Synthetic vision automatic landing system
First Claim
1. An aircraft automatic landing system capable of utilizing ground based ILS input signals input to said landing system adapted for use without ground based ILS signals, comprising:
- a. a computer,b. a display device coupled to said computer,c. a vector cursor generated by said computer for displaying aircraft vector information on said display device,d. an on-board forward looking sensor set coupled to said computer for detecting environmental information forward of said aircraft having an output for transmitting the information received from the sensor set to the computer for display on the display device,f. at least one reference cursor, selectively movable with respect to said display, displayed on said display,g. a cursor control for selecting the position of said reference cursor on the display,h. a computing unit for computing the difference in position between the vector cursor and the reference cursor and generating difference information,i. a converter for converting the difference information into a signal suitable for input to the automatic landing system, andj. an interface for applying said signal to the input of the automatic landing system.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system is provided which permits a display of ground conditions to the pilot through the use of a forward looking sensor set and uses signals generated from the aircraft to simulate ground aid signals which are used for automatic landing of the aircraft. General flight path angle and course aim point corrections are made from the cockpit of the aircraft and are adjustable as the flight progresses. Most of the systems today that have fixed path capability to ground intercepts are based on ground installed equipment. This system can establish the inertial flight path track internally to the aircraft and provides an automatic landing system which allows the pilot to concentrate on the visibility of the forward scene to confirm the safe progress of the landing.
69 Citations
24 Claims
-
1. An aircraft automatic landing system capable of utilizing ground based ILS input signals input to said landing system adapted for use without ground based ILS signals, comprising:
-
a. a computer, b. a display device coupled to said computer, c. a vector cursor generated by said computer for displaying aircraft vector information on said display device, d. an on-board forward looking sensor set coupled to said computer for detecting environmental information forward of said aircraft having an output for transmitting the information received from the sensor set to the computer for display on the display device, f. at least one reference cursor, selectively movable with respect to said display, displayed on said display, g. a cursor control for selecting the position of said reference cursor on the display, h. a computing unit for computing the difference in position between the vector cursor and the reference cursor and generating difference information, i. a converter for converting the difference information into a signal suitable for input to the automatic landing system, and j. an interface for applying said signal to the input of the automatic landing system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. An aircraft automatic landing system capable of utilizing ground based ILS input signals adapted for use without ground based ILS signals comprising:
-
a. a computer, b. a display device coupled to said computer, c. a vector cursor generated by said computer for displaying aircraft vector information on said display device, d. an on-board forward looking sensor set coupled to said computer for detecting environmental information forward of said aircraft having an output for transmitting the information received from the sensor set to the computer for display on the display device, f. at least one reference cursor, selectively movable with respect to said display, displayed on said display, g. a cursor control for selecting the position of a reference cursor on the display, h. means for computing the difference in position between the vector cursor and the reference cursor and generating difference information, and i. means for converting the difference information into a signal suitable for input to the automatic landing system, said means having an output adapted for applying the error signals to the input of the automatic landing system. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. An aircraft automatic landing system capable of utilizing ground based ILS input signals adapted for use without ground based ILS signals, comprising
a. a computer b. a display device coupled to said computer c. a vector cursor generated by said computer for displaying aircraft vector information on said display device, d. an on-board forward looking sensor set coupled to said computer for detecting environmental information forward of said aircraft, having an output for transmitting the information received from the sensor set to the computer for display on the display device, f. at least one reference cursor, selectively movable with respect to said display, displayed on said display, g. a cursor control for setting the position of a reference cursor on the display which comprises: - at least one control mechanism for adjustment of the lateral position of the reference cursor, at least one control mechanism for adjustment of the vertical position of the reference cursor, and at least one control mechanism for adjustment of the shape of the reference cursor for alignment along a line, and
h. a computer coupled to said display and said automatic landing system programmed to; i. compute the difference in lateral and vertical position between the vector cursor and the reference cursor, ii. generate at least one lateral position error from the lateral difference, iii. input said lateral position error to at least one input of the on-board automatic landing system, iv. generate at least one vertical position error from the vertical difference, and v. input of said vertical position error to at least one input of the on-board automatic landing system. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
- at least one control mechanism for adjustment of the lateral position of the reference cursor, at least one control mechanism for adjustment of the vertical position of the reference cursor, and at least one control mechanism for adjustment of the shape of the reference cursor for alignment along a line, and
-
18. An aircraft automatic landing system capable of utilizing ground based ILS input signals adapted for use without ground based ILS signals comprising
a. an on-board computer b. a display device coupled to said computer, c. a vector cursor generated by said computer for displaying aircraft vector information on said display device, d. an on-board forward looking sensor set coupled to said computer for detecting environmental information forward of said aircraft, having an output for transmitting the information received by the sensor set to the computer for display on the display device, f. at least one reference cursor, selectively movable with respect to said display, displayed on said display, g. a cursor control for selecting the position of a reference cursor on the display, h. means for computing the difference in position between the vector cursor and the reference cursor and generating difference information, i. means for converting the difference information into an ILS error signal suitable for input to the automatic landing system computer, and j. an output coupled to said converting means for applying the error signals to the ILS input of the automatic landing system.
Specification