초록 ▼

The invention provides, in some aspects, aviation navigational systems and methods for cockpit display of traffic information that generate intuitive three-dimensional graphical representations of air traffic (and/or other potential conflicts) in the vicinity of an aircraft in flight, as well as dur

The invention provides, in some aspects, aviation navigational systems and methods for cockpit display of traffic information that generate intuitive three-dimensional graphical representations of air traffic (and/or other potential conflicts) in the vicinity of an aircraft in flight, as well as during take-off and landing. These systems and methods provide improved awareness of potential conflicts, offering in the cockpit an immediate understanding of the significance of potential conflicts, e.g., vis-à-vis their nature, direction, and time to visual contact. Thus, according to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an aviation navigational system that generates a 3D representation of the airspace in the vicinity of an aircraft and, relative to that representation, a representation of air traffic in that airspace. In related aspects of the invention, the 3D representation of the airspace is relative to the aircraft position in that airspace, the representation of the air traffic in that airspace is relative to a viewer on that aircraft.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An aviation navigational system for use with an aerial vehicle, comprising: a display;a database containing a plurality of aircraft identification codes, each identification code being associated with the type, size and shape of one of a plurality of aircraft;a sensor configured to detect a poten

1. An aviation navigational system for use with an aerial vehicle, comprising: a display;a database containing a plurality of aircraft identification codes, each identification code being associated with the type, size and shape of one of a plurality of aircraft;a sensor configured to detect a potential conflict within the airspace and a location thereof in the airspace;a processor coupled to the display and in operable communication with the database and the sensor, the processor configured to drive the display to generate a three-dimensional graphical representation of airspace in a vicinity of the aerial vehicle and to generate a three dimensional graphical representation of the detected one potential conflict at the location in the airspace, wherein the three dimensional graphical representation of the detected one potential conflict comprises a similitude of a potential conflict selected based at least in part on one of the plurality of aircraft identification codes determined by the processor and includes a pyramidal frustum centered about an estimated location of the potential conflict, a distance between outer boundaries of the frustum indicating an estimated error in the location. 2. The aviation navigational system of claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional graphical representation of airspace is from a perspective of a viewer on the aerial vehicle. 3. The aviation navigational system of claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional graphical representation of airspace is a synthetic 3D image of the airspace as it would appear to the viewer from the perspective on the aerial vehicle. 4. The aviation navigational system of claim 1, wherein the potential conflict comprises any of air traffic and other potential traffic conflicts in the vicinity of the aerial vehicle. 5. The aviation navigational system of claim 4, wherein the other potential traffic conflicts comprise any of a micro-weather pattern, a bird migration, an air show, a restricted air space, a geographic formation, and a man made formation. 6. The aviation navigational system of claim 5, wherein the representation of the potential conflict, includes indicia of one or more characteristics of that potential conflict. 7. The aviation navigational system of claim 6, wherein the characteristics include any of direction, distance, speed, type, size and rate of climb/descent of the potential conflict. 8. The aviation navigational system of claim 6, wherein the processor drives the display with a representation of the potential conflict, which representation includes indicia of one or more characteristics of that potential conflict relative to the aerial vehicle. 9. The aviation navigational system of claim 8, where the indicia includes any of direction, distance, speed, and rate of climb/descent of the potential conflict relative to the aerial vehicle. 10. The aviation navigational system of claim 6, wherein the at least one indicia is based on at least one of a shape and a size of the representation of the potential conflict. 11. The aviation navigational system of claim 10, wherein the processor drives the display with a representation of the potential conflict, which representation is any of shaped and sized to indicate one or more of a direction or size of the potential conflict. 12. The aviation navigational system of claim 1, wherein the processor drives the display with a representation of the potential conflict, which representation includes indicia of a severity of the potential conflict. 13. The aviation navigational system of claim 12, wherein the processor drives the display with a representation of the potential conflict, which representation is any of colored or shaded to indicate a severity of the potential conflict. 14. The aviation navigational system of claim 13, wherein the processor drives the display with a representation of the potential conflict, which representation is: a first color for a potential conflict that is any of further away, or higher or lower in altitude relative to aerial vehicle,a second color for a potential conflict that is closer to the aerial vehicle, anda third color for a potential conflict that is still closer to the aerial vehicle. 15. The aviation navigational system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to provide a representation of a projected route of the aerial vehicle along with the airspace representation. 16. The aviation navigational system of claim 1, further comprising: at least one sensor coupled with the processor, the at least one sensor providing data for at least one of the three-dimensional graphical representation of airspace and the representation of the at least one potential conflict. 17. A method of representing potential airspace conflicts of an aerial vehicle, comprising: with a processor, driving a display to generate a three-dimensional graphical representation of airspace in a vicinity of the aerial vehicle;detecting at least one potential conflict within the airspace using a sensor in communication with the processor, anddriving the display to generate a three dimensional graphical representation, relative to the representation of airspace, of the at least one potential conflict, wherein the three dimensional graphical representation comprises a similitude of the potential conflict selected by the processor at least in part on an aircraft identification code determined by the processor and includes a pyramidal frustum centered about a location of the potential conflict, distance between outer boundaries of which indicate estimated error in a location of the potential conflict. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the three-dimensional graphical representation of airspace is from a perspective of a viewer on the aerial vehicle. 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the three-dimensional graphical representation of airspace is a synthetic 3D image of the airspace as it would appear to the viewer from the perspective on the aerial vehicle. 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the potential conflict comprises any of air traffic and other potential traffic conflicts in the vicinity of the aerial vehicle. 21. The method of claim 17, comprising driving the display with a representation of the potential conflict, which representation includes indicia of a severity of the potential conflict. 22. The method of claim 21, comprising driving the display with a representation of the potential conflict, which representation includes indicia of one or more characteristics of that potential conflict. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the characteristics include any of direction, distance, speed, type, size and rate of climb/descent of the potential conflict. 24. The method of claim 17, comprising driving the display with a representation of the potential conflict, which representation includes indicia of one or more characteristics of that potential conflict relative to the aerial vehicle. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the indicia includes any of direction, distance, speed, and rate of climb/descent of the potential conflict relative to the aerial vehicle.