Thales is ready to start testing an enhanced vision system (EVS)
for the Bombardier Global Express and Global 5000 long-range business
jets, according to program manager Karl-Heinz Schuler. Testing
of the EVS, which uses a CMC SureSight infra-red sensor, should
start by the end of the month.
Schuler says that the Thales system is "the best integrated
EVS out there," working within a cockpit that was designed
from the outset for a head-up display (HUD). All the normal HUD
symbology is superimposed on the EVS image (the view can be "decluttered"
if necessary) and the EVS field of view matches the 30-degree-by-25-degree
field of the HUD. The image can also be repeated on the flight
management system LCD display. "The copilot can see what
the pilot sees," says Schuler. Without that, he says, "the
pilot can say, 'I've seen the lights' and the copilot says, 'That's
nice for you'."
The Thales EVS is closely comparable to the Kollsman EVS on the
Gulfstream V. Both systems use a single indium-antimonide (InSb)
infra-red sensor. The cooled sensor covers the short-to-midwave
IR band between 1 and 5 microns, detecting light at shorter wavelengths
and imaging the outside world in the mid-wave band.
Compared with the Gulfstream system, the Thales EVS is more compact, says
Schuler. The EVS is controlled through the HUD. The image processor
and controller are built into the same sealed and pressurized module
as the sensor, and the entire system weighs only 20 pounds. The
Thales EVS is due to be certificated on the Global Express and Global
5000 within a year, Schuler says, and is expected to enter customer
service in early 2005.
