Rockwell Collins’ new combined vision system, which merges enhanced and synthetic vision into one display. (Rockwell Collins)
Rockwell Collins has launched its combined vision system (CVS) on the Bombardier Global 5500 and 6500 business jets. The CVS merges infrared enhanced vision and synthetic vision system imagery into a single conformal view.
That part is important, according to Grant Blythe, Rockwell Collins’ principal marketing manager for head-up guidance systems. He said while other CVS solutions exist, they tend to display EVS in the foreground of the screen and SVS in the background, so pilots don’t actually get the benefit of both when looking in any particular location. On the Bombardier jets, the CVS blends both vision systems throughout the entire display so pilots can “get the benefits of synthetic vision and that’s completely effective in all weather and the precision of enhanced vision that gives them that real-time situational awareness.”
Rockwell Collins has endeavored to make the pilots experience smooth, Blythe said. Between the CVS and the new EVS-3600 camera, the Bombardier cockpit will be fed with a lot of information, but benefiting from it should require little to no additional action on the pilot’s part.
“What a pilot might have done previously is fly the approach from a higher altitude in SVS mode and then switch to EVS,” Blythe said. “Now, all that kind of happens in the background automatically, so they have a reduced workload and they don’t have to do any mode switching. They can just receive the best information possible through the HUD without any workload on their part.”
Bombardier Global 6500 (Bombardier)
Though the Global 5500 and 6500 are the launch platform for Rockwell’s CVS, Blythe said there will be several more announcements in the coming months related to the technology as well as the company’s full ProLine Fusion system. The avionics OEM will continue to offer enhanced vision and synthetic vision as standalone systems, but he anticipates CVS replacing the sale of the two as a package.
Collins also expects the CVS to be offered as an upgrade option for existing Global 5000s and 6000s, which currently feature SVS and EVS as separate systems.
Outside of the cockpit, Rockwell Collins provides the Bombardier 5500/6500 with its new Venue cabin management system, featuring 4k-resolution touchscreens, ARINCDirect connectivity services and moving maps.
Bombardier launched the Global 5500 and 6500 programs at the 2018 European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE). Both business jets are expected to achieve certification and entry into service by the end of 2019.