Collision awareness using cameras mounted on a vehicle

A collision awareness method for predicting a collision between an ownship aircraft and a second aircraft during ground operations, the collision awareness method comprising:

• determining, in a first instance, that the other aircraft is within a field of view of a first camera mounted on a first portion of the ownship aircraft;
• determining, in the first instance and in response to determining that the second aircraft is within the field of view of the first camera, a velocity of the second aircraft and a current position of the second aircraft based on one or more images captured by the first camera;
• determining, in a second instance, that the other aircraft is within a field of view of a second camera mounted on a second portion of the ownship aircraft and not within the field of view of the first camera;
• determining, in the second instance and in response to determining that the second aircraft is within the field of view of the second camera and not within the field of view of the first camera, the velocity of the second aircraft and the current position of the second aircraft based on one or more images captured by the second camera;
• determining, in a third instance, that the second aircraft is not within the field of view of the first camera or the field of view of the second camera;
• determining, in the third instance and in response to determining that the second aircraft is not within the field of view of the first camera or the field of view of the second camera, the current position of the second aircraft based on a surveillance message;
• determining a future position of the second aircraft based on the velocity of the second aircraft and the current position of the second aircraft;
• determining that a distance between a future position of the ownship aircraft and the future position of the second aircraft is less than a threshold level;
• and
• generating an alert in response to determining that the distance is less than the threshold level.

A collision awareness system for predicting a collision between an ownship aircraft and an object during ground operations, the collision awareness system comprising:

• a first camera mounted on a first portion of the ownship aircraft;
• a second camera mounted on a second portion of the ownship aircraft;
• and
• processing circuitry configured to:
• determine that the object is within a field of view of the first camera;
• determine a current position of the object based on one or more images captured by the first camera in response to determining that the object is within the field of view of the first camera;
• determine that the object is within a field of view of the second camera and not within the field of view of the first camera;
• determine the current position of the object based on one or more images captured by the second camera in response to determining that the object is within the field of view of the second camera and not within the field of view of the first camera;
• determine that a distance between a future position of the ownship aircraft and the current position of the object is less than a threshold level;
• and
• generate an alert in response to determining that the distance is less than the threshold level.