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September 26 Information
Augmented reality to make instrument flights visual?
Are any aircraft equipped with
augmented reality systems that can project 3D models of the terrain or landing site onto the windshield, using instrument measurements of the craft's position and bearing, in case the pilot has to use
instrument flight rules unexpectedly or without full training in IFR?
NeonMerlin18:12, 26 September 2014 (UTC)reply
Not that I know of. VFR pilots should carefully avoid being out alone in IFR conditions. IFR pilots create their own reality with GPS, compass and artificial horizon. --
Mark viking (
talk)
18:54, 26 September 2014 (UTC)reply
I recall such things being mentioned in a military context. This showed such things as
threat 'envelopes', allowing the pilot to select a route to avoid detection and weapons. In those cases the image was projected onto a
Helmet-mounted display not a windshield or
Head-up display. I suppose such things usually originate with military aircraft, before moving into the civilian sector. The idea may have been usurped by the more frequent use of
Drones and
Unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV).
Helmet-mounted display may have more relevant information.
• It seems the
Eurofighter Typhoon had something like your query designed for it, but it doesn't seem to be mentioned on the jets WP page as being in service, see
BBC story from September 2012
• I found a website about the entire augmented reality topic
[1] which may be of interest. And a leading company in this area is/was
VSI Vision Systems International, mentioned in the BBC link above. Also see the abstract at
"Augmented Reality in the Battlefield", unfortunately you have to buy the full report.
Quite a few military aircraft use Augmented Reality (AR) of one kind or another. The Apache helicopter projects infrared images into a monocular display. (See:
Boeing_AH-64_Apache#Avionics_and_targeting) As the pilot turns his head, the camera swivels around to track where he's looking. This is used for targetting - so (in essence), the pilot looks at what he wants to shoot, and pulls the trigger...that's a pretty old system.
The
F-35 has a system where the output of cameras are projected into the helmet to allow the pilot to look 'through' the structure of the airplane - it's also overlaid with symbology indicating where other aircraft are. Most of that stuff is classified though - so I don't know any details.
I'm not aware of any systems that project synthetic terrain or landing information onto the helmet...although many aircraft contain enough electronics and data to make that possible. In general, pilots feel happier about seeing the real world though sensors (radar, night-vision, infra-red, etc) than viewing synthetic information, which could (and often does) contain errors.
But there are systems that require that degree of confidence - there are is a variant of the F16 (used by the Dutch Airforce) that uses synthetic terrain information to drive the "terrain following" feature of the aircraft that allows it to fly close to the speed of sound 100 feet above the ground. They do that with synthetic data to avoid broadcasting their presence with active radar. It's kinda risky though - one error in the data and they could end up flying into a mountain. (When I was working on the simulation of this, I always joked that only the Dutch (with their notoriously flat country) would go for a system like that!)
Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the
current reference desk pages.
September 26 Information
Augmented reality to make instrument flights visual?
Are any aircraft equipped with
augmented reality systems that can project 3D models of the terrain or landing site onto the windshield, using instrument measurements of the craft's position and bearing, in case the pilot has to use
instrument flight rules unexpectedly or without full training in IFR?
NeonMerlin18:12, 26 September 2014 (UTC)reply
Not that I know of. VFR pilots should carefully avoid being out alone in IFR conditions. IFR pilots create their own reality with GPS, compass and artificial horizon. --
Mark viking (
talk)
18:54, 26 September 2014 (UTC)reply
I recall such things being mentioned in a military context. This showed such things as
threat 'envelopes', allowing the pilot to select a route to avoid detection and weapons. In those cases the image was projected onto a
Helmet-mounted display not a windshield or
Head-up display. I suppose such things usually originate with military aircraft, before moving into the civilian sector. The idea may have been usurped by the more frequent use of
Drones and
Unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV).
Helmet-mounted display may have more relevant information.
• It seems the
Eurofighter Typhoon had something like your query designed for it, but it doesn't seem to be mentioned on the jets WP page as being in service, see
BBC story from September 2012
• I found a website about the entire augmented reality topic
[1] which may be of interest. And a leading company in this area is/was
VSI Vision Systems International, mentioned in the BBC link above. Also see the abstract at
"Augmented Reality in the Battlefield", unfortunately you have to buy the full report.
Quite a few military aircraft use Augmented Reality (AR) of one kind or another. The Apache helicopter projects infrared images into a monocular display. (See:
Boeing_AH-64_Apache#Avionics_and_targeting) As the pilot turns his head, the camera swivels around to track where he's looking. This is used for targetting - so (in essence), the pilot looks at what he wants to shoot, and pulls the trigger...that's a pretty old system.
The
F-35 has a system where the output of cameras are projected into the helmet to allow the pilot to look 'through' the structure of the airplane - it's also overlaid with symbology indicating where other aircraft are. Most of that stuff is classified though - so I don't know any details.
I'm not aware of any systems that project synthetic terrain or landing information onto the helmet...although many aircraft contain enough electronics and data to make that possible. In general, pilots feel happier about seeing the real world though sensors (radar, night-vision, infra-red, etc) than viewing synthetic information, which could (and often does) contain errors.
But there are systems that require that degree of confidence - there are is a variant of the F16 (used by the Dutch Airforce) that uses synthetic terrain information to drive the "terrain following" feature of the aircraft that allows it to fly close to the speed of sound 100 feet above the ground. They do that with synthetic data to avoid broadcasting their presence with active radar. It's kinda risky though - one error in the data and they could end up flying into a mountain. (When I was working on the simulation of this, I always joked that only the Dutch (with their notoriously flat country) would go for a system like that!)