Autonomous Landing Guidance concept validation

The Autonomous Landing Guidance system is intended to provide pilots visibility and landing guidance at night regardless of the weather and without the need for standard, ground-based navigation aids. The basic system concept, employing precision-updated INS (inertial navigation system) guidance with multispectral imaging on a heads-up display (HUD), has been validated and system demonstration data gathered. The multi-year validation program included concept validation through flight simulation. The baseline concept was validated using simulated sensor imagery and flight guidance symbols presented to the pilot on a HUD. The challenges that were addressed in the design and development of an autonomous, forward vision augmented, landing guidance system were associated with HUD image resolution and registration, pilot disorientation, and inertial navigation system drift. The use of a forward-looking infrared imaging sensor system on the High Technology Test Bed airplane is described