Apparatus and method for aligning an aircraft

• US 7,948,403 B2
• Filed: 12/04/2007
• Issued: 05/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Hartman, Randolph G.
• Primary Examiner(s): TWEEL JR, JOHN ALEXANDER
• Application Number:
  US11/950,266
• Publication Number:
  US 20090140884A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,267 Days
• Field of Search: 340/952, 340/961, 701/4, 701/16, 701/200, 701/206, 701/210, 701/214
• US Class Current: 340/952
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913

Abstract

An apparatus for aligning an aircraft with an area on the ground is provided. The apparatus includes an aircraft having an on-board landing system, the on-board landing system configured to record an image of an area on the ground. The apparatus also includes a location marker on the area of the ground, and a stored image showing at least a portion of the area of the recorded image. The on-board landing system is configured to obtain information from the location marker and use the information to align the recorded image with the stored image.

Claims

1. An apparatus for determining a location for an aircraft relative to an area on the ground, the apparatus comprising:

an on-board landing system on an aircraft, the on-board landing system configured to identify a location marker on an area of the ground, the location marker configured to reflect a signal from the aircraft back to the aircraft as a reflected signal, wherein the reflected signal contains a unique, reflective code from the location marker and carries the code to the on-board landing system;

wherein the on-board landing system is configured to obtain the unique, reflective code from the reflected signal and use the unique, reflective code to determine a location of the aircraft.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory coupled to the on-board landing system, the memory configured to store a plurality of images of areas on the ground;

wherein the on-board landing system is configured to observe an area of the ground to obtain an image of the area, and determine at least one match for the observed image from the plurality of stored images;

wherein the unique, reflective code obtained from the location marker is used to determine if at least one of the plurality of stored images is a possible match for the observed image.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the unique, reflective code obtained from the location marker is used to select at least one image of the plurality of images which is used to determine at least one match.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the unique, reflective code obtained from the location marker is used to verify that the at least one match is in the same area as the observed image.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the on-board landing system is configured to observe the ground with one of a radar, a LIDAR, or a millimeter wave sensor.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the location marker is a bar code which is located on a runway of an airport.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the location marker is a radio frequency identification device (RFID).

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the on-board landing system is configured to recognize the location marker in the observed image and use the location of the location marker in the observed image to orient the aircraft.

9. A method for determining a location for an aircraft, the apparatus comprising:

observing an area with a landing system on-board an aircraft to obtain an image of the area;

transmitting a signal from the aircraft;

receiving a reflected signal at the aircraft, wherein a location marker reflects the signal from the aircraft as the reflected signal and wherein the reflected signal contains a unique, reflective code;

obtaining the unique, reflective code from the location marker within the area of the observed image, the code uniquely identifying the location marker;

determining a location of the aircraft based on the unique, reflective code.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining a location for the aircraft further comprises:

determining if a stored image is a match for the observed image by image correlation; and

determining if at least one stored image is a possible match of the observed image by comparing the unique, reflective code of the marker to a unique code associated with the at least one stored image.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining if at least one stored image is a possible match further comprises selecting at least one stored image for use in determining if at least one stored image is a match by image correlation.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein determining if at least one stored image is a possible match further comprises verifying that a match determined by image correlation is a possible match.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein observing an area further comprises sensing the area with an optical vision system.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein observing an area further comprises sensing the area with a radar.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the location marker is a bar code and obtaining a unique code further comprises reading the bar code and using the code to select an area to execute a correlation function.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the location marker is a radio frequency identification (RFID) device and obtaining a unique, reflective code further comprises receiving a reflective signal from the RFID device.

17. An system for aligning an aircraft, the system comprising:

an airport; and

a location marker located near the airport and configured to aid in landing an aircraft, the location marker configured to be recognizable by an on-board landing system of the aircraft, the location marker configured to convey a unique, reflective code to the on-board landing system for use by the on-board landing system in identifying a location for the aircraft, wherein the unique reflective code is conveyed to the aircraft by reflecting a signal from the aircraft, the reflected signal containing the unique, reflective code.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the location marker is configured to be recognizable by a radar which is in communication with the on-board landing system.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the location marker is a bar code.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the unique, reflective code includes coordinates of latitude and longitude.