X-Plane HIL simulator, now with Auto Takeoff and Landing

I've finally perfected the X-Plane HIL for Ardupilot. This will be a feature on 2.6.3 which will be in beta today.

Flying Waypoints:

Here is missed waypoint detection: (I nudged the plane at the last second with the radio to miss the WPs.)

Here is fully auto take off and landing:

Here is the video of auto takeoff and landing:

Xplane and Ardupilot from Jason Short on Vimeo.

If you want to try this out you have to use some software to glue this all together.

Serproxy - used to talk serial to Ardupilot

Perl - to link Serproxy and X-Plane using "X-Plane.pl"

X-Plane 9 (the free version works fine, but it time limited)

I've only tested this on a Mac, so if anyone can try this on a PC, please let me know of changes to make, if any.

In the config header you will see a new ground station called GCS_Xplane (3). You must also use GPS_protocol 3 for ArduIMU.

Here is the Perl file:X-Plane.pl

Here is Windows Serproxy - Windows

Here is Mac Serproxy - Mac

in the config set:

newlines_to_nils=true

comm_baud=38400

Then set the com port accordingly

Go ahead and download 2.6.3 from the SVN. I'll post a beta soon as a download.

Moving forward I'd like to replace the Perl/Serproxy combination with a single C or Python based solution. If anyone can help, that would make it so much easier to set up!

Bonus:

> Does anyone have a good quality 3d Model of an Easystar? If someone could build an X-Plane Easystar that would be incredible....

Use the one from OpenPilot, you will want AC3D which is what was used, import the 3DS and export it for Xplane (which uses AC3D for modelling).

I am bit annoyed that you appear to think this is a game changer when we (OpenPilot) have been doing it for a long time already and Paparazzi a long time before us. But I understand that being a marketing guy this is just how you roll but it does get other projects off-side. Far from being a game changer it is actually just common sense development, you *need* this if you are to become a solid platform otherwise bugs will take forever to spot, will be hard to reproduce and you end up with a lot of broken aircraft.

The Easystar model and the HITL Sim from OpenPilot can bee seen in this video:

http://openpilot.org/HITL_Simulation

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Comments

David Ankers July 21, 2010 at 5:51pm

Additionally, I can help you with Flightgear support if you wish, it is very simple. Inside this directory you will find an xml file, this is the protocol definition file for Flightgear. You will see the items to input and the items you desire to be output. This file goes in the Flightgear data directory, you of course can check the HITL code for how flight gear is started but basically you start flightgear with

--generic=socket,out,50,localhost,5500,udp,
Developer

Jason Short July 21, 2010 at 5:45pm

Perfect! Thank you very much!
Jason
David Ankers July 21, 2010 at 5:42pm

I hope this link works.

If not, it is in websvn under ground/share/openpilotgcs/models

You can tag the Easystar directory and just download it from that interface. It is a 3DS with all the textures in separate files, the model is perfect, the textures could be a bit better how they fit together.
Developer

Jason Short July 21, 2010 at 5:16pm

Can you provide a link to the file you're referring to? I can't seem to find it on your site.
Thanks,
Jason
David Ankers July 21, 2010 at 4:59pm

> Does anyone have a good quality 3d Model of an Easystar? If someone could build an X-Plane Easystar that would be incredible....

Use the one from OpenPilot, you will want AC3D which is what was used, import the 3DS and export it for Xplane (which uses AC3D for modelling).

I am bit annoyed that you appear to think this is a game changer when we (OpenPilot) have been doing it for a long time already and Paparazzi a long time before us. But I understand that being a marketing guy this is just how you roll but it does get other projects off-side. Far from being a game changer it is actually just common sense development, you *need* this if you are to become a solid platform otherwise bugs will take forever to spot, will be hard to reproduce and you end up with a lot of broken aircraft.

The Easystar model and the HITL Sim from OpenPilot can bee seen in this video:

http://openpilot.org/HITL_Simulation
Developer

Jason Short July 21, 2010 at 4:21pm

@NS Rana,
I just added the nose up feature and have been able to perfectly land the included RC model in X-Plane. With Mega we should have some pretty good altitude precision.

I've been trying the other models included in X-Plane and it's a blast. Amazing piece of software at a great price.
Jason
Rana July 21, 2010 at 4:18pm

Jason, I have seen your video several times its is really good.
Fraction of a second before touch down there should be little bit nose up or you can say elevator up so that landing is like manual.
In the simulator you always have precise altitude information, so you can do that :-))

http://manual.In/

See related links to what you are looking for.
Rana July 21, 2010 at 4:05pm

Jason, excellent !
I have ordered my X-Plane from Laminar, it is already on the way containing 6-7 double layer DVD's of scenery databank of almost all the globe.
Developer

Jason Short July 21, 2010 at 3:40pm

Does anyone have a good quality 3d Model of an Easystar? If someone could build an X-Plane Easystar that would be incredible....
space_nut July 21, 2010 at 2:35pm

Excellent!

Will try this waypoint writer with my real setup as well. Thanks!!

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