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iPhone Remote Control

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iPhone Remote Control

Postby derwildemomo » Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:55 pm

Naaaaa... this is no feature request, I just wanted to let you guys know that I toyed a bit with flightgear and liked it, so I decided to build a minimalistic remote, using the accelerometer for control, as well as some knobs and buttons for stuff like parking brake, starter, lights etc. It's fun and quite intuitive that way ( my issue with flightgear was always that it's hard to remember all the bazillions of commands. ).

I currently do not have the capacity to release something cool and working, but if any of you would like to join me in developing this, I guess there is a fair chance of getting something out.

Interest?
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby kyokoyama » Sun Sep 12, 2010 1:54 am

If someone is willing to pay me for expenses to get a Mac and be in the Developers' Program, then sure...
(AKA, I'd like to, but lack the resources needed)
Look for "B-BIRD" "N127KY" or "AVA0004" -that's me.

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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby nickyivyca » Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:04 am

Would it be some sort of joystick on screen, or something specific to Flightgear?
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby kyokoyama » Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:55 am

I think he means like making your iPod/iPhone/iPad become your yoke and control panel?
Look for "B-BIRD" "N127KY" or "AVA0004" -that's me.

Despite having over 1700 posts here, I am not even close to being the most skilled guy here... I'm just words and bad drawing, not experience. :P
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby Jak_o_Shadows » Sun Sep 12, 2010 7:08 am

So start with a framework that allows the iphone to connect to flightgear and change all/any of it's internal properties? Obviously this means some sort of server on the machine flightgear is running on, so it can do all this over a network. (Unless there is already something similar). This would allow for more than just control, it could allow the display of guages and dials on the iphone/android phone.


EDIT:
Just read about
Code: Select all
fgfs --httpd=5480
. I don't know if this would be suitable.
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby derwildemomo » Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:39 pm

Hey, let's clarify what I've got so far:

- Communications with Flightgear working ( via --telnet option, which is fast enough at least to get 5 updates per second in )
- An app that that controls the basic functions of a plane ( currently only 1-engine cessna-like aircrafts supported )

It's working on a local Wifi really good ( I even managed to land :-) ) .

How is it working? I'm using the accelerometer + gyroscope to get the location from my iphone, and send that data ( with a little processing ) to flight gear, meaning that every movement made with the iphone is translated 1:1 to flightgear commands ( although yaw is currently disabled ).

I would post some screenshots, but those are not worth looking at. Maybe I'll create a short video tonight. Thanks for your interest so far :-)
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby DutchPilotMitchell » Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:49 pm

And, how is this project going?
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby DutchPilotMitchell » Sun Apr 17, 2011 4:18 pm

How is the work going?
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby Sealbhach » Sun May 08, 2011 4:44 pm

I just saw this video recently uploaded to Youtube. It's an Android phone:



.
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby mike4lin » Wed Jun 01, 2011 7:38 am

There are challenges related to the app store and LGPL code, see
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/459833/which-open-source-licenses-are-compatible-with-the-iphone-and-app-store
http://multinc.com/2009/08/24/compatibility-between-the-iphone-app-store-and-the-lgpl/
You may need to open source your app or at least provide .o files
for it to obey the LGPL in the context of the apple app store.

So it doesn't even seem compatible with the sources and also the app store charges 100.-...maybe only Android then?
Would be cool to use that with my HTC smartphone. Thanks.
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Re: iPhone Remote Control -> iPad Remote Control

Postby derwildemomo » Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:20 pm

Thanks for your replies!

Sealbhach wrote in Sun May 08, 2011 4:44 pm:I just saw this video recently uploaded to Youtube. It's an Android phone

that looks nice, very responsiv, thanks for the link. Mine looked quite similar. Looks different today.

mike4lin wrote in Wed Jun 01, 2011 7:38 am:There are challenges related to the app store and LGPL code, see
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/459833/which-open-source-licenses-are-compatible-with-the-iphone-and-app-store
http://multinc.com/2009/08/24/compatibility-between-the-iphone-app-store-and-the-lgpl/
You may need to open source your app or at least provide .o files
for it to obey the LGPL in the context of the apple app store.

So it doesn't even seem compatible with the sources and also the app store charges 100.-...maybe only Android then?
Would be cool to use that with my HTC smartphone. Thanks.

Since I'm not using any flightgear sources, I don't have to put my work under the GPL/LPGL license. As far as I know, the only license the would force me to do so would be the Affero License, which is not used here. Interesting links though! And concerning the 100 bucks.. I already paid them :-/.

But let's get back to my progress. Right now, there is an iPad App that supports the following features:
- Remote Control of FlightGear using the Gyro/Accelerometer
- Moving Map displaying current position of aircraft using Google Maps
- Controls for Flaps, Gear, Parking Brake.
- Rudimentary attitude indicator

I also wrote a small utility that simplifies communication a lot. It dispatches packets between a remote client and the local flightgear instance, and it announces itself via Bonjour ( mDNS ). I will up this to github asap.

that's it! Anyone with an ipad here?

momo
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby DutchPilotMitchell » Tue Sep 06, 2011 6:25 am

Nice, I only had can iPod 4g...
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby derwildemomo » Tue Sep 06, 2011 7:20 am

DutchPilotMitchell wrote in Tue Sep 06, 2011 6:25 am:Nice, I only had can iPod 4g...


"only".. still a great device, but I just came to the conclusion that for an iphone/ipod only version, the effort required wouldn't be worth it, and also the smaller display requires way more conceptual work for a remote to be of any use . So the decision to first go with an iPad version is pretty pragmatic – it took only a 'few' days to make it an already usable remote, and it's really fun to use.

But back to your point: The underlying technology is, as you certainly know, 100% the same, so creating the app for iPhone shouldn't take too long – I just don't want to do it right now.
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby DutchPilotMitchell » Tue Sep 06, 2011 2:51 pm

Yeah, i'd do the same if i were you ;)
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Re: iPhone Remote Control

Postby Runninground » Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:20 pm

PLEASE TELL ME WHEN IT GOES ON THE APP STORE! I don't have joystick and i find it hard to fly with the arrow keys, that would make it a million times better for me!!!!
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