Geometric Modeling of Flight Information for Graphical Cockpit Display.
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to design and implement a graphics-based environment capable of modeling tactical situation arenas as viewed from the cockpit. THe modeled region was composed of mountains, hostile threat envelopes, and a projected flightpath through the region. Resulting displays were to be used in the Microprocessor-Based Application of Graphics Interactive Communication (MAGIC) Cockpit owned by the Crew Systems Development Branch within the USAF FDL at Wright-Patterson. This cockpit is used to prototype new graphical display formats that might be used in future aircraft. The individual 3-D objects used to represent threats and mountains in the model were generated by geometric procedural models. A strongly-parameterized procedural model would generate a three-dimensional surface of revolution composed of polygons from a 2-D profile input by the user. Once defined, each object could then be instantiated into the model representing the complete tactical situation. Positioning of objects in the model was accomplished via a mouse input device. The implemented data representation allowed the model to be easily modifiable. The model could also be stored in a machine-independent form to assure portability. An overall goal was to allow the cockpit display researcher to create an entirely new tactical situation display model in less than one hour. The applications comprising the modeling environment were written in the C programming language and were hosted on a Silicon Graphics IRIS 3130 graphics workstation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA190484
Entities
People
- Mark A. Kanko
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology