Patent ID: 6438492
Filing Date: 2002-08-20
Classification: G01S,G05D,G08G

Abstract:
Device to assist piloting under visual flight rules, to be installed on board an aircraft and comprising:measuring means for estimating at least an instantaneous position and a velocity vector of the aircraft; a radio transceiver for broadcasting co-operation messages containing parameters representing at least the estimated instantaneous position and velocity vector of the aircraft and for receiving similar co-operation messages broadcast from other aircraft; means for analyzing the co-operation messages received by the radio transceiver and data output by the measuring means, to identify potential risks of collision with other aircraft; and a man-machine interface to alert the aircraft pilot to potential risks of collision identified by the analysis means, the analysis means are arranged to perform the following operations at successive instants of analysis: sub-dividing an analysis period, commencing at the current instant of analysis, into a series of consecutive time intervals; for each of said time intervals, determining a protected volume on the basis of different possible future positions of the aircraft derived from the data output by the measuring means; extrapolating the trajectory of each other aircraft from which a co-operation message is received, on the basis of the parameters contained in said co-operation message, so as to estimate possible positions of said other aircraft in the time intervals of the series; and if a condition is satisfied whereby an estimated possible position of another aircraft in one of said time intervals in the series is located within the protected volume determined for said time intervals, controlling the man-machine interface to issue the pilot with a signaling message indicating the direction in which said other aircraft is located at the current instant of analysis.