Method and device for assisting navigation

• US 5,519,392 A
• Filed: 03/09/1995
• Issued: 05/21/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sextant Avionique
• Original Assignee: Sextant Avionique
• Inventors: Oder, Engin, Pierre, Francine, Renouard, Jean-Marie
• Primary Examiner(s): SWARTHOUT, BRENT
• Application Number:
  US08/401,289
• Time in Patent Office: 439 Days
• Field of Search: 340/995, 340/990, 340/971, 364/449, 364/460, 364/444
• US Class Current: 340/995.27
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/22 Plotting boards
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 23/00 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

Abstract

The method for assisting navigation of the invention uses a documentary management system including a processor associated with memories containing at least the stored image of a map of the region traversed by the vehicle and information relating to a multiplicity of objects localized in said region, this information being divided into sets of objects having their own exploitation means. This method includes the acquisition of the position of the vehicle, the introduction of the trajectory to be crossed from this position, the displaying of a geographical zone including said position and one significant portion of the trajectory to be travelled through, the displaying of a symbol representative of the vehicle, the selection by the operator of a set of objects, the selection by the system of the information of this set relating to the localized objects in said zone, the display by overprinting of the symbols thus selected, the selection by the operator of one of said sets and activation of the exploitation means associated with this set Application is in particular to civil and commercial aviation.

Claims

1. Method for assisting navigation on board a vehicle using a documentary management system based on processors comprising at least one communication terminal including a display surface and memories storing a succession of pixel data each representing an image point of a digitized image representing a geopolitical map of the region likely to be traversed by the vehicle, and data relating to a multiplicity of objects of various natures localized in said region, these data comprising for each object graphical symbols representative of the nature of the object, a geographical position of the object and a set of detailed information relating to the object, said objects being divided according to the respective natures of said objects into sets of objects respectively associated with distinct means for exploiting the sets of detailed information, said method being performed by said processor and comprising the steps of:

acquiring in real time the geographical position of the vehicle;

determining a projected trajectory to be covered from the present position of the vehicle to a destination position introduced by an operator;

determining periodically a portion of the digitized image representing a geographical zone including the present position of the vehicle and a greatest possible portion of the trajectory to be covered;

transferring from said memories to the display surface the pixel data of the image portion thus determined and displaying graphical symbols representing said portion of trajectory;

displaying in real time superimposed on said image portion displayed on said display surface a graphical symbol representing the vehicle while observing its geographical position with respect to said geographical zone;

selecting objects localized in said geographical zone from amongst at least one set of objects previously selected by the operator;

displaying superimposed on said image portion the graphical symbols representing the objects thus selected while observing their geographical position with respect to said geographical zone; and

said method further comprising an exploitation phase of detailed information related to a set of objects selected by the operator from amongst the sets of objects presently displayed on the display surface, said exploitation phase comprising a step of allocating keys of said terminal to activation of programs specific to the exploitation means associated with this selected set of objects, a step of displaying items of detailed information related to an object selected by the operator, according to a presentation mode specific to said associated exploitation means as a function of a program activated by the operator.

2. Method according to claim 1, further comprising:

allocation of a designation device to a set of objects;

designation by the operator with the aid of said designation device of a symbol displayed overprinted on said determined image portion and representing an object of the set to which the designation device is allocated; and

exploitation of the set of information associated with the designated object with the aid of the exploitation means associated with the set of objects to which this object belongs.

3. Method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

selecting an object by the operator by designating one of the symbols of objects displayed overprinted on said determined image portion;

displaying by the system detailed information concerning the designated object on the full screen; and

displaying by the system detailed information concerning the designated object in a window overprinted on the determined image portion.

4. Method according to claim 3, further comprising the steps of:

activating a designation device associated with the window displayed overprinted on the screen,

moving and deleting by the operator said window with the aid of the designation device,

storing the detailed information displayed on said window in a storage zone provided to this effect, and

displaying the contents of said storage zone overprinted on the determined image portion displayed on the screen.

5. Method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an aircraft, said method further comprising:

calculation at the operator'"'"'s request of the distance and the course between two geographical points designated by the operator,

determination at the operator'"'"'s request of an optimized route whilst taking account of the weather conditions between the current position of the vehicle and the destination position, and

determination at the operator'"'"'s request of the most suitable airport for the aircraft to be directed to according to restrictions concerning the weather and fuel consumption and the current position of the vehicle.

6. Method accoding to claim 3, wherein the symbols of objects and the displayed detailed information may be of a temporary nature.

7. Method according to claim 1, further comprising displacement by the operator of the image portion displayed on the screen resulting in stopping refreshing of the displayed image portion according to the evolution of the position of the vehicle.

8. Method according to claim 1, further comprising designating by the operator two geographical positions on the map, and displaying by the system overprinted on said determined image portion the distance between said two geographical positions and a course to follow so as to move from the first position to the second position.

9. Method according to claim 8, wherein the designation of a geographical position is carried out by entering its name with the aid of keys of said communication terminal.

10. Method according to claim 1, wherein the digitized map originates from a geopolitical map indicating the zone of high altitudes, water surfaces, major towns, main highways and state frontiers.

11. Method according to claim 1, wherein said vehicle is an aircraft, said method further comprising real-time signalling on the determined image portion summits whose altitude is greater than that of the aircraft.

12. Method according to claim 1, wherein, within the context of air-navigation, said natures of said objects are radionavigation markers, specific zones, air routes, airports, weather information, and the respective positions of other vehicles situated nearby.

13. Method according to claim 1, wherein in the case of air-navigation, the determined image portion is displayed on a scale which may be modified by the operator between a scale of 1 cm for 15 km and a scale of 1 cm for 350 km.

14. Method according to claim 1, further comprising transition from a day mode for displaying maps to a night mode and vice versa, said transition being triggered by a specific key of said terminal and consisting of replacing black points of the portion of the digitized image by white points and white points by black points, remaining colors remain unchanged.

25. Method according to claim 8, wherein the designation of a geographical position is carried out by entering its geographical coordinates with the aid of keys of said communication terminal.

15. A device for assisting navigation on board of a vehicle comprising:

a processor connected to other items of electronic equipment embarked on board the vehicle,

at least one man/machine communication terminal connected to the processor and comprising a display screen and control and entry keys for introducing a destination position of the vehicle, and

a data base accessible by the processor where are stored a succession of pixel data each representing an image point of a digitized image representing a geopolitical map of the region able to be traversed by the vehicle and data relating to a multiplicity of objects of different natures localized in said region, these data comprising for each object graphical symbols representative of the nature of the object, a geographical position of the object and a set of detailed information relating to the object, these objects being divided according to the respective natures of said objects into sets of objects respectively associated with specific exploitation means for exploiting the sets of detailed information,

the processor including;

first means for exploiting data of the data base;

sensors for acquiring in real time a current situation of the vehicle including a current position;

means for determining from said current position and said destination position a trajectory to be traversed by the vehicle;

means to periodically determine a portion of the digitized image representing a geographical zone which includes both the current position of the vehicle and a greatest possible portion of the trajectory to be traversed by the vehicle;

means to display on the displaying surface the determined image portion thus determined and superimposed on said image portion, graphical symbols representing said greatest possible portion of trajectory while observing its geographical position and orientation with respect to said geographical zone;

means to display on the displaying surface, superimposed on said image portion, a graphical symbol representing the vehicle while observing its geographical position with respect to said geographical zone;

means for selecting, among the items of information relating to a set of objects selected by the operator, the information relating to the objects located in said geographical zone;

means to display superimposed on said determined image portion the graphical symbols representative of the objects thus selected while observing their geographical position with respect to said geographical zone; and

each of said specific exploitation means defining for the set of objects associated thereto a way items of said information related to said set of objects are chained with one another, a mode for displaying said items of information, active keys of said terminal and functions activated by said active keys.

16. Man/machine communication terminal able to be used in the device according to claim 15, and comprising a displaying screen and keys for entering information and carrying out commands, said keys being divided at the periphery of the screen into four sets of successive keys, a first set allocated to activation of the exploitation means, a second allocated to selection when a menu is displayed on the screen, a third set allocated to control functions of the terminal, and a fourth allocated to displaying and reactivating final selections made by the operator, said keys being reconfigurable according to the page displayed on the screen and each being associated with an adjacent zone of the screen where a label of the function allocated thereto is displayed.

17. Terminal according to claim 16, wherein each of said keys may take up one of three states, namely active, activatable or non activatable which corresponds to the state of the function triggered by the key, each of said keys being associated with signalling means indicating the state of the key.

18. Terminal according to claim 16, wherein said displaying screen includes four edges along which are respectively disposed the four said sets of keys.

20. Terminal according to claim 16, further comprising keys for enlarging the scale of the determined image portion displayed on the screen.

21. Terminal according to claim 16, further comprising a first key allocated to displaying and activating a cursor, a second key for moving the cursor as far as a determined position of the determined image portion displayed and a third key for validating said determined position of the cursor.

22. Terminal according to claim 16, further comprising a fourth key allocated to reactivation of the periodic determination and displaying of a portion of said digitized image including the position of the vehicle and its trajectory.

19. Man/machine communication terminal able to be used in a device for assisting navigation on board a vehicle and using a documentary management system comprising:

a processor connected to other items of electronic equipment embarked on board the vehicle,

a data base accessible by the processor where are stored in particular a digitalized image representing a geopolitical map of the region able to be traversed by the vehicle and data relating to a multiplicity of objects of different natures localized in said region, these data including for each object symbols representative of the nature of the object, a geographical position of the object and a set of detailed information relating to the object, these objects being divided according to the respective natures of said objects into sets of objects respectively associated with distinct means for exploiting the sets of detailed information, each of said exploitation means being accessible through menus which are chained so as to form a tree structure;

the processor comprising;

first means for exploiting the information of the data base;

sensors for acquiring in real time current situation of the vehicle;

means for periodically determining a portion of the digitalized image representing a geographical zone which includes both the current position of the vehicle and a significant portion of the trajectory to be traversed by the vehicle; and

specific means for exploiting each set of objects;

said terminal comprising a display screen and control and entry keys for entering information and a destination position of the vehicle, and for carrying out commands, said keys being divided at the periphery of the screen into four sets of successive keys, a first set allocated to activation of the exploitation means, a second set allocated to selection when a menu is displayed on the screen, a third set allocated to control functions of the terminal, and a fourth set allocated to displaying and reactivating final selections of said exploitation means made by the operator, said keys being reconfigurable according to the page displayed on the screen and each being associated with an adjacent zone of the screen where a label of the function allocated thereto is displayed, a key being allocated to displaying successively previously selected menus related to a previously selected exploitation means;

said processor further comprising;

means for displaying on the display screen the portion of said digitized image thus determined and symbols representing said trajectory portion;

means for displaying overprinted on the display screen a symbol representing the vehicle while observing its geographical position with respect to said geographical zone;

means for selecting, among the items of information relating to a set of objects selected by the operator, the information relating to the objects located in said geographical zone;

means for displaying overprinted on said determined image portion the symbols representative of the objects thus selected while observing their geographical position with respect to said geographical zone,

wherein the keys allocated to displaying and reactivating the final selections of exploitation means are respectively associated with a zone of the screen where respective labels of these final selections appear, the key associated with the last final selection being non activatable and the keys associated with the other final selections being able to be activatable and allowing for display of a last page displayed concerning the associated selection.

23. Method for assisting navigation on board a vehicle using a documentary management system based on processors comprising at least one communication terminal including a display surface and memories storing in particular a digitized image representing a geopolitical map of the region likely to be traversed by the vehicle, and data relating to a multiplicity of objects of various natures localized in said region, these data comprising for each object symbols representative of the nature of the object, a geographical position and a set of detailed information relating to the object, said objects being divided according to the respective natures of said objects into sets of objects respectively associated with distinct means for exploiting the sets of detailed information, said method comprising the steps of:

acquiring in real time the geographical position of the vehicle;

introducing the trajectory to be covered from a departure position of the vehicle to a destination position;

determining periodically a portion of the digitized image representing a geographical zone including the present position of the vehicle and a significant portion of the trajectory to be covered by the vehicle;

displaying on the display surface said portion of the digitized image thus determined and said significant portion of said trajectory which is indicated by a set of straight parallel segments crossing perpendicularly at their respective middles an axis joining the departure aid destination positions, said segments being spaced by a distance corresponding to the distance covered by the vehicle during a constant period at an average speed;

displaying overprinted in real time on said display surface a symbol representing the vehicle while observing its geographical position with respect to said geographical zone;

selecting by the operator at least one set of objects;

selecting by the system from amongst the sets of detailed information relating to the set of selected objects, detailed information relating to the objects localized in said geographical zone;

displaying by overprinting on said determined image portion the symbols representing the objects thus selected while observing their geographical position with respect to said geographical zone; and

selecting by the operator a set of objects presently displayed on the display surface, and activating the exploitation means associated with this set of objects.

26. Method according to claim 23, further comprising:

allocation of a designation device to a set of objects;

designation by the operator with the aid of said designation device of a symbol displayed overprinted on said determined image portion and representing an object of the set to which the designation device is allocated; and

exploitation of the set of information associated with the designated object with the aid of the exploitation means associated with the set of objects to which this object belongs.

27. Method according to claim 23, further comprising the steps of:

selecting an object by the operator by designating one of the symbols of objects displayed overprinted on said determined image portion;

displaying by the system detailed information concerning the designated object on the full screen; and

displaying by the system detailed information concerning the designated object in a window overprinted on the determined image portion.

28. Method according to claim 27, further comprising the steps of:

activating a designation device associated with the window displayed overprinted on the screen,

moving and deleting by the operator said window with the aid of the designation device,

storing the detailed information displayed on said window in a storage zone provided to this effect, and

displaying the contents of said storage zone overprinted on the determined image portion displayed on the screen.

29. Method according to claim 23, wherein the vehicle is an aircraft, said method further comprising:

calculation at the operator'"'"'s request of the distance and the course between two geographical points designated by the operator,

determination at the operator'"'"'s request of an optimized route whilst taking account of the weather conditions between the current position of the vehicle and the destination position, and

determination at the operator'"'"'s request of the most suitable airport for the aircraft to be directed to according to restrictions concerning the weather and fuel consumption and the current position of the vehicle.

30. Method according to claim 27, wherein the symbols of objects and the displayed detailed information may be of a temporary nature.

31. Method according to claim 23, further comprising displacement by the operator of the image portion displayed on the screen resulting in stopping refreshing of the displayed image portion according to the evolution of the position of the vehicle.

32. Method according to claim 23, further comprising designating by the operator two geographical positions on the map, and displaying by the system overprinted on said determined image portion the distance between said two geographical positions and a course to follow so as to move from the first position to the second position.

33. Method according to claim 32, wherein the designation of a geographical position is carried out by entering its name with the aid of keys of said communication terminal.

34. Method according to claim 23, wherein the digitized map originates from a geopolitical map indicating the zone of high altitudes, water surfaces, major towns, main highways and state frontiers.

35. Method according to claim 23, wherein said vehicle is an aircraft, said method further comprising real-time signalling on the determined image portion summits whose altitude is greater than that of the aircraft.

36. Method according to claim 23, wherein, within the context of air-navigation, said natures of said objects are radionavigation markers, specific zones, air routes, airports, weather information, and the respective positions of other vehicles situated nearby.

37. Method according to claim 23, wherein in the case of air-navigation, the determined image portion is displayed on a scale which may be modified by the operator between a scale of 1 cm for 15 km and a scale of 1 cm for 350 km.

38. Method according to claim 23, further comprising transition from a day mode for displaying maps to a night mode and vice versa, said transition being triggered by a specific key of said terminal and consisting of replacing black points of the portion of the digitized image by white points and white points by black points, remaining colors remain unchanged.

39. Method according to claim 32, wherein the designation of a geographical position is carried out by entering its geographical coordinates with the aid of keys of said communication terminal.

24. Man/machine communication terminal able to be used in a device for assisting navigation on board a vehicle and using a documentary management system comprising:

a processor connected to other items of electronic equipment embarked on board the vehicle,

a data base accessible by the processor where are stored a succession of pixel data each representing an image point of a digitalized image representing a geopolitical map of the region able to be traversed by the vehicle and data relating to a multiplicity of objects of different natures localized in said region, these data including for each object symbols representative of the nature of the object, a geographical position of the object and a set of detailed information relating to the object, these objects being divided according to the respective natures of said objects into sets of objects respectively associated with distinct means for exploiting the sets of detailed information, each of said exploitation means being accessible through menus which are chained so as to form a tree structure;

the processor comprising;

first means for exploiting the information of the data base;

sensors for acquiring in real time current situation of the vehicle;

means for periodically determining a portion of the digitalized image representing a geographical zone which includes both the current position of the vehicle and a significant portion of the trajectory to be traversed by the vehicle; and

specific means for exploiting each set of objects;

said terminal comprising a display screen and control and entry keys for entering information and a destination position of the vehicle, and for carrying out commands, said keys being divided at the periphery of the screen into four sets of successive keys, a first set allocated to activation of the exploitation means, a second set allocated to selection when a menu is displayed on the screen, a third set allocated to control functions of the terminal, and a fourth set allocated to displaying and reactivating final selections of said exploitation means made by the operator, said keys being reconfigurable according to the page displayed on the screen and each being associated with an adjacent zone of the screen where a label of the function allocated thereto is displayed, a key being allocated to displaying successively previously selected menus related to a previously selected exploitation means;

said processor further comprising;

means for displaying on the display screen the portion of said digitized image thus determined and symbols representing said trajectory portion;

means for displaying overprinted on the display screen a symbol representing the vehicle while observing its geographical position with respect to said geographical zone;

means for selecting, among the items of information relating to a set of objects selected by the operator, the information relating to the objects located in said geographical zone;

means for displaying overprinted on said determined image portion the symbols representative of the objects thus selected while observing their geographical position with respect to said geographical zone.