System and method for displaying graphical departure procedures

• US 7,986,249 B2
• Filed: 11/24/2008
• Issued: 07/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Gannon, Aaron, Burgin, Roger W., Wilson, Blake, Pepitone, Dave
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee; Benjamin C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pham; Quang
• Application Number:
  US12/276,999
• Publication Number:
  US 20100127895A1
• Time in Patent Office: 974 Days
• Field of Search: 340/972, 340/951, 340/995.24, 340/961, 348/117, 701300-301
• US Class Current: 340/972
• 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 5/065 Navigation or guidance aids, e.g. for taxiing or rolling
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/007 using computer methods
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/106 using electronic means

Abstract

A method of visually presenting aviation obstacles to an operator of an aircraft is disclosed. The method comprises receiving departure information associated with a runway having a departure end, parsing the departure information to determine a presence of an obstacle associated with the runway, determining a location of the obstacle relative to the departure end of the runway, and displaying a graphical representation of the runway and a graphical representation of the obstacle in the location relative to the departure end of the runway.

Claims

1. A method of visually presenting aviation obstacles to an operator of an aircraft, the method comprising

receiving a departure procedure narrative associated with a runway having a departure end;

parsing the departure procedure narrative to determine a presence of an obstacle associated with the runway;

determining a location of the obstacle relative to the departure end of the runway from the parsed departure procedure narrative; and

displaying a graphical representation of the runway and a graphical representation of the obstacle based on the determined location relative to the departure end of the runway.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a location of the aircraft relative to the departure end of the runway and

displaying a graphical representation of the aircraft relative to the departure end of the runway.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the departure procedure narrative comprises receiving information from a remote computer system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein parsing the departure procedure narrative comprises extracting obstacle information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the location of the obstacle comprises determining a geographical location of the departure end of the runway.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the geographical location of the departure end of the runway comprises parsing the departure procedure narrative to extract runway information.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein displaying the graphical representation comprises selecting an icon associated with the obstacle in response to the obstacle information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein displaying the graphical representation comprises displaying numerical information associated with the obstacle.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein displaying the graphical representation comprises displaying the icon and numerical information on a moving map.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein displaying the graphical representation comprises adjusting a position of the icon and a value of the numerical information during movement of the moving map.

11. A method of displaying a departure procedure for an aircraft departing from a runway having a departure end, the method comprising:

receiving a departure procedure narrative associated with the runway;

parsing the departure procedure narrative to determine a geographic location of the runway;

parsing the departure procedure narrative to determine a presence of an obstacle associated with the runway and a position of the obstacle relative to the departure end of the runway; and

displaying a graphical representation of the runway and a graphical representation of the obstacle based on the determined presence and the determined position relative to the departure end of the runway.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the geographical location of the runway comprises determining a bearing, a first longitudinal position and a first latitudinal position, the first longitudinal and latitudinal positions corresponding to the departure end.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the position of the obstacle comprises determining a second longitudinal position and a second latitudinal position associated with the obstacle.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein displaying the obstacle comprises displaying the obstacle on a moving map at a first position corresponding to the second longitudinal and latitudinal positions.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the position of the obstacle further comprises determining a height associated with the obstacle.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein displaying the obstacle further comprises displaying the height associated with the obstacle.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a proposed travel course from the departure procedure narrative.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising displaying the proposed travel course with the graphical representation of the obstacle.

19. A system for graphically displaying departure information for an aircraft departing from a runway having a departure end, the system comprising:

a display device adapted to present a graphical representation of a departure procedure narrative for the aircraft;

a storage device adapted to store the departure procedure narrative; and

a system controller coupled to the display device and to the storage device and adapted to receive the departure procedure narrative and to parse the departure procedure narrative to extract obstacle information from the departure procedure narrative, the system controller further adapted to determine, from the obstacle information, a first position of an obstacle relative to the departure end of the runway and to operate the display device to present a graphical representation of the obstacle based on the determined first position.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the system controller is further adapted to operate the display device to present the graphical representation of the obstacle on a moving map.