Avionics News February 2014 - 45

Toy also explained that while the ultimate goal is developing a set of HeliSure applications to provide the
greatest level of safety enhancements, Rockwell Collins'
engineers have put ease of operation very high on their
must achieve list.
"One thing that sets Rockwell Collins apart is our very
long history of developing cockpit display systems," he
said. "We believe we need to bring that experience into
play in the ways the critical information is displayed to
the pilot. To be really beneficial, it has to be presented in
a manner that is easily understood and doesn't increase
his workload.
"More information is not always good, so we have
to bring it all together so the pilot is able to understand
what it all is and how to use it during high-workload
conditions. We're working to bring our expertise and
experience in dealing with the very complex systems we
develop for military applications and use that know-how
to solve problems in the civil aviation world."
Your government dollars at work
Toy explained one of the key determiners as to when
new applications can be introduced into HeliSure is having the capabilities well proven in the field.
"The synthetic vision capabilities we are bringing to
helicopters are actually derived from work we did for our
Pro Line Fusion system," he said. "We took that software
application from the fixed-wing side and imported it into
the ruggedized cockpit displays for helicopters.
"That technology actually dates back to some work we
did with the Air Force back in the 1990s on an autonomous landing system for some of its tactical aircraft."
Of course, having military technology trickle down into
the commercial sector is nothing new to the avionics industry.
While there's no documentation to support it, if we relied on
the commercial side alone to fund research and development,
well, we'd still be flying with coffee grinder radios.
Another example of a military-derived capability that
may well make its way onto the HeliSure capability offerings is a new enhanced synthetic vision capability
Rockwell Collins recently introduced for U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) helicopters.
"It's called the Degraded Visual Environment Pilotage
System (DVEPS)," Toy said. "It's another example of
our military and commercial groups sharing capabilities

The H-TAWS symbology for vertical obstacles and hazards allows the
pilot to quickly recognize and assess threats along the flight path. Color
coding is utilized in conjunction with aural and visual alerts to warn
the pilot of hazards near his flight altitude. Together with the H-SVS
symbology displays, the HeliSure system allows the pilot to rapidly
understand and assess the flight environment by providing the right
information at the right time.

and improvements across the product lines."
According to Troy Brunk, vice president and general
manager of Rockwell Collins Airborne Solutions, "It
(DVEPS) will give pilots something they've never had
before - the ability to see through DVE obscurants,
such as dust, fog and snow, and successfully avoid
hazards in the landing zone. Our synthetic vision and
sensor fusion technology will provide SOAR pilots with
enhanced pilotage capabilities, resulting in safer operations and increased probability of mission success and
aircraft survivability."
HeliSure is not for everyone - yet
While it's no doubt that Rockwell Collins' HeliSure
will provide an amazing array of safety-enhancing capabilities to a very fortunate group of helicopter operators, the downside is the system will only be available
on a limited selection of airframe types - at least for the
foreseeable future.
"Many of the capabilities we're planning for HeliSure
require the advanced processing power and memory
Continued on page 61

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Avionics News February 2014

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