Rockwell International Corporation

Rockwell Collins, Inc.

James M Suiter

Jeff M Henry

Gary L Owen

C James Styers

Tom G Sharpe

A primary flight display with three-dimensional capability provides information in an intuitive format for enhanced situational awareness. The display also includes other navigational data such as airspeed, attitude, altitude, and heading. The display may also include three view slices, a pictorial autopilot status indicator, vertical and lateral deviation and deviation history, glide slope and localizer information, airport and runway information, past position history of the aircraft and other nearby aircraft. The display may depict potential threats to the aircraft such as terrain or other manmade obstacles, nearby aircraft, severe weather thus increasing situational awareness with respect thereto. In a preferred embodiment, the three dimensional tactical map is implemented as a frequency separated display.

Primary flight display with tactical 3-D display including three view slices

A traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) for use in a first aircraft is disclosed. The TCAS includes TCAS circuitry providing output data as a function of a location of an intruder aircraft relative to a location of the first aircraft. A display device coupled to the TCAS circuitry receives the output data. The display device is adapted to provide a graphical representation of the altitude of the intruder aircraft.

Traffic collision avoidance system

An FMS with the capability of automatically adjusting the view of the flight path as the flight progresses while maintaining a set viewing direction. The vertical dimension of the flight path display chosen to fill the display and provide increased readability.

Automatic view adjusting flight plan display

An FMS with a three dimensional representation of the flight plan is disclosed. The view is adjustable via a joystick or other similar controller and is capable numerous varied views, including both a two dimensional lateral view and a two dimensional elevation view. Software is used to effect the changing views.

Flight management system with 3-dimensional flight path display

An integrated attitude director indicator and horizontal situation indicator is disclosed that utilizes stereopsis to combine information that normally requires two display surfaces onto a single electronic display. One embodiment of the display comprises left and right eye versions alternately presented on the display in synchronism with alternate eye shuttered lenses worn by the viewer. The viewer has an instantaneous sense of the real world direction from his aircraft as apparently suspended within a spherical grid. The integrated display provides a presentation somewhat similar to existing flat screen separate instruments with an aircraft symbol lying at the center of the sphere with roll, pitch and heading scales displayed on this sphere. The sphere itself has one color such as blue above the horizon line and a different color such as brown below the horizon line. An additional feature comprises situational awareness cues, such as aircraft symbols, in the form of boxes on the spherical grid at a relative polar coordinate angle from the aircraft containing the instruments. These aircraft symbols may be color coded to represent threats, friendlies or unknowns. These situational cues allow the pilot to monitor and take evasive action with respect to such nearby aircraft.

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Cedar Rapids, IA, United States of America

James M Suiter