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3-D Highway
in the Sky
Transportation
Originating
Technology/ NASA Contribution
If it were 50 years ago, NASA’s contribution to rock
and roll could have been more than just the all-astronaut
rock band, Max Q, composed of six NASA astronauts,
all of whom have flown aboard the Space Shuttle. If
it were 50 years ago, a new NASA spinoff technology,
Synthetic Vision, would likely have been able to prevent
the fateful, small plane crash that killed rock and
roll legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big
Bopper on that stormy night in 1959. Synthetic Vision
is a new cockpit display system that helps pilots fly
through bad weather, and it has incredible life-saving
potential.
In 1997, the White House Commission on Aviation Safety
and Security created NASA’s Aviation Safety and Security
Program (AvSSP) with the aim of sounding the depths
of NASA’s cutting-edge aviation advances and history
of successes. The AvSSP decided to use NASA technology
to cut the rate of fatal aviation accidents that occur
because of lowered visibility and spatial disorientation,
common problems that arise in poor weather conditions,
in the dark, or with inexperienced pilots.
Partnership
Aeronautics researchers at NASA’s Langley Research
Center teamed with Chelton
Flight Systems and the Federal
Aviation Adminstration (FAA) Alaskan Region Capstone
Program, a technology-focused safety program which
seeks safety and efficiency gains in aviation by accelerating
implementation of modern technology.
Because of the harsh Alaskan terrain, planes in this
region are used for most common errands, whether it
is a trip to the dentist or a grocery and supply run.
Aviators in these unforgiving climates often fly low,
around 200 feet above the ground, to avoid poor visibility
and icing conditions in winter, and rely on lighted
buoys anchored in lakes to guide their transit. It
is the ideal area in which to test weatherproof guidance
symbology. As part of the Synthetic Vision research
and development testing conducted at Langley, a display
concept replicating the Chelton display system was
included in the test matrix and evaluated in simulation
and flight-test experiments.
The result of the research is a 3-D display for pilots,
which provides clear vision, regardless of the time
of day or weather conditions. It also replaces the
buoys with a series of onscreen markers that draw a
virtual highway in the sky, on which the pilots can
“drive.”
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Synthetic
Vision flight displays present real-time depictions
of the terrain and complement the view the
pilot has through the cockpit windshield. Here
it has been installed in a Beechcraft King
Air 300. |
The simulated tests conducted by NASA, the FAA, and
Chelton involved dozens of pilots in a variety of scenarios,
with one specifically designed to cause an accident.
The testing confirmed that with the Synthetic Vision
system in place, fewer accidents occurred. In fact,
Synthetic Vision lowered the chance of hazardous events
85 percent over traditional instrumentation. Because
of these stellar results and continuing positive feedback
from test pilots, Chelton’s Synthetic Vision system
earned its name and its place as the first commercially
available system of its kind ever offered. It is already
being marketed and distributed by Chelton for use on
small planes, light jets, and helicopters. The system
is flying in hundreds of small planes all over the
United States and abroad.
As a result of this successful and beneficial partnership,
Langley, the FAA, and Chelton were presented
with NASA’s “Turning Goals into Reality” award for
aviation safety.
Product Outcome
Synthetic Vision allows pilots to see their surroundings
as if the sky were clear, regardless of the actual
environmental conditions. It presents a real-time,
forward-looking depiction of the terrain in 3-D, directly
on the primary flight display. The pilot has a virtual
view of his surroundings, in addition to the view afforded
by the cockpit windshield. The system creates an artificial,
computer-generated view of the surroundings from a
series of databases and advanced sensory input, so
it gives pilots topographical flight plans, as well
as real-time feedback, about the area directly outside
of
the aircraft.
It is, at its core, a database-driven system, using
onboard terrain, obstacle, and airport information
databases and employs a highly precise navigational
system to position the aircraft within those databases’
parameters. The system also contains a number of database
integrity-monitoring technologies to help ensure that
the presentation given to the flight crew is indeed
a correct one. The pilot can program a flight plan
into the Synthetic Vision system and the onboard computer
will know which databases to access, and then provide
the pilot with course markers that highlight the route
the plane should take. These markers can even extend
into the landing zone and create a trail that the pilot
can follow straight through to landing.
In addition to the databases, Synthetic Vision may
employ a series of advanced sensors that are sensitive
enough to identify objects within close proximity of
the aircraft. It extends the basic capabilities typically
found on flight systems and, rather than just showing
large topographical features like mountains, ridges,
and valleys, it extends to man-made structures like
buildings, towers, and other obstructions, such as
vehicles on a runway.
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This
top-down indicator of a flight approach to
the Juneau International Airport in Alaska
shows wind information, air temperature, true
airspeed, and groundspeed, as well as the plane’s
relationship to any towers, antennas, or obstructions,
and additional information pilots use to fly
safely in this arctic climate. |
The system is advanced to the degree that it can point
out variations previously overlooked by traditional
global positioning systems (GPS). For example, if a
mountain ridge were to rise above the horizon, the
Synthetic Vision system could alert the pilot; whereas,
with typical GPS, the pilot would merely know that
a mountain was near and the average altitude of the
mountain. Synthetic Vision alerts the pilot with an
audio signal to change the course of the airplane in
order to avoid collision.
Not only does the Synthetic Vision system provide more
information to the pilot, it is also easier to read.
It flows naturally, as opposed to being broken into
choppy video on the heavily-pixilated screens typical
of most in-flight displays. The full-color, high-resolution
screens mount in place of the cockpit flight displays
and provide smooth, streaming video representations
of what is happening in front of the plane.
Although successfully used in the Alaskan Capstone
project and throughout the “lower-48,” it will still
take time before the Synthetic Vision system is made
available to commercial airlines. The Chelton EFIS
Primary Flight Display has achieved Level A, the highest
level of software standards established by the Radio
Technical Commission for Aeronautics for the FAA. This
standard is essential for all flight-critical avionics.
The FAA is strict about approving new technologies
for commercial airline use, and it is expected that
this acceptance, though likely in the future, will
occur after additional years of testing the technology.
In addition, though Synthetic Vision has demonstrated
its safety benefits, the airlines require an efficiency
benefit before expending the capital to bring the technology
aboard the aircraft. Subsequent Langley research is
developing and evaluating these potential benefits.
EFIS Primary Flight Display™ is
a trademark of Chelton Flight Systems.
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