Method and apparatus for remotely piloting an aircraft
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a remotely piloted aircraft including,a position determining system to locate said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s position in three dimensions; and
an orientation determining system for determining said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s orientation in three dimensional space;
a communications system for communicating flight data between a computer and said remotely piloted aircraft, said flight data including said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s position and orientation, said flight data also including flight control information for controlling said remotely piloted aircraft;
a digital database comprising terrain data;
said computer to access said terrain data according to said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s position and to transform said terrain data to provide three dimensional projected image data according to said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s orientation;
a display for displaying said three dimensional projected image data; and
a set of one or more remote flight controls coupled to said computer for inputting said flight control information, wherein said computer is also for determining a delay time for communicating said flight data between said computer and said remotely piloted aircraft, and wherein said computer adjusts the sensitivity of said set of one or more remote flight controls based on said delay time.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus that allows a remote aircraft to be controlled by a remotely located pilot who is presented with a synthesized three-dimensional projected view representing the environment around the remote aircraft. According to one aspect of the invention, a remote aircraft transmits its three-dimensional position and orientation to a remote pilot station. The remote pilot station applies this information to a digital database containing a three dimensional description of the environment around the remote aircraft to present the remote pilot with a three dimensional projected view of this environment. The remote pilot reacts to this view and interacts with the pilot controls, whose signals are transmitted back to the remote aircraft. In addition, the system compensates for the communications delay between the remote aircraft and the remote pilot station by controlling the sensitivity of the pilot controls.
185 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A system comprising:
-
a remotely piloted aircraft including, a position determining system to locate said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s position in three dimensions; and an orientation determining system for determining said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s orientation in three dimensional space; a communications system for communicating flight data between a computer and said remotely piloted aircraft, said flight data including said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s position and orientation, said flight data also including flight control information for controlling said remotely piloted aircraft; a digital database comprising terrain data; said computer to access said terrain data according to said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s position and to transform said terrain data to provide three dimensional projected image data according to said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s orientation; a display for displaying said three dimensional projected image data; and a set of one or more remote flight controls coupled to said computer for inputting said flight control information, wherein said computer is also for determining a delay time for communicating said flight data between said computer and said remotely piloted aircraft, and wherein said computer adjusts the sensitivity of said set of one or more remote flight controls based on said delay time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A station for flying a remotely piloted aircraft that is real or simulated comprising:
-
a database comprising terrain data; a set of remote flight controls for inputting flight control information; a computer having a communications unit configured to receive status information identifying said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s position and orientation in three dimensional space, said computer configured to access said terrain data according to said status information and configured to transform said terrain data to provide three dimensional projected image data representing said remotely piloted aircraft'"'"'s environment, said computer coupled to said set of remote flight controls and said communications unit for transmitting said flight control information to control said remotely piloted aircraft, said computer also to determine a delay time for communicating said flight control information between said computer and said remotely piloted aircraft, and said computer to adjust the sensitivity of said set of remote flight controls based on said delay time; and a display configured to display said three dimensional projected image data. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification