Rockwell Collins received the top honor–a gold award in the safety category–from the Edison Awards in recognition of the company’s development of synthetic vision on a head-up display (HUD). The awards program is conducted by Edison Universe, which fosters future innovators. The awards were named after prolific inventor Thomas Edison.

The synthetic-vision imagery on the Rockwell Collins head-up guidance system HUD was certified last year and entered into service on the Pro Line Fusion flight deck in Bombardier’s Global 6000. Synthetic vision is monochrome on the HUD, using essentially the same imagery displayed on the full-color Fusion primary flight displays. The difference is that when looking through the HUD, the pilot can “see” the real world, including clouds, while also viewing synthetic-vision images and flight information in the HUD. So on a cloudy day, for example, the pilot can virtually see through the clouds to perceive features on the ground such as buildings, lakes, runways and so forth.

“Our judges recognized Rockwell Collins’ synthetic vision on a head-up display as a true innovator out of the many products in its category,” said Frank Bonafilia, executive director of the Edison Awards.