Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

[RedGriffin]

I am very glad to announce my Flightgear addon for a speaking Air Traffic Controller. Red Griffin ATC is an Open Source project and will be released under GNU Public License Version 3 (GPLv3) and can be download from its repository at https://sourceforge.net/projects/red-griffin-atc.
I want, in fact, to give my personal contribution to the Flightgear community with gratitude for the countless hours I have spent in using this amazing flight simulator in the hope everyone can enjoy my addon and find it useful.
I am also posting a couple of demo videos in which you can see my Red Griffin ATC addon in action and what it can do. I started this project a couple of months ago as I have always wished to have a similar addon or service in Flightgear. I hope everyone will enjoy this addon as much as I did in developing and using it.
Red Griffin ATC is written in Nasal language and it has been tested in Flightgear 2019.1.1, 2019.1.2, 2020.2.0, 2020.3.x and 2020.4.0 git, specifically in my Fedora Linux FC33. Any feedback, suggestion, criticism and hint on how to improve this addon are warmly welcome. On this regard, please read the note at the end of this message.

For a detailed description of Red Griffin ATC and instructions, please refer to the wiki page or watch the videos in my YouTube Channel.

RedGriffin ATC 2.2.0 - 6 March 2021

Main features:

* Support for ground, take off, visual approach, ILS and landing operations
* ATC assisted approach, guiding the pilot to the proper route, altitude and speed up to the final approach point to runway and according to aircraft type
* Festival Speech Synthesis System support
* Squawking
* Approach and slope monitor
* Speech synthesis of messages through native FlightGear speech synthesizer
* ATC can be operated both with mouse and keyboard
* Independent dialog window or pop-up window operation modes
* Determination of proper take-off and landing runways according to wind direction and airport settings
* Status monitor for both ground and flying modes (ground speed, current position, runway alignment, runway approaching)
* Determination of approaching routes and patterns according to position and route manager
* Automatic control and warning in case of incorrect procedure
* Radio station type check according to ATC request
* Automated ATC callback messages according to procedure
* Dedicated window with available radios
* Automatic selection of ATC requests according to aircraft status and position
* Information about the current airport
* Information about the tuned communication radio
* Support for CTR (Controlled Traffic Region)
* When flying in an approved CTR, ATC will check your correct altitude and warns in case the aircraft is flying too low or towards terrain, such as hills or mountains. ATC may also require the pilot to change altitude according to heading and area.
* When flying in an approved CTR, the pilot can request to the ATC to change its current flight level with dedicated buttons
* When flying in an approved CTR, in case the aircraft is about to leave the CTR range, ATC will inform the pilot about the neighboring CTR and gives information about the corresponding radio in order to request transition approval to the new zone.
* Displayed information according to flight/approach/lading modes
* Buttons for aborting approach, ILS and landing procedures
* And a lot more

Please refer to Red Griffin ATC Aircraft Compatibility page in order to see whether your favorite aircraft is supported and fully functional with the addon. You are encouraged to update this wiki page in case you find a new compatible or incompatible aircraft.

Demonstration Flight and Tutorial

Initial operations and setup: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=110
Take-off: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=313
Terrain alert: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=513
Flight information: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=660
Altitude check: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=708 - https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1470
Leaving and entering CTR: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=848 - https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1905 - https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2105
CTR assigning a new altitude: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=957 - https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1945
Flight level change: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1023 - https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1190 - https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1505
Flying over an airport area: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1278
Request ILS procedure: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2380 - https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2460
Abort ILS procedure: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2450
ILS established: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2865
Abort landing: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2910
Request visual approach: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2950
Reaching pattern point: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=3210
Reaching final approach point: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=3305
Landing: https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=3413

Old, beta and preview videos

Quick preview of visual approach

Quick preview of ILS landing

Operating the ATC with keyboard only

Procedure control, warning and approach routes

Altitude, terrain control, flight level change

Red Griffin ATC using Festival Speech Synthesis System

You can download Red Griffin ATC here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/red-griffin-atc

Direct download links to "ready to install" package

https://sourceforge.net/projects/red-griffin-atc/files/latest/download

Note: I am not a pilot and I do not have a plane pilot license, I have never been in a real aircraft's cabin and all the times I have been in a real airplane I did it as a passenger. All of my "plane pilot" experience is only as a "virtual and simulated pilot", a hobby I started in 1982 with Flight Simulator II running on a Commodore 64 computer. I therefore have no ATC procedures experience (what I know is from what I read in specialized books only) and I understand the procedures used in this addon may result incorrect to real pilots. I am more than glad to get any feedback about ATC procedures from experienced pilots and anyone knowing this subject in order to improve this addon.

[Hooray]

Hi, this looks pretty cool - if you haven't already, I'd suggest to get in touch with rleibner, because of his work/addons in this area:


http://wiki.flightgear.org/Spoken_GCA



http://wiki.flightgear.org/Spoken_ATC

[RedGriffin]

Hi, this looks pretty cool - if you haven't already, I'd suggest to get in touch with rleibner, because of his work/addons in this area:

Hello there!
Thank you for your appreciation. I already downloaded and used rleibner's spokenATC but I however wanted to develop an ATC addon on my own which could suit my needs and requirements.
Although I have downloaded rleibner's PAR already, I however did not have the time to fully evaluate it but I will certainly do that.

[Hooray]

maybe you guys even find a way to team up and integrate things to come up with a holistic ATC addon

[tonghuix]

Good job!!

But still some point not good, such us '3600ft' should be TREE THOUSANDS SIX HUNDRED FEET, not THREE SIX ZERO ZERO FEET, and also require support for VFR flight.

[RedGriffin]

Good job!!

Thank you @tonghuix ! I am glad to read about your appreciation for my addon.

But still some point not good, such us '3600ft' should be TREE THOUSANDS SIX HUNDRED FEET, not THREE SIX ZERO ZERO FEET

Thank you for your suggestion. I will certainly add that. Do you think the message should also mention the word "feet"? From what I know about ATC (very little, actually) it seems "feet" is never spoken when it comes to altitude changes.

and also require support for VFR flight.

What do you eaxctly mean? I should add the above suggestion in order to support VFR flights or is there something else I should add in order to support it?

Thank you for your time and help.

[RedGriffin]

I have just created a repository for Red Griffin ATC so anyone can download it, test it and enjoy it.
You can download Red Griffin ATC from its repository at https://gitlab.com/RedGriffin/RedGriffinATC
I have also updated the main message of this thread with the download link.
I hope you will enjoy Red Griffin ATC and please report any bug, feedback or suggestion. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

[wlbragg]

Really nice, easy to use interface. You have talent, well done!

[RedGriffin]

Really nice, easy to use interface. You have talent, well done!

Thank you very much indeed for your appreciation!
I hope you will continue enjoying my ATC addon even in the future releases, as Red Griffin ATC is currently in beta version.
Of course, any suggestion and feedback are welcome.

Greetings from Italy!

[miguel]

Please, the installation directory in WIN10 is possible. Thanks

REDGRIFFIN ATC. miguel

[RedGriffin]

I have just released version 1.0.0 beta 2 and added a new video in my Youtube Channel in which you can see how to operate the ATC with keyboard commands only.
I have also updated the main message of this thread to reflect the new version and video.

As usual, any feedback and suggestions are welcome!

Thank you.

[RedGriffin]

Please, the installation directory in WIN10 is possible. Thanks

REDGRIFFIN ATC. miguel

I guess you can certainly install and use my ATC addon in Windows 10 as well. Although I did not do that personally (I do not have nor use Windows) I think you can follow the usual procedure for installing any Flightgear addon. You simply need to download a distribution file of Red Griffin ATC (I guess .zip is the favorite option in Windows) unpack it in a convenient directory and then add the directory in the "Add-on Module folders" found in the "Add-ons" section of the launcher.

I hope this works for you.

Enjoy Red Griffin ATC!

[miguel]

Thank you very much for the information. It works very well. It is very interesting


miguel.

[RedGriffin]

Thank you very much for the information. It works very well. It is very interesting


miguel.

Thank you for your appreciation. I hope you can enjoy Red Griffin ATC at each flight!

[Bjoern]

Wow!

A few remarks from watching the video (and looking at the speech side of the script):
- QNH is either mbar/hPa or inHg, but not both. If you can determine the current region the user aircraft is in, you can make ATC use the correct unit of measurement automatically. InHg is only used in North America, so airports in ICAO region K or C (maybe M as well), with the rest of the world using mbar/hPa
- Weather information like cloud cover and QNH is actually delivered by ATIS on a separate frequency
- Taxi instructions should be more like "...taxi to and hold short of runway [runway number]"
- When an airport has a ground controller, you will be handed off to tower when near the active runway.
- "Line up and wait" is issued when a previous flight has taken off in order to get going after attaining minimum separation. When there is no other traffic, you will be cleared for takeoff after holding short (or immediately after request while still rolling).
- Take off clearance should be "[Callsign], cleared for takeoff, wind [direction] at [wind speed]" with an optional departure instruction like "fly runway heading" and/or "contact departure on [frequency]".
- You should add phonetic hundreds and thousands
- Airplane callsigns can be abbreviated to save time. So I-GFTN can be spelled as "India Tango November" instead of "India Golf Foxtrot Tango November". it saves a bit of time.

For inspiration, I recommend watching videos of MS Flight Simulato 9's or X' ATC in action. While not perfect, it features real world phraseology.

Are you planning to implement center controllers for flight following (VFR) or IFR?*
And make the AI aircraft talk as well?


Your add-on has tremendous potential!



*Does FlightGear feature air traffic center airspaces at the moment?
If not, I've got such data based on the one in Flight Simulator X.