# US 12,223,850 B2 · Aircraft door camera system for evacuation slide deployment monitoring

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- Number: US 12,223,850 B2
- Document ID: US12223850B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/886,147
- Filed: 2022-08-11
- Published: 2023-02-16
- Granted: 2025-02-11
- Earliest claimed: 2021-08-11
- Assignees: Rosemount Aerospace Inc.
- Applicants: Rosemount Aerospace Inc.
- Inventors: Joseph T. Pesik; Jonathan Boer
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12223850B2

## CPC

- B64C 1/1407: {Doors; surrounding frames}
- G08G 5/51: for control when on the ground, e.g. taxiing or rolling
- B64D 43/00: Arrangements or adaptations of instruments
- B64D 45/00: Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for
- B64D 45/0005: {Devices specially adapted to indicate the position of a movable element of the aircraft, e.g. landing gear}
- B64D 47/08: Arrangements of cameras
- G06T 7/13: Edge detection
- G06T 7/246: using feature-based methods, e.g. the tracking of corners or segments
- G06T 7/70: Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80)
- G06T 7/73: using feature-based methods
- G06T 7/74: {involving reference images or patches}
- G06V 10/22: by selection of a specific region containing or referencing a pattern; Locating or processing of specific regions to guide the detection or recognition
- G06V 10/759: {Region-based matching}
- G06V 10/82: using neural networks
- G06V 20/17: taken from planes or by drones
- G06V 20/188: {Vegetation}
- G06V 20/52: Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects (recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69)
- G06V 20/56: exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
- G06V 20/64: Three-dimensional [3D] objects
- G06V 40/10: Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
- H04N 7/181: {for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources}
- H04N 7/183: {for receiving images from a single remote source}
- B64C 1/1423: {Passenger doors}
- B64C 25/36: Arrangements or adaptations of wheels, tyres or axles in general
- B64D 25/14: Inflatable escape chutes
- B64D 2045/0085: {Devices for aircraft health monitoring, e.g. monitoring flutter or vibration}
- G06T 2207/20076: Probabilistic image processing
- G06T 2207/20081: Training; Learning
- G06T 2207/20084: Artificial neural networks [ANN]
- G06T 2207/30196: Human being; Person
- G06T 2207/30241: Trajectory
- G06T 2207/30248: Vehicle exterior or interior
- B64C: AEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS
- G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93})
- B64D: EQUIPMENT FOR FITTING IN OR TO AIRCRAFT; FLIGHT SUITS; PARACHUTES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF POWER PLANTS OR PROPULSION TRANSMISSIONS IN AIRCRAFT
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

## Abstract

A camera with a field of view toward an external environment of an aircraft is disposed within an aircraft door such that an evacuation slide deployment path is within the field of view of the camera. A display device is disposed within an interior of the aircraft. A processor is operatively coupled to the camera and to the display device. The processor analyzes image data captured by the camera to identify a region within the captured image data that corresponds to the evacuation slide deployment path, determine whether the evacuation slide deployment path will generate a failed deployment outcome, and produce a warning associated with the evacuation slide deployment path in response to determining that the evacuation slide deployment path will generate the failed deployment outcome.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for monitoring an external environment of an aircraft, the system comprising:
an aircraft door;
a camera with a field of view toward the external environment of the aircraft and disposed within the aircraft door such that an evacuation slide deployment path is within the field of view of the camera;
a display device disposed within an interior of the aircraft; and
a processor operatively coupled to the camera and to the display device to:
receive image data captured by the camera that is representative of the external environment of the aircraft;
output the captured image data for display at the display device; and
analyze the image data for evacuation slide deployment by:
identifying a first region of pixel coordinates within the captured image data that correspond to the evacuation slide deployment path;
determining whether the evacuation slide deployment path will generate a failed deployment outcome;
accessing pixel coordinates of captured image data associated with the evacuation slide deployment path;
causing a computer-readable memory to store the pixel coordinates corresponding to the evacuation slide deployment path;
comparing the pixel coordinates corresponding to an evacuation slide during operation in a baseline state with the pixel coordinates corresponding to the evacuation slide deployment path; and
producing a warning associated with the evacuation slide deployment path in response to determining that the evacuation slide deployment path will generate the failed deployment outcome.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is operatively coupled to the camera to analyze the image data for evacuation slide deployment by:
identifying a region within the captured image data that corresponds to the object separate from the aircraft;
determining whether the region within the captured image data that corresponds to the object separate from the aircraft obstructs the evacuation slide deployment path; and
producing a warning associated with the evacuation slide deployment path in response to determining that the region within the captured image data that corresponds to the object separate from the aircraft obstructs the evacuation slide deployment path.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is operatively coupled to the camera to identify the region within the captured image data that corresponds to the object separate from the aircraft by utilizing an object detection algorithm.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3, wherein the object detection algorithm is trained to recognize at least one of: vegetation, rocks, and a ground surface.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The system of claim 4, wherein the object detection algorithm is trained to recognize topological variations of the ground surface.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is operatively coupled to the aircraft to receive an indication that the aircraft is in an emergency evacuation phase.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is operatively coupled to an avionics system of the aircraft.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the warning is a visual alert for display at the display device, an audible alarm, or an alert notification.

### Claim 9

A method of monitoring an external environment of an aircraft, the method comprising:
receiving, with a processor, image data captured by a camera disposed within an aircraft door of the aircraft such that an evacuation slide deployment path is within a field of view of the camera;
analyzing, with the processor, the captured image data by:
identifying a first region of pixel coordinates within the captured image data that correspond to the evacuation slide deployment path;
determining whether the evacuation slide deployment path will generate a failed deployment outcome; and
producing a warning associated with the evacuation slide deployment path in response to determining that the evacuation slide deployment path will generate the failed deployment outcome;
accessing pixel coordinates of captured image data associated with the evacuation slide deployment path;
causing a computer-readable memory to store the pixel coordinates corresponding to the evacuation slide deployment path;
comparing the pixel coordinates corresponding to an evacuation slide during operation in a baseline state with the pixel coordinates corresponding to the evacuation slide deployment path; and
outputting the captured image data for display at a display device disposed within an interior of the aircraft.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein analyzing, with the processor, the captured image data further comprises:
identifying a region within the captured image data that corresponds to the object separate from the aircraft;
determining whether the region within the captured image data that corresponds to the object separate from the aircraft obstructs the evacuation slide deployment path; and
producing a warning associated with the evacuation slide deployment path in response to determining that the region within the captured image data that corresponds to the object separate from the aircraft obstructs the evacuation slide deployment path.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein determining that the region within the captured image data that corresponds to the object separate from the aircraft obstructs the evacuation slide deployment path comprises:
determining a pixel location of the object separate from the aircraft within the captured image data;
determining a physical location of the object separate from the aircraft and a physical location of the region of the captured image data corresponding to the evacuation slide deployment path;
identifying whether the physical location of the object separate from the aircraft and the physical location of the region of the captured image data corresponding to the evacuation slide deployment path intersect; and
determining that the object separate from the aircraft obstructs the evacuation slide deployment path if the physical location of the object separate from the aircraft and the physical location of the region of the captured image data corresponding to the evacuation slide deployment path intersect.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein identifying the region within the captured image data that corresponds to the evacuation slide deployment path comprises identifying pixels within the captured image data that correspond to an expected location of the evacuation slide deployment path within the captured image data based on a fixed location of the camera relative to the aircraft and the evacuation slide deployment path.

### Claim 13

A system for monitoring an external environment of an aircraft, the system comprising:
a plurality of aircraft doors;
a plurality of cameras, at least one camera of the plurality of cameras being disposed within one of the plurality of aircraft doors and each camera of the plurality of cameras having a field of view that is unique among the plurality of cameras, such that an evacuation slide deployment path is within the field of view of at least one camera;
a display device disposed within an interior of the aircraft; and
a processor operatively coupled to the camera and to the display device to:
receive, from each respective camera of the plurality of cameras, image data captured by the respective camera that is representative of the external environment of the aircraft within the field of view of the respective camera;
aggregate the captured image data received from each camera of the plurality of cameras to produce aggregated image data representative of the external environment of the aircraft, wherein image data from overlapping fields of view of the plurality of cameras is presented only once in the aggregated image data with elimination of duplicative elements;
analyze the aggregated image data by:
identifying a first region of pixel coordinates within the aggregated image data that correspond to the evacuation slide deployment path;
identifying a second region of pixel coordinates within the aggregated image data that corresponds to an object separate from the aircraft;
determining whether the second region of pixel coordinates within the aggregated image data that corresponds to the object separate from the aircraft obstructs the evacuation slide deployment path;
accessing pixel coordinates of captured image data from any of the plurality of cameras associated with the evacuation slide deployment path;
causing a computer-readable memory to store the first region of pixel coordinates corresponding to the evacuation slide deployment path;
comparing the pixel coordinates corresponding to an evacuation slide during operation in a baseline state with the first region of pixel coordinates corresponding to the evacuation slide deployment path;
producing a warning associated with the evacuation slide deployment path in response to determining that the second region of pixel coordinates within the captured image data that corresponds to the object separate from the aircraft obstructs the evacuation slide deployment path; and
output the aggregated image data for display at the display device, such that the displayed image data includes image data from overlapping fields of view only once.