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Atlas like application on iOS

Atlas is an addon that lets FlightGear users display a real-time "moving-map" of their flight.

Atlas like application on iOS

Postby jcuk » Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:34 am

Inspired by ludomotico's FlightGearMap for android http://www.flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=16136 I've started to develop a version for the iPhone and iPad

Version 1.0 is out on the iStore now http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=540190228&mt=8, the next version is in development which should see additional instruments as ludomotico has done. Its a universal app, but to be honest the iPad version is going to be more useful due to the larger screen size, the instruments may be a little too detailed to be used on an iPhone screen.

There are no ads, and its free, so download and enjoy!

Questions and comments (and iStore ratings) are always welcome.
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby jcuk » Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:23 am

Here's some basic instructions for setting the app up.

1) make sure FlightGear is running with telnet enabled on a free port, so fgfs --telnet=9999 from the command line or if you are using a launcher make sure --telnet=9999 is used
2) Make sure your iphone / ipad is connected to your home network using wifi
3) find the ip address of the machine you are running flight gear on (ipconfig on windows or ifconfig on linux should tell you) or if your network supports it use the machine name
4) Enter the ip address and port number (9999 in this example) in the setting screen and tap done.
5) Hopefully the map will now move to you're current location and you're good to go.

Note. The app will save the IP address and port you use. If your FlightGear machine uses DHCP to get its IP address automatically, the IP address may change each time you start the machine up as it is allocated a new IP address form your router. If this happens, just check what the new IP address is using ipconfig / ifconfg. If you're feeling adventurous consider changing to fixed IP addresses on your network.
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby LukeaFG » Tue Jul 10, 2012 3:32 pm

This app is great :) no problems at all! Thank you for making this for iOS :D
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby jcuk » Wed Jul 25, 2012 9:51 am

I've made a bit more progress on this, in fact v1.1 is in a state where it can be submitted to apple. For v1.0 they asked me to make a video of it in operation, so I've done the same thing for v1.1. http://youtu.be/4xM3mGiFrGE

The main change is the addition of instruments.

Questions / comments, or requests for v1.2, please let me know

Enjoy!
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby Johan G » Fri Jul 27, 2012 10:09 pm

Just a small note: I noticed that the aircraft symbol instead of being rotated to the true heading seems to be rotated to the magnetic heading (normally used in aerial navigation). It is pointing about 15 degrees to the west and the variation at KSFO is indeed when looking at the San Francisco sectional about 15 degrees east. :wink:
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby jcuk » Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:52 am

Ooops :oops:

I think I may have mixed up /instrumentation/heading-indicator/indicated-heading-deg and /orientation/heading-deg. v1.1 is well into the review process, so I' wont pull the binary, I'll get it fixed in 1.2 along with some other stuff I've got planned.

Thanks for letting me know.
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby jcuk » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:12 pm

v1.1 went live in the app store this morning

The new version now has instruments and has switched from using TCP to UDP to communicate with FlightGear, so the setup is slightly more complicated. You need the mobatlas.xml config file in your Protocol directory (on the configuration page there is an option to email yourself the file), and there is a new command line option to use for starting FlightGear (this too is listed on the configuration page).

Shout out if you have problems.
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby Philosopher » Mon Aug 13, 2012 1:50 pm

Nice app!

Two things, though.

First, if you are in portrait mode and if you turn instruments off, click done, then turn them back on, the instruments will be rotated to landscape mode if it isn't clearly in portrait mode (e.g. this happens when the orientation is questionable, could be be portrait or landscape depending on what it was last). When in this bug mode, the only thing that is different is that the instruments are in a 2x3 layout and the background is wider, but still extends to the ground.

Second, is it possible to have it be transparent behind the instruments?

Thanks,
Philosopher


PS: I'm pretty sure you're now using the generic protocol, so you should ask to revise your instructions up there. And mention in the app that the generic protocol setup in the launcher/command line requires the IP of the iPod where you put the default IP.
Last edited by Philosopher on Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby jcuk » Thu Aug 23, 2012 4:47 pm

Thanks for the comments.

Apologies for the delay in replying, I've had little or no internet access for the last few weeks, but it should be fixed now - hence the lack of updates to the instructions and screen shots on the app store.

Thanks for the bug report of the instrument layout, I've managed to fix it and a few more bugs too. Transparent instrument backgrounds are no problem I'll put that in and get the next version in to review with apple some time next week, so expect to see the fixes early September

cheers!
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby Groquik » Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:07 pm

Does it really need the ios 5 or can you tell the app store that older version are also ok?

cheers
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby jcuk » Mon Sep 17, 2012 8:33 pm

Groquik wrote in Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:07 pm:Does it really need the ios 5 or can you tell the app store that older version are also ok?
cheers


I'm pretty sure it doesn't, but the minimum supported version is encoded at build time so to change it would need to be re-built and re submitted to the app store. I'll add this on the list of things to do for the next set of bug fixes / improvements.
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby jcuk » Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:16 pm

This is a (belated) note that version 1.2 is now out now, so a big thanks to all those who gave feedback and reported bugs. The changes for this version are:
Graphical improvements:
- Transparent instrument background gives more map area
- Improved aircraft icon
- Improved buttons
Bug fixes:
- Aircraft graphic now follows true heading rather than magnetic
- Balance indicator on turn coordinator movement fixed
- Fixed Instrument layout when device is face up

The last two versions use FlightGear to push out UDP data rather than pulling it via TCP, so the set up is a little more complicated.

1) Start FGMap on your iOS device
2) From the config screen, tap the 'Email me the mobatlas.xml config file' and email the xml config file to yourself.
3) When the email arrives, save the xml attchment and copy it into the 'Protocol' directory in your FlightGear application
4) On the configuration screen, look at the command line it gives you. This will be something like
Code: Select all
fgfs --generic=socket,out,5,192.168.0.30,9999,udp,mobatlas
(the ip address 192.168.0.30 is what my device happened to be using. Yours will probably be different). Use this to start flightgear.
5) Flight gear will now start streaming map and instrument data to your device.

A few notes:
- If for any reason, the data stream from FlightGear to the device is lost, open the config screen on the device and press done. This will re-make the connection and things should start moving again.
- Depending on your network settings your device IP address may change periodically, so you'll need to update the command line if this happens. If you are having problems, check the config screen on your device and confirm you are using the correct command line with the right IP address.
- Any problems, bugs, suggestions or questions, let me know
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby NorthSeaFlyer » Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:40 am

Looks like a neat app and I would like to use it; unfortunately I can't get it to work. The email says : I saved this xml file in the FG_ROOT/Protocol directory, and start flight gear with the command:
fgfs --generic=socket,out,5,192.168.0.133,9999,udp,mobatlas
I copied the xml file in the protocol directory, but can't figure out how to start FG with the command suggested. The youtube video gives a screenshot of an command input screen that I don't see (using Windows 7 and FG2.8.0.5). Can you help me along please? Thanks!
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby jcuk » Sun Sep 23, 2012 11:20 am

Groquik wrote in Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:07 pm:Does it really need the ios 5 or can you tell the app store that older version are also ok?

cheers


I've just checked this and unfortunately it does. Dropping back from 5 to 4 would mean I'd loose some functionality that would require a pretty major re-write. Is it not possible that you could upgrade? On that subject I've just checked iOS 6 and there seem to be a couple of bugs with the screen rotation (again), not to mention the poor quality of the new Tom Tom maps (which I cant do anything about). I'll get a fix out for the bugs that when I can.
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Re: Atlas like application on iOS

Postby jcuk » Sun Sep 23, 2012 12:03 pm

NorthSeaFlyer wrote in Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:40 am:Looks like a neat app and I would like to use it; unfortunately I can't get it to work. The email says : I saved this xml file in the FG_ROOT/Protocol directory, and start flight gear with the command:
fgfs --generic=socket,out,5,192.168.0.133,9999,udp,mobatlas
I copied the xml file in the protocol directory, but can't figure out how to start FG with the command suggested. The youtube video gives a screenshot of an command input screen that I don't see (using Windows 7 and FG2.8.0.5). Can you help me along please? Thanks!


Hello

The youtube video shows the OSX version which comes with a launcher that comes with a GUI that lets you choose the start options. Unfortunatly I've new run FG on a Windows machine. How do you start FlightGear up normally? Do you use the command line, click on an icon or have launcher? If you are using a launcher then there should be somewhere similar to the OSX launcher to add command line options. If not then from a command line change directory to where fgfs.exe is installed ( cd 'C:\Program Files\FlightGear' perhaps?) and type the entire command you had above, then press enter.

If this doesn't make sense, let me know how far you get.
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