System and a method for assisting landing an aircraft, and a corresponding aircraft

A piloting assistance system for facilitating landing an aircraft on a landing zone, the piloting assistance system comprising:

• an autopilot system configured to guide the aircraft automatically along a consolidated path towards the landing zone during an approach;
• a first imaging system and a second imaging system, the first imaging system and the second imaging system being independent of one another to thereby avoid having a common mode of malfunctioning;
• a first display;
• a video acquisition system configured to capture a stream of images of the landing zone using at least one camera and to transmit the stream of images to the first imaging system and to the second imaging system, the stream of images including a real image of the landing zone at a current calculation instant whereby the real image transmitted with the stream of images to the first imaging system and the second imaging system is the same image;
• wherein the first imaging system is configured to process the real image to calculate, from the real image as processed by and only with the first imaging system, position information defining a relative position of the landing zone relative to the aircraft on the basis at least of the real image, the first imaging system is further configured to transmit the position information to the autopilot system;
• the autopilot system is further configured to determine:
• a current position of the landing zone at the current calculation instant by injecting the position information into a Kalman filter estimator;
• and
• a target position of the landing zone that is to be reached by the landing zone when the aircraft lands on this landing zone, with this target position being determined using the Kalman filter estimator;
• the autopilot system is further configured to update the consolidated path to lead to the target position of the landing zone, wherein the consolidated path is updated as a function of at least one stored approach model;
• the autopilot system is further configured to transmit at least the determined current position of the landing zone and the consolidated path to the second imaging system;
• the second imaging system is configured to process the real image to verify from the real image as processed by and only with the second imaging system that a landing zone is present at the determined current position of the landing zone in the real image;
• and
• the second imaging system is further configured to generate an alarm if such presence is not found, and display on the first display the real image and a first symbol, representing the landing zone, positioned at the determined current position of the landing zone for visual comparison by a pilot.

An aircraft comprising:

• a piloting assistance system for facilitating landing the aircraft on a landing zone, the piloting assistance system including an autopilot system, a first imaging system and a second imaging system, a first display, and a video acquisition system, the first imaging system and the second imaging system being independent of one another to thereby avoid having a common mode of malfunctioning;
• wherein the autopilot system is configured to guide the aircraft automatically along a consolidated path towards the landing zone during an approach;
• the video acquisition system is configured to capture a stream of images of the landing zone using at least one camera and to transmit the stream of images to the first imaging system and to the second imaging system, the stream of images including a real image of the landing zone at a current calculation instant whereby the real image transmitted with the stream of images to the first imaging system and the second imaging system is the same image;
• the first imaging system is configured to process the real image to calculate, from the real image as processed by and only with the first imaging system, position information defining a relative position of the landing zone relative to the aircraft on the basis at least of the real image, the first imaging system is further configured to transmit the position information to the autopilot system;
• the autopilot system is further configured to determine:
• a current position of the landing zone at the current calculation instant by injecting the position information into a Kalman filter estimator;
• and
• a target position of the landing zone that is to be reached by the landing zone when the aircraft lands on this landing zone, with this target position being determined using the Kalman filter estimator;
• the autopilot system is further configured to update the consolidated path to lead to the target position of the landing zone, wherein the consolidated path is updated as a function of at least one stored approach model;
• the autopilot system is further configured to transmit at least the determined current position of the landing zone and the consolidated path to the second imaging system;
• the second imaging system is configured to process the real image to verify from the real image as processed by and only with the second imaging system that a landing zone is present at the determined current position of the landing zone in the real image;
• and
• the second imaging system is further configured to generate an alarm if such presence is not found, and display on the first display the real image and a first symbol, representing the landing zone, positioned at the determined current position of the landing zone for visual comparison by a pilot.