Low cost flight instrumentation system
First Claim
1. A backup display system for use in a general aviation aircraft, said backup display system configured to provide flight condition information in the event of partial or complete inoperability of a primary flight instrument system on said general aviation aircraft, said backup display system comprising:
- a source of electrical power situated on said general aviation aircraft;
a plurality of sensors situated on said general aviation aircraft and configured to collect flight data;
a processor situated on said general aviation aircraft and cooperative with said source of electrical power and signally coupled to said plurality of sensors such that said processor operates on said collected flight data to generate at least a portion of said flight condition information without need for input from neither a global positioning system nor an inertial navigation system to said display system, said generated flight condition information comprising at least flight path angle, turn rate, and lateral acceleration; and
a display situated on said general aviation aircraft and signally coupled to said processor such that said display conveys said generated flight condition information in such a way as to provide a pilot with a reduced cognitive workload, wherein said flight condition information conveyed by said display further comprises bank angle information that is estimated in said processor according to the following formula;
sin((φ
)=(−
r{dot over (γ
)}+q√
{square root over (r2+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)})/(r2+q2)for situations where r≧
0,and by the following formula;
sin(φ
)=−
r{dot over (γ
)}−
q√
{square root over (r2)}+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)/(r2+q2)for situations where r<
0,where φ
represents said bank angle information, γ
represents said flight path angle, {dot over (γ
)} is the rate of change in flight path angle, q represents aircraft pitch rate and r represents aircraft yaw rate,
sin((φ
)=(−
r{dot over (γ
)}+q√
{square root over (r2+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)})/(r2+q2)for situations where r≧
0,and by the following formula;
sin(φ
)=−
r{dot over (γ
)}−
q√
{square root over (r2+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)})/(r2+q2)for situations where r<
0,where φ
represents said bank angle information, γ
represents said flight path angle, {dot over (γ
)} is the rate of change in flight path angle, q represents aircraft pitch rate and r represents aircraft yaw rate.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device for providing flight condition information and a method of displaying such information. In one form, the device functions as a backup system to provide flight condition information in the event of partial or complete inoperability of a primary flight instrument system, or to complement such primary flight instrument system. Numerous sensors collect flight data, which can pass through devices to convert and manipulate the data to produce flight condition information that can be displayed in such a way as to reduce a pilot'"'"'s cognitive workload. The information displayed includes at least flight path angle, lateral acceleration, and turn rate. Additional information that may be displayed includes heading information, as well as information relating to airspeed and altitude, among others. In another form, the device can be part of either a primary or backup system.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A backup display system for use in a general aviation aircraft, said backup display system configured to provide flight condition information in the event of partial or complete inoperability of a primary flight instrument system on said general aviation aircraft, said backup display system comprising:
-
a source of electrical power situated on said general aviation aircraft; a plurality of sensors situated on said general aviation aircraft and configured to collect flight data; a processor situated on said general aviation aircraft and cooperative with said source of electrical power and signally coupled to said plurality of sensors such that said processor operates on said collected flight data to generate at least a portion of said flight condition information without need for input from neither a global positioning system nor an inertial navigation system to said display system, said generated flight condition information comprising at least flight path angle, turn rate, and lateral acceleration; and a display situated on said general aviation aircraft and signally coupled to said processor such that said display conveys said generated flight condition information in such a way as to provide a pilot with a reduced cognitive workload, wherein said flight condition information conveyed by said display further comprises bank angle information that is estimated in said processor according to the following formula;
sin((φ
)=(−
r{dot over (γ
)}+q√
{square root over (r2+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)})/(r2+q2)for situations where r≧
0,and by the following formula;
sin(φ
)=−
r{dot over (γ
)}−
q√
{square root over (r2)}+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)/(r2+q2)for situations where r<
0,where φ
represents said bank angle information, γ
represents said flight path angle, {dot over (γ
)} is the rate of change in flight path angle, q represents aircraft pitch rate and r represents aircraft yaw rate,
sin((φ
)=(−
r{dot over (γ
)}+q√
{square root over (r2+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)})/(r2+q2)for situations where r≧
0,and by the following formula;
sin(φ
)=−
r{dot over (γ
)}−
q√
{square root over (r2+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)})/(r2+q2)for situations where r<
0,where φ
represents said bank angle information, γ
represents said flight path angle, {dot over (γ
)} is the rate of change in flight path angle, q represents aircraft pitch rate and r represents aircraft yaw rate.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
where φ
represents aircraft bank angle, γ
represents said flight path angle, q represents aircraft pitch rate and r represents aircraft yaw rate.
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14. The system of claim 1, wherein said flight condition information conveyed by said display further comprises airspeed information and altitude information.
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15. The system of claim 1, wherein said flight path angle conveyed to said display is corrected according to the following formula:
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FPAdisplayed=FPAinstantaneous+Kq,where q represents aircraft pitch rate and K represents gain.
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16. The system of claim 1, wherein said flight path angle conveyed to said display is corrected according to the following formula:
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17. A device for displaying general aviation aircraft flight condition information, said device comprising:
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a primary display situated on said general aviation aircraft; and a standby display situated on said general aviation aircraft and independently operable of said primary display, said standby display configured to convey, without a need for input from either a global positioning system or an inertial navigation system to said standby display, generated flight condition information comprising at least flight path angle, lateral acceleration, and turn rate information of said general aviation aircraft in such a way as to provide a pilot with a reduced cognitive workload in event of a failure of said primary display or another component providing said aircraft flight condition information to said primary display, wherein generated flight condition information is generated by processing flight data collected from a plurality of sensors, wherein said flight condition information conveyed by said display further comprises bank angle information that is estimated in said processor according to the following formula;
sin((φ
)=(−
r{dot over (γ
)}+q√
{square root over (r2+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)})/(r2+q2)for situations where r≧
0,and by the following formula;
sin(φ
)=−
r{dot over (γ
)}−
q√
{square root over (r2+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)})/(r2+q2)for situations where r<
0,where φ
represents said bank angle information, γ
represents said flight path angle, {dot over (γ
)} is the rate of change in flight path angle, q represents aircraft pitch rate and r represents aircraft yaw rate.
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18. A method of providing flight condition information to a user aboard a general aviation aircraft, said method comprising:
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collecting a plurality of flight data pertaining to said general aviation aircraft using at least one of a rate gyro, barometer and magnetomoter and using input from neither a global positioning system nor an inertial navigation system; manipulating at least a portion of said plurality of flight data to generate said flight condition information; and displaying said generated flight condition information to a user operating said general aviation aircraft, said displayed generated flight condition information comprising at least flight path angle, lateral acceleration and aircraft turn rate, wherein said flight condition information further comprises bank angle information that is estimated according to the following formula;
sin((φ
)=(−
r{dot over (γ
)}+q√
{square root over (r2+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)})/(r2+q2)for situations where r≧
0,and by the following formula;
sin(φ
)=−
r{dot over (γ
)}−
q√
{square root over (r2+q2−
{dot over (γ
)}2)})/(r2+q2)for situations where r<
0,where φ
represents said bank angle information, γ
represents said flight path angle, {dot over (γ
)} is the rate of change in flight path angle, q represents aircraft pitch rate and r represents aircraft yaw rate.- View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification