JP2005149171A - Three-dimensional picture provision system for airplane - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide passengers on an airplane with virtual 3D scenery spreading out under the airplane as well as the picture of the airplane itself in real time. <P>SOLUTION: A rendering engine 32 creates a text picture displaying the real-time three-dimensional position coordinates, traveling speed and traveling bearing of the self airplane as text information and creates a regional two-dimensional map picture and three-dimensional map picture spreading out under the airplane on the basis of the three-dimensional position coordinates, and reads the three-dimensional picture of the airplane from a resource group to combine the picture with the three-dimensional map picture. A picture output control section 31 outputs with a specified sequence a plurality of pictures including at least the three-dimensional picture, two-dimensional map picture, and the text picture. A picture delivery unit 4 delivers the picture sequence to a monitor 5 in a passenger cabin. Information on sightseeing is superimposed on the three-dimensional picture. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image providing system for an aircraft, and more specifically, allows a passenger in a cabin to recognize the position of an aircraft in flight as a position on a three-dimensional display map in the aircraft. The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image providing system.

With the liberalization of the aviation market, airlines are approaching from different areas to secure passengers.
As one of such approaches, a content distribution system has been realized in which aircraft passengers can enjoy content such as TV programs, movies, and games on a television monitor in a guest room. Then, using such a content distribution system, an image showing the current position of the airplane on a map is displayed on a monitor in the cabin.
For example, in the system “AirShow” provided by Rockwell Collins, Inc. of the United States, an image in which the position of the aircraft is displayed on a planar map or a three-dimensional map on a monitor placed in a passenger cabin or on a passenger seat It is configured so that you can see.
A navigation system has also been proposed in which the position of the self-boarding aircraft is displayed on the cockpit display in a three-dimensional or plan view for an aircraft operator. (See Patent Documents 1 and 2)
JP-A-11-175900 JP 2002-260200 A

As described above, a system in which passengers can see an image in which the position of the aircraft is displayed on a plane map or a three-dimensional map using a content distribution system in an aircraft has been put into practical use. In this case, the three-dimensional map is merely a three-dimensional representation of the topography of the terrain within the outline of the terrain by changes in color, etc., and only the flight trajectory and main place names are displayed on the map. It's simple.
Therefore, it has no function to entertain passengers and does not attract passengers' interest. Moreover, since the accuracy of the drawn terrain is rough, the passenger can grasp the positional relationship only with a vague image.
In addition, a navigation system using a three-dimensional map for an aircraft operator is not intended for passengers, and naturally does not attract passengers' interest.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mode in which passengers are interested in the scenery under their eyes in a three-dimensional image providing system for an aircraft. Is to provide in.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensional image providing system for an aircraft by displaying a character string of a tourist guide such as characteristics of a flying region and a special product in addition to the image of the aircraft and the scenery under it. It is to be able to output from the monitor in the guest room by voice.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a three-dimensional image providing system for an aircraft,
Means for acquiring in real time the three-dimensional position coordinates, traveling speed, and traveling direction of the aircraft;
Means for generating a text image for displaying the obtained three-dimensional position coordinates, traveling speed, traveling direction as text information;
Means for generating a two-dimensional map image and a three-dimensional map image of an area where the own device is present based on the obtained three-dimensional position coordinates;
Means for reading out a 3D image of the own device from the storage unit and combining the image with a 3D map image to generate a 3D image;
Image output means for outputting a plurality of images including at least the generated three-dimensional image, two-dimensional map image, and text image in a predetermined sequence;
There is provided a three-dimensional image providing system comprising means for distributing an image output in the predetermined sequence to a monitor in a guest room.
It is preferable that the above-described three-dimensional image providing system according to the present invention further includes means for superimposing, as text information, information such as sightseeing related to the region of the obtained position coordinates in the three-dimensional image. The system further includes means for determining whether or not the position coordinates of the own device are obtained, and when it is determined that the position coordinates of the own device are not obtained, the image output means is a three-dimensional image, Instead of the two-dimensional map image and the text image, another screen is preferably output.

Since the present invention is configured as described above, a realistic 3D display virtual image representing the aircraft and the scenery under the eyes can be viewed in real time on a monitor in an aircraft cabin. In-room entertainment that passengers are interested in can be provided.
Also, passengers other than the window side can enjoy the scenery of the three-dimensional virtual display and can enjoy the scenery regardless of the day and night and the weather.
Furthermore, by making it possible to view the tourist guide in the area in which the flight is taking place, the passenger can obtain explanations about the scenery under the eyes, so that indoor entertainment that is more interesting to the passenger can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an aircraft three-dimensional image providing system 100 according to the present invention, together with a plurality of satellites SL. As shown in FIG. 1, the three-dimensional image providing system 100 includes a GPS unit 1, a GPS driver 2, an image generation / output unit 3 including a drawing engine, an image distribution unit 4, and a guest room monitor 5. Yes.
In the three-dimensional image providing system having such a configuration, the GPS unit 1 acquires the position information of its own device from the satellite SL and supplies it to the GPS driver 2, and the GPS driver 2 receives the three-dimensional spatial coordinates of its own device. (Latitude, longitude, altitude), speed, traveling direction and time data are generated. The image generation / output unit 3 uses the drawing engine to generate two-dimensional and three-dimensional images of the own device and the corresponding area based on these data, arrange these images and other images in a predetermined order, and 4 is supplied. Then, the image distribution unit 4 supplies these sequential images to each monitor 5. As a result, a three-dimensional image including the own device and scenery can be displayed on each monitor 5.

Instead of acquiring the spatial position coordinates by the GPS system, a system such as “FMS (Flight Management System)” or “INS (Inertial Navigation System)” can also be used.
“FMS” is a device that controls the navigation of airplanes, and is a system that manages and manages all data related to flight, such as flight routes, autopilot, and fuel management.
“INS” is a system that uses a gyro sensor to accumulate vertical and horizontal accelerations and estimates a current position based on the accumulated acceleration.

FIG. 2 shows in more detail the configuration of the GPS driver 2 and the image generation / output unit 3 included in the three-dimensional image providing system 100 of the present invention. The GPS driver 2 and the image generation / output unit 3 are configured by a computer program unit and digital data such as images.
The GPS driver 2 receives the supply of its own three-dimensional spatial coordinates, traveling speed, traveling direction, and current time generated based on information obtained from the satellite SL by the GPS unit 1, and converts these data into a predetermined format. To the image generation / output unit 3. That is, the GPS driver 2 has a function for converting data from the GPS unit 1 into a format suitable for the drawing engine of the image generation / output unit 3.

The image generation / output unit 3 includes an image output control unit 31, a drawing engine 32, and a data resource group 33, and generates and outputs AV data of the following images.
・ System startup image: Image when starting the 3D image supply system 100 ・ Initial image: Image serving as a reference for image switching order ・ Movie image: Image for generating a promotion movie ・ Text image: Current position and flight of own aircraft Image that displays character information such as altitude, 2D map image: Image that displays the current location of the device in a plane map, 3D image: Image that displays the current location of the device in a 3D map, Image that cannot be measured: Current location of the device Images to be displayed when positioning is impossible In order to generate AV data of these images, the image generation / output unit 3 uses various data resources. These resources include screen resources 33-1, terrain mesh data resources. 33-2, Terrain Texture Resource 33-3, 3D Aircraft Object Resource 33-4, Tourist Guide Basic Data Resource 33-5, Turtle A basic work data resource 33-6, a drawing definition basic data resource 33-7, and the like are included.

When this system is activated by operating on the system activation screen, data is supplied from the GPS driver 2 to the image generation / output unit 3. The image output control unit 31 of the image generation / output unit 3 performs control so that the initial image, movie image, text image, 2D map image, and 3D image are output in an appropriate sequence. The image output control unit 31 also outputs a control signal to the drawing engine 31 and performs control so that a text image, a 2D map image, or a 3D image is generated at a timing to be output. At this time, when data indicating that positioning is impossible is received from the GPS driver 2, an image representing the data is read from the screen resource 33-1, and output instead of the text image, 2D map image, or 3D image.
The generation of the text image and the 2D map image is executed by a general-purpose method based on the data from the GPS driver 2.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the generation of the 3D image, in step S1, the corresponding area is specified based on the data from the GPS driver 2, and “terrain mesh data” of the corresponding area is read from the terrain mesh data resource 33-2. . In step S2, the “3D terrain image” is generated by pasting the “terrain texture” obtained from the terrain texture resource 33-3 on the read terrain mesh data.

Next, in step S3, a “3D aircraft object image” is generated with reference to the 3D aircraft object resource 33-4. Then, in step S4, it is determined with reference to the tourism guide basic data resource 33-5 whether or not the corresponding area is a target area of the “tourist guide”. If it is a tourist guide target area, “tourist guide” is read out from the tourist guide basic data resource 33-5 in step S5.
Then, in step S6, the drawing engine 31 combines the obtained 3D terrain image, 3D aircraft object image, and sightseeing guide to generate a 3D image.

  As described above, the image output control unit 31 arranges the initial image, the movie image, and the text image, 2D map image, and 3D image generated by the drawing engine in a predetermined order and supplies them to the image distribution unit 5. The processing of this image output sequence will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the system activation screen is displayed and the image supply system 100 is activated, in step S11 of FIG. 4, the image output control unit 31 reads the initial screen from the screen resource 33-1 and outputs it for a predetermined period T1. After the elapse of the period T1, in step S12, a movie image is read from the screen resource 33-1 and output for a predetermined period T2. Next, in steps S13 and S14, the drawing engine 32 is instructed to generate a text image and a 2D map image, and these images are output for a predetermined period T3 and T4.

  Proceeding from step S14 to step S15, the image output control unit 31 determines that the data from the GPS driver 2 is not position data of three-dimensional coordinates, that is, altitude data is not included or is included. Determine if it is below altitude. If a determination result is YES, it will return to step S11 and will output an initial screen. If the determination result is NO, the process proceeds to step S15 to instruct the drawing engine 32 to generate a 3D image and output the image for a predetermined period T5. Then, it returns to step S11.

During the processing in steps S13 to S15, the image output control unit 31 also always determines whether the data from the GPS driver 2 does not include position data or is appropriate position data even if included. If the determination result is YES, these steps S13 to S15 are immediately terminated, and in step S16, the positioning impossible image is read from the screen resource 33-1 and output for a predetermined period T6. Then, it returns to step S11.
In this way, images are supplied to the video distribution unit 4 in a predetermined sequence under the control of the image output control unit 31 and distributed to the monitor 5 in the guest room.

It is a block diagram which shows the outline | summary of the 3D image supply system of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of an image generation / output unit 3 shown in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart showing a 3D image generation process of the drawing engine 32 shown in FIG. 2. It is a flowchart which shows the control operation by the image output control part 31 shown in FIG.

Claims (3)

In an aircraft 3D image providing system,
Means for acquiring in real time the three-dimensional position coordinates, traveling speed, and traveling direction of the aircraft;
Means for generating a text image for displaying the obtained three-dimensional position coordinates, traveling speed, traveling direction as text information;
Means for generating a two-dimensional map image and a three-dimensional map image of an area where the own device is present based on the obtained three-dimensional position coordinates;
Means for reading out a 3D image of the own device from the storage unit and combining the image with a 3D map image to generate a 3D image;
Image output means for outputting a plurality of images including at least the generated three-dimensional image, two-dimensional map image, and text image in a predetermined sequence;
A three-dimensional image providing system comprising: means for distributing an image output in the predetermined sequence to a monitor in a guest room. 2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising means for superimposing, as text information, information such as sightseeing related to the area of the obtained position coordinates in the three-dimensional image. Offer system. The system according to claim 1 or 2,
The system further includes means for determining whether or not the position coordinates of the own device are obtained, and when it is determined that the position coordinates of the own device cannot be obtained, the image output means is a three-dimensional image, two-dimensional image A three-dimensional image providing system configured to output another screen instead of a map image and a text image.

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