In message <951027000934_100421.2123_BHG66-1@CompuServe.COM> Graham Singleton
writes:
> Reply to To Breitenbach
> I agree that displays are still a problem. Sky Force are developing a Colour
> Moving Map GPS which should be available next year. Sounds exciting.
It will be, I am privilidged to have one of the protos in front of me right
now, having had a hand in it's design as well as having flown some of the
development hardware.
Both the Colour Skymap CM2000 & those that will follow use dedicated 32bit task
oriented processor chips to manipulate the map and overlay data in such a way
as to make the movement as smooth as possible. Calculating the fix positions is
a simple matter but shoving the screen information around smoothly is an
altogether different problem.
The actual LCD screen is rather specific in that it has very high contrast
ratio and colour saturation which actually improves with increasing ambient
light level something that your average laptop fails miserably. The other
important attributes are wide viewing angle and temperature range again
features that the average laptop again cannot easily match. Too cold and the
screen literally freezes, too hot and bang goes the contrast before it all
goes totally black.
By the time you add all the bells and whistles like the ARINC bus, sensor
interfaces etc. etc. trying to do it with even a 486 laptop would be like using
Windoze. Then meet DO160 and D178 specs so it will satisfy CAA Class 1
approval. No easy task.
It is doubtful whether glass panels will fully replace analogue instruments, I
suspect there will always be a requirement to carry necessary VFR analogues in
much the same way as say an A320 Airbus. They even have a nifty "pop down"
magnetic compass just in case the panels die.
For those still at the sticky stages plan a 4H" x 6.25W" space in your panel
for the business. That and calculating it's 1.5kg into the weight and balance.
--
Graham Edward Laucht
Birmingham UK
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