| 摘要 |
The invention relates to aircraft in-flight refuelling. To facilitate the connection of an in-flight-refuelling line on an adjustable boom at the rear of a refuelling aircraft with a connection receptacle on an aircraft being refuelled, automatic guiding means are provided comprising: a camera (40) borne by the boom end and supplying an image in the form of an electronic signal; shape recognising means (56, 58, 60) coupled with the camera to recognise, in the camera-supplied image, characteristic elements linked with the receptacle; position calculating means to determine, by calculating from the camera-supplied image the variation between the characteristic elements of the image at a given moment, and a reference position derived from a memorised image of the line and the receptacle when the connection is effected; means (62) to deduce, from the actual size of the receptacle and from the size and the position of its projection in the image, the depth variation between the end of the system and the receptacle; and means for controlling the adjustment of the boom and the extension of the line on the basis of the variations thus determined, so as to repeatedly bring the line closer to the receptacle until the variations are cancelled.
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