Viewing device for aircraft comprising means of displaying the final destination and associated display method

• US 8,224,508 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2009
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thales SA
• Original Assignee: Thales SA
• Inventors: Bacabara, Corinne, Nouvel, Christian, Perbet, Jean-Noel
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleming, Faye M.
• Application Number:
  US12/547,595
• Publication Number:
  US 20100063655A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,056 Days
• Field of Search: 701/16, 701/17, 701/14, 701/301, 731/78.T, 342 29- 32, 244/183, 244/184
• US Class Current: 701/16
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 23/00 Combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value, e.g. for aircraft; Combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement, e.g. distance, speed or acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft

Abstract

The general field of the invention is that of synthetic vision system SVS type viewing systems, for aircraft, said system comprising at least one navigation database, a cartographic database of a terrain, position sensors, anemometric sensors, sensors for measuring the gradient of said terrain, an electronic computer, a man-machine interface means and a display screen, the computer comprising means of processing the various information obtained from the databases, from the sensors and from the interface means, said processing means arranged so as to provide on the display screen a synthetic image of the terrain comprising a representation of the final destination in the form of an air sock of aeronautical type.

Claims

1. A viewing system of the synthetic vision system SVS type, for an aircraft, said system comprising at least one navigation database, a cartographic database of a terrain, position sensors, anemometric sensors, terrain gradient measurement sensors, an electronic computer, a man-machine interface means and a display screen, the computer comprising means of processing the various information obtained from the databases, from the sensors and from the interface means, said processing means arranged to provide on the display screen a synthetic image of the terrain comprising a representation of the final destination, wherein said representation includes a physical representation of an aeronautical-type air sock comprising three parts, a bottom part situated at the conformal location of the position of the final destination on the terrain, a vertical junction line and a perspective representation of the air sock itself, positioned above said junction line, the form and the orientation of the bottom part being representative of the local gradient of the terrain at the location of said air sock.

2. The viewing system according to claim 1, wherein the bottom part is an ellipse, the inclination of which is representative of the local gradient of the terrain, said ellipse having two faces of different color or texture, the displayed color being representative of the direction of the gradient as seen from the aircraft.

3. The viewing system according to claim 1, wherein the junction line has a sufficient size for the standardized symbol to dominate the surrounding terrain and not be concealed by the relief.

4. The viewing system according to claim 1, wherein the perspective representation of the air sock has the form of an elongate truncated cone comprising five rings, the first, third and fifth rings being of a first color, the second and fourth rings being of a second color, the orientation of the cone being representative of the wind direction, the cone including a break, the set of rings positioned in front of the break representing the wind speed.

5. The viewing system according to claim 1, wherein, from a certain distance, the representation of the air sock has an apparent display size that is representative of a constant size on the terrain.

6. Final destination display method for synthetic vision system (SVS) type viewing system mounted on an aircraft, said system comprising at least one navigation database, a cartographic database of a terrain, position sensors, anemometric sensors, sensors for measuring the gradient of said terrain, an electronic computer, a man-machine interface means and a display screen, the computer comprising means of processing the various information obtained from the databases, from the sensors and from the interface means, said processing means arranged so as to provide on the display screen a synthetic image of the terrain including a representation of the final destination, the said method comprising the following steps:

reception of the coordinates of the final destination and analysis of the latter;

determination of the distance to said final destination;

if the final destination is at a distance less than a first distance, computation of the anemometric parameters and of the local gradient of the terrain;

display of the final destination in the form of an air sock represented in perspective on the display screen, the form and the orientation of the bottom part of the air sock being representative of the local gradient of the terrain at the location of said air sock.