AIRLINE safety could be improved with a computer-enhanced 鈥渨indow鈥� in the
cockpit that lets pilots see where they are going even when visibility is low.
What NASA chief Dan Goldin calls 鈥渁 synthetic vision system鈥� will be developed
as part of a new initiative from the agency.
The system will rely on signals from global positioning satellites to create
an image on a flat-panel display in the pilot鈥檚 instrument panel or on a head-up
display projected onto a transparent screen in front of the cockpit window. The
images would be visible even when the terrain and runway are obscured by fog,
rain or snow.
鈥淚t could be used to find a runway,鈥� explains Russ Parrish, a display
researcher with NASA鈥檚 Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. 鈥淵ou could
have a database of terrain, obstacles and the runway, and use surveillance to
provide you with traffic data and even weather radar.鈥�
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NASA has a headstart, thanks to its supersonic civilian transport
programme鈥攁n abortive attempt to create a next generation Concorde. 鈥淲e
were looking for ways to replace the forward windows with computer screens,鈥�
explains Mary Kaiser from NASA鈥檚 Ames Research Center. This is because sleek
supersonic aircraft need a long aerodynamic nose, which creates visibility
problems.
Because enhanced signals from GPS are accurate to within 1 metre鈥攁
synthetic vision display could also tell pilots where to taxi after they land.
NASA recently tested the system: 鈥淥n the head-up display, we showed the surface
of the runway and a taxi route via a set of cones on the edges of the taxiway,鈥�
says Kaiser鈥檚 colleague Dave Foyle. 鈥淚t was as if the cones were real.鈥�
NASA hopes it won鈥檛 be too long before commercial airlines can benefit from
synthetic vision technology. 鈥淭he aviation safety goal is a pretty dramatic
reduction in accidents in 10 years,鈥� says Parrish.