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Garmin to Simulate Cockpit Window View

posted by jeppedy on Saturday April 12, @11:11PM        Permalink  Trackback URI  Slashdotthis  Diggthis  Del.icio.us
from the on-a-foggy-day-I-can-see-forever dept.

According to the Kansas City Business Journal, Garmin International Inc. has received federal certification for a new aviation technology. In obscured conditions, they can project a simulated cockpit window view to assist the pilots. They claim this technology will help increase safety and reduce pilot workload. I can certainly see the appeal to this. Who hasn't wished for the exact same thing when driving in the blinding rain or thick fog?

All I can say is, I sure hope the data is correct!

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• Glass Cockpits

  (Score:3, Informative)

  by ebwolf (1391) on Sunday April 13, @12:31AM (#2292)

  I recently started training towards my Private Pilot license. I was flabbergasted when I first saw a Garmin "Glass Cockpit". This thing completely replaces the analog gauges with essentially an elaborate GPS. My first thought was: "I sure hope the data is more reliable than street navigation GPS data!" But air navigation is a very different beast than auto navigation. First off, it takes quite a bit more training (but not as much as you'd think!) than driving a car. Second, even the paper maps all have printed "expiration dates" with a "shelf-life" of about four months. Pilots think it's normal for geospatial data to change - and expect it frequently! I believe the "Glass Cockpits" require regular data updates... My instructor is off to Alaska for the Summer. He is delivering new Glass Cockpits to airplane owners throughout the state. It seems the FAA is buying new Glass Cockpits for any volunteers in Alaska (at about $50,000 a pop). These cockpits are able to communicate with one another and provide collision detection in areas lacking ATC coverage (e.g., most of Alaska). It's a test-program to see how well these systems actually work.

  [ Reply to This ]
  • Re:Glass Cockpits

    (Score:3, Informative)

    by Archon_K2 (1552) on Sunday April 13, @03:36PM (#2293)

    "Glass Cockpit" with Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) technology like the one mentioned in the post are becoming popular. check out this link for information about the technology and various vendors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_vision [wikipedia.org] Garmin screenshots can be seen in their blog: http://garmin.blogs.com/my_weblog/2008/04/virtual- vision.html [blogs.com] You'll notice that the terrain and symbols are not photo-realistic, they are meant to provide the best guidance to the pilot, not to simulate the real world. As for data updates, aeronautical data (routes, navaids, airports etc.) and obstacles are updated frequently. Terrain and base maps do not.

    [ Reply to This | Parent ]
• Eh?

  (Score:1)

  by SEWilco (1540) on Monday April 14, @12:32PM (#2295)

  It really isn't very hard to simulate an obstructed view. Doesn't seem particularly useful, though.

  [ Reply to This ]