual measurement to each station in the respective position.

[0026] In one aspect of the invention, the measurements are also associated with a time measurement information of the measurement and / or at a speed and / or at an altitude of the station that carried out the measurement, and the calculation of the measurement virtual is carried out considering also at least one of such time information and / or the speed and / or altitude received from other stations in the space.

[0027] The virtual measurement is displayed in a station through a visualization interface or virtual instrumentation, this interface being preferably displayed in an instrumentation on board the station or in a portable device on board the station, connected to the control unit. In one embodiment, the portable device is preferably an iPad or a personal computer.

[0028] The control unit is for example terrestrial or satellite.

[0029] According to another aspect of the invention, the virtual measurements are also transmitted to a mobile station or installed in the space that has not sent any measurement to the control unit and / or which is not equipped with an on-board instrumentation.

[0030] In particular, the measurements comprise a radar detection carried out by means of an on-board radar of a station. Stations are for example an aircraft or a vessel. The virtual measurements are displayed on the visualization interface as a virtual radar and the virtual radar represents both the flight area in front of the aircraft or the navigation area in front of the vessel, and the flight area behind it. In particular the virtual radar has a radius or greater range than the radius of an on-board radar and preferably covers all the space in which the stations are located. In a preferred embodiment, the spoke covers the entire space.

[0031] In a preferred embodiment, the radar detection is carried out further and transmitted to the control center by a terrestrial satellite station or gravitating around another space body.

[0032] In one aspect of the present invention, the measurement comprises a detection of a turbulence level. Means of programming a route depending on the turbulence values and / or other characteristics of the flight space that may affect consumption and / or travel comfort, are provided to reduce fuel consumption and / or improve the comfort of travel. The physical quantity is detected by an on-board instrumentation comprising one or more accelerometers and a gyroscope, preferably laser, and / or a GPS for detecting a quota, speed, direction of said station.

[0033] In particular, the physical quantity includes a distance between stations in space and the interface displays a virtual virtual collision or TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System) system.

[0034] The control unit and the stations are preferably interconnected via an Acars or Immarsat network or any other network available and adapted to transfer information to the control center in a suitable manner.

[0035] According to the control method of the present invention the measurements made by the stations comprise digital image readings to be transmitted to the control unit. These digital images are detected by sensors integrated in the station or otherwise installed on the station.

[0036] In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the present invention, one or more webcams and / or digital cameras are installed in the cockpit and take videos and / or digital images of the integrated instruments or on board the station. These instruments, during operation, graphically represent the measurements taken, for example by means of pointers and / or cursors and / or numerical values and relative reference scales. The digital images detected by the webcam and / or digital camera are therefore values of the measurements made by the instruments. In particular, the images taken by the camera at time t represented instantaneous values detected by multiple instruments at time t.

[0037] The control unit, receiving the digital images or the films of the instruments, performs an interpretation, preferably by means of an automatic recognition system installed at the control panel, which includes a graphic identification module of the instruments and the values detected by them , for example by recognizing the position of the hands and / or cursors and / or numbers and the relative reference scale in the digital images, and processes the images identified with the position, direction, speed and elevation data of the transmitting station at time t, to calculate the virtual measurements to be retransmitted to stations in space.

[0038] The technical problem is also solved by a control system of a space characterized in that it comprises means for measuring at least one physical quantity on board a station installed or moving in space, means of transmitting the measurement to a central station of interconnected control at the stations, each measurement being associated with a position of the station that carried out the measurement; means for receiving virtual measurements of the physical quantity associated with respective positions of the stations in space, said virtual measurements being calculated by measurements of the physical quantities received from other stations in the space.

[0039] Further characteristics and advantages of the method and of the instrumentation according to the present invention are given in the following description, with reference to the attached drawings, given by way of example and not for limitative purposes.

Brief description of the drawings

[0040] <tb> Fig. 1 <SEP> represents schematically stations which use the method of controlling a space, according to the present invention. <tb> Fig. 2 <SEP> represents two stations that use the method of controlling a space to transmit information relating to a cumulonimbus detected at a time ti. <tb> Fig. 3 <SEP> represents the stations of fig. 2 which employ the method of controlling a space to transmit information relating to the cumulonimbus at the time t2. <tb> Fig. 4 <SEP> represents a station using the method of controlling a space to receive information relating to the cumulonimbus identified by the stations of Figs. 2 and 3.

Detailed description

[0041] With reference to fig. 1 shows schematically a space 1 engaged by mobile and / or fixed stations 2, 22, 222 for example an air space engaged by a plurality of aircraft that move in space in different directions, at different heights and speeds, and / or engaged from vessels that move at sea level according to different navigation routes. In other words, the space under consideration is a three-dimensional space comprising a plurality of stations that move within it or that are fixed or integral with one of its reference systems. It is therefore evident that the stations comprise vehicles in general, on rubber or rail.

[0042] In fig. 1, the different orientation of the blocks of the stations 2, 22, 222 indicates a different direction of movement, which can also be variable over time, as well as a height of the station.

[0043] According to the control method of the present invention, the stations carry out some measurements of physical quantities or characteristics of the space they are engaging or of the space they are about to cross or that they have already engaged, depending on the on-board instrumentation available in the railway station. In fig. 1, the station 2 performs a measurement m2, the station 22 performs a measurement m22 and the station 222 a measurement m222, each measurement being associated to a position in which the respective station is, in space, or to the position to which it refers the measurement. By way of example, considering an instrument on board M capable of measuring the presence of a cumulative formation or another station at a predetermined distance from the station and its size, it is envisaged that a measure of the size of the atmospheric formation is transmitted or of the station detected but also its distance from the station that carried out the survey.

[0044] After having carried out the measurements or at predetermined time intervals, each station communicates the measurements to a control panel 3 interconnected to them by means of a network or a communication channel, for example through a satellite connection to a satellite to which it is the central, both the stations refer. The control center is terrestrial or satellite.

[0045] The control unit 3 receives from each station the measurements which are accompanied by a specific position, for example comprising the altitude and / or the geographical coordinates and / or the speed of the station that detected them. The m2, m22, m222 measurements are also associated with a time information of the instant in which the survey was carried out.

[0046] If for example the space is occupied by N stations and all the N stations send their own measurements m2, m22, m222, the control panel receives N measurements, associated with respective positions. If instead only a subset M of the stations sends the measurements, the control panel receives M measurements.

[0047] The control unit calculates a virtual measurement v22 of the physical quantity or of the characteristics of the space associated with a station in space, for example at the station 22 in fig. 1, based on the measurements received from other stations 2, 222 of the space, for example received from all stations except the station to which it sends the virtual measurement v22. These measurements cover an area of the predetermined space, as schematically represented in fig. 1, where the area detected by station 2 is indicated with A2, and the areas detected by stations 22 and 22 are indicated respectively with A22 and A222. The greater the number N of stations present in the space and transmitting the detected measurements, the greater is the accuracy of the virtual measurement that is sent from the station to one of the stations in the space.

[0048] In an embodiment of the present invention, it is provided that the calculation of the virtual measurement v22 intended for a predetermined station is carried out also considering the measurement m22 carried out by the predetermined station. For the calculation of the virtual measurement, the control unit considers both the position of the stations from which it received the m2, m22, m222 measurements, and the position of the station for which the v22 virtual measurement is intended. The virtual measurement is then transmitted to station 22, in its respective position S22.

[0049] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the virtual measurement v2 is displayed in a station through a visualization interface or virtual instrumentation. This interface is displayed, for example, in an integrated on-board instrumentation or in a portable device of the station, connected to the control unit. In one embodiment, the device is an iPad.

[0050] According to a particularly advantageous aspect of the present invention, the virtual measurements v200 are also transmitted to a mobile station 200 which has not sent any measurement to the control unit 3 and / or which is not equipped with an on-board instrumentation, for example as expensive as a radar instrumentation.

[0051] Measurements 2, 22 carried out by stations 2, 22 equipped with radars are for example radar detection and the stations are aircraft or boats. In this case, the virtual measurements are displayed on the visualization interface as a virtual radar that is able to represent both the flight area in front of the aircraft or the navigation area in front of the vessel, and the flight area behind it, since the areas not detectable by the on-board radar are reconstructed by calculation from the control center. Advantageously, the virtual radar has a radius or range greater than the radius of an on-board radar and preferably covers all the space in which the stations are located. The survey can also be performed and transmitted to the control center 3 from a terrestrial satellite station or gravitating around another space body.

[0052] The above specifically described for radar detections is applicable, according to the method of the present invention to other detections, for example to the detection a turbulence level. It is envisaged that the control method integrates means of calculating a preferential route that excludes the areas in which the control center has calculated the presence of turbulence, based on the information received from the other stations that have previously engaged these areas.

[0053] The physical quantities or the characteristics of the space are detected by an on-board instrumentation comprising one or more accelerometers and / or a gyroscope, preferably laser, and / or a GPS for detecting a quota, speed, direction of said station.

[0054] In a particularly advantageous aspect of the present invention, one or more digital images of the integrated instrumentation or on board the station, which are graphically representative of the measurements at a time t, are detected and transmitted to the control unit. Receiving the digital images, the control unit carries out an interpretation, for example through a graphic recognition system, and processes them with the position, direction, speed and elevation data of the transmitting station at time t, to calculate the virtual measurements.

[0055] For example, the images are detected by one or more webcams or digital cameras aimed at the instruments in the cockpit. Preferably each image is a photograph of multiple instruments installed in predetermined positions of the cockpit and therefore includes useful indications relating to the measurements taken at time t from each instrumentation; the values detected by the measurements are for example associated with a position of a hand and / or cursor and / or a numerical value on the instrument photographed at time t. The image processing system in the control center graphically compares the digital images received from the stations with a reference image and determines the measurements based on the graphic difference of the images.

[0056] Preferably, the position in which the webcams or digital cameras are installed in a station is preset. For example, webcams or digital cameras are installed in a specific cockpit position and this position is predetermined for aircraft of a given model that are known to be equipped with equivalent equipment. In this way, the images detected at time t, i.e. the photographs of the instruments with the relative hands or indicators are more easily comparable with the reference images; in fact, the positioning of the instruments in the reference image is substantially the same or in a known spatial relationship with respect to the positioning of the instruments in the images detected, and the comparison between said images allows to ascend with high precision and rapidly to the position of the hands and / or cursors and / or indicators representative of the measurements made.

[0057] With reference to figs 2 and 3, the control method of a space in which some stations, for example some aircraft, pass for the determination of the position, the size and the speed of movement of an atmospheric phenomenon, for example of a cumulonimbus cloud, is described below. .

[0058] In particular, in fig. 2 shows a first aircraft moving in a 320 ° direction, at a TAS 380 KTS / GS 480 KTS speed, at a position N33E013 and at an altitude of 30000 ft; this information is collected by the aircraft itself and sent to the control center at a time ti, for example at 10:00 am, local time at the control center. At time ti, the aircraft also detects a cumulonimbus and communicates its polar position with respect to the aircraft, for example 345 ° / 65NM.

[0059] A second aircraft is in flight and moves in a direction of 090 °, at a speed TAS 380 KTS / GS 480 KTS, at a position N32E005 and at an altitude of 30000 ft, and communicates this information to the control center at time you 10:00:00. The same aircraft, at the time also communicates to you the polar position of the cumulonimbus with respect to it, for example 335 ° / 80NM.

[0060] Naturally the values of direction (or track), speed, position, altitude are given for example purposes only and the time in which the first aircraft communicates with the control unit may be different from the time in which the second aircraft communicates with the power plant. Moreover, as already mentioned, other mobile and / or fixed stations can be used, in addition to or alternatively to the aircraft.

[0061] The same surveys are carried out and transmitted by the aircraft at a time t2> t1.

[0062] For example, at time t210: 00: 05, the first aircraft has a direction of 320 °, a speed TAS 380 KTS / GS 480 KTS. a position N33.2E013, a height of 30000 ft and the polar position of the cumulonimbus with respect to the first aircraft is detected at 336 ° / 67NM. The second aircraft at time t210: 00: 05 has a direction 090 °, a speed TAS 380 KTS / GS 480 KTS, a position N32E005.2, a height of 30,000 ft, and detects the cumulonimbus at a polar position of 355 ° / 77NM .

[0063] Depending on the data received from the two aircraft, the control unit determines the cumulonimbus motion data, i.e. movement characteristics such as direction and speed, for example a direction of 220 ° and a speed of 27 KTS.

[0064] By means of a plurality of aircraft passing through the air space, the control unit can therefore monitor a predetermined space. In particular, the control center subdivides or maps the flight space around the terrestrial globe, and identifies a plurality of cells. Each cell is a three-dimensional space of predetermined base width and predetermined height, which can be monitored by means of measurements made by aircraft passing through the cell itself or which, while transiting outside the cell, perform measurements in the space delimited by it.

[0065] The virtual measurements in the cell, for example the displacement of cumulonimbus clouds, are calculated by the control unit, based on the real measurements taken by the aircraft. The central system also stores the connections or boundaries between neighboring cells, to calculate virtual measurements, such as the movement of cumulonimbus clouds, between cells.

[0066] According to the method of the invention, the mobile and / or fixed stations can communicate with the control unit synchronously or asynchronously. In particular, in the case of asynchronous communication it is provided that the control station will re-parameterize the data detected by different mobile stations on the same atmospheric phenomenon (for example on the same cumulonimbus). For example, supposing that a first mobile station detects and transmits a position p1 of a cumulonimbus in the instant ti, local time to the central, and that a second station detects and transmits a position p2 of the cumulonimbus in instant t2, with t2> t1 always local to the control panel, for example 10 minutes later compared to ti, it is foreseen that the data subsequently received by the control unit, ie the position p2, is not rejected but used to better characterize the movement of the cumulonimbus in space, while taking into account that p2 is a position that is no longer current but descriptive of a previous position of the cumulonimbus, with respect to the position p1.

[0067] Advantageously, according to this aspect of the present invention, a mobile station that requires data (virtual measurements) of a cell or a predetermined space involving several cells obtains an immediate response from the control unit, since the data have already been calculated from the control unit reparing the measurements received from other mobile stations, depending on the time and the movements of the stations or atmospheric formations.

[0068] When the control unit receives a request for virtual information or measurements from a mobile station, for example relating to the cumulonimbus position, it obtains its position, speed, altitude, direction from the requesting station at a certain time ti and calculates the virtual information or measurement to be transmitted to the requesting station according to the time in which such virtual information or measurement can be received by the requesting station. In particular, the data transmitted by the control panel are calculated also considering the displacement of the cumulonimbus or atmospheric phenomenon according to the motion characteristics of the cumulonimbus and the requesting station, and to the time necessary to transmit this information.

[0069] According to a tilt value of the radar of the transmitting station, it is also foreseen to determine an approximate altitude of a received echo and its perimeter. Therefore analyzing the various echoes received on different levels, it is expected to reproduce a three-dimensional image of the cumulonimbus or of the detected turbulence, defining a volume instead of an area and preferably representing it in 3D form on a graphical interface of the requesting aircraft, with considerable advantage about the decisions to be made during the flight. According to an aspect of the present invention, the turbulence is represented by an interface 4D. Basically, in this interface, a three-dimensional graph representing the flight space is accompanied by a coloring having a descriptive intensity of a turbulence level detected by the stations that have crossed or engaged at least in part the flight space. For example, a high turbulence is assigned a very intense color and less turbulent color with a lower turbulence. The interface is navigable and can be represented through various points of observation, which can be set and changed by the pilot, and which allow to observe from different angles the different color intensities representative of the turbulence level. Advantageously, according to the present invention, virtual measurements refer to a three-dimensional space and not to a substantially two-dimensional space. In particular, the different flight quotas of different mobile stations allow measurements to be received at the control center for the same geographical area detected at different heights. Thanks to this aspect, virtual measurements make it possible to represent or provide a pilot with a much more comprehensive overview than on-board instrumentation, since the pilot can identify the best route not only through a display of atmospheric phenomena present at the flight altitude but also through visualizations of the phenomena above, behind and below, and therefore to undertake variations of course or altitude only when a better condition is actually envisaged.

[0070] According to another aspect of the invention, it is envisaged that the value of the detection is carried out with respect to the "tracK" or with respect to the direction or path taken, and preferably to an orthogonal projection of this path with respect to the earth's surface. In this regard, it is envisaged to consider at the control center or directly at the mobile station the drift of the aircraft, that is the difference between the direction of a horizontal axis x of the aircraft on which a weather radar is installed and the direction of the aircraft. This information is easily detected by checking the difference between the true direction of the plane (the correct compass of the magnetic declination traversed in every single instant) and the real route it follows (track).

[0071] Finally, in order to construct a very precise representation of the space, the control unit can provide for the exclusion of mobile stations considered unreliable or replace them with more precise stations. In this regard, the control unit is able to filter the data coming from the transmitting stations, using or discarding the received data; for example, it is envisaged that the control unit can send an inhibition signal to the sensors of a mobile station to avoid receiving data concerning radar echoes, for example after determining that such data are not correct or consistent; to carry out these checks, the control unit communicates with an application resident on the mobile stations.

Claims (17)

1. Method of controlling a space (1) characterized by the fact of: - making measurements (m2, m22) of at least one physical quantity in multiple stations (2, 22) installed or moving in said space, - transmit the measurements (m2, m22) to a control panel (3) interconnected to the stations (2, 22), each measurement (m2, m22) being associated with a position (S2, S22) of the station (2, 22) who carried out the measurement (m2, m22); - calculate, in the control unit (3), virtual measurements (v2, v22) of the physical quantity associated with the respective positions (S2, S22) of the stations (2, 22) in space, the virtual measurement (v2) of each station ( 2) being calculated through the measurements (m22) of the physical quantities received by the other stations (22) in the space, - transmit the virtual measurement (v2, v22) to each station (2, 22) in the respective position (S2, S22). 2. Control method according to claim 1, characterized in that the measurements (m2, m22) are also associated with a time measurement information of the measurement and / or at a speed and / or at an altitude of the station which has carried out the measurement, and by the fact that said calculation of the virtual measurement is carried out considering also at least one of said time information and / or the speed and / or altitude received by the other stations (22) in the space. 3. Control method according to claim 1, characterized in that the virtual measurement (v2, v22) is displayed in a station through a visualization interface or virtual instrumentation, said interface being preferably displayed in an instrumentation on board the station or in a portable device on board the station, connected to said control unit, said portable device being preferably an iPad. 4. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that the control unit is terrestrial. 5. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that the control unit is satellite. 6. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the virtual measurements (v2, v22) are also transmitted to a mobile station or installed in said space which has not sent any measurement to the control unit (3) and / or which is not equipped with on-board instrumentation. 7. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that the measurements (2, 22) comprise a radar detection carried out by means of an on-board radar of a station, 8. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that said stations are an aircraft or a vessel. 9. Method according to claims 7 and 8 characterized in that the virtual measurements are displayed on said display interface as a virtual radar and characterized in that said virtual radar represents both the flight area in front of the aircraft or the area navigation in front of the vessel, both the flight area behind it, reproducing the objects or other with a polar survey with respect to the station receiving the virtual radar. 10. Method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that said virtual radar has a greater radius than the radius of an on-board radar and preferably covers all the space in which said stations are located. 11. Method according to claim 7 characterized in that said radar detection is carried out further and transmitted to the control center (3) by a terrestrial satellite station or gravitating around another space body. 12. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that said measurement comprises a detection of an objective level of turbulence. 13. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit and the stations are interconnected via an Acars network (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System), Immarsat or any network present and adapted to transfer information in a suitable manner to the control center. 14. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the physical quantity is detected by an instrument already installed and operating on board or on board, for example an iPad or a Tablet, comprising one or more accelerometers and / or a gyroscope, preferably laser , and / or a GPS for detecting a quota, speed, direction of said station. 15. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said physical quantity is a distance between stations in space and said interface displays a virtual virtual collision or TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System) system. 16. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it detects one or more digital images of the integrated instrumentation or on board the station which are graphically representative of said measurements at a time t, and by the fact that the control unit receives said digital images and it performs an interpretation through a graphic recognition system, and processes the digital images with the position, direction, speed and elevation data of the transmitting station at time t, to calculate the virtual measurements. 17. Space control system (1) characterized in that it comprises measuring means (m2, m22) of at least one physical quantity on board a station (2, 22) installed or movable in said space, transmission means of the measurement (m2, m22) to a control center (3) interconnected to the stations (2, 22), each measurement (m2, m22) being associated with a position (S2, S22) of the station (2, 22) which carried out the measurement (m2, m22); - calculate, in the control unit (3), virtual measurements (v2, v22) of the physical quantity associated with the respective positions (S2, S22) of the stations (2, 22) in space, the virtual measurement (v2) of each station ( 2) being calculated through the measurements (m22) of the physical quantities received by the other stations (22) in the space, - transmit the virtual measurement (v2, v22) to each station (2, 22) in the respective position (S2, S22) and graphically display the measurement in a visualization interface or virtual instrumentation of the station.