Synthetic vision and precision navigation for aircraft taxi guidance in low visibility

An aircraft taxi guidance and control system is considered which features synthetic vision and precision navigation for improving operation in low visibility conditions. The computer generated synthetic vision presents two- and three-dimensional geometry information for enabling an adequate situation awareness for the pilot as the basis of a precise control capability. The synthetic vision system is combined with an integrated navigation system. A high navigation precision is achieved by coupling differential global positioning and inertial sensor systems as well as by using computational filter algorithms. Experiments were conducted with an especially equipped test car which serves as a vehicle for simulating surface movement of aircraft.