Rockwell Collins, Inc.

Michael P Matessa

Peggy Wu

Christopher L George

Timothy J Wittkop

Wade T Johnson

Arjun Harsha Rao

Sarah Barber

Felix B Turcios

Bryan C Schultz

Matthew Jacob Cunnien

Jason A Myren

Valerie R Byxbe

Cheyenne Matthews

Sunil Patel

Devin Elbert

Richard Thomas Stone

Colten Wayne Fales

Matthew J Cunnien

An operator safety system (OSS) monitors the physiological well-being of an aircraft pilot or vehicle operator, and has engaged and disengaged operational states (the engaged state associated with active monitoring). The OSS includes a smart engage/disengage system incorporating presence sensors (e.g., visual, seat-based) installed in the cockpit or control area of the vehicle. When the presence sensors determine that the pilot/operator is no longer present in their seat but the OSS is still engaged, the OSS prompts the operator to disengage the OSS (e.g., via single-touch display interface or remotely to a mobile device). When the presence sensors determine that the operator is present or seated, but the OSS is disengaged, the OSS prompts the operator to re-engage the OSS.

Vehicle operator monitoring system with smart active engagement and disengagement

A system is described. The system may detect whether a user within a flight deck is authorized to control the aircraft. The user may receive differing levels of authority to control the aircraft depending on whether the user is authorized or unauthorized. The system may also control the aircraft depending on the various phases of the aircraft, including in flight and on the ground. The system may also be used to unlock the controls for the aircraft. The system may unlock the control using biometric information or nonbiometric information. The system may include a camera which is added to a flight deck. The camera may capture images of users within the flight deck. Faces within the images may be detected and compared against authorized users for locking or unlocking the aircraft controls.

System and method to detect authorized user

An aircraft-based pilot safety system (PSS) includes cameras or other gaze sensors fixed at an aircraft pilot and configured to capture an image stream focused on the pilot's eyes. The gaze sensors continually assess the gaze direction of the pilot (e.g., toward a display, instrument panel, and/or indicator within the cockpit that the pilot is currently looking at or focusing on) and thereby can establish when the pilot is executing a scan pattern and if that scan pattern is nominal for the current flight context by comparing the scan pattern to context-specific reference scan patterns. If, for example, the pilot's gaze deviates from where it should be (e.g., as determined by the current flight segment) or the current scan pattern is interrupted, the system may prompt the pilot to redirect their gaze or resume the scan pattern.

Pilot safety system with context-sensitive scan pattern monitoring and alerting

A computerized system for recognizing the need for cognitive tests due to a physiological event and administering such tests includes a plurality of biometric monitoring devices and a pilot input device. When a physiological event is identified, the system selects an appropriate battery of tests and automatically administers those tests. The system offers the opportunity to automate pilot evaluation for single pilot operations, and to reduce the burden on a co-pilot. The cognitive tests may be specific to the physiological event, and may be compared to a pilot-specific profile when evaluating the results.

Cognitive battery for return to service

A system may include a vehicle. The vehicle may include an array of haptic devices. The system may further include at least one processor configured to: determine a location of an object or occurrence relative to the user; based at least on the location of the object or occurrence relative to the user, select at least one haptic device of the array of haptic devices to be driven and function as a directional haptic alert to the user, wherein the directional haptic alert is indicative of a direction from the user toward the object or occurrence; and output at least one command to cause a driving of the selected at least one haptic device, wherein the driving of the selected at least one haptic device is perceivable by the user as the directional haptic alert.

Vehicular directional alerting system and method using haptic alerts and optional multi-modal alerts

A context driven alerting system and method is described in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The alerting system and method may consider a pilot's physiological, psychological, and behavioral state during a given mission context. The system may include biometric information which is fused with a context of the flight. The context may be based on one or more of a mission profile data or an aircraft state data. The fused data may be time synchronized and provided to an alerting algorithm. The alerting algorithm may then provide an alert to the pilot which includes a priority, intensity, frequency, or modality determined based on the fused information.

Context driven alerting

A pilot may be more stressed during take-off or landing, which is not abnormal. Physiological data of the pilot may be received. Placing the physiological data in context of the current situation may be advantageous in detecting anomalous behaviors of the pilot. A system and method are described. The system and method receive a stream of images from a camera and detect whether the pilot is exhibiting anomalous behavior. The anomalous behavior is further put into context based on the flight state and various avionics information.

Detecting anomalous behaviors within aircraft context

A bezel for overhead panels provides a grip or hand rest so the pilot is not required to maintain a hand at a specific overhead location in space to interactive with a touchscreen display device. Gripping mechanisms take the strain off the arm and allow for more precise inputs during turbulence. In a further aspect, the bezel includes features at known locations to tactilely identify the location. Such features may include indentations or protrusions.

Touchscreen display panel gripping mechanism and bezel

A system and method for generation and display of a dynamic looming ball deviation symbology (DLBDS) to a pilot receives inputs from a plurality of sources and displays a single source 3D deviation indicator to limit a scan requirement of a pilot. The system generates and displays the DLBDS relative to an ownship flight path marker intuitively useful to indicate each of a lateral deviation, a vertical deviation, and a longitudinal deviation relative to a desired object or position relative to the desired object. The DLBDS is displayed relative to the ownship aircraft and indicates deviation to be corrected to position the aircraft at the desired position relative to the object.

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Ben Lomond, CA, United States of America

Michael P Matessa