Collision avoidance system for use in aircraft

• US 6,211,808 B1
• Filed: 02/23/1999
• Issued: 04/03/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/1999
• Status: Expired

• Current Assignee: Flight Safety Technologies, Inc. (Applied Blockchain, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Flight Safety Technologies, Inc. (Applied Blockchain, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rees, Frank L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr E.
• Application Number:
  US09/255,269
• Time in Patent Office: 770 Days
• Field of Search: 342/24, 342/27-32, 342/41, 343/705, 343/708-713, 343/718
• US Class Current: 342/29
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/18 wherein range gates are used
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/765 with exchange of information between interrogator and responder
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/933 of aircraft or spacecraft
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/935 for terrain-avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/04 Display arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/043 Synchronising the display device with the scanning of the antenna

Abstract

A collision avoidance system mountable on an aircraft for providing to the pilot of that aircraft an early warning of the presence of another nearby threat aircraft within the surrounding air space. The system operates autonomously from that aircraft and does not require the presence of any matched system on board the threat aircraft. The system includes an omni-directional L-band microwave antenna formed by a dielectric sphere cut into eight equal “orange wedge” sectors covering eight distinct beam patterns. Eight L-band microwave signals are transmitted simultaneously from all eight dielectric sectors to provide a sphere of detection around the aircraft. The sectors also act as receivers for detecting a microwave signal reflected back from the threat aircraft, and indicating means provides information to the pilot regarding the direction, closeness and rate of closure of the threat aircraft.

Claims

1. A collision avoidance system for use in a vehicle comprising a dielectric antenna shaped at least as part of a sphere formed by a plurality of sectors, an L-band microwave transmitter, a plurality of transmit/receive switches with one of said switches associated with a respective one of said sectors, means connecting said transmitter to said switches so that when said switches are in a transmit mode a plurality of L-band microwave signals are transmitted simultaneously from said sectors omnidirectionally around said antenna, a plurality of L-band microwave detectors with one of said detectors associated with a respective one of said sectors to detect, when said switches are in a receive mode, a return microwave signal reflected from an obstacle in the area surrounding the vehicle, circuit means for processing return microwave signals to provide an output signal containing information regarding said obstacle, and display means connected to said circuit means for displaying that information to the operator of the vehicle enabling the operator to take appropriate action to avoid a collision with the obstacle.

2. The collision avoidance system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an aircraft and the antenna is a dielectric sphere mounted on top of the aircraft.

3. The collision avoidance system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an aircraft and the antenna is formed in upper and lower hemispheres each including a plurality of sectors, the upper hemisphere being mounted on top of the aircraft and the lower hemisphere being mounted on the bottom of the aircraft.

4. The collision avoidance system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an aircraft and said sectors are distributed around the cross section of the aircraft to minimize aerodynamic drag.

5. The collision avoidance system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is a marine vessel and the antenna is a dielectric hemisphere mounted on top of the vessel.

6. The collision avoidance system of claim 1, wherein said L-band microwave signals are transmitted at an intensity to provide a sphere of safety having a radius of about two to five nautical miles around said vehicle.

7. The collision avoidance system of claim 1, said display means being a transparent sphere formed by a plurality of display sectors equal in number to the sectors in said antenna, each of said display sectors being positioned and oriented substantially identically to a corresponding respective antenna sector so that the operator of the vehicle observing the display sectors is automatically informed of the directional location of the obstacle.

8. A collision avoidance system for use on an aircraft comprising a hollow dielectric antenna shaped at least as part of a sphere formed by a plurality of equal sized wedge sectors, each sector having an outer spherical surface and three flat surfaces extending radially inward toward the center of the sphere, an L-band microwave transmitter, a plurality of transmit/receive switches mounted within said antenna with each of said switches associated with a respective one of said sectors, means connecting said transmitter to said switches so that when said switches are in a transmit mode a plurality of L-band microwave signals are transmitted simultaneously from said sectors omnidirectionally around said antenna, a plurality of L-band microwave detectors mounted within said antenna with each of said detectors associated with a respective one of said sectors to detect, when said switches are in a receive mode, a return microwave signal reflected from an obstacle in the area surrounding the aircraft and received by its respective sector, the flat sides of said sectors being coated with a conductive material to guide a return signal through a sector to its associated detector, circuit means for processing return microwave signals to provide an output signal containing information regarding said obstacle, and display means connected to said circuit means for displaying that information to the operator of the vehicle enabling the operator to take appropriate action to avoid a collision with the obstacle.

9. The collision avoidance system of claim 8, wherein the antenna is a dielectric sphere mounted on the aircraft.

10. The collision avoidance system of claim 8, wherein the antenna is formed in upper and lower hemispheres each including a plurality of sectors, the upper hemisphere being mounted on top of the aircraft and the lower hemisphere being mounted on the bottom of the aircraft.

11. The collision avoidance system of claim 8, wherein the vehicle is an aircraft and said sectors are distributed around the cross section of the aircraft to minimize aerodynamic drag.

12. The collision avoidance system of claim 8, wherein said L-band microwave signals are transmitted at an intensity to provide a sphere-of-safety having a radius of about two to five nautical miles around said aircraft.

13. The collision avoidance system of claim 8, said display means being a transparent sphere formed by a plurality of display sectors equal in number to the sectors in said antenna, each of said display sectors being positioned and oriented identically to a corresponding respective antenna sector so that the pilot of the aircraft observing the display sectors is automatically informed of the directional location of the obstacle.

14. The collision avoidance system of claim 8, wherein the obstacle is a threat aircraft, forward terrain, or ground.