FG1000 ready for integration into aircraft

[stuart]

That looks rather good

You can use the inset map function to get at least a moving map. It's the second button from the left on the bottom. Plus (if I've implemented it correctly), you can use the NRST airport function as well, so you don't miss the MFD too much.

I've not yet implemented the autopilot controls on the bezel, so they won't work. It's on my TODO list though, as I want to replace the KAP150 autopilot on the 182 with the GFC700.

Alternatively, if you wanted a bit of a challenge, it should be possible to create a FG500 system based on the FG1000 to work similarly to the Garmin G500 system which would be retrofitted to the Cub IRL. There would be a fair bit of work resizing the SVG files and creating a different set of menus, but most of the logic and UI should be the same

-Stuart

[iamzac]

I wish I had room for another MFD.

In x-plane to solve something like this some people created a virtual tablet that has moving maps and other instruments so not that different from the g1000 MFD so maybe someone with 3d knowledge could make a 3d model of a generic tablet/ipad and attach the g1000 mfd to it as a starting point.
Like we have the garmin196 but better.
Here is what I am taking about: Aircraft with AviTab integration if you click the links from the first post you can see images of how it looks attached to any kind of aircraft.

[wlbragg]

You can use the inset map function to get at least a moving map.

I found that already. There appears to be a possible bug with it, I could only turn it on and off once, then it quit functioning and I couldn't turn it on a second time (in the same session). Also is there re-size feature on the size of the inset map. I found the scale which is nice, but it would be really ice to be able to re-size the entire inset, unless of course that isn't how the real thing works.

In x-plane to solve something like this some people created a virtual tablet that has moving maps and other instruments so not that different from the g1000 MFD so maybe someone with 3d knowledge could make a 3d model of a generic tablet/ipad and attach the g1000 mfd

There are already some Android apps for this that work on a real tablet. But a virtual one would be nice. I suppose the GUI version of the 1000 could be used in that way. I couldn't get it to work though.

[StuartC]

That looks rather good

You can use the inset map function to get at least a moving map. It's the second button from the left on the bottom. Plus (if I've implemented it correctly), you can use the NRST airport function as well, so you don't miss the MFD too much.

I've not yet implemented the autopilot controls on the bezel, so they won't work. It's on my TODO list though, as I want to replace the KAP150 autopilot on the 182 with the GFC700.

Alternatively, if you wanted a bit of a challenge, it should be possible to create a FG500 system based on the FG1000 to work similarly to the Garmin G500 system which would be retrofitted to the Cub IRL. There would be a fair bit of work resizing the SVG files and creating a different set of menus, but most of the logic and UI should be the same

-Stuart

Using it to rebuild the G500H type screen I have in the AS350.

[Hooray]

the gui based version using Michat's shell should work for people ?

[stuart]

@wlbragg: I'll check out that bug. Haven't seen it myself, but it may be that I've never re-enabled the inset map! No, you can't resize the inset map on the real thing either.

Unfortunately, the GUI version under the Debug menu is broken in 2018.2. It's fixed in next.

@StuartC: Excellent. Let me know if you need any help.

[Hooray]

Unfortunately, the GUI version under the Debug menu is broken in 2018.2. It's fixed in next.

Note that it is pretty straightforward to extend the Canvas/C++ code in simgear to add a dedicated element for loading 3d models from disk and display those. I needed that functionality a while ago, so that I ended up adapting an existing osg demo/example, in conjunction with an OSG tutorial showing to use a so called "PositionAttitudeTransformMatrix".

While that may sound like a mouthful, it's actually only ~50 lines of C++ code (again, all copy/paste from the OSG samples), mapping the methods of the PAT to use the PropertyBased/SGPropertyChangeListener needed by any sc::element sub-class.

That way, you end up with a new Canvas element, say "model" that takes a file name and accepts a handful of parameters to transform/place it accordingly.

In other words, you can load any number of 3D models from the base package into a Canvas texture and transform them via properties:

http://wiki.flightgear.org/Canvas_Sandbox#CanvasModel


Which is to say, we could reuse existing 3D models to come up with procedural UI dialogs for instruments like the FG1000 at the mere cost of adding a dedicated "model-view" element, to show an ortographic view of the instrument, which would mean that it would even be possible to use the same animations/hot-spots (think mouse/keyboard bindings).

This kind of feature would also make it possible to load a 3D sphere and animate/transform it as needed, e.g. for the PFD of the SpaceShip One, without requiring fancy Nasal code or shader support (ADI/Nav Ball):

[wlbragg]

I pushed the Cub FG1000 to fgaddon. It's not totally finished but is working well enough to play around with it.
I was pleasantly surprised that i was able to incorporate it into the existing base files as an option VS a whole new variant. Although I did add it as a variant as well, so you can select it from the launcher right at the start.
You can use it in any variation of the aircraft, J3Cub or PA-18 and any engine or configuration.

I'm having trouble getting the attitude indicator working. The cub never had an AI hooked up. It's not correctly installed.
The roll and pitch properties are static in the /instruments/attitude-indicator/ path. I looked at both the c172p and c182s/t implementations and copied the basic setup for the AI and can't find anything I may be missing. The "spin" property is 0. Is there something to it? Does this system require some kind of electrical connection? Any ideas what might be missing? I also searched for documentation on this subject and could find anything detailed enough to explain it.
EDIT:
OK, I found the issue, the engine has no RMP value so the suction property is not functioning. Had to set up the link between rpm and suction.

It wasn't clear to me, can the EIS be displayed on either a PFD or MFD?

[wlbragg]

Stuart, I wonder if there is an easy way to set this up in fgdata to allow for developers to use their own shadow cubes and interior effects on the fg1000 or even parts of it without bringing the entire xml into the aircrafts local directory?

I don't know how easy it is but I managed to use my own effect files. It required copying the entire GDU104X folder to the local aircraft and editing the one xml per PFD/MFD.

With the shadow cube effect...

[stuart]

Re: EIS: In the Real Thing, the EIS can be displayed on the PFD if the MFD fails and the system goes into Reversionary mode. I haven't implemented that yet.

Re: cube map: Well done for getting that working! It's been on my TODO list but I don't have any experience of doing it before. You might be able to get it to work without copying across the XML if you use the include="" method for including the contents of one XML file inside another?

-Stuart

[Michat]

Stuart said: " Unfortunately, the GUI version under the Debug menu is broken in 2018.2. It's fixed in next."

We have also an usability serious problem that began aprox. 2 releases ago.

Since you guys have introduced new options into the Debug menu the stack is overflow on top and there are several items for a number of three that are not shown.

Trying to access to reload input, we got crazy trying to determine how in the world each FG release user have different item options shown. We've find out that you need huge screen to see all the items. Working on a laptop at 1366x768 I'm loosing 3 items (on top overflow) while some other users are loosing 2 items or none.depending of the monitor size.

Please can you move G1000 to another menu tag ? i.e over Equipment.

29.92

[wlbragg]

I can verify the changes to fgdata fixed the GUI portion.
I also discovered I could do a scale animation on the models and fit both a PFD and MFD in the cub that way.
Lots of layout options available.

[stuart]

@Michat: Ah - I wasn't aware of that problem, but it's very obvious now you mention it! I'll take a look if we can remove some of them.

[wlbragg]

Installed PFD and MFD...

[Michat]

Stuart said : " Ah - I wasn't aware of that problem, but it's very obvious now you mention it! I'll take a look if we can remove some of them. "

I'm thinking you to move G1000 to Equipment, but don't remove historic essentials ( like reload input). Overflow is taking 3 elements out.

Thank you and 29.92