1.0 Introduction
The VoiceFlight VFS101 is a revolutionary speech-recognition system
that allows pilots to rapidly enter navigational waypoints using their
voice. The system provides accurate speech recognition, and nearly
instantaneous response, for the great majority of pilots and flight
environments. Voice entry of complex flightplans can be performed
approximately ten times faster than is possible with conventional
knob-twisting. The system is speaker independent and operates
without any type of “enrollment” or tuning before use.
For routine flight operations, the VFS101 provides convenient, “hands-
free” entry of Direct-To waypoint destinations directly into the
aircraft's primary Garmin GPS unit. For safety, an audio read-back of
the intended waypoint is presented for confirmation before the new
destination is activated.
The VFS101 also provides the capability to enter complex flight plans
using speech commands. The system typically recognizes waypoint
entries faster than the pilot is able to (clearly) speak them. In addition
to rapid entry of multiple waypoints, the system performs automatic
expansion of airways, also provided via voice entry.
The VFS101 operates on the primary GPS's active flightplan. The
flightplan's title line is continually updated to display new waypoints as
they are added to the flightplan and to display error messages
describing any problems that are encountered.
A suite of voice commands are available for editing the flightplan, to
correct errors, or accommodate routing changes. The context of
editing operations is displayed on the flightplan title line.
The VFS101 system does not alter or interfere with manual operation
of the aircraft GPS. If the pilot experiences difficulties or confusion
while utilizing the VFS101, conventional manual operations are readily
available.
The VoiceFlight Activation Switch (VAS) is typically mounted on the
pilot yoke and is activated by the pilot when speech commands are
provided to the VFS101. The VFS101 will not recognize speech, or
transmit updates to the GPS units, unless the VAS is depressed.
The GNS 430 / 530 and GNS 430W / 530W series GPS units have
historically been limited to a maximum of 31 waypoints per flightplan.
However, when a GNS 430W / 530W is updated to Main Software
Version 5.00 or later, this limit is expanded to 100 waypoints. In this
document, this limitation will be referred to as “31 or 100 waypoints”
with the implicit dependency on the Main Software version installed
into the GPS unit.
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