Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01C—MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY
  • 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
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G08—SIGNALLING
  • G08G—TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS
  • G08G5/00—Traffic control systems for aircraft, e.g. air-traffic control [ATC]
  • G08G5/0017—Arrangements for implementing traffic-related aircraft activities, e.g. arrangements for generating, displaying, acquiring or managing traffic information
  • G08G5/0021—Arrangements for implementing traffic-related aircraft activities, e.g. arrangements for generating, displaying, acquiring or managing traffic information located in the aircraft
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G08—SIGNALLING
  • G08G—TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS
  • G08G5/00—Traffic control systems for aircraft, e.g. air-traffic control [ATC]
  • G08G5/0073—Surveillance aids
  • G08G5/0086—Surveillance aids for monitoring terrain
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G08—SIGNALLING
  • G08G—TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS
  • G08G5/00—Traffic control systems for aircraft, e.g. air-traffic control [ATC]
  • G08G5/04—Anti-collision systems

Definitions

• the field of the invention is that of flight management systems for aircraft comprising an anti-collision system with the field and a collocated display device that can present symbologies dedicated to the avoidance of obstacles.
• CFIT Controlled Flight Into Terrain
• the GCAM system is described in FIG. 1. It essentially comprises a central electronic calculator connected on the one hand to the array of sensors and sensors of the aircraft and, on the other hand, to the different visualizations of the dashboard as well as to the audible alarms arranged in the cockpit by means of a data bus.
• the sensors are essentially sensors for determining the position of the device relative to the ground, its attitude and speed.
• the visualizations concerned are the Head-up Viewfinder as well as the Navigation Heads and Navigation Headsheets such as the "Navigation Display" and the "Primary Display”.
• the dynamic operation of the GCAM is as follows. It monitors the geographical environment of the aircraft. If he finds that there is no risk of terrain threat, near or far, the figurations presented to the pilot and eventually to the co-pilot are those of an IFR-type mission, an acronym for Instrument Flight Rules or VFR, which stands for Visual Flight Rules.
• the system is in a mode called "NORMAL".
• the pilot understood the situation. He must now act by flying manually. When it has only about eight seconds to perform a correct avoidance maneuver, the system goes into a mode called "WARNING".
• the proposed avoidance maneuver is either vertical type 11 PULL-UP "in PULL UP - TURN RIGHT” or "PULL UP - TURN LEFT" turn, sound alarms sound, messages are also displayed on the screens.
• the GCAM notably allows the generation of a specific warning or "warning” sound called “Avoid Terrain” in addition to the classic “warning” called “Pull Up” which corresponds to a vertical avoidance maneuver. This alarm is triggered when a “PuII-Up” avoidance maneuver no longer allows collision-free clearance.
• GCAM's "Avoid Terrain” alarm while representing a significant advance, does not fully meet pilots' expectations. The latter would like to have an indication of lateral avoidance maneuver when no further vertical avoidance maneuver is possible.
• Control the machine in the vertical plane o Maintain focus on the current vertical speed; o Maintain focus on the current altitude; o Keep the focus on the proximity of the ground; o Be aware of the aircraft's attitude to the real world; o Keep the focus on the speed vector of the aircraft; o Maintain focus on incidence to avoid dropping out; o Maintain a climb slope.
• Control the machine in the horizontal plane o Maintain attention to the current route followed by the aircraft; o Keep the focus on the aircraft's current roll; o Perform a correct cornering; o Perform a correct cornering behavior; o Perform a correct turn exit; o Maintain a correct trajectory with respect to a predefined avoidance path.
• the dashboards of modern aircraft include so-called low-flying pilot display and navigation displays such as "Navigation Display” and "Primary Flight Displays".
• An example of symbology present on a "Navigation Display” is shown in FIG. 2. It conventionally comprises a top view of the terrain overflown by the aircraft represented on a black background with the indication of the route 200 to be followed as well as a a number of indications concerning pilotage and navigation.
• the object of the invention is to present on a screen type "Navigation Display” a simplified ergonomic symbology to improve the perception by the crew of his situation with respect to the field.
• the information needed to generate this symbology comes from the calculation algorithms developed as part of the functionalities implemented in the GCAM system. These algorithms make it possible to calculate the information necessary to present the information on the navigation screen in real time.
• the subject of the invention is an aircraft display device comprising means for generating and displaying navigation symbols, characterized in that said symbols are at least one arrow representing the direction of the ground speed vector with respect to the axis of the plane and at least one set of straight segments representing the boundary boundaries in plan view beyond which the crash of the aircraft is inevitable.
• the symbology also comprises a symbol representative of the future position of the aircraft in the event that it initiates a turn, said symbol possibly being a line segment terminated by a circle, the delay separating the current position of the aircraft from his future position being about twenty seconds.
• the symbology also comprises a symbol representative of the hazardous areas search sector by a GCAM type system, said symbol being an angular sector whose radius and central angle are variable in real time and transmitted by the GCAM system.
• the symbology also comprises a symbol representing the ground track of the set-point track calculated by the GCAM system, symbolized by two sets of parallel line segments, the distance separating the two sets representing the width of the escape path, each set may comprise a maximum of ten line segments and the width of the clearance path is of the order of two Nautical Miles.
• the arrow representing the direction of the ground speed vector and the symbol representing the future position of the aircraft consist of white lines
• the search area and the ground track of the target route consist of magenta strokes.
• the boundary boundaries are red lines.
• FIG. 1 represents the general block diagram of a GCAM system
• FIG. 2 represents a conventional symbology of a navigation screen according to the prior art
• FIG. 3 represents the symbology according to the invention with display of the entire cartography of the terrain overflown;
• - Figure 4 is an enlargement of the central portion of Figure 3;
• FIG. 5 shows the symbology according to the invention with display of hazardous areas.
• FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 represent the symbology in the "LATERAL PROXIMITY" mode in two different configurations.
• the symbology according to the invention is common to both configurations.
• Figure 4 is an enlargement of the central portion of Figure 3.
• the symbology according to the invention is represented in superposition on the entire mapping of the overflown terrain viewed from above. This is conventionally represented in false colors with shading representative of the relief. The false colors appear in shades of gray in Figure 3.
• the symbology according to the invention is represented in superposition of the dangerous zones denoted 403 and having a risk of collision with the relief in a given sector.
• the explored sector corresponds to about the upper left quarter of the figure. This mode is called TAWS.
• the aircraft 300 is disposed at the center of the figure so that the pilot can have a 360-degree view of his environment. It is conventionally symbolized by a vertical bar cut off from a large and a small horizontal bar symbolizing schematically an airplane in plan view.
• the scale changes of the terrain are automatic. The most appropriate scale depends on the current GCAM mode ("NORMAL”, “LATERAL PROXIMITY”, “CAUTION”, “WARNING”).
• the mode of representation is also automatically changed to ROSE mode.
• the ROSE mode is the only mode to see the situation in front of and behind the aircraft. It is consistent with the fact that the pilot can make a U-turn following the hazards encountered by the aircraft.
• the first symbol 400 is an arrow representing the direction of the ground speed vector with respect to the axis of the aircraft, the length of the arrow is independent of the scale. It is preferably white in color and rotates in real time according to the movements of the aircraft.
• the second symbol 401 represents the future position of the aircraft in the event that it initiates a turn.
• the time separating the current position of the aircraft from its future position is preferably twenty seconds.
• the choice of this twenty second delay is the result of a compromise between the readability and the speed of movement of the aircraft during a turn at the standard rate which corresponds to a complete rotation of 360 degrees in two minutes, ie 60 degrees in twenty seconds.
• This symbol 401 is represented by a line segment terminated by a circle. The features of this symbol are preferably white, the inside of the circle being black. A mid-straight line represents the position of the aircraft at ten seconds. This second symbol turns in real time according to the movements of the aircraft.
• the third symbol 402 represents the hazardous areas search area of the GCAM system. It is represented by an angular sector whose radius and central angle are variable in real time and transmitted by the GCAM system. For reasons of clarity, in FIGS. 3 and 4, the boundaries of this sector are represented by white lines. In reality, the color of this sector is magenta. Part 403 represents the area just scanned by the GCAM system.
• the fourth symbol 404 represents the clearance path or the set-point route to be followed calculated by the GCAM system. It indicates the ground track of the limits of the trajectory to be followed by the aircraft. It is symbolized by two sets of parallel straight segments, the distance separating the two sets representing the width of the path of clearance. Each set includes a maximum of ten line segments. This width represents a distance of the order of two Nautical Miles, it is transmitted by the GCAM system. The displayed width depends on the map scale. The right segments are also magenta.
• the fifth symbol 405 corresponds to the indication of the dangerous sectors. It represents a borderline beyond which the crash is inevitable.
• the boundary is represented by line segments that can delineate open or closed polygons. Several disjointed borders can be traced in real time. These segments are preferably red in color.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
• Remote Sensing (AREA)
• Traffic Control Systems (AREA)
• Navigation (AREA)

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• 2007
  • 2007-05-25 FR FR0703737A patent/FR2916568B1/fr active Active
• 2008
  • 2008-05-21 US US12/598,060 patent/US8548728B2/en active Active
  • 2008-05-21 EP EP08759895A patent/EP2150776A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2008-05-21 WO PCT/EP2008/056294 patent/WO2008145593A1/fr active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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