Airplane collision avoidance
First Claim
1. A collision avoidance system for an airplane under tow, comprising:
- a sensing device configured to capture image data of at least a portion of the airplane, which includes a tail of the airplane, and an object while the airplane is being towed, wherein the sensing device is located remotely to both the airplane and the object;
a mounting structure configured to mount the sensing device to a towing vehicle at an elevated height to provide a line of sight, over a fuselage of the airplane, between the sensing device and the tail; and
a processing device communicatively coupled to the sensing device and configured to;
receive the image data from the sensing device;
determine positions of two or more points on the airplane, including a position of the tail and a position of at least one wing tip of the airplane, based on the image data;
determine a position of the object based on the image data; and
determine whether the position of the object is within a predetermined distance from the airplane based on the position of the object and the positions of the two or more points of the airplane.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A collision avoidance system for an airplane under tow may include a sensing device configured to capture image data of at least a portion of the airplane and an object while the airplane is being towed. The sensing device may be located remotely to both the airplane and the object. Positions of two or more features of the airplane may be determined based on the image data. A bounding box encompassing the airplane may be generated based, at least in part, on the positions of the two or more features. Additionally, based on a comparison of the position of an object relative to the bounding box, it may be determined whether the object is within a predetermined distance from the airplane.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A collision avoidance system for an airplane under tow, comprising:
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a sensing device configured to capture image data of at least a portion of the airplane, which includes a tail of the airplane, and an object while the airplane is being towed, wherein the sensing device is located remotely to both the airplane and the object; a mounting structure configured to mount the sensing device to a towing vehicle at an elevated height to provide a line of sight, over a fuselage of the airplane, between the sensing device and the tail; and a processing device communicatively coupled to the sensing device and configured to; receive the image data from the sensing device; determine positions of two or more points on the airplane, including a position of the tail and a position of at least one wing tip of the airplane, based on the image data; determine a position of the object based on the image data; and determine whether the position of the object is within a predetermined distance from the airplane based on the position of the object and the positions of the two or more points of the airplane. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of towing an airplane, comprising:
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mounting, by a mounting structure, a sensing device to a towing vehicle at an elevated position to provide a line of sight, over a fuselage of the airplane, between the sensing device and a tail of the airplane; capturing, by the sensing device, image data of at least the tail of the airplane and an object while the airplane is being towed by the towing vehicle, wherein the sensing device is located remotely to both the airplane and the object; determining, by a processing device, a position of the tail of the airplane based on the image data received from the sensing device; generating, by the processing device, a bounding box encompassing the airplane based, at least in part, on the position of the tail of the airplane; determining, by the processing device, a position of the object based on the image data; and determining, by the processing device, whether the object is within a predetermined distance from the airplane based;
at least in part, on a comparison of the position of the object relative to the bounding box. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of towing an airplane, comprising:
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capturing, by a sensing device, image data of at least a portion of the airplane and an object while the airplane is being towed, wherein the sensing device is located remotely to both the airplane and the object, and wherein the portion of the airplane is located within a field of view of the sensing device; determining, by a processing device, positions of two or more features of the airplane based on the image data; generating, by the processing device, a bounding box encompassing the airplane based, at least in part, on the positions of the two or more features; determining, by the processing device, a position of the object based on the image data; determining, by the processing device, whether the object is within a predetermined distance from the airplane based, at least in part, on a comparison of the position of the object relative to the bounding box; determining, by the processing device, that the airplane is turning; and prompting, by the processing device, rotation of the sensing device such that the sensing device maintains the portion of the airplane within the field of view. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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Specification