Synthetic vision for rotorcraft : Low level flight

Two topics are discussed in this paper. The first is the Integrated Multi-sensor Synthetic Imagery System (IMSIS), being developed under an Army SBIR contract. The system updates on-board, pre-stored, terrain elevation data with 3D terrain elevation sensor data (such as radar). The system also merges 2D image contrast sensor data (such as infrared imagery) with the updated 3D terrain elevation data to render a synthetic image of the terrain on the rotorcraft pilot's display. The second topic is the testing of a new flight path marker, to show the pilot the predicted location of the aircraft with respect to the synthetic terrain (at 100m distance), as well as the predicted height above the terrain, the desired height above the terrain, and the point on the terrain the aircraft is expected to fly over. The Altitude and ground Track Predicting Flight Path Marker (ATP-FPM) symbol takes advantage of knowledge of terrain elevations ahead of the aircraft from a synthetic vision system, such as IMSIS. In simulation, the maximum low altitude error and maximum ground track error were both reduced by a factor of 2 with the ATP-FPM compared to the traditional instantaneous flight path marker. Pilot-to-pilot variations in performance were reduced and workload decreased with the ATP-FPM.