Virtual instrument pilot: an improved method and system for navigation and control of fixed wing aircraft

• US 6,405,107 B1
• Filed: 01/11/2001
• Issued: 06/11/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gary Derman
• Original Assignee: Gary Derman
• Inventors: Derman, Gary
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MANCHO, RONNIE M
• Application Number:
  US09/759,190
• Time in Patent Office: 516 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/14, 701/11, 701/13, 701/33, 701/301, 701/122, 701/121, 701/120, 345/1.3, 345/856, 244/1.R, 244/158.R, 340/3.5, 340/500, 340/825.72, 340/947, 340/948, 340/979, 340/971, 340/995, 340/975, 340/973, 455/66, 342/357.08, 342/401, 342/49, 434/29, 434/38, 434/43
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/005 with correlation of navigation data from several sources, e.g. map or contour matching G01C21/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 23/005 Flight directors indicating arrangements specially adapted for rotary gyroscopes G01C19/32

Abstract

A self contained electronic system for manual or automatic control and navigation of fixed winged aircraft using electronic position sensing such as GPS, DGPS, WAAS, and the like, as the primary sensor and making use of known flight characteristics of the aircraft to determine aircraft attitude without any interaction with the aircraft, its controls, or the outside environment and without any moving mechanical devices other than switches, dials and connectors. The automatic and visual interface between the system and the pilot provides for simplified flight controls, and a new solution to the hazard of disorientation, and will reduce the time needed for a pilot to become proficient in VFR and instrument flying. A single instrument replaces many of the conventional instruments used for flight. Navigation data is provided in an easy to understand graphical format. The pilot is told explicitly where to move aircraft controls. The absence of mechanical devices and presence of battery backup make the system extremely reliable and capable of continuing operation of the aircraft independent of the aircraft power or vacuum sources.

Claims

1. We claim an electronic instrumentation system which comprises positioning sensors such as satellite global positioning system hardware and controlling software, said hardware and software being designed to provide a pilot of an aircraft with both manual and automatic control of his aircraft under any known weather conditions, including complete blindness to surrounding conditions and loss of conventional instrumentation and instrument power, said system being comprised of (a) a position determining device, (b) a graphic display, (c) a computer system, (d) software, (e) input connectors, (f) knobs, and (g) switches, wherein items (a) through (g) replace and/or supplement the conventional aircraft instrumentation on an instrument display, and thereby allow the aircraft pilot to maintain complete control of his aircraft, either by manual response to graphic direction as depicted on the graphical display screen or automatically, without the need for manual intervention, to follow either predefined paths and patterns as well as navigation by presently accepted methods and defined locations, said electronic instrumentation system further being capable of determining position and velocity relative to three dimensional locations of airports, fixes, conventional navigational aids, and user input locations, generating standard and non-standard approaches, flight paths and search patterns associated with the aforementioned locations, calculating current air speed and direction, as well as providing direct or partial replacements for conventional aircraft displays and instruments including attitude indicator, altimeter, reporting altimeter, rate of climb indicator, turn and slip indicator, heading indicator, rate-of-turn indicator, clock, marker beacon receiver, Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), Vector Omni Range (VOR), Area Navigation (RNAV), Automatic Direction Finder (ADF), Instrument Landing System (ILS), and Long Range Navigation (LORAN) without the use of any moving parts except knobs, switches and connectors.

2. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 1, wherein said system is implemented using a Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system, may employ any position sensing system such as Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS), Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS), or future systems as they are developed, and combinations thereof, which will provide at a minimum:

time, latitude, longitude, and altitude position information and when available will also make use of derived data such as speed and direction.

3. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 2, wherein said system display indicator provides visual representation of aircraft status comprising:

(a) the bank angle of the aircraft when in a coordinated turn with an artificial horizon which is positioned above or below a central horizontal line as a function of the climb or descent angle of the aircraft, (b) a small aircraft figure which is positioned above the center of the artificial horizon by a distance which is a function of the calculated pitch angle of the aircraft, (c) a variable radius circle indicating the current ground speed, (d) circles indicating each of the critical air speeds for the aircraft, (e) marks indicating the amount of bank in 15 degree increments, (f) marks indicating the bank needed for a standard rate turn, (g) a compass rose with the current actual direction of travel at the top position, (h) a user or flight-path controlled heading bug, (i) marker beacon “

lights”

for outer, middle, and inner markers, and (j) numeric displays showing ground speed, altitude, direction of travel, time, rate of climb, latitude, longitude, current direction of the heading bug, and position sensor status.

4. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 1, wherein said system is further capable of displaying simultaneously, at the operator'"'"'s discretion, some or all of the information normally obtained by this system from each of the specified navigation devices.

5. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 4, wherein said system attitude display indicator will optionally display up to a specified number of direction vectors indicating the location label and the relative position of any Vector Omni Range (VOR), Area Navigation (RNAV), Automatic Direction Finder (ADF), intersection, airport, or user defined location, and if a radial Omni Bearing Selector (OBS) has been defined, the offset angle of the aircraft from the OBS radial.

6. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 5, wherein said system will further optionally display an alphanumeric list of all selected locations separate from the instrument display, showing at a minimum a definitive label on the graphic display, identification, present direction, present distance, and optional OBS radial when specified.

7. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 1, wherein said system attitude display indicator will optionally display the glide slope and heading indicators of an ILS or airport runway and will provide the identifier of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) if an ILS is defined for that runway.

8. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 1, wherein said system attitude display indicator will optionally display a wind vector and a numeric wind speed and direction when entered by the pilot or when calculated by the system using either a controlled rate turn or operator entered magnetic heading and true air speed.

9. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 1, wherein said system will include flight-path functionality which will provide navigation assistance in Visual Flight Rules (VFR) weather and if approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will enable flight even without visibility, down to the minimums specified by the FAA as noted on instrument approach procedures charts of U.S. Terminal Procedures.

10. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 1, wherein said system attitude display indicator will optionally display a selected element whose position shows the direction and amount to move the aircraft controls and which also includes a graphic indication as well as a numeric count down in anticipation of future control movements for flight-path following in order to manually control the aircraft, monitor the autopilot control, or do both when not all axis have autopilot control thereby enabling the pilot to simply act as autopilot by following an easily understood graphic display.

11. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 1, wherein said system will accept location point, location point updates, and either relative or absolute flight path information in an easy to understand textual form from an external source such as a portable Personal Computer (PC) which will allow generic and specified airport approaches, preplanned flight routes, and generic patterns, such as search and rescue, to be followed by the aircraft.

12. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 11, wherein said system will include a feature which will automatically generate a flight path to either the nearest airport or one selected from a list of near airports with either pre-defined or user selected standard left, standard right, direct, or IFR-like patterns taking into account the turn radius, flight characteristics, velocity of the aircraft, and altitude above sea level which is associated with the particular airport at which the landing is to be accomplished.

13. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 12, wherein said system will further include a feature whereby said system can automatically learn a new runway location by selecting the function just before takeoff so that a flight path may later be automatically generated to land at that facility.

14. The electronic instrumentation system of claim 13, wherein said system will further include a feature whereby said system can automatically generate a flight path which will bring the aircraft to level flight in the current direction.