JP2009202629A - Audio image presentation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an audio image presentation apparatus capable of intuitively obtaining a direction of a course indication by ground-controlled approach, and improving safety in landing. <P>SOLUTION: The audio image presentation apparatus receives radio signals of the ground-controlled approach, and presents the audio image of the course indication to a pilot in an aircraft. The audio image presentation apparatus comprises: a keyword extraction part for extracting a predetermined keyword from the received radio signal; an audio image presentation direction determination part for determining the audio image presentation direction to the pilot based on the extracted keyword; a three-dimensional audio image generation part for three-dimensionally imaging the audio image of the course indication so that the pilot can hear from the direction determined by the audio image presentation direction determination part; and a speaker for presenting the generated three-dimensional audio image to the pilot. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sound image presentation device that receives a radio signal of landing guidance control and presents a sound image of a route instruction to a pilot in an aircraft.

  Airplanes take off and land at the airport through a defined route. The route is three-dimensional. In recent years, a system called an ILS (instrument landing device) that guides the approach of an aircraft to an airport using an instrument has become widespread. In ILS, a radio signal indicating the optimal descent angle for landing, left / right deviation of the approach route, and the distance to the runway is transmitted from the ground facility to the aircraft. The aircraft receives these signals and displays the instrument. The pilot can control the aircraft position in the horizontal and vertical planes according to the instrument display, and can accurately land the aircraft.

  However, not all aircraft can use ILS. Many military aircraft are not equipped with ILS due to space issues. There are also ground facilities that are not equipped with ILS. In such a case, a landing guidance method called GCA (landing guidance control) is used instead of ILS. GCA is a technique in which the controller and pilot communicate wirelessly, and the controller communicates information necessary for landing to the pilot by voice while checking the descent angle and approach course of the aircraft with radar.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing conventional landing guidance by GCA. FIG. 6A illustrates a route instruction in a horizontal plane, and FIG. 6B illustrates a route instruction in a vertical plane. A course is a route in a horizontal plane. A glide path is a route in the vertical plane.

  The controller informs the location of the aircraft relative to the course and glide path. For example, the controller may “right of course” if the aircraft is to the right of the course, or “left of course” if the aircraft is to the left of the course. "If you are on the course, tell me" on course ". Also, if the aircraft is off the glide path, “above glidepath”; if it ’s off the glide path, “below glidepath”, If you are on the glide path, say "on glidepath". The pilot controls the aircraft according to the route instruction from the controller so that the aircraft position is on the appropriate course and the appropriate glide path. Non-Patent Document 1 describes aircraft landing guidance by GCA.

Icarus Publishing, Aviation Radio Handbook (2004 edition), p86-p91, released in December 2003

  However, since the instructions from the controller in the GCA are made with monaural radio voice, there is no sense of direction in the voice. For this reason, the pilot cannot intuitively understand the direction instructed by the controller, and needs to mute the meaning of the voice to control the aircraft.

  On the other hand, since GCA is performed while the ground is approaching, it is very important for the pilot to properly recognize the surrounding situation. In addition, the pilot can not neglect attention to various instruments in preparation for a shortage situation, and is forced to be nervous.

  An object of the present invention is to realize a sound image presentation device that eliminates the problems of the prior art, enables intuitive understanding of the direction of a route instruction by landing guidance control, and improves the safety of landing.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1
In a sound image presentation device that receives a landing guide control radio signal and presents a sound image of a navigation instruction to a pilot in an aircraft,
A keyword extraction unit for extracting a predetermined keyword from the received wireless signal;
A sound image presentation direction determination unit that determines a sound image presentation direction to the pilot based on the extracted keyword;
A three-dimensional sound image generation unit that three-dimensionalizes the sound image of the route instruction so that it can be heard by the pilot from the direction determined by the sound image presentation direction determination unit;
A speaker for presenting the generated three-dimensional sound image to the pilot;
It is provided with.

The invention of claim 2
The sound image presenting device according to claim 1, wherein the sound image presenting direction determination unit determines in which direction the aircraft deviates from the target route from the extracted keyword, and determines the direction in which the target route exists as seen from the aircraft. The sound image presentation direction is determined.

The invention of claim 3
The sound image presenting device according to claim 1, wherein the sound image presenting direction determining unit selectively determines a sound image presenting direction from predetermined sound image presenting directions.

The invention of claim 4
4. The sound image presentation device according to claim 1, wherein the sound image presentation direction determination unit includes a front direction of the pilot, a left front 45 degree direction, a right front 45 degree direction, a top front 45 degree direction, a bottom The sound image presenting direction is determined from the 45-degree forward direction.

The invention of claim 5
In a sound image presentation device that receives a landing guide control radio signal and presents a sound image of a navigation instruction to a pilot in an aircraft,
Direction data indicating a direction in which a target route exists from the aircraft and sound image data of the route instruction are input, and a three-dimensional sound image generating unit that three-dimensionalizes the sound image data based on the direction data;
A speaker for presenting the generated three-dimensional sound image to the pilot;
A sound image presentation device comprising:

  As described above, the sound image of the route instruction by the landing guidance control is three-dimensionalized according to the contents and presented to the pilot, thereby enabling intuitive understanding of the direction of the route instruction and improving the safety of landing. A sound image presentation device can be realized.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a first embodiment of a sound image presentation apparatus according to the present invention.

  A GCA radio signal is received by the aircraft. This wireless signal is a route instruction of monaural wireless sound from the controller as in the conventional case. For example, “on course” “right of course” “left of course” “on glidepath” “above glidepath” “below glidepath”, and the like. The received radio signal is converted into digital sound image data by the A / D converter 1 and output to the keyword extraction unit 2 and the three-dimensional sound image generation unit 4.

The keyword extraction unit 2 extracts the following keywords from the input sound image data by voice recognition.
"On" indicating that the aircraft is flying on the course or glide path
・ "Right" indicates that the aircraft is flying on the right side of the course
• “left” indicating that the aircraft is flying on the left side of the course
• “above” indicating the aircraft is flying above the glide path
・ "Below" indicating that the aircraft is flying under the glide path
These keywords are terms used in the GCA and are words indicating directions. The extracted keyword is output to the sound image presentation direction determination unit 3.

  It should be noted that the accuracy of voice recognition can be improved by adopting a configuration in which only predetermined keywords are extracted instead of extracting all of the controller's dialogue. In addition, a large voice recognition system is not required.

  The sound image presentation direction determination unit 3 determines from which direction the sound image of the route instruction is presented to the pilot according to the input keyword. The determined sound image presentation direction is output to the three-dimensional sound image generation unit 4. The sound image presentation direction determination unit 3 determines the presentation direction of the sound image based on the course or glide path that is the target route and the relative position of the aircraft. That is, the sound image presentation direction determination unit 3 determines the sound image presentation direction so that the sound image of the route instruction can be heard from the direction in which the course and the glide path exist.

For example, it is assumed that “right” is extracted by the keyword extraction unit 2. The sound image presentation direction determination unit 3 determines that the aircraft is shifted to the right with respect to the course. From the aircraft, the course is on the left. The sound image presentation direction determination unit 3 determines “left side”, which is the direction in which the course exists as seen from the aircraft, as the sound image presentation direction to the pilot. Similarly, when “left” is extracted, “right side”, when “above” is extracted, “lower”, and when “below” is extracted, “upper” is set as the sound image presentation direction. To do. When “on” is extracted, “front” is set as the sound image presentation direction.
Or it is good also as a structure which matches each keyword and a sound image presentation direction automatically, without examining which direction the aircraft has shifted | deviated with respect to the course. For example, when “right” is extracted, it is automatically determined as “left side”.
When no keyword is extracted by the keyword extraction unit 2, the sound image presentation direction is “front”.

  When “right” and “left” are extracted by the keyword extraction unit 2, the sound image presentation direction is “left side” and “right side”. However, it is not always necessary that the sound image presenting direction is directly beside the pilot. Similarly, when “above” and “below” are extracted, it is not always necessary to set the sound image presentation direction to “directly below” or “directly above” for the pilot.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sound image presentation direction for the pilot. P1 is the front direction of the pilot. P2 is the direction 45 degrees to the right of the pilot. P3 is the direction 45 degrees left front of the pilot. P4 is the direction 45 degrees above the pilot. P5 is a direction 45 degrees below the pilot.
When “right” is extracted by the keyword extraction unit 2, the sound image presentation direction determination unit 3 may set the direction of P3 as the sound image presentation direction. Similarly, the direction of P2 is extracted when “left” is extracted, the direction of P5 when “above” is extracted, and the direction of P4 when “below” is extracted. Good.

  If the pilot is presented with a sound image from the side, directly above, or directly below, there is a risk that the sound image may be distracted or distracted. Such a risk can be reduced by setting the sound image presentation direction to a direction of 45 degrees forward, left, right, up and down as shown in FIG. The angle is not limited to 45 degrees, and may be other angles. However, if the angle is too large, the above-mentioned danger increases, so it is considered that 45 degrees is desirable at most.

  Returning to FIG. The three-dimensional sound image generation unit 4 receives the sound image data of the route instruction from the A / D converter 1. Further, the sound image presentation direction is input from the sound image presentation direction determination unit 3. The three-dimensional sound image generation unit 4 converts the sound image data into three dimensions so that the pilot can hear from the sound image presentation direction in which the sound image of the navigation instruction is input. A general three-dimensional sound image processing technique can be used to make a three-dimensional sound image. The three-dimensional sound image data is output to the D / A converter 6 separately for the left ear and the right ear.

  The output sound image data of the left and right ears is converted into an analog sound image by the D / A converter 6 respectively. The analog sound image output from the D / A converter 5 is amplified by the amplifier 6 and output to the stereo headset 7. The stereo headset 7 is attached to the pilot. The stereo headset 7 divides and outputs the input sound image to the left and right ears, and presents a three-dimensional sound image to the pilot.

  FIG. 3 is an image diagram showing the relationship between the course and glide path, the relative position of the aircraft, and the sound image presentation direction. I think the pilot is facing the front of the aircraft in the aircraft.

When the aircraft is shifted to the right from the course, the sound image of the navigation instruction “right of course” of the controller is presented to the pilot from the direction of 45 degrees left front. When the aircraft is shifted to the left from the course, the sound image of the navigation instruction “left of course” of the controller is presented to the pilot from a direction 45 degrees to the right. When the aircraft is on the course, the controller's “on course” route instruction sound image is presented to the pilot from the front.
When the aircraft deviates from the glide path, the controller's “above glidepath” route instruction sound image is presented to the pilot from 45 degrees below the front. When the aircraft deviates from the glide path, the controller's “below glidepath” route instruction sound image is presented to the pilot from 45 degrees above and below. When the aircraft is on the glide path, the controller's “on glidepath” route instruction sound image is presented to the pilot from the front.

  According to the present invention, a GCA-guided sound image can be heard from the direction that should be the target of steering. Therefore, the pilot can intuitively recognize the route instruction direction, that is, the steering target direction, and the burden on the pilot during the operation is reduced. This makes it easy for the pilot to focus attention on the surrounding situation and various instruments, and can improve the safety of landing.

  Note that, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, the aircraft receives the same GCA radio signal as the conventional one. The keyword extraction, determination of the sound image presentation direction, and sound image three-dimensional processing can all be configured by software. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to conventional GCA equipment without significant hardware modification.

  In this embodiment, five terms such as “on” and “right” are extracted as keywords. However, the keywords are not limited to these terms, and other terms used in GCA may be further added.

  In the first embodiment, the data that the aircraft receives from the ground is only voice. However, if digital wireless or the like is employed, it is possible to add data for identifying contents in addition to voice. By adding the data of the sound image presentation direction in addition to the sound data, a more intuitive route instruction becomes possible.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a second embodiment of the sound image presentation apparatus according to the present invention.
Direction data is transmitted from the ground together with a GCA radio signal (monaural radio voice route instruction from the controller). This direction data is information indicating the sound image presentation direction associated with the contents of the route instruction. The direction data may be generated when the controller inputs the sound image presentation direction separately together with the route instruction. Further, the direction data may be obtained as a result of performing keyword extraction as described in the first embodiment in the ground facility in response to the navigation instruction of the controller. As an advantage of performing speech recognition in the ground facility, it is considered that it is not affected by the weather. Another advantage is that the controller's voice can be collected directly, so that keyword extraction can be performed with good sound quality and the success rate of keyword extraction is high.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of the sound image presentation direction for the pilot. P1 to P5 are the same as those in FIG. P6 is a direction of 45 degrees right forward and 45 degrees up front of the pilot. P7 is the direction of 45 degrees left front and 45 degrees up front of the pilot. P8 is a direction of 45 degrees right forward and 45 degrees forward of the pilot. P9 is a direction of 45 degrees left front and 45 degrees forward of the pilot.
The direction data transmitted from the ground is made to correspond to any one of P1 to P9. At this time, the correspondence between the sound image presentation direction and the content of the route instruction is
P1 is “on course, on glidepath”
P2 is “left of course”
P3 is “right of course”
P4 is “below glidepath”
P5 is “above glidepath”
P6 is “left of course, below glidepath”
P7 is “right of course, below glidepath”
P8 is “left of course, above glidepath”
P9 is “right of course, above glidepath”
The direction data and P1 to P9 are made to correspond to each other.

  Returning to FIG. The monaural wireless sound is converted into digital sound image data by the A / D converter 10 and output to the three-dimensional sound image generation unit 11. In addition, direction data is input to the three-dimensional sound image generation unit 11.

  The flow after the three-dimensional sound image generator 11 is the same as that in the first embodiment. The three-dimensional sound image generation unit 11 three-dimensionalizes the sound image data based on the input direction data, like the three-dimensional sound image generation unit 3 in the first embodiment. The three-dimensional sound image data is output to the D / A converter 12 separately for the left ear and the right ear. The sound image data is converted into an analog sound image by the D / A converter 12, amplified by the amplifier 13, and a three-dimensional sound image is presented from the stereo headset 14 to the pilot. The pilot is presented with a guided sound image of GCA from the direction of the target route, and can intuitively understand the direction of the route.

  In addition, the stereo headset in the said Example 1 and a present Example respond | corresponds to the speaker of a claim.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a first embodiment of a sound image presentation apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sound image presentation direction for a pilot. FIG. 3 is an image diagram showing the relationship between the course and glide path, the relative position of the aircraft, and the sound image presentation direction. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a second embodiment of the sound image presentation apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating another example of the sound image presentation direction for the pilot. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing conventional landing guidance by GCA.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 A / D converter 2 Keyword extraction part 3 Sound image presentation direction determination part 4 Three-dimensional sound image generation part 5 D / A converter 6 Amplifier 7 Stereo headset (speaker)

Claims (5)

In a sound image presentation device that receives a landing guide control radio signal and presents a sound image of a navigation instruction to a pilot in an aircraft,
A keyword extraction unit for extracting a predetermined keyword from the received wireless signal;
A sound image presentation direction determination unit that determines a sound image presentation direction to the pilot based on the extracted keyword;
A three-dimensional sound image generation unit that three-dimensionalizes the sound image of the route instruction so that it can be heard by the pilot from the direction determined by the sound image presentation direction determination unit;
A speaker for presenting the generated three-dimensional sound image to the pilot;
A sound image presentation device comprising:   The sound image presentation direction determination unit determines in which direction the aircraft deviates from the target route from the extracted keyword, and determines the direction in which the target route exists as viewed from the aircraft as the sound image presentation direction. The sound image presentation apparatus according to claim 1.   The sound image presenting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sound image presenting direction determining unit selectively determines a sound image presenting direction from predetermined sound image presenting directions.   The sound image presentation direction determination unit determines a sound image presentation direction from among the front direction of the pilot, the left front 45 degree direction, the right front 45 degree direction, the upper front 45 degree direction, and the lower front 45 degree direction. The sound image presentation device according to claim 1. In a sound image presentation device that receives a landing guide control radio signal and presents a sound image of a navigation instruction to a pilot in an aircraft,
Direction data indicating a direction in which a target route exists from the aircraft and sound image data of the route instruction are input, and a three-dimensional sound image generating unit that three-dimensionalizes the sound image data based on the direction data;
A speaker for presenting the generated three-dimensional sound image to the pilot;
A sound image presentation device comprising:

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