Honeywell Aerospace 
Above on the left is the picture from recent Sandblaster tests in California showing actual conditions in front of the helicopter, and on the right, a synthetic recreation of the forward environment (photo is courtesy of Sikorksy) that pilots used to guide their helicopter to landing. Though the truck looks more like terrain than vehicle to the radar, both are to be avoided on landing.
At the heart of Sandblaster is Honeywell's inertial database, populated with terrain and obstacle data (part of Honeywell's terrain awareness and synthetic vision systems) and fused with 94GHz millimetre wave radar data collected by a Sierra Nevada radar imaging a 30x30-degree field of view at 2Hz update rate.
The package flew on a high tech version of the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk ( View image) modified by NASA and the US Army for fly-by-wire capabilities and other upgrades. Sierra Nevada's radar ( View image) was located under the nose of the helicopter.
During three days and 32h of testing from 12-14 January, three Army pilots with no previous flight time on the "Sandblaster" system were able to position their helicopters close to a landing on a variety of terrain types and slopes with no external visual references, which was the basic gist of DARPA's now-completed project....
For helicopters, such a system could allow pilots to see through "brown-outs" of dust and to spot wires and cables during low visibility and at night along a route, threats that have plagued rotorcraft for decades and which infrared-based vision system may not unveil. Along with radar, Honeywell is considering a variety of sensors for future applications.
From a larger perspective, the inertial database when combined with the helicopter's GPS position will allow Honeywell to create an electronic bumper for navigating takeoffs and landings in any conditions in just about any location.
Honeywell Aerospace crew interface systems marketing manager, Gregory Walters, discussed the symbology of the specialized display Honeywell created for the test. The picture below, also provided by Sikorsky, shows the pilots' view of a pre-selected landing zone surrounded by fences.
During Sandblaster tests, pilots pre-selected the landing site using a joystick and viewing the terrain and obstacles using the fused synthetic vision and radar data in the inertial database.
Approaching the landing zone, pilots switched from an "egocentric" view of the outside world (from the pilot's eye) to an "exocentric" view position 10ft behind and 10ft above the helicopter, a conversion that allows the pilot to see the terrain underneath the helicopter as it nears the landing zone.
Here's a larger version of what the pilots saw on the display during the fence approach. Note the detailed near real-time radar data in the near-field and 3-d far-field generated by Honeywell's terrain and obstacle database which is updated manually on a quarterly or more frequent basis.
Annotated views of the symbology, left, right and centre are below.
Left side ( View image)
Centre ( View image)
Right side ( View image)
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