Aircraft vision system, and associated vision method

• US 9,096,354 B2
• Filed: 10/01/2013
• Issued: 08/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dassault Aviation (Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault)
• Original Assignee: Dassault Aviation (Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault)
• Inventors: Baudson, Olivier, Turpin, Arnaud
• Primary Examiner(s): Jabr, Fadey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Soofi, Yazan A
• Application Number:
  US14/043,739
• Publication Number:
  US 20140214245A1
• Time in Patent Office: 672 Days
• Field of Search: 701/14
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/00 Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for camouflage F41H3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 45/00 Clamping or other pressure-applying devices for securing or retaining closure members screw-threaded or bayonet connections between stoppers or caps and containers B65D39/08, B65D41/04, B65D41/34; expansible stoppers B65D39/12; for pressure vessels in general F16J13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 23/005 Flight directors indicating arrangements specially adapted for rotary gyroscopes G01C19/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00

Abstract

The system according to the invention comprises a display and a synthetic image dynamic generating assembly. It includes a management assembly for the graphic interface of the display, capable of controlling the dynamic display, on a first region of the display, of a synthetic image and able to maintain, in certain movement configurations of the aircraft, a second region of the display delimited by the edge substantially with no synthetic surface representation of the terrain. The management assembly includes means for dynamically delimiting the edge of the first region. The delimiting means are configured to dynamically compute the position of the edge as a function of a determined visibility distance (D_V), taken relative to the aircraft.

Claims

1. A vision system for an aircraft, comprising:

a display;

a synthetic image generator for dynamically generating synthetic images, the synthetic images comprising at least one synthetic surface representation of the terrain situated facing the aircraft; and

a graphic interface manager for the display, capable of controlling the dynamic display, on a first region of the display, of a synthetic image coming from the synthetic image generator, the first region being delimited by an edge, the graphic interface manager being capable of maintaining, in at least one movement configuration of the aircraft, a second region of the display delimited by the edge substantially with no synthetic surface representation of the terrain;

the manager including a delimiter for dynamically delimiting the edge of the first region, the delimiter being configured to compute a position of the edge of the first region on the display dynamically as a function of a determined visibility distance (D_V), taken relative to the aircraft.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the graphic interface manager is configured to control the display of the first region to be located above the second region, the edge of the first region downwardly delimiting the first region.

3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a real image generator for generating real images of the terrain situated facing the aircraft, comprising at least one detection sensor, the graphic interface manager being capable of controlling the dynamic display, in the second region, of a real image of the terrain situated facing the aircraft, simultaneously with the display of a synthetic image in the first region.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the graphic interface manager is capable of maintaining the first region of the display with no real images created by the real image generator.

5. The system according to claim 1, further comprising an adjuster for manually adjusting the determined visibility distance (D_V), which can be actuated by a user of the vision system.

6. The system according to claim 1, further comprising an automatic determiner for automatically determining the determined visibility distance (D_V).

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the automatic determiner includes an analyzer for analyzing a real image obtained from the aircraft to define the position to which useful information can be observed on the real image, and a determined visibility distance computer for computing the determined visibility distance, as a function of the position of the useful information on the real image, of the position of the aircraft, and a topographical database containing information regarding the terrain.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the delimiter includes:

an intersection computer for computing the intersection between a sphere of equal radius or depending on the determined visibility difference (D_V), and the terrain situated facing the aircraft, or between a plane situated horizontally at an equal distance or depending on the determined visibility distance (D_V) and the terrain situated facing the aircraft;

a position computer for computing the position of the edge of the first region on the display as a function of the intersection determined by the intersection computer.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the graphic interface manager is configured to switch between a first configuration, in which it controls the display of the first region comprising a synthetic image over substantially all of the display, and a second configuration, in which it controls the display of the first region comprising the synthetic image to occupy a first part of the display, the second region substantially having no synthetic surface representation of the terrain occupying a second part of the display.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the display is an at least partially transparent display.

11. The system according to claim 10, further comprising an adjuster for adjusting the opaqueness of the display.

16. The system according to claim 10, wherein the at least partially transparent display is chosen among a semitransparent screen placed in front of the windshield of the cockpit, a system for projecting images on the windshield of the cockpit, a semitransparent sunshade, a helmet visor or semitransparent glasses close to the eye.

17. The system according to claim 11, wherein the adjuster for adjusting the opaqueness of the display is situated on a control lever of the aircraft.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the control lever is chosen among a control stick or a throttle.

12. A method of operating a visions system in an aircraft, comprising the following steps:

providing a vision system comprising;

a display;

a synthetic image generator for dynamically generating synthetic images, the synthetic images comprising at least one synthetic surface representation of the terrain situated facing the aircraft; and

a graphic interface manager for the display, capable of controlling the dynamic display;

in a movement configuration of the aircraft, using the graphic interface manager to dynamically display a synthetic image coming from the synthetic image generator on a first region of the display, the first region being delimited by an edge, a second region of the display delimited by the edge having no synthetic surface representation of the terrain;

dynamically delimiting the position of the edge of the first region as a function of a determined visibility distance (D_V), taken relative to the aircraft.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising a step for acquiring real image data using a real image generator, then a step for generating a real image from the image data taken by the real image generator, the method including the dynamic display, by the graphic interface manager, of a real image obtained from the image data from the real image generator in the second region.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein, during the step for dynamically displaying a real image in the second region, the graphic interface manager maintains the first region of the display without any real images created by the real image generator.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the delimiting of the position of the edge of the first region includes computing the intersection between a sphere of equal radius or depending on the visibility distance (D_V) and the terrain or between the plane situated horizontally at an equal distance or depending on the determined visibility distance (D_V) and the terrain, then computing the position of the edge on the display as a function of the intersection determined in the step for computing the intersection.