fix startup sequence problems where we initialize the FDM before we know
the desired starting altitude.
These changes delay fdm initialization until the local tile has been loaded
and we can do a real intersection and find the true ground elevation.
In order to do this, I depend more on the property manager as glue, rather
than the FGInterface.
There are some glitches still when switching to a new airport or reseting
the sim. I will work on addressing these, but I need to commit the changes
so far to keep in sync with other developers.
meaning of "win_ratio". I've removed win_ratio and added fov_ratio and
aspect_ratio, as it seems both are needed.
n.b. The multi-line changes in fgReshape comprise:
extracting common code,
removing an apparently arbitrary "+1" on the view height,
changing "set_win_ratio" to "set_aspect_ratio".
through the controls interface and the running and cranking flags through
the engine interface. This has no current effect on LaRCsim (other than
to make the code neater) but is necessary to add engine startup to JSBSim
which is now underway. I've also put in main.cxx which escaped getting
committed in the previous round of changes - adding this will add
the cranking sound to LaRCsim during engine startup.
one I sent yesterday. I have re-zipped all four files so you can
neglect the last lot but only io360.cxx has changed if you've
already committed. It's untested since I can't start the engine until
John has committed his update with separate properties. Should
work fine though.
- use guiErrorMessage
- added new properties /sim/view/pilot/x-offset-m,
/sim/view/pilot/y-offset-m, and /sim/view/pilot/z-offset-m to
control pilot-position offset from CG
but no entries qualify for removal. It will keep trying to schedule the
tile(s) until an entry frees up. Entries in the cache do not qualify for
removal if they are in the process of being loaded.
I've updated the WeatherDatabase to be able to use only the n closest
stations. This can speed up the initalization dramatically.
To take a benefit from that you need:
- http://129.13.102.67/out/flight/current.txt.gz in
FG_ROOT/weather/current.txt.gz
- --prop:/environment/weather/working-type=internet
- --prop:/environment/weather/max-stations=what_ever_you_want
The WeatherCM stuff now publishes its data in the property system.
/environment/weather/wind-north-mps
/environment/weather/wind-east-mps
/environment/weather/wind-up-mps
/environment/weather/temperature-K
/environment/weather/air-pressure-Pa
/environment/weather/vapor-pressure-Pa
/environment/weather/air-density
are the new properties.
have multiple ptrs to individual entries (aliases) but the destructor was
trying to delete every ptr so it would delete already freed memory for aliases.
I implimented a simple ref counting scheme (similar to the plib mechanism) to
track references to material lib entries and only "delete" them when the last
reference is removed.
that overrides in JSBSim will work (i.e. properties can be set)
- modified set_(u|v|w)Body to use set_Velocities_Wind_Body, so
that overrides in JSBSim will work (i.e. properties can be set)
can bind a single input to multiple properties)
Made the following properties archivable:
- /controls/aileron
- /controls/elevator
- /controls/elevator-trim
- /controls/rudder
- /controls/flaps
- /controls/throttle[*]
- /controls/mixture[*]
- /controls/propellor-pitch[*]
- /controls/brakes[*]
in init)
- free data structures in destructor
- ensure that interpolation tables are allocated before any searching
is done; otherwise, starting at some locations (such as CYYZ) causes
a segfault
node, and to modify that directly for scaling events: that will make
handling joystick axes much more efficient
- modified FGBinding to work with the new command state, so that
commands can save their state (i.e. compiled arguments) from the last
pass
- removed FGBinding::_fire implementation
- implemented FGBinding copy constructor
pointing to a non-existant material name. (This has been fixed.)
The alias code didn't check to see if this condition would occur so it
was putting a 'NULL' entry in the material library which was causing
the crash. It now checks for and skips bad aliases and prints a
warning message.
- moved shift-F3 (reload panel) bindings to XML
- moved shift-F4 (reload prefs) bindings to XML
- moved shift-F5, shift-F6, shift-F7, and shift-F8 (scroll panel) to
XML
- no longer includes Main/bfi.hxx
- added implementations of GLUTkey, GLUTkeyup, GLUTspecialkey, and
GLUTspecialkeyup
- include Input/input.hxx
- register GLUTkeyup and GLUTspecialkeyup with glut
- comment out call to fgJoystickRead
- comment out call to fgJoystickInit
- add call to FGInput::update to replace fgJoystickRead
this way, keyboard buttons can work the same way as joystick buttons
- added declaration for FGBinding::fire(double); this adds a setting
property to the arguments passed to the command, so that it can use
the current axis position as part of its calculations
- added data structures from joystick.cxx
- go back to using index as key code (otherwise, we'll get nasty
surprises when users try to override bindings)
- XML config file now nests bindings inside modifiers
- allow user to specify whether key is repeatable
- removed hard-coded bindings for 'b', ',', and '.'
- added code from joystick.cxx, with the following major changes:
- changed from js0, axis0, button0 to js[0], axis[0], button[0], etc.
- removed factor, offset, etc. since they will be args to command in
binding
- allow multiple bindings, as with key mappings
- allow access to keyboard modifier keys for bindings
- include infrastructure for modifiers (only FG_MOD_UP is used so far)
- removed unused 'saturation' property
- temporarily removed capture property and trim code; it will have to
be rewritten to be more generic
- allow modifiers for joystick buttons
want binding/property rather than binding/control
- removed hard-coded bindings for F3 (screenshot), Ctrl-S
(autothrottle), v (cycle view) and all of the keypad view-direction
keys; these are now defined in $FG_ROOT/keyboard.xml
- removed unused action method
a crash when relocating to a new airport. Pending work from the old
area is now just completed as normal, rather than trying to empty the various
queues in their various stages when can lead to many problems in a threaded
environment.
with different modifiers (the format of the key bindings has changed
again slightly, adding a <code>..</code> element; see keyboard.xml for
details).
2. Modified FGInput to try default modifiers for ctrl, shift, and alt
when the initial bindings fail (i.e. you don't have to specify
mod-shift explicitly for upper-case 'P' any more).
3. Fixed problems with properties and panel reloading reported by
Martin Dressler and John Check.
4. Updated preferences.xml to get rid of obsolete references to
/controls/brakes/left and /controls/brakes/right (as reported by John
Check).
There were also two non-bugs reported by John Check:
(a) Differential braking doesn't work (John was using the obsolete
properties from #4 above).
(b) Duplicates show up in the property tree using the telnet interface
(the property tree doesn't show indices, and John was seeing separate
entries for each possible engine, etc.).
Fixed a few glitches in the autopilot keys
Added a #define to be able to make a compile time decision to revert to
older GPS like autopiolt behavior this define SHOULD become a property
so that it is run time switchable.
(src/Input). So far, FGInput replaces most of src/Main/keyboard.cxx
(I've left a tiny stub); in the very near future, it will also take
over control of the joystick, mouse (Norm permitting), and panel
instrument interactions, so that there is a single mechanism for
configuring all input devices.
The new format should be (close to) self-explanatory by looking at the
new base-package file keyboard.xml, which is now included by
preferences.xml (I'll do the same thing for the joystick when I have a
chance). I have not managed to move all keybindings into this file
yet, but I've made a good start. I'm including Tony in the recipient
list so that he can see how bindings can use an external XML file.
This patch also adds support for multiple bindings for a single key,
special keys (i.e. keypad and function keys), and key modifiers
(shift/alt/ctrl); special keys use the PUI convention of adding 256 to
the Glut key code.
Unfortunately, everything comes with a price; in this case, I have not
yet found a general mechanism for the old (hard-coded) modal bindings,
which behaved differently depending on the autopilot state (i.e. left
rudder or move AP heading left); with my patches, this functionality
disappears, but you can still adjust the autopilot using the panel or
the GUI input dialogs.
to have attached an ssg loaded object to this branch, then plib will remove
it and all it's states (and textures) which will call opengl api commands
which will crash the program if run from a separate thread from the main render
thread.
- model loading deferred to primary thread
- tile removal deferred to paging thread
- other tweaks and rearrangments.
Airport signs
- first stab at some support for adding taxiway and runway signs. This
is non-optimal, but I'm under the gun for a demo.
a newly loaded tile to the scene graph. Instead it puts it in a queue
for the tile manager. I've used your counter_hack to check the loaded
queue and add any tiles to the scene graph. I was playing around with
the counter_hack so there might be some commented out code, etc. I also
changed some SG_DEBUGs to SG_INFOs so I could track the tile loading.
He writes:
Here are the final changes to add threads to the tile loading. All the
thread related code is in the new FGTileLoader class.
./configure.in
./acconfig.h
Added --with-threads option and corresponding ENABLE_THREADS
definition. The default is no threads.
./src/Scenery/tilemgr
Removed load_queue and associated references. This has been replaced by
a new class FGTileLoader in FGNewCache.
Made the global variable global_tile_cache a member.
schedule_needed(): removed global_tile_cache.exists() tests since
sched_tile() effectively repeats the test.
initialize_queue(): removed code that loads tiles since this is now
performed by FGTileLoader.
update(): ditto
./src/Scenery/newcache
Added new class FGTileLoader to manage tile queuing and loading.
tile_map typedefs are private.
exists() is a const member function.
fill_in(): deleted
load_tile(): added.
./src/Scenery/FGTileLoader
The new threaded tile loader. Maintains a queue of tiles waiting to be
loaded and an array of one or more threads to load the tiles. Currently
only a single thread is created. The queue is guarded by a mutex to
synchronize access. A condition variable signals the thread when the
queue is non-empty.
CLO: I made a few tweaks to address a couple issues, hopefully what we
have is solid, but now we kick it out to the general public to see. :-)
tile has been loaded. Since this flag can be set by another thread I've
declared it "volatile bool".
Also cleaned up delete vs delete[] usage. Gcc is happy with delete[],
which is the correct usage.
The files in the attached tarball make the following changes to
FlightGear:
- rename the existing FGInterface::init() method to
FGInterface::_setup to get it out of the way
- move *all* FDM initialization code out of src/Main/fg_init.cxx and
into FGInterface::init(), and clean up fg_init.cxx a little
(especially by removing the zillions of attempts to place the plane on
the ground at various locations in the code)
- modify FGInterface::bind() so that no values are picked up
automatically at bind time (they are set previously by init() instead)
- modify the init() methods of the classes derived from FGInterface
(i.e. larcsim, jsbsim, balloon, magic, and ada) to invoke
FGInterface::init() explicitly before doing their own setup
I don't claim that the code in FGInterface::init() is optimal (or even
correct), but it seems to work for on-ground starts with both LaRCSim
and JSBSim on runways pointing various directions from near sea level
to about 700' ASL (the range I happened to test). I expect that Jon
and Tony will want to look at the code and refactor and correct it now
that they can see what's going on in one place.
Here's a quick outline of what is invoked:
cur_fdm_state = new <whatever>(dt);
cur_fdm_state->init();
cur_fdm_state->bind();
The constructor allocates memory and sets default values only (with
the help of the FGInterface::_setup() method). The init() method pull
any required properties out of the property tree and sets up the
initial state of the FDM. The bind() method takes ownership of
FDM-related properties so that the FDM can publish them to the rest of
the sim.
Note that bind() and init() are virtual, so any implementation in a
subclass will hide the implementation in FGInterface; that's why
subclass implementations of init() and bind() have to invoke
FGInterface::init() and FGInterface::bind() explicitly, probably at
the start, so that they get the basic initialization.
hope, with earlier versions as well)
- support for the new LONG value type
- gear support for UIUC (updated for the newly renamed SG_* stuff;
otherwise identical to what I sent you before)
- fixed reported MSVC problem in src/FDM/flight.cxx
I have created a set of patches to provide configurable landing gear
for the UIUC models. The patches (including four new files) are
available at
http://megginson.com/private/fgfs/uiuc-20010309.tar.gz
A modified UIUC configuration file for the Twin Otter (DHC-6) is
available at
http://megginson.com/private/fgfs/aircraft.dat
It should be possible to configure appropriate gear for all of the
UIUC models now. As a bonus, the models also support braking, both
absolute and differential, as well as nose-wheel steering (all of
which are currently missing from the UIUC models) -- when you land,
you don't have to keep rolling off the end of the runway anymore, and
you don't have to bank to steer in a taxi.
My sample configuration file contains absolutely bizarre, wild
guesses, and many places that I didn't even bother to guess properly.
The only actual data I had was the wing-span of the DHC-6 (65ft),
which I used for positioning the wing tips. The wing-tips for this
model actually work now -- I hit the aileron hard while accelerating
for take-off, and the wingtip noticeably strikes the ground and
bounces up (quite dramatic in external view using the DHC-6 model from
Wolfram's site).
Details
-------
The UIUC models now support up to 16 gear points each where a gear
point is anything in the aircraft that can come in contact with the
ground, including the tail and wing-tips. I have added the following
new fields to the UIUC configuration files, where <index> is an
integer between 0 and 15, and <value> is a real number:
gear <index> Dx_gear <value> # x offset from CG [ft]
gear <index> Dy_gear <value> # y offset from CG [ft]
gear <index> Dz_gear <value> # z offset from CG [ft]
gear <index> cgear <value> # spring damping [lbs/ft/sec]
gear <index> kgear <value> # springiness [lbs/ft]
gear <index> muGear <value> # rolling coefficient
gear <index> strutLength <value> # gear travel [ft] (not yet used)
Most of these names were already pencilled into the UIUC documentation
(as TODO items), but I had to make up Dx_gear, Dy_gear, and Dz_gear --
if those are inappropriate, I'd appreciate suggestions for better
names.
It will be necessary to modify the other UIUC configuration files to
include some kind of gear support as well, or the planes will sink
nose-first into the ground down to their CG's (it's actually quite
funny to watch with an external view).
Background
----------
As I frequently remind everyone here, I have no math background worth
spitting at, so I will not even pretend to have done the hard stuff.
The UIUC code uses a copy of a very old version of the LaRCsim
c172_gear.c -- I wanted to update it with Tony Peden's excellent newer
version, which includes differential braking among other goodies (the
UIUC models don't support brakes, period).
I copied the newer code into uiuc_aero.c, and it compiled and ran, but
all of the planes ended up sitting on their tails with their noses in
the air. Since Tony made his gear code nicely parameterized, I
experimented with different values, and found that it wasn't too hard
to balance the Twin Otter by moving the gear back a bit. At first, I
used properties to set different values, but then I decided to
integrate the whole thing properly into the UIUC configuration
framework. Thanks to Tony Peden, who did the real modelling work -- I
can take credit only for two or three hours of integration. It turns
out that Tony's code is generalized enough to deal with a wide range
of different gear structures -- I suspect that it will even work for
the 747, when I get around to trying some values.
implicitly correcting for that yet. The plane now makes it to 11000ft on
autopilot *slowly*. I think I'll have to look at the prop parameters
next - altering the diameter and blade angle just slightly can have
quite an effect. If you want to play then try changing the values
prop_diameter and blade_angle in FGNewEngine::init. Keep blade
angle between 20 and 25 (since those are the only values for which
I've entered data and I interpolate between them) and ignore
FGProp1_Blade_Angle since that's an old variable that isn't used. I
really ought to read all the engine and prop parameters from file to
avoid recompilation when tweaking !
the actual air pressure and temperature from the LaRCSim model
instead of assuming that it is at sea level as before. This has
reduced the ceiling from over 60000 ft to about 9000 ft. This is a bit
low (should be around 13 - 14000 ft I think) but I still have some
stuff to do with the engine power correlation and its ignoring the
temperature at the moment so I'm not panicking yet :-)
I've also changed the mixture-power correlation to one from a
published paper since the curve from the IO360 manual seemed to
be a load of rubbish, and didn't have any numbers on the mixture
axis anyway.
I've also knocked the full rich mixture down a touch in line with
Riley Rainey's recommendation, and cleaned up the code a bit.
a) I was compairing feet vs. meter (making the range 3x too. big)
b) I was using the diameter in place of the radius (making the range an
additional 2x too big.)
c) Updated the equation for calculating range to model the weak transmitter
not being picked up at upper altitudes.
We still might need some additional tweaking, but I think we are starting to
get in the right ball park.
is 9 not 8.) Note that the initial altitude setting was placing us way below
the ground, but as it doesn't seem to have caused us problems, it's probably
redundant!
When you tune into a station start at a "random" point in the sequence.
Sped up the words per minute to 13 to which means one sequence per about 4 secs.
This means we get through the whole sequence in about 20 seconds leaving 10
seconds of silence.
joystick input, and then will ignore the actual position of that input
until the user places it in the proper position to match the trimmed position.
At that point the joystick input captures control over the value and the
value will match the joystick position from then on. This is primarily set
up so that the FDM can trim in an initial throttle position.
Added fuel-flow and total fuel to the LaRCSim model. Its still a bit
rough for now but it works, except the engine dosn't stop when fuel runs
out at the moment since there's no refuelling capability in the sim just
now. It takes about 4 gallons use before you see the fuel guages begin
to drop since there's 28 gal per tank but the guages go to 26.
DG heading bug initializes to a random setting.
Activating heading hold doesn't touch the DG heading bug any more.
Max autopilot decent rate is now -1000.
Basically I've rewritten the prop model along similar lines to how
Jon has done his - using published efficiency and coefficient of
power data. It works *much* better - try pulling the throttle back
to idle and putting the plane into a dive before and after updating
and you'll see what I mean. It doesn't require a fudge factor either
:-)
