Taxi clearance electronic recording display unit and method

Abstract

Present novel and non-trivial methods for electronically recording a taxi clearance on a display unit are disclosed. In one method, an interactive surface map is displayed from which selections of an assigned takeoff runway and taxiway(s) stated in a taxi clearance may be made electronically through advanced gesturing techniques. These selections highlight the surfaces stated in the taxi clearance. The selections may be made through a series of touch screen taps and/or by the grabbing, dragging, and releasing of a 'rubber band' which snaps into place over the selected surface. In another method, an auto-route generating algorithm may be employed to create a preliminary taxi clearance after a presumed runway for takeoff has been selected by the pilot. Then, as the taxi clearance is being received, changes may be made through the pilot's interaction with the graphical user interfaces commensurate with the actual taxi clearance.