Universal Avionics (UA) announced on Wednesday that it has completed development of its first Aperture visual data management solution. Introduced last year, Aperture is designed to help pilots “take advantage of real-time content analysis and augmented reality, such as visual positioning, obstacle detection, taxi guidance, and traffic awareness” to improve situational awareness. According to UA, the initial Aperture release is capable of processing eight video inputs and supports four video outputs “with near-zero latency,” displaying imagery from an enhanced vision system (EVS) camera and other sensors on the flight deck.
“Aperture unlocks the door for new capabilities to become a reality in our everyday lives,” said Universal Avionics CEO Dror Yahav. “Urban transport, space travel, single-pilot, and autonomous operations once impossible are becoming a reality with the emergence of AI-powered augmented vision driving pilot safety and aircraft optimization.”
For future Aperture releases, UA is planning to add capabilities including additional video and sensor channels, low latency video aggregation and manipulation, and synthetic imagery generation. The company also noted that it has an agreement with an undisclosed avionics manufacturer to supply Aperture for the flight deck of an aircraft currently in development. UA stated that it is now in the process of readying production for that order.
Taxi Guidance is a nice feature. There have been some pretty bad taxi incidents lately, including the 747 ramp rampage at Chicago. Planes wandering onto runways inadvertently, planes are trying to takeoff on closed runways, lost pilots are fumbling around airports, etc. This needed addressing with technological advancements such as the one described. Looks like ground RADAR just can’t cut it when the chips are down.
It’s one thing to be a daily regular at airports like ORD and another to fly in and out of these places only several time a year. On the face of it this technology might have been welcome on my flight decks.
Agree–but wouldn’t it be nice to have your taxi route displayed on the same screen–rather than on your Nav screen? Both prior posters reference problems with ground navigation on large airports–having your route–turns–hold-short lines, AS WELL AS OBSTACLES would be a big PLUS!
During one trip to San Diego International, I failed to cross the runway hold line after landing, and held up a departure. I just didn’t realize what was happening because the old radio knobs needed attention, and I stopped prematurely. The tower came back with ‘guidance’ after that incident, and it would’ve helped if some gizmo told me I was not past the line.