The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 17, 2021
Filed:
Sep. 30, 2016
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Gary Alan Ray, Issaquah, WA (US);
Brian David Gilbert, Kenmore, WA (US);
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
A collision avoidance system comprises a pair of video cameras mounted to a vertical stabilizer of the aircraft, a machine vision processing unit, and a system to inform the pilots of a potential collision. The machine vision processing unit is configured to process image data captured by the video cameras using stereoscopic and structure from motion techniques to detect an obstacle that is near or in the path of the aircraft. Estimates of the range to the object and the rate of change of that range are computed. With the range and range rate, a time to collision can be estimated toward every point of the aircraft. A pilot warning can be sounded based on the nearness of the potential collision. A method of calibrating the video cameras using existing feature points on the top of the aircraft is initiated in response to power being turned on.