NASA Synthetic Vision Program Taps Position Integrity for Terrain Database

May 13, 1999

 

NASA Langley today announced the winners of its two-year competition to provide the next generation 3D perspective displays in the cockpit.  Industry teams submitted 27 proposals in four categories: commercial transports and business jets, general aviation aircraft, database development and enabling technologies.  NASA and researchers from the FAA and Department of Defense evaluated the proposals' technical merit, cost and feasibility. 

 

Limited visibility is the greatest factor in most fatal aircraft accidents, said Michael Lewis, director of the Aviation Safety Program at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA.  NASA has selected six industry teams to create Synthetic Vision, a virtual-reality display system for cockpits, offering an electronic picture of what's outside their windows, no matter the weather of time of day.

 

The General Aviation award went to Position Integrity's team, which was headed up by Research Triangle Institute (Research Triangle Park, NC.)  Others on this winning team included Archangel Systems, Inc. (Auburn, AL), Flight International (Newport News, VA), Seagull Technologies (Los Gatos, CA), Crew Systems (San Marcos, TX) and FLIR Systems (Portland, Or)

 

Under the program Position Integrity will be providing terrain databases for the low-cost GA Synthetic Vision systems.  Flight test begin late in 2000.

 

For more information contact Robert A. Severino at Position Integrity or by email at

robert.severino@positionintegrity.com