US 12,094,351 B2
Systems and methods for providing obstacle information to aircraft operator displays
Saravanakumar Gurusamy, Tamil Nadu (IN); and Pavan Kumar Yardoni Desai, Tamil Nadu (IN)
Assigned to Honeywell International Inc., Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed by Honeywell International Inc., Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed on Sep. 27, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/485,694.
Claims priority of application No. 202111034896 (IN), filed on Aug. 3, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0042820 A1, Feb. 9, 2023
Int. Cl. G08G 5/00 (2006.01); G06F 16/29 (2019.01); G08G 5/04 (2006.01)
CPC G08G 5/0086 (2013.01) [G06F 16/29 (2019.01); G08G 5/0026 (2013.01); G08G 5/0069 (2013.01); G08G 5/045 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of transmitting obstacle information to one or more operator displays associated with an aircraft comprising:
obtaining aircraft flight information including a current position and a current altitude of the aircraft;
retrieving, from a database, obstacle information for a flight area, the flight area including the current position of the aircraft;
scanning the flight area with one or more environment sensors to identify one or more observed obstacles and generate observed obstacle information;
aggregating the obstacle information retrieved from the database with the observed obstacle information of the one or more observed obstacles identified by the one or more environment sensors to generate aggregated obstacle information identifying one or more obstacles in the flight area;
determining one or more obstacle characteristics of the one or more obstacles located in the flight area;
assigning one or more visual characteristics to each of the one or more obstacles located in the flight area based at least in part on the one or more determined obstacle characteristics;
determining, based on the current position and the current altitude of the aircraft, a subset of the one or more obstacles that are relevant to the aircraft;
rendering, for display at a graphical user interface accessible to the operator of the aircraft, a representation of at least a portion of the flight area, including the determined relevant subset of the obstacles and the respective one or more visual characteristics assigned to each of the determined relevant subset of the obstacles;
transmitting information on the determined relevant subset of the obstacles to a display accessible to the operator of the aircraft for display at the graphical user interface; and
displaying, at the graphical user interface, the rendered representation of the at least a portion of the flight area such that, upon being displayed at the interface, each of a first portion of the determined relevant subset of the obstacles is depicted at the graphical user interface as having a first visually perceivable feature corresponding to a first visual characteristic respectively assigned thereto and each of a second portion of the determined relevant subset of the obstacles is depicted at the graphical user interface as having a second visually perceivable feature corresponding to a second visual characteristic respectively assigned thereto.