Aircraft piloting aid system using a head-up display

• US 6,161,062 A
• Filed: 07/20/1998
• Issued: 12/12/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sextant Avionique
• Original Assignee: Sextant Avionique
• Inventors: Sicre, Jean-Luc, Guillard, Patrice
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TO, TUAN C
• Application Number:
  US09/101,759
• Time in Patent Office: 876 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/11, 701/13, 701/213, 701/215, 244/3.1, 244/75, 340/961, 364/428, 364/449
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/165 combined with non-inertial navigation instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/36 relating to the receiver frond end
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/52 Determining velocity
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/54 using carrier phase measurements; using long or short baseline interferometry
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/48 the waves arriving at the antennas being continuous or intermittent and the phase difference of signals derived therefrom being measured
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/01 Head-up displays

Abstract

The invention relates to systems for aiding the piloting of aircraft, mainly for take-off and landing under poor conditions of visibility.

In order to benefit from the contribution of head-up displays, which exhibit symbols for the artificial horizon line, aircraft longitudinal attitude and ground speed vector, without using an IRS inertial unit to supply the heading and attitude information, it is proposed to use a non-inertial AHRS unit associated with a compass, and periodically to correct the information which it supplies, in order to exhibit the attitude symbols with the aid of the corrected information rather than the raw information from the AHRS unit. The correction is given by two GPS receivers (GPS1, GPS2) associated with antennas (A1, A2) on the top of the aircraft, an interferometric measurement of radiofrequency carrier phase being made to determine a direction vector of the aircraft.

Application to the modernisation of aircraft equipped with non-inertial AHRS units so as to allow landings and take-offs in all conditions, including conditions of very poor visibility.

Claims

1. A system for aiding piloting of an aircraft, comprising:

a head-up display (HUD);

a computer (HUDC) associated with the head-up display, the computer comprising means for controlling the head-up display to display an aircraft attitude symbol;

a non-inertial attitude and heading unit (AHRS) configured to supply heading, attitude, acceleration and vertical velocity information to the computer;

a plurality of satellite positioning receivers having antennas substantially aligned with a principal axis of the aircraft, the receivers supplying signals to the computer; and

means for contrasting measurements supplied by the receivers to establish aircraft heading and attitude information based upon phase comparisons of signals received by the receivers from a common satellite,

wherein the computer further comprises means for computing an average of deviations between the attitude and heading information calculated from the signals of the satellite positioning receivers and the attitude and heading information supplied by the AHRS unit, and means for correcting, on the basis of the computed average of the deviations, the heading and attitude information supplied by the AHRS unit, the head-up display displaying symbols based upon the corrected heading and attitude information.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the computed average of the deviations is a sliding average, the sliding average being based upon a predetermined number of deviations.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the computer further comprises,

means for supplying an aircraft heading and attitude information item that is corrected based upon a difference of direction between a vector separating two of the antennas and a principal longitudinal axis of the aircraft, and

means for adjusting the heading and attitude information based upon roll information associated with the aircraft, the roll information being supplied by the AHRS unit.

4. The system according claim 1, wherein the receivers perform trim computations through phase comparisons, including a phase ambiguity removal computation, in which, the phase ambiguity removal computation makes use of a heading and attitude information supplied by the AHRS unit.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein each of the satellite positioning receivers is configured to transmit data information to the computer, the data information comprising satellite identification information corresponding to satellites observed at a given moment, timing information received from the satellites and computed by the receivers based upon a phase with local pseudo-random code synchronized with a code received from one of the satellites, Doppler velocity information based upon measuring a shift in carrier frequencies transmitted by the satellites, direction information of the satellites and phase information, wherein the computer being configured to determine a direction of a vector separating two of the antennas based upon the received data information.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein one of the satellite positioning receivers is configured to transmit data information via a bus to another one of the satellite positioning receivers, the data information comprising satellite identification information corresponding to satellites observed at a given moment, timing information received from the satellites and computed by the receivers based upon a phase with local pseudo-random code synchronized with a code received from one of the satellites, Doppler velocity information based upon measuring a shift in carrier frequencies transmitted by the satellites, and phase information, wherein the other one of the satellite positioning receivers being configured to compute a direction of a vector separating two of the antennas based upon the data information, and to transmit direction information corresponding to the computed direction of the vector to the computer.

7. The system according the claim 2, wherein the computer further comprises,

means for supplying an aircraft heading and attitude information item that is corrected based upon direction of a vector separating two of the antennas, and

means for adjusting the heading and attitude information based upon roll information associated with the aircraft, the roll information being supplied by the AHRS unit.

8. The system according to claim 2, wherein the receivers perform trim computations through phase comparisons, including a phase ambiguity removal computation, in which the phase ambiguity removal computation makes use of a heading and attitude information supplied by the AHRS unit.

9. The system according to claim 3, wherein the receivers perform trim computations through phase comparisons, including a phase ambiguity removal computation, in which the phase ambiguity removal computation makes use of a heading and attitude information supplied by the AHRS unit.

10. The system according to claim 2, wherein each of the satellite positioning receivers is configured to transmit data information to the computer, the data information comprising satellite identification information corresponding to satellites observed at a given moment, timing information received from the satellites and computed by the receivers based upon a phase with local pseudo-random code synchronized with a code received from one of the satellites, Doppler velocity information based upon measuring a shift in carrier frequencies transmitted by the satellites, direction information of the satellites, and phase information, wherein the computer being configured to determine a direction of a vector separating two of the antennas based upon the received data information.

11. The system according to claim 3, wherein each of the satellite positioning receivers is configured to transmit data information to the computer, the data information comprising satellite identification information corresponding to satellites observed at a given moment, timing information received from the satellites and computed by the receivers based upon a phase with local pseudo-random code synchronized with a code received from one of the satellites, Doppler velocity information based upon measuring a shift in carrier frequencies transmitted by the satellites, direction information of the satellites, and phase information, wherein the computer being configured to determine a direction of a vector separating two of the antennas based upon the received data information.

12. The system according to claim 4, wherein each of the satellite positioning receivers is configured to transmit data information to the computer, the data information comprising satellite identification information corresponding to satellites observed at a given moment, timing information received from the satellites and computed by the receivers based upon a phase with local pseudo-random code synchronized with a code received from one of the satellites, Doppler velocity information based upon measuring a shift in carrier frequencies transmitted by the satellites, direction information of the satellites, and phase information, wherein the computer being configured to determine a direction of a vector separating two of the antennas based upon the received data information.

13. The system according to claim 2, wherein one of the satellite positioning receivers is configured to transmit data information via a bus to another one of the satellite positioning receivers, the data information comprising satellite identification information corresponding to satellites observed at a given moment, timing information received from the satellites and computed by the receivers based upon a phase with local pseudo-random code synchronized with a code received from one of the satellites, Doppler velocity information based upon measuring a shift in carrier frequencies transmitted by the satellites, and phase information, wherein the other one of the satellite positioning receivers being configured to compute a direction of a vector separating two of the antennas based upon the data information, and to transmit direction information corresponding to the computed direction of the vector to the computer.

14. The system according to claim 3, wherein one of the satellite positioning receivers is configured to transmit data information via a bus to another one of the satellite positioning receivers, the data information comprising satellite identification information corresponding to satellites observed at a given moment, timing information received from the satellites and computed by the receivers based upon a phase with local pseudo-random code synchronized with a code received from one of the satellites, Doppler velocity information based upon measuring a shift in carrier frequencies transmitted by the satellites, and phase information, wherein other one of the satellite positioning receivers being configured to compute a direction of a vector separating two of the antennas based upon the data information, and to transmit direction information corresponding to the computed direction of the vector to the computer.

15. The system according the claim 4, wherein one of the satellite positioning receivers is configured to transmit data information via a bus to another one of the satellite positioning receivers, the data information comprising satellite identification information corresponding to satellites observed at a given moment, timing information received from the satellites and computed by the receivers based upon a phase with local pseudo-random code synchronized with a code received from one of the satellites, Doppler velocity information based upon measuring a shift in carrier frequencies transmitted by the satellites, and phase information, wherein the other one of the satellite positioning receivers being configured to compute a direction of a vector separating two of the antennas based upon the data information, and to transmit direction information corresponding to the computed direction of the vector to the computer.