On the opening day of the HELI-EXPO 2014 show in Los Angeles, Thales unveils its Avionics 2020 new-generation helicopter cockpit.
Modeled on the principles behind the ground-breaking Avionics 2020 for fixed wing aircraft presented at the 2013 Paris Air Show, this cockpit represents the new-generation in helicopter avionics.
Avionics 2020 is the result of a number of partnerships, spearheaded by Thales with researchers, scientific institutions and world class experts, aimed at refining knowledge in the field of human machine interface.
These efforts, culminated in a new-generation cockpit founded on natural and direct hands-on interaction, designed to give the pilot all the elements needed to make the right critical decisions at the right time.
The Avionics 2020 concept introduces a modern architecture including multi-touchscreen capabilities, head-down controls, open and customizable systems and a mission-centric approach, putting the pilot at the center of a helicopter operation.
The very structure of the cockpit favors the integration of future capabilities and functions to optimize and secure a wide range of helicopter missions, also taking into account specific functionalities driven by civil mission types such as search and rescue or offshore missions.
“A cockpit designed around the principles of open architecture, man machine interface and customizability is no longer an intellectual exercise but a viable commercial application. Thales’s Avionics 2020 will be the new meter of comparison for helicopters in the 21st century,” said Denis Bonnet, Head of Innovation at Thales’s Cockpit Competence Centre
KEY POINTS
- The new-generation in helicopter avionics, Avionics 2020, is founded on the principles of natural and direct hands-on interaction
- It is an open, mission-centric concept, scalable to any type of helicopter, light to heavy, civil to military
- Avionics 2020 includes multi-touchscreen capabilities and the latest technologies in head-down controls
