Atlas-like application on Android

[jcuk]

The approval took a bit longer than usual, but the iOS version 1.0 is now on the istore

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=540190228&mt=8

I've done some work in importing the instruments for the next version, but it might be a while before I make any significant progress. In the mean time I'll start a thread specifically for the iOS version for questions, comments and updates.

[gigirock]

Hi all,

I think that many people have problems at least with Android version, due to the fact that we don't use the same launcher to run our fgfs.
Personally I'm running fgfs using FGO! application under linux ubuntu

When you have this error you want to add this line to your launch line, but note that those are 2 lines !

"Run fgfs using --generic=socket, out 10, xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, 5501, andatlas --telnet=9000" means:

--generic=socket, out 10, xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, 5501, andatlas
--telnet=9000

in fgo! configuration....otherwise with fgo! fgfs runs but flightgearmap doesn't work

I think is the same in fgrun , there are two different places where you specify telnet port and where you specify socket...


GiGiRock....sky is the limit

[m1ndgames]

i tried to test it, but the app cant connect, after it fails to connect, it tells me to connect to 192.168.1.200 all the time, but ive put 192.168.1.50 in config..?!

is this ip hardcoded?

[ludomotico]

Sorry for not being online these days.

There are two IPs involved: the one in the config is the IP of the PC that runs FlightGear (in your case, the PC seems to be at 192.168.1.50) This IP is used to send data from the mobile phone to FlightGear: switches and the selected radial in the VOR. The other address is the IP of your mobile phone (in your case, the mobile phone seems to be at 192.168.1.200). It is used to receive most of the information. You'll have to configure this IP in the FlightGear that runs on your PC.

To do this, add the parameters that FlighGearMap shows to FlightGear. How to add these parameters to the FlightGear that runs in your PC depends on the launcher that you use to run FlightGear. For example, if you use FGRun or FGo!, there is a text field for this in the "advance settings" tab, as gigirock explains.

[oblivion]

I wanted to let you know that I tried installing this on my Kindle Fire (which is set to install 3rd party apps). The installer starts and informs me about required permissions, but when I click "Install," it just tells me, "Application Not Installed."

This may not come as a surprise, but I figured I'd try it and report back.

[Mikolas]

Hello Ludomotico,
In git master, the ADF indicator was not defined. Adding "/instrumentation/adf/rotation-deg" in the creation of the surface (in line 64 of Cessna172.java) allows ADF indicator to be calibrated and sent to plane.
Is there a way to propose you some commit to git ? Currently the project seems to be read-only.

Do you plan to implement a Radio and AP panel for the cessna172 ?
I think it would be very useful for those who (like me) have not a real FGPanel.
This would allow using the table as an AP or a Radio device, using the valuable tactile interface.

By the way, thank you for your work
Regards
Miko

[ludomotico]

Mikola, if you are using the git version maybe you noticed that I'm working on an advanced avionics panel. So this is a very convenient moment to include any enhancements to the application.

I think that I cannot configure a github repository to be completely public. Thus, I believe that I need your github username to add you as a contributor to the project.

I'm not planning to include radio/AP panel. I estimate that it is a considerable amount of work. Since configuring radio controls is something that is used only from time to time, I'm satisfied with the radio panel that FlightGear includes (key F12) and I prefer investing that time flying

[Mikolas]

Yes the advanced cockpit is very nice. Once I've correctly set up my firewall, all switches were working good

Concerning the Radio Panel, the one displayed on FlightGear needs to be used though keyboard. This is far from reality.
In a panel with rotaries and push buttons on a tactile tablet, we would have a virtual cockpit, interacting with only one finger.
While flying, my right hand is on stick. And this is my right hand I use naturally for keyboard typing. So to use F12 Radio Panel, I have to release the stick...
Even using the mouse on FG's 3D cockpit panel, it is still far from what could be a real cockpit.

Using the several Surface classes you created, it seems to me there is no technical difficulties left to code this... but indeed it would be a long work.

(I've just created a user in github : mikolas31. But here my contribution will be very small, I've juste changes on line actually !)

I have another question concerning the target Android version. Why do you set min android version to 2.1.x ?
Do you have some statistics on the version your users have ?
I guess most tablets can now be upgraded to 4.x... and, from ICS, some great improvements in UI would make rotations and multitouch interactions much easier.

[ludomotico]

Yesterday, I trained on a real C172 for the first time. I must admit that the radio panel is still the lesser of my concerns

The different surfaces should be enough for most of the instruments on a radio panel. The major task would be the artwork.

According to the statistics provided by Google, there are one thousand users of the application. About 40% of the installations are on Android 4; 33% on Android 2.3 (this includes my mobile phone) and about 3% on Android 2.1. In fact, you will find users asking for 2.1 support in this very thread.

Currently, I'm working on a glass panel for a generic aircraft. This is the current state of the panel. It is working, but as you can see the artwork is not the best. You can find the current version that includes this panel in github.

[Gijs]

Ah, that's an interesting new feature! Will it also be available (full screen) for small phone screens? Looking forward to it!

[penta]

I've just installed this app on my xperia X8 with android 2.1 and I must say that it is really functional: many thanks for your work! Is it possible to zoom in and out the map?

[Skytrill]

This seems like an amazing app but unfortunately I can't install it from google play (keeps saying that my tablet (android 4) is not supported). Is there any other way to bypass this? It's the first time I'm not allowed to install an apk. Thanks!

[Gijs]

Hi Ludo,

just installed the new version this morning. Great work on the new instruments! It's a real pleasure to watch everything rotate and move while I fly around. The touch support of some of the instruments is also very clever

Nevertheless I do have a small list of issues that I encountered:
- lighting switch states aren't sent to FlightGear (I suppose that's because andatlas.xml doesn't include them?). I had the wrong IP setting in the app's menu.
- the public transport map displays white tiles with an error "The map is designed for online use."
- MapQuest Aerial displays nothing (just the grey grid)
- when zooming in/out, the map first centers to Russia, before it focuses on the aircraft position.

Despite those flaws, it's still a lovely app! Thanks a lot for all the hard work that you've put in it!

Cheers,
Gijs

[ludomotico]

Thanks for your comments, Gijs. I'll check these bugs. Public transport and MapQuests maps are out of my control, if the map source is not available I'll have to remove them from the list of available map types. The map centering on Russia is strange. Nothing wrong with Russia, but I cannot imagine why it is centering over there. Maybe it is just the tile cache doing weird cache-things? I'll check this out.

[Hooray]

Subject: Atlas-like application on Android

In my experience, I found that using telnet to stream data from fgfs to the remote application was too slow to be usable. Using telnet, you can read or write data about twice a second, just as the documentation says, and trying a shorter update period blocks the client. 2Hz may be suitable for showing the position of the plane on a map or change switches, but it is clearly not enough for instruments. Figuring out a way to solve this limitation was the main reason for the long delay in the last update of my application.

Thus, I'm using UDP for fast downstream communication (instruments, position, engines...), and telnet for the slower upstream communication (instrument calibration and switches), that is something that is expected that the pilot does just once in a while. I was not able to push data into fgfs using UDP and a custom protocol: it is documented in README.IO and README.protocol, but I wasn't able to have that bit working.

http://wiki.flightgear.org/Talk:FlightGearMap
http://wiki.flightgear.org/Telnet_usage ... nsubscribe

That is not to say that the telnet protocol couldn't be improved or made faster - people using it, are in an excellent position to leave feedback and request improvements, please use the issue tracker: https://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bu ... %20request