Airplane collision avoidance

• US 9,469,416 B2
• Filed: 03/17/2015
• Issued: 10/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dm3 Aviation LLC
• Original Assignee: Dm3 Aviation LLC
• Inventors: Barnes, Megan D., Delk, Michael W., Tutwiler, Richard L., Durkin, John R., Barnes, David E. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Antonucci, Anne M
• Application Number:
  US14/660,487
• Publication Number:
  US 20150262492A1
• Time in Patent Office: 581 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2205/00 Aircraft with means for ground manoeuvring, such as taxiing, using an auxiliary thrust system, e.g. jet-engines, propellers or compressed air
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 47/08 Arrangements of cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/225 Vehicles specially adapted therefor, e.g. aircraft tow tractors
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/045 Navigation or guidance aids, e.g. determination of anti-collision manoeuvers radar or analogous systems specially adapted for anti-collision between aircraft G01S13/933
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/065 Navigation or guidance aids, e.g. for taxiing or rolling

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.

Claims

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.

2. The collision avoidance system of claim 1, wherein the towing vehicle comprises a tug that is configured to tow the airplane, and wherein both the sensing device and the processing device are located on the tug.

3. The collision avoidance system of claim 1, wherein the sensing device is rotationally mounted to the mounting structure, and wherein the processing device is further configured to cause the sensing device to rotate, relative to the towing vehicle, to maintain the airplane within a field of view of the sensing device.

4. The collision avoidance system of claim 3, wherein the sensing device comprises a LIDAR camera that emits light photons over the field of view and produces pixels indicating distances to the two or more points on the airplane.

5. The collision avoidance system of claim 1, further comprising:

a second sensing device configured to capture second image data of an additional portion of the airplane while the airplane is being towed, wherein the image data captured by the sensing device comprises first image data of the airplane;

a global positioning system (GPS) configured to determine translational parameters of the sensing device and the second sensing device; and

an inertial measurement unit (MU) configured to determine rotational parameters of the sensing device and the second sensing device, wherein the processing device is further configured to;

perform a coordinate transformation using the translational parameters and the rotational parameters to generate combined image data of the airplane from the first image data and the second image data;

determine a position of the additional portion of the airplane based on the combined image data; and

determine whether the position of the object is within the predetermined distance from the airplane further based on the position of the additional portion of the airplane.

6. The collision avoidance system of claim 1, wherein the processing device is further configured to:

determine positions of a first wingtip and a second wingtip of the airplane based on the image data;

determine an approximate wingspan between the first wingtip and the second wingtip of the airplane based on the determined positions of the first wingtip and the second wingtip; and

determine whether the position of the object is within the predetermined distance from the airplane further based on the approximate wingspan.

7. The collision avoidance system of claim 6, wherein the processing device is further configured to:

access an aircraft database to determine a make of airplane associated with the wingspan; and

determine whether the position of the object is within the predetermined distance from the airplane further based on the make of airplane.

8. The collision avoidance system of claim 1, wherein the mounting structure includes an adjustable vertical member to adjust the elevated height of the sensing device.

9. A method of towing an airplane, comprising:

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.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the image data captured by the sensing device comprises first image data of the airplane, and wherein the method further comprises:

capturing, by a second sensing device, second image data of an additional portion of the airplane while the airplane is being towed, wherein the second sensing device is located remotely to both the airplane and the object;

generating, by the processing device, combined image data from the first image data and the second image data based on translational and rotational parameters of the sensing device and the second sensing device; and

determining, by the processing device, a position of the additional portion of the airplane based on the combined image data, wherein the generating of the bounding box is further based, at least in part, on the position of the additional portion of the airplane.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the tail of the airplane is located within a field of view of the sensing device, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining, by the processing device, that the airplane is turning based on a change in the position of the tail; and

prompting, by the processing device, the sensing device to modify the field of view of the sensing device to maintain the tail within the modified field of view.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising capturing, by the sensing device, additional image data of a first wingtip of the airplane and a second wingtip of the airplane, wherein generating the bounding box comprises:

determining, by the processing device, a wingspan of the airplane based on the additional image data; and

configuring, by the processing device, dimensions of the bounding box based on the wingspan.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising capturing, by the sensing device, additional image data of a first wingtip of the airplane and a second wingtip of the airplane, wherein generating the bounding box comprises:

determining, by the processing device, a wingspan of the airplane based on the additional image data;

accessing, by the processing device, an aircraft database containing dimensional data for one or more makes of airplanes;

determining, by the processing device, a make of the airplane based, at least in part, on the wingspan; and

generating, by the processing device, the bounding box based on the dimensional data corresponding to the make of the airplane retrieved from the aircraft database, wherein the dimensional data comprises the wingspan, a length of the airplane from a nose of the airplane to the tail of the airplane, and a height of the tail of the airplane.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining, by the processing device, a towing speed of the airplane; and

revising, by the processing device, one or more dimensions of the bounding box based, at least in part, on the towing speed.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining, by the processing device, a size of the airplane based, at least in part, on the position of the tail of the airplane; and

prompting, by the processing device, a setting of the sensing device to be adjusted based, at least in part, on the size of the airplane.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the setting of the sensing device is adjusted by varying a field of view of the sensing device to include one or more wing tips of the airplane in the field of view.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the setting of the sensing device is adjusted by varying the elevated position of the sensing device to include the tail of the airplane in the field of view.

18. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

capturing, by a second sensing device mounted to the towing vehicle, second image data of the portion of the airplane in a second field of view, wherein the portion of the airplane is captured in an overlapping field of view of both the first sensing device and the second sensing device; and

generating, by the processing device, combined image data of the image data and the second image data by overlaying the portion of the airplane captured in the overlapping field of view, wherein the bounding box is generated based on the combined image data, and wherein the position of the object is determined based on the combined image data.

19. A method of towing an airplane, comprising:

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.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the sensing device is mounted to a towing vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises adjusting, by a mounting structure attached to the towing vehicle, an elevated height of the sensing device to provide a line of sight, over a fuselage of the airplane, between the sensing device and a tail of the airplane.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the sensing device is mounted to a towing vehicle, wherein the method further comprises determining, by the processing device, an angle of incidence between the airplane and the towing vehicle based on the image data, and wherein the sensing device is rotated, relative to the towing vehicle, to match the angle of incidence.