System for displaying on a first moving object a position indication dependent on a position of a second moving object

System for displaying on a first moving object a position indication dependent on a position of a second moving object.The system (1) comprises measurement means (2) for carrying out position measurements relating to at least one position dependent on the second moving object, processing means (3) mounted on the first moving object, and connected to the measurement means (2), and intended for the processing of said position measurements so as to produce a characteristic position, a display device (4) mounted on the first moving object, connected to the processing means (3), and presenting on a viewing screen (6), on a display illustrating at least partially the environment of the first moving object, a position indication which is situated at said characteristic position, and triggering means (7) for triggering the implementation of measurements by said measurement means (2).

This application claims the benefit of priority to French Application No. 0508009, filed Jul. 27, 2005, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system for displaying on a first moving object, in particular a first aircraft object, a position indication dependent on a position of a second moving object, in particular of a second aircraft.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, said system comprises at least:measurement means for carrying out at least one position measurement;processing means which are mounted on said first moving object and which are connected to said measurement means, and which are intended for the processing at least of the position measurement carried out by said measurement means so as to produce, upon reception of this position measurement, a characteristic position;a display device which is mounted on said first moving object, which is connected to said processing means, and which presents, upon the generation of said characteristic position, on a viewing screen, on a display illustrating at least partially the environment of said first moving object, said position indication which is situated at said characteristic position; andtriggering means for triggering the implementation of at least one measurement by said measurement means.

Thus, by virtue of the invention, one is able to display on a display device which is mounted on a first moving object a position indication specified hereinbelow, dependent on a second moving object.

The present invention may be applied to any type of moving object, be it for air, land or sea.

In a preferred embodiment, said system comprises, moreover, a recording means for recording (on an appropriate recording medium) said characteristic position which has been determined by said processing means. This characteristic position is thus accessible to numerous and diverse user devices. The present invention may, consequently, be used in very numerous applications, as specified hereinbelow.

In a first embodiment, said processing means determine, as characteristic position, the relative position between said first moving object and said second moving object.

This relative position between two moving object may be used in very numerous applications, both in the military sector and in the civil sector. In particular, said relative position may be used by a system for maintaining relative position between two aircraft, while allowing in particular at least one aircraft, for example a fighter or acrobatics aircraft, to always maintain the same position with respect to another aircraft, for example a leader aircraft in the case of a formation flight.

In a first variant relating to said first embodiment (characteristic position corresponding to the relative position between the first and second craft):said measurement means comprise:a first element which is arranged on said first moving object and which is formed in such a way as to carry out a first position measurement corresponding to the actual position of said first moving object; anda second element which is arranged on said second moving object and which is formed in such a way as to carry out a second position measurement corresponding to the actual position of said second moving object;said system furthermore comprises a device for transmitting data between said first and second moving object, which makes it possible to transmit said second position measurement carried out by said second element (on said second moving object) to said processing means which are mounted on said first moving object; andsaid processing means determine the relative position between said first and second moving object, on the basis of said first and second position measurements.

Advantageously, said triggering means are formed in such a way as to periodically trigger the position measurements carried out by said measurement means (first and second elements).

As a variant or supplement, said triggering means comprise an interface means which is mounted on the first moving object and which allows an operator, in particular the pilot of said first moving object, to produce at least one triggering order for triggering the measurements carried out by said measurement means (first and second elements), and said system furthermore comprises a device for transmitting data between said first and second moving object, which makes it possible to transmit said triggering order to said second moving object, more precisely to said second element of said measurement means, which is mounted on said second moving object.

In a second variant embodiment relating to said first embodiment (characteristic position corresponding to the relative position between the first and second moving object), said measurement means comprise a third element which is arranged on said first moving object and which is formed so as to measure directly the relative position between said first and second moving object. This relative position corresponds directly to said sought-after characteristic position.

Advantageously, said triggering means are then formed in such a way as to periodically trigger the position measurements carried out by said measurement means (third element).

As a variant or supplement, said triggering means may comprise an interface means which is mounted on said first moving object and which allows an operator, especially the pilot of said first moving object, to produce a triggering order for triggering the measurements carried out by said measurement means (third element).

Additionally, in a second embodiment, said processing means determine, as characteristic position, a fixed position corresponding to a particular geographical position (in three dimensions) related to the trajectory of said second moving object.

This fixed geographical position may be used in very numerous applications, both in the military sector and in the civil sector. This fixed position may, in particular, be used to mark specific points of the trajectory of an aircraft, for example of a military transport plane, corresponding for example to one of the following points:a drop point;a start of descent or start of climb point;an objective point for search or rescue operations; ora change-of-trajectory point (relating for example to a change of speed, a change of heading, etc.)

In a first variant embodiment relating to said second embodiment (characteristic position corresponding to a fixed geographical position related to the second moving object), said measurement means comprise a second element which is arranged on said second moving object and which is formed in such a way as to carry out a second position measurement corresponding to the actual position of said second moving object, and said system in accordance with the invention furthermore comprises a device for transmitting data between said first and second moving object, which makes it possible to transmit said second position measurement carried out by said second element (mounted on said second moving object) to said processing means which are mounted on said first moving object, said second position measurement corresponding to said fixed position.

Advantageously, said triggering means are formed in such a way as to periodically trigger the position measurements carried out by said measurement means (second element). In this case, preferably, said data transmission device comprises a means for coding the position measurements which are carried out (by said second element) on said second moving object, and which are transmitted periodically to said first moving object (destined for said processing means), in such a way as to be able to easily differentiate them.

As a variant or supplement, said triggering means comprise an interface means which is arranged on said second moving object and which allows an operator to produce a triggering order for triggering the measurements carried out by said measurement means (second element).

Furthermore, in a second variant embodiment relating to said second embodiment (characteristic position corresponding to a fixed geographical position related to said second moving object), said measurement means comprise:a first element which is arranged on said first moving object and which is formed in such a way as to carry out a first position measurement corresponding to the actual position of said first moving object;a third element which is also arranged on said first moving object and which is formed in such a way as to measure at the same instant the relative position between said first and second moving object,
and said processing means determine said fixed position (relative to said second moving object), on the basis of said position measurement (actual position of the first moving object) and of said measured relative position.

In this case, advantageously, said triggering means are formed in such a way as to periodically trigger the measurements carried out by said measurement means (first and third elements).

As a variant or supplement, said triggering means comprise an interface means which is arranged on said second moving object and which allows an operator, for example the pilot of said second moving object, to produce at least one triggering order for triggering the measurements carried out by said measurement means (first and third elements mounted on the first moving object), and said system furthermore comprises a device for transmitting data between said first and second moving object, which makes it possible to transmit said triggering order to said first moving object (destined for said first and third elements).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The system1in accordance with the invention and represented diagrammatically in a very general manner inFIG. 1, is intended to display on a first moving object A, in particular a first aircraft, a position indication specified hereinbelow and depending on a position of a second moving object B, in particular a second aircraft. In the example ofFIGS. 4,7and8, said moving object A and B correspond to airplanes. However, said system1may be applied to any type of moving object, that is to say to air, land or sea moving object.

According to the invention, said system1comprises at least:measurement means2specified hereinbelow, for carrying out at least one position measurement which relates at least to a position dependent on said moving object B. These measurement means2may be mounted on the moving object A and/or on the moving object B, and may be so as a function of the corresponding embodiment, as specified hereinbelow;processing means3which are connected (by a general link L encompassing numerous links specified hereinafter) to said measurement means2, which are mounted on said moving object A, and which are intended for the processing at least of the position measurement carried out by said measurement means2, so as to produce, as soon as they receive this position measurement by way of the general link L, a characteristic position specified hereinbelow;a display device4which is mounted on said moving object A, which is connected by way of a link5to said processing means3, and which presents, upon the generation of said characteristic position by said processing means3and its reception by way of said link5, on a viewing screen6:a display which illustrates at least partially the environment of said moving object A (on which this display device4is mounted); andon this display, a position indication30,46which is situated at the characteristic position determined by said processing means3; andtriggering means7specified hereinbelow, which are connected by way of a general link8to said measurement means2and which are intended for triggering the implementation of at least one measurement (by said measurement means2).

Thus, the system1in accordance with the invention is able to display, on a viewing screen6of a first moving object A, a position indication specified hereinbelow, which depends on a second moving object B. This system1is therefore a system for aiding the positioning of a moving object.

In a preferred embodiment, said system1comprises, moreover, a recording means9which is connected by a link10to said processing means3and which is formed in such a way as to record on a standard recording medium11the characteristics, and especially the coordinates, of said characteristic position which was determined by said processing means3. Moreover, this recording medium11is formed in such a way as to be accessible to devices external to said system1. Thus, said determined and recorded characteristic position may be provided to very numerous and diverse user devices so that the present invention may be employed in very numerous applications, as specified hereinbelow.

The system1in accordance with the invention may be embodied in various ways, especially as regards the measurement means2and the associated triggering means7. These means2and7may, according to the embodiment, be arranged on the moving object A and/or on the moving object B. On the other hand, the processing means3, the display device4and the recording means9are always arranged on the same moving object A which is regarded as main moving object within the framework of the present invention. The display obtained by virtue of the present invention is therefore effected on this moving object A and the information obtained by virtue of the invention is presented to the pilot of this moving object A. Also, for reasons of simplification of the drawing, these means3,4and9which are always arranged on the moving object A have been grouped together into a set12inFIGS. 2,3,5and6.

In a first embodiment, said processing means3determine, as characteristic position, the relative position (in space) between said moving object A and B. It will be noted that, instead of the relative position, it is also possible to take into account the relative distance between these moving object A and B.

The relative position between two moving object A and B may be used in very numerous applications, both in the military sector and in the civil sector. In particular, said relative position may be used by a standard system for maintaining relative position between two aircraft, by allowing in particular at least one aircraft, for example a fighter or acrobatic aircraft (flying in formation), to always maintain the same position with respect to the trajectory of another moving object, for example the leader aircraft.

In a first variant embodiment which relates to said first embodiment (for which the characteristic position corresponds therefore to the relative position between the moving object A and B), and which is represented inFIG. 2:said measurement means2comprise:an element24which is arranged on said moving object A and which is formed in such a way as to carry out a first position measurement corresponding to the current actual position of said moving object A;an element13which is arranged on said moving object B and which is formed in such a way as to carry out a second position measurement corresponding to the current actual position of said moving object B. Said elements24and13make measurements each time at the same instant, and moreover in the same reference frame (or in two different reference frames, for which the switchover from one to the other is known);said system1moreover comprises a data transmission device14which comprises a standard send/receive means15, mounted on the moving object A and cooperating with a similar send/receive means16, which is mounted on the moving object B. Said send/receive means15and16are apt to communicate together by way of electromagnetic waves OE in such a way as to create a link for transmitting data between the two moving object A and B. The data transmission device14thus makes it possible to transmit the second position measurement produced by said element13(on said moving object B) to said processing means3which are mounted on the moving object A. For this purpose, said send/receive means16is connected by a link17to the element13, and said send/receive means15is connected by a link18to the processing means3which are mounted on the moving object A; andsaid processing means3determine, at the level of said moving object A, said relative position between said moving object A and B, on the basis of said first and second position measurements carried out respectively by said elements24and13.

Furthermore, said triggering means7may be of manual type or of automatic type.

Firstly, said triggering means7may comprise means19which are connected respectively by way of links20and21to said elements24and13and which are formed in such a way as to periodically trigger the measurements (of position) carried out by these elements24and13. Moreover, said measurements are always carried out in pairs (one measurement per element24,13) at the same instant.

In this case, said data transmission device14may comprise an appropriate means for coding the position measurements which are carried out on said moving object B, and which are transmitted periodically to said moving object A, in such a way that the processing means3can easily differentiate them.

Secondly, namely as a variant or supplement of said means19, said triggering means7may comprise an interface means22(for example a keypad or a simple button, or a computer mouse for activating a software command) which is mounted on the moving object A and which allows an operator, especially the pilot of the moving object A, to produce at least one triggering order for triggering the measurements carried out by said elements24and13. In this case, said interface means22is connected, on the one hand, directly to said element24by way of link23A and, on the other hand, indirectly to said element13by way of a link23B, of the data transmission device14and of the link17.

In a second variant embodiment relating to said first embodiment, for which said characteristic position corresponds to the relative position between the moving object A and B, said measurement means2comprise, as represented inFIG. 3, an element25which is arranged on said moving object A, which is connected by way of a link26to the set12, which comprises for example radio or laser means, and which is formed so as to directly measure the relative position between this moving object A and said moving object B. This relative position therefore corresponds directly to the sought-after characteristic position, so that no calculation is necessary in this case.

In this second variant embodiment, said triggering means7may also comprise a means19and/or an interface means22, such as those specified above, which are connected respectively by way of links27and28to said element25.

In order to simplify the understanding ofFIGS. 2,3,5and6, we have differentiated on the latter, with the aid of dashed rectangles MA and MB, the elements (rectangle MA) which are mounted on the moving object A from those (rectangle MB) which are mounted on the moving object B.

Additionally, inFIG. 4is represented, at the level of an upper part29, a plan view of the two moving object A and B which in this case represent airplanes which are following one another, the moving object (or airplane) B in the lead heading along a flight trajectory T1. In this upper part29ofFIG. 4are also represented elements of the relief R. In this case, the characteristic position corresponds to the relative position between the present positions PA and PB (therefore taken at the same instant) of said moving object A and B. This relative position is determined by the system1in accordance with the invention and effected according to one of the embodiments represented respectively inFIGS. 2 and 3. In the example represented, the corresponding viewing screen6, shown on the lower part ofFIG. 4, illustrates a display of ND type (“Navigation Display”), according to a so-called “rose” standard mode which shows an airplane symbol SA which is centered with respect to the display of said viewing screen6and with which are associated in standard fashion concentric circles C defining a distance scale. According to the invention, the display device4displays also, on this viewing screen6, a characteristic sign30which is, for example, displayed in the form of an auxiliary airplane symbol, which corresponds to said position indication and which is disposed on said viewing screen6in such a way that the distance between said symbols SA and30is proportional, taking account in particular of the display scale of said viewing screen6, to the distance of the relative position (determined by the system1in accordance with the invention) between the current positions PA and PB of said airplanes A and B.

Additionally, in a second embodiment which is represented according to two different variant embodiments inFIGS. 5 and 6, said processing means3determine, as characteristic position, a fixed position PF corresponding to a particular fixed geographical position (in three dimensions), which is related to the trajectory T2of said moving object B.

This fixed geographical position PF may be used in very numerous applications, both in the military sector and in the civil sector. This fixed position PF may, in particular, be used to mark specific points of the trajectory of an aircraft, for example of a military transport plane, corresponding for example to one of the following points:a drop point;a start of descent or start of climb point;an objective point for search or rescue operations; ora change-of-trajectory point (relating for example to a change of speed, a change of heading, etc.).

In a first variant embodiment relating to said second embodiment, for which said characteristic position corresponds to a fixed geographical position PF related to said moving object B, said measurement means2comprise, as represented inFIG. 5, an element31which is arranged on the moving object B and which is formed in such a way as to carry out a position measurement corresponding to the current position of said moving object B, at the moment of the measurement. The system1in accordance with the invention comprises, moreover, a transmission device14which is connected by a link33to said element31, which is apt to transmit data between said moving object A and B and which may in particular transmit the position measurement carried out by said element31to the processing means3which are mounted on the moving object A. The position measurement produced by said element31corresponds directly to the sought-after fixed geographical position PF.

Furthermore, in this case, the triggering means7which are mounted on the moving object B may also comprise an automatic means19for producing a periodic triggering and/or an interface means32(which is for example similar to the interface means22ofFIGS. 2 and 3and which may comprise in particular a pushbutton or a software command on a display), which are connected respectively by way of links34and39to said element31.

In the case of a periodic triggering, said data transmission device14moreover comprises an appropriate means for coding the position measurements which are carried out on said moving object B, and which are transmitted periodically to said moving object A, so as to be able to easily differentiate them from one another.

In this first variant embodiment, the measurement and triggering means (means2and7) are therefore mounted on said moving object B, whereas the processing and display means (means3,4and9) are mounted on the moving object A.

Furthermore, in a second variant embodiment relating to said second embodiment, for which said characteristic position corresponds to a fixed geographical position PF related to said moving object B, said measurement means2comprise, as represented inFIG. 6:an element35, which is arranged on the moving object A, which is for example similar to the element24ofFIG. 2, which is connected by way of a link36to said set12, and which is formed in such a way as to carry out a position measurement corresponding to the current actual position of said moving object A; andan element37, which is for example similar to the element25ofFIG. 3, which is arranged on said moving object A, which is connected by way of a link38to said set12, and which is formed in such a way as to measure (at the same moment as the element35) the relative position between the moving object A and B.

In this case, according to the invention, said processing means3, which receive the measurements carried out at the same time by said means35and37, determine said fixed position PF which is relative to said moving object B, on the basis on the one hand of the current position measurement of said moving object A and, on the other hand, of the relative position measured between said moving object A and B.

The two measurements are therefore carried out at the same moment, at a particular instant, when the moving object B passes said sought-after fixed geographical position PF.

In this case, said triggering means7may be formed in such a way as to comprise a means19apt to trigger periodically the measurements carried out by the elements35and37, to which it is connected by way of links40.

Furthermore, said triggering means7may also comprise an interface means32which is arranged on the moving object B and which allows an operator to produce at least one triggering order for triggering the measurements carried out by said elements35and37of said measurement means2. In this case, the system1in accordance with the invention furthermore comprises a data transmission device14, of which the means16(mounted on the moving object B) is connected by way of a link42to said interface means32, and of which the means15(mounted on the moving object A) is connected by way of a link43to said elements35and37. This data transmission device14therefore makes it possible to transmit a triggering order which is produced on the moving object B, for example by the pilot of an airplane, and in particular the leader of a formation, to the processing means3which are mounted on the moving object A.

FIG. 7shows the determination of a fixed position PF which is illustrated by a cross45on the upper part44of thisFIG. 7. This fixed position PF (which is determined by the system1in accordance with the invention, as described previously in conjunction withFIGS. 5 and 6) is displayed on the viewing screen6with the aid of a characteristic sign46(or position indication), for example a cross. In the example ofFIGS. 7 and 8, the display effected on the viewing screen6is of the same type as that effected inFIG. 4(with an airplane symbol SA and concentric circles C). In the situation ofFIG. 7corresponding to the instant of the measurement, the airplane B is at this position PF, as illustrated by an airplane symbol47(representing the airplane B) which is superimposed on said characteristic sign46on the viewing screen6.

This characteristic position PF is therefore a fixed geographical position, that is to say although it is related to the airplane B or to its trajectory T2at the moment of its generation, it remains fixed and no longer displaces onwards of the moment at which it is produced. Also, as represented inFIG. 8, when the airplanes A and B are moving, this position PF remains invariant.FIG. 8therefore illustrates an instant subsequent to the situation ofFIG. 7. Moreover, as may be seen on the corresponding viewing screen6, the characteristic sign46(illustrating the fixed position PF) and the airplane symbol47(illustrating the airplane B) are then no longer superimposed.