1. In an aircraft having a cockpit, a baggage compartment, and a plurality of cargo containers, the improvement comprising a fire suppression system, comprising:
a) for each cargo container, a fire suppression unit removably placed within said cargo container, each said fire suppression unit comprising:
i) a housing having a front wall and a first side wall with at least one opening therethrough, and a second side wall extending non-orthogonally from said first side wall and having at least one opening therethrough;
ii) said housing including an inner chamber containing a fire extinguisher, a temperature sensor, a smoke detector, and a battery-powered controller and communications device, said fire extinguisher having a nozzle for expelling fire suppression chemicals, said nozzle being contained within said inner chamber;
iii) a valve controlling dispensing of fire suppression chemicals from said fire extinguisher;
iv) said temperature sensor communicating temperature readings to said controller;
v) said smoke detector communicating smoke concentration data to said controller;
vi) said controller communicating with a human to machine interface (HMI) via said communications device;
b) said HMI being located remote from said baggage compartment;
c) said controller receiving signals from said temperature sensor and smoke detector and, responsive thereto, controlling operation of said valve to dispense, when necessary, fire suppression chemicals from said fire extinguisher nozzle into said inner chamber and then, through at least one of said openings into said cargo container;
d) via said communications device, said controller communicating data received from said temperature sensor and smoke detector to said HMI and communicating information concerning activations of said valve.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein each fire suppression unit includes an identifier permitting a user to correlate it with a cargo container in which it is placed.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein said controller provides said HMI information correlating each fire suppression unit with a cargo container in which it is placed.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein said HMI communicates with each fire suppression unit wirelessly.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein said HMI and each fire suppression unit includes a transmitter-receiver permitting two-way wireless communications therebetween.
6. The system of claim 2, wherein said identifier comprises a barcode.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein said at least one opening in said first side comprises a multiplicity of openings.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein a said fire suppression unit is located at an upper portion of a cargo container in which it is placed.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein said housing is non-rectangular to lessen a possibility that said at least one hole of said first side and said at least one hole of said second side are both blocked by adjacent cargo.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein said housing is pentagonal.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein said HMI includes a display screen.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein said display screen is switchable between a plurality of displays including at least a first display permitting a user to choose to access data from a particular fire suppression unit and a second display displaying conditions sensed by said particular fire suppression unit.
13. The system of claim 12, further including a third display permitting activation and deactivation of said system.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein said display screen comprises a touch screen display.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein said display screen comprises a touch screen display.
16. In combination with an aircraft having a cockpit, a baggage compartment, and a plurality of cargo containers, a fire suppression system, comprising:
a) for each cargo container, a fire suppression unit removably placed within said cargo container, each said fire suppression unit comprising:
i) a housing having a front wall and a first wall with a plurality of openings therethrough, and a second wall non-orthogonal with said first wall and having a plurality of openings therethrough;
ii) an inner chamber containing a fire extinguisher, a temperature sensor, a smoke detector, and a battery-powered controller and communications device, said fire extinguisher having a nozzle for expelling fire suppression chemicals, said nozzle being contained within said inner chamber;
iii) a valve controlling dispensing of fire suppression chemicals from said fire extinguisher;
iv) said temperature sensor communicating temperature readings to said controller;
v) said smoke detector communicating smoke concentration data to said controller;
vi) said controller wirelessly communicating with a human to machine interface (HMI) via said communications device;
b) said HMI being located remote from said baggage compartment in said cockpit;
c) said controller receiving signals from said temperature sensor and smoke detector and, responsive thereto, controlling operation of said valve to dispense, when necessary, fire suppression chemicals from said fire extinguisher nozzle into said inner chamber and then, through said openings and into said cargo container;
d) said controller communicating data received from said temperature sensor and smoke detector, sensing conditions in said container through said openings, to said HMI via said communications device, and communicating information concerning activations of said valve.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein each fire suppression unit includes an identifier permitting a user to correlate it with a cargo container in which it is placed, said identifier comprising a barcode, said controller providing said HMI information correlating each fire suppression unit with a cargo container in which it is placed.
18. The system of claim 16, wherein said HMI and each fire suppression unit includes a transmitter-receiver permitting two-way wireless communications therebetween.
19. The system of claim 16, wherein said housing is pentagonal in shape to lessen a possibility that said openings are blocked by adjacent cargo.
20. The system of claim 16, wherein said HMI includes a touch screen display screen switchable between a plurality of displays including at least a first display permitting a user to choose to access data from a particular fire suppression unit and a second display displaying conditions sensed by said particular fire suppression unit.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A system for projecting a shape onto a scene so that the shape appears to emanate from a source location, comprising:
a first projection assembly for projecting a first plane of light so that the first plane of light intersects the scene to form a first light stripe on the scene; and
a second projection assembly for projecting a second plane of light so that the second plane of light intersects the scene to form a second light stripe on the scene, the first light stripe intersecting the second light stripe for defining a point of light projected onto the scene so that the point of light appears to emanate from the source location;
wherein the first projection assembly rotates about a first axis extending through the source location and the second projection assembly rotates about a second axis extending through the source location for controlling the position of the point of light on the scene.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first projection assembly comprises a first mirror and the second projection assembly comprises a second mirror, the first mirror rotating about the first axis for reflecting the first plane of light so that the first plane of light is projected onto the scene and the second mirror rotating about the second axis for reflecting the second plane of light so that the second plane of light is projected onto the scene.
3. The system as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a first light source for projecting the first plane of light onto the first mirror for reflection by the first mirror and a second light source for projecting the second plane of light onto the second mirror for reflection by the second mirror.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first projection assembly comprises a first light source and the second projection assembly comprises a second light source, the first light source rotating about the first axis for projecting the first plane of light onto the scene and the second light source rotating about the second axis for projecting the second plane of light onto the scene.
5. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an actuator assembly for rotating the first projection assembly and the second projection assembly.
6. The system as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a controller assembly for controlling rotation of the first projection assembly and the second projection assembly.
7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the actuator assembly comprises a first actuator for rotating the first projection assembly and a second actuator for rotating the second projection assembly and the controller assembly comprises a first controller for controlling the first actuator and a second controller for controlling the second actuator.
8. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first actuator and the second actuator comprise a galvanometer.
9. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a computer for generating a first angle of rotation for the first projection assembly and a second angle of rotation for the second projection assembly from the position of a point in the shape to be projected into the scene.
10. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the computer generates the first angle of rotation and the second angle of rotation from:
\u03b81=Sin\u22121(|{circumflex over (N)}1\xd7{circumflex over (N)}1\u2032|)
and
\u03b82=Sin\u22121(|{circumflex over (N)}2\xd7{circumflex over (N)}2\u2032|);
where \u03b81 is an angle of rotation by which a plane P1 rotates about a rotation axis SL1 in order to illuminate a point p, \u03b82 is an angle of rotation by which a plane P2 rotates about a rotation axis SL2 in order to illuminate a point p, {circumflex over (N)}1 is a unit normal to the plane P1, {circumflex over (N)}1 being calculated from:
N
^
1
=
L
1
_
\xd7
S
_
\uf603
L
1
_
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
\uf604
;
{circumflex over (N)}1\u2032 is a unit normal to the plane P1\u2032, {circumflex over (N)}1\u2032 being calculated from:
N
^
1
\u2032
=
(
L
1
_
–
p
_
)
\xd7
(
S
_
–
p
_
)
\uf603
L
1
_
–
p
_
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
–
p
_
\uf604
;
{circumflex over (N)}2 is a unit normal to the plane P2, {circumflex over (N)}2 being calculated from:
N
^
2
=
L
2
_
\xd7
S
_
\uf603
L
2
_
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
\uf604
;
and
{circumflex over (N)}2\u2032 is a unit normal to the plane P2\u2032, {circumflex over (N)}2\u2032 being calculated from:
N
^
2
\u2032
=
(
L
2
_
–
p
_
)
\xd7
(
S
_
–
p
_
)
\uf603
L
2
_
–
p
_
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
–
p
_
\uf604
.
11. A method for projecting a shape onto a scene so that the shape appears to emanate from a source location, comprising:
projecting a first plane of light from a first projection assembly so that the first plane of light intersects the scene to form a first light stripe on the scene;
projecting a second plane of light from a second projection assembly so that the second plane of light intersects the scene to form a second light stripe on the scene, the first light stripe intersecting the second light stripe for defining a point of light projected onto the scene so that the point of light appears to emanate from the source location; and
rotating at least one of the first projection assembly about a first axis extending through the source location and the second projection assembly about a second axis extending through the source location for controlling the position of the point of light on the scene.
12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the first projection assembly comprises a first mirror and the second projection assembly comprises a second mirror, projecting the first plane of light comprises rotating the first mirror about the first axis for reflecting the first plane of light so that the first plane of light is projected onto the scene and projecting the second plane of light comprises rotating the second mirror about the second axis for reflecting the second pane of light so that the second plane of light is projected onto the scene.
13. The method as claimed in claim 12, further comprising illuminating a first light source for projecting the first plane of light onto the first mirror for reflection by the first mirror and illuminating a second light source for projecting the second plane of light onto the second mirror for reflection by the second mirror.
14. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the first projection assembly comprises a first light source and the second projection assembly comprises a second light source, projecting the first plane of light comprises rotating the first light source about the first axis for projecting the first plane of light onto the scene and projecting the second plane of light comprises rotating the second light source about the second axis for projecting the second plane of light onto the scene.
15. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising generating a first angle of rotation for the first projection assembly and a second angle of rotation for the second projection assembly from the position of a point in the shape to be projected into the scene.
16. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the the first angle of rotation and the second angle of rotation are determined from:
\u03b81=Sin\u22121(|{circumflex over (N)}1\xd7{circumflex over (N)}1\u2032|)
and
\u03b82=Sin\u22121(|{circumflex over (N)}2\xd7{circumflex over (N)}2\u2032|);
where \u03b81 is an angle of rotation by which a plane P1 rotates about a rotation axis SL1 in order to illuminate a point p, \u03b82 is an angle of rotation by which a plane P2 rotates about a rotation axis SL2 in order to illuminate a point p, {circumflex over (N)}1 is a unit normal to the plane P1, {circumflex over (N)}1 being calculated from:
N
^
1
=
L
1
_
\xd7
S
_
\uf603
L
1
_
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
\uf604
;
{circumflex over (N)}1\u2032 is a unit normal to the plane P1\u2032, {circumflex over (N)}1\u2032 being calculated from:
N
^
1
\u2032
=
(
L
1
_
–
p
_
)
\xd7
(
S
_
–
p
_
)
\uf603
L
1
_
–
p
_
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
–
p
_
\uf604
;
{circumflex over (N)}2 is a unit normal to the plane P2, {circumflex over (N)}2 being calculated from:
N
^
2
=
L
_
2
\xd7
S
_
\uf603
L
_
2
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
\uf604
;
and
{circumflex over (N)}2\u2032 is a unit normal to the plane P2\u2032, {circumflex over (N)}2\u2032 being calculated from:
N
^
2
\u2032
=
(
L
_
2
–
p
_
)
\xd7
(
S
_
–
p
_
)
\uf603
L
_
2
–
p
_
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
–
p
_
\uf604
.
17. A system for projecting a shape onto a scene so that the shape appears to emanate from a source location, comprising:
means for projecting a first plane of light so that the first plane of light intersects the scene to form a first light stripe on the scene; and
means for projecting a second plane of light so that the second plane of light intersects the scene to form a second light stripe on the scene, the first light stripe intersecting the second light stripe for defining a point of light projected onto the scene so that the point of light appears to emanate from the source location;
wherein the first projecting means rotates about a first axis extending through the source location and the second projecting means rotates about a second axis extending through the source location for controlling the position of the point of light on the scene.
18. The system as claimed in claim 17, further comprising means for rotating the first projecting means and the second projecting means.
19. The system as claimed in claim 18, further comprising means for controlling rotation of the first projecting means and the second projecting means.
20. The system as claimed in claim 17, further comprising means for generating a first angle of rotation for the first projecting means and a second angle of rotation for the second projecting means from the position of a point in the shape to be projected into the scene.
21. The system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the generating means generates the first angle of rotation and the second angle of rotation from:
\u03b81=Sin\u22121(|{circumflex over (N)}1\xd7{circumflex over (N)}1\u2032|)
and
\u03b82=Sin\u22121(|{circumflex over (N)}2\xd7{circumflex over (N)}2\u2032|);
where \u03b81 is an angle of rotation by which a plane P1 rotates about a rotation axis SL1 in order to illuminate a point p, \u03b82 is an angle of rotation by which a plane P2 rotates about a rotation axis SL2 in order to illuminate a point p, {circumflex over (N)}1 is a unit normal to the plane P1, {circumflex over (N)}1 being calculated from:
N
^
1
=
L
_
1
\xd7
S
_
\uf603
L
_
1
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
\uf604
;
{circumflex over (N)}1\u2032 is a unit normal to the plane P1\u2032, {circumflex over (N)}1\u2032 being calculated from:
N
^
1
\u2032
=
(
L
_
1
–
p
_
)
\xd7
(
S
_
–
p
_
)
\uf603
L
_
1
–
p
_
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
–
p
_
\uf604
;
{circumflex over (N)}2 is a unit normal to the plane P2, {circumflex over (N)}2 being calculated from:
N
^
2
=
L
_
2
\xd7
S
_
\uf603
L
_
2
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
\uf604
;
and
{circumflex over (N)}2\u2032 is a unit normal to the plane P2\u2032, {circumflex over (N)}2\u2032 being calculated from:
N
^
2
\u2032
=
(
L
_
2
–
p
_
)
\xd7
(
S
_
–
p
_
)
\uf603
L
_
2
–
p
_
\uf604
\u2062
\uf603
S
_
–
p
_
\uf604
.