Airbus Helicopters

Eurocopter

Marianne Gillet

Francois-Xavier Filias

Richard Pire

Nicolas Pierre Certain

Etienne Poudrai

François-Xavier Filias

A method and device for calculating a safe path from a current position (P) of an aircraft to an attachment point (P) over a terrain. The current position (P) of the aircraft is determined, and then the attachment point (P) is defined. At least one attachment path connects he current position (P) to the attachment point (P) in safe manner over the terrain. The attachment path may be subdivided into a plurality of tracks (-). Each track (-) is situated at a safe altitude that is higher than the highest point of the terrain being overflown. In addition, the attachment path may be a return path defined by passage points (S-S) of the aircraft.

Method and a device for calculating a safe path from the current position of an aircraft to an attachment point

A piloting assistance method for avoiding an obstacle with a rotorcraft flying along a current speed vector (Vect). An alert is generated by using a speed vector of the rotorcraft referred to as a 'calculation' speed vector (Vect) in order to determine whether the rotorcraft might impact an obstacle. During a correction stage and at each calculation iteration, the calculation speed vector (Vect) is determined using a horizontal component and a vertical component, the vertical component being a function of a current vertical speed of the rotorcraft relative to the ground corrected with a corrective term, the corrective term being a function of a product of a current path speed of the rotorcraft multiplied by the derivative of the path speed.

Method and a system for assisting piloting to avoid an obstacle with a rotorcraft

A method having a step of preparing an on-board database containing various kinds of geographical data. During a step of preparing a risk database, at least one local weather risk is stored prior to flight for at least one mesh. During a weather determination step, current and/or forecast weather conditions are acquired for at least one mesh. During a processing step, at least one combined parameter is determined for at least one mesh, each value of a combined parameter being obtained by applying a logic function giving the value of the combined parameter for a mesh as a function of the geographical data and also of the weather risk and the meteorological data. During an analysis step, the presence of a potential local weather danger, at least around the aircraft, is detected in flight as a function of the combined parameter values.

Method and a device for assisting piloting in order to detect and signal local weather risks associated with the relief of the terrain overflown by an aircraft

A method of generating and displaying a consolidated warning making use of collision avoidance warnings as generated by various collision avoidance systems (TCAS, HTAWS, OWS, FMS, N) fitted to an aircraft. The consolidated warning is generated in application of a selection criterion for selecting collision avoidance warnings that relate to the aircraft performing an obstacle avoidance maneuver vertically upwards. The consolidated warning is displayed in the form of a plurality of display elements comprising display elements arranged as superposed strips. A first strip indicates the presence of an obstacle to be avoided by a vertical avoidance maneuver, and a second strip that is segmented to indicate the bearing position of said obstacle relative to the aircraft.

Method of detecting and displaying a collision hazard for an aircraft, by generating a consolidated warning relating to avoiding an obstacle by a vertically upward maneuver

A procedure for the detection and display of the ground and of obstacles through the use of detection means installed onboard a vehicle, which detection means send measurement signals toward the ground and receive a plurality of elementary plots (Pe). The procedure makes it possible to create a grid of the ground along a horizontal plane, with each ground cell (Ms(i,j)) consisting of an elementary plot (Pe) having a minimum altitude Zmin(i,j)), and with each other elementary plot (Pe) corresponding to the ground cell (Ms(i,j)) and having a different altitude (Z(i,j)), thereby forming an obstacle plot (Po(i,j)). Each newly received elementary plot (Pe) is then compared against the corresponding ground cell (Ms(i,j)) and processed according to its altitude (Z(i,j)). The ground cells (Ms(i,j)) and/or the obstacle plots (Po(i,j)) are displayed on display means in order to indicate to the pilot of the vehicle the potential obstacles other than the ground.

Procedure for the detection and display of artificial obstacles for a rotary-wing aircraft

A method essentially comprising a step of storing each plot mesh. Each plot mesh receiving plots sent thereto by detector means and retaining in memory at least the altitude of the highest plot and the number of plots neighboring said highest plot in said mesh. The altitude and the number of plots neighboring are updated each time a new plot is sent to the plot mesh. A step of rejecting plot meshes is presenting a number of neighboring plots that is less than a predetermined rejection threshold value. The rejection threshold value is a function of the position of the mesh relative to the detector means. A step is preparing the local terrain elevation database from the plot meshes (M(i,j)) that are not rejected.

Method of obtaining a local terrain elevation database from detector means on board a vehicle

A method of detecting at least one suspended threadlike object by telemetry, the object lying in the detection field of a telemeter on board a vehicle. The method wherein in step iii), for each vertical plane taken into consideration, and for each set of at least four candidate points close to the vertical plane in question, using the least squares method to calculate the values of three parameters a, b, and c of a catenary having an equation of the form:cos[()/the catenary containing the projections on the vertical plane of the points in the set under consideration; and determining that at least one suspended threadlike object is present as a function of the value of the correlation coefficient associated with said least squares method for all of the sets of at least four candidate points close to the vertical plane under consideration.

Method of using telemetry to detect at least one suspended threadlike object, the object lying in the detection field of a telemeter mounted on board a vehicle

A method of assisting the piloting of an aircraft () at low altitude over terrain (S), in which method, during a first stage, a framework () is constructed from at least one main segment () and during a second stage a setpoint flight path () is constructed. More precisely, during the first stage, said main segment () is subdivided automatically into a plurality of secondary segments (), each of said secondary segments () being situated at the same setpoint height above the highest point of the underlying terrain, with two adjacent secondary segments () being in alignment or connected together by a bar () that extends vertically in a vertical section.

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Vitrolles, France

Marianne Gillet