AWST Article on MVIS dtd 15 March 99
Aviation Week and Space Technology, March 15, 1999
March 15, 1999
SECTION: COCKPIT TECHNOLOGY; Vol. 150, No. 11; Pg. 59
Virtual Cockpit Eyed For Army Helo Pilots
BY: PAUL PROCTOR
Microvision and Boeing have teamed to develop a ''virtual cockpit'' for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft based on helmet-mounted display and upcoming image fusion and synthetic vision technologies. The team has been awarded a $ 750,000 U.S. Army contract for cockpit optimization with the potential for follow-on contracts.
If successfully developed, the virtual cockpit would allow military and police flight crews to fly with their cockpit transparencies ''curtained'' when in danger of being targeted by high-energy, directed-beam weapons that could cause eyesight and electronic damage. Related options include ''embedded'' and opaque cockpits or transparencies with the ability to be made opaque.
Virtual cockpit technology also offers an easy way to upgrade the flight decks of existing aircraft at a fraction of the cost of replacing aging ''round-dial'' hardware, according to Richard Rutkowski, Microvision president and chief executive officer. Indeed, conventional instrumentation could be left in place on the aircraft for added redundancy, he said. The system also will be available for new-manufacture aircraft.
AS ENVISIONED, the technique would use Microvision's retinal scanning technology. It employs lightweight, goggle-mounted, low-power light sources to form continuous high-resolution color imagery on the wearer's retinas (AW&ST June 15, 1996, p. 58). Advanced technologies from related development activities, such as the Rotorcraft Pilot's Associate and Air Warrior programs, also are to be incorporated. These include ''dimensional audio,'' integrated warning/caution advisories and speech recognition and synthesis technologies.
Pilots flying a virtual cockpit would see a synthetic view of the outside world without sight-obscuring windscreen struts and glareshields. Potential symbology includes standard head-up display data and ''pathway-in-the-sky'' precision approach guidance information. Color-coded ''domes'' could be used to represent hostile radar viewfields and antiaircraft missile range envelopes.
Looking down at the panel, the pilot would view a synthetic representation of multifunction displays similar to current panel hardware. Additionally, fixed-wing pilots could glance down to a virtual ''map in the lap'' to obtain a bird's-eye view of their navigation position over a 2D or 3D moving map display.
Dimensional, or 3D, audio would allow the pilot to hear ''No. 2 engine fire'' in his right ear only, intuitively reinforcing a correct response during high-workload situations. This would be combined with an appropriate ''No. 2 engine fire'' message on the synthetic vision field.
Under terms of the teaming arrangement, Boeing will act as a subcontractor to Microvision and supply ''back-end'' expertise. This includes integration with various aircraft systems and power buses and detailed military program knowledge for point application, according to Richard Edwards, a manager for crew station technology at Boeing Phantom Works. Boeing also can apply lessons learned from recent image fusion and ''smart cockpit controller'' research contracts with the U.S. military (AW&ST Feb. 1, p. 81 and p. 82).
Much of the information needed for synthetic cockpit displays can be adapted from existing aircraft systems, sensors and terrain databases, Edwards said.
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