Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Traffic analysis or control of aircraft
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-23
2003-05-27
Arthur, Gertrude (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Traffic analysis or control of aircraft
C701S013000, C340S972000, C340S991000, C340S995190
Reexamination Certificate
active
06571166
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to traffic management systems, and more particularly, a surface operation advisory system for use in controlled, traffic management systems such as those at ground control operations at airports.
A variety of apparatus and methods are known and in use in the control of surface operations at airports. Typical airport operations consist of a combination of runways, taxiways, and tarmac areas that support safe and efficient airport operation. Active runway management is under separate control from taxiway and tarmac operations. At major metropolitan airports that serve dozens of daily flights a plurality of active runways and numerous taxiways may have to be traversed when maneuvering an aircraft from a parked location to its departure runway, and similarly upon landing on an active runway to an assigned parking location. During high peak traffic times inefficient ground operations can significantly affect efficient departure and arrival activity by all user aircraft. Additionally, significant safety issues are present when numerous aircraft are operating in a relatively confined area under time constraints. This situation can be even more challenging when poor visibility exists because of meteorological conditions, twilight or nighttime operations, obscuration of signage and ground paint marking, unfamiliarity by aircraft operators of the airport layout, or other relevant factors. Additionally, local markers which provide visual guidance have inherent limitations with respect to the viewing angle by a pilot, dependent upon any given aircraft size and dimension. It is also worth noting that in larger aircraft the flight crew location within the aircraft may be offset a considerable distance from the main landing gear, thereby injecting additional complexities during ground maneuvers.
Existing systems address the needs of airport ground operations through a combination of verbal communications from ground control to aircraft operators that have on-board diagrams of the airport layout. On-board diagrams may be paper products or displayed electronically, both of which require the pilot to direct his visual focus from outside the aircraft to the schematic aid inside the cockpit. Head Up Displays (HUDs) are well known in the aviation industry and are actively used during certain flight operations to convey aircraft performance and flight critical information without requiring a pilot to divert attention from outside the aircraft. A typical HUD includes a transparent display, within the pilot's typical forward view that includes a variety of symbols and numbers to assist flight operations.
There also exist precise position location systems, including satellite based location systems such as the Global Positioning System and terrestrial based systems, such as LORAN that in conjunction with widely available computer processing capability can readily provide location with respect to the earth's surface. Such systems can be enhanced with the inclusion of additional correction signals, as found in a Differential GPS system that provide increased position determination accuracy, or by the inclusion of electronic geographic databases.
Although studies have been undertaken for an improved ground operation system that would incorporate HUDs, such proposed systems lack intuitive and simplified characteristics that can provide timely and relevant information, while simultaneously allowing outside operating conditions to be seen by the pilot.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to head up display systems configured for use in ground operations. A head up display system is disclosed which comprises a signal processor, a symbol generator, and an electronic geographical database that in combination monitor location of the vehicle which includes the HUD with respect to a given reference system, such as the earth's surface and provide guidance with respect to present location with respect both to desired present location and eventual destination. The guidance information contains generated symbols that are projected upon conformal and nonconformal views on the HUD display. The HUD display may depict, at any one time, a conformal or non-conformal view or both a conformal and non-conformal view. Switching between conformal, non-conformal, or blended views of both may be manually or automatically accomplished by calculating precise location of a vehicle of known physical dimensions operating within a controlled area.
It is an object of the present invention to improve airport-operating efficiency.
It is a feature of the present invention to incorporate ground traffic clearance information to the flight crew operating an aircraft on the ground between departure or arrival runways and ultimate parking location.
It is an advantage of the present invention that aircraft utilizing such a surface operation control system minimize movement delays due to clearance confusion, blocked or obscured flight crew view of the adjacent and approaching aircraft ground track, or unfamiliarity with local conditions.
These and other objects, features, and advantages are disclosed in the specification, figures, and claims of the present invention.
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patent: 4669810 (1987-06-01), Wood
patent: 5714948 (1998-02-01), Farmakis et al.
patent: 5745863 (1998-04-01), Uhlenhop et al.
patent: 6158866 (2000-12-01), Gulli et al.
patent: 6199008 (2001-03-01), Aratow et al.
Johnson Walter A.
Keas Paul J.
Arthur Gertrude
Eppele Kyle
Jensen Nathan O.
Rockwell Collins, Inc.
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