Patent ID: 7839322
Filing Date: 2010-11-23
Classification: G05D

Abstract:
1. A method of detecting on board an aircraft obstacles in a vicinity of a touchdown point, the method comprising the following operations: determining an overflight path for the aircraft to overfly the touchdown point, a horizontal projection of the overflight path comprising two arcs or segments that cross at a point of intersection close to the touchdown point; the aircraft overflying the touchdown point following the overflight path so that the aircraft performs in succession two overflights of the touchdown point following two different headings, and during the overflight, recording data delivered by an on-board rangefinder observing a portion of the space extending below the aircraft; analyzing the data from the rangefinder to detect the presence of obstacles and to determine their positions in a terrestrial frame of reference; and recording the position data of the detected obstacles in a memory, and wherein a value of an angle formed by the arcs or segments at the cross-point lies in a range from about 40° to about 140°.