FlightGear TQPanel

FlightGear TQPanel

Started in	01/2014
Maintainer(s)	repository
Contributor(s)	d-laser,Michat
Status	Under active development as of 02/2013

d-laser(aka pommesschranke) started a python/kivy app that can be used to control various FlightGear aircraft.

It is a multi-touch App, so you can move each throttle alone or both together using 2 fingers. Use 2 fingers for the toe-brakes, or only one for differential braking.

Kivy apps run on Linux, Windows, Mac, android, iOS

With my kivy TQ I can now control..

• speed brake
• 2 x throttle
• elv. trim
• flaps
• field of view (zoom)
• parking brake
• thrust reverser
• 2 x toe brake
• gear up/down
• change view

(12 nodes in the protocol xml file)

I developed and tested on Linux(800x600) and it runs without changes on an Android tablet (1024x600)

Installation & Setup

requirements: python and kivy or kivy launcher

• download/git repo:

https://gitorious.org/flightgear-tq-panel-made-with-kivy

• copy the 2 xml files to the Protocol folder of your FlightGear data directory.

• start the panel:

python main.py

• start FlightGear:

fgfs   --generic=socket,in,10,HOSTNAME,9009,udp,from_kivy 

(replace HOSTNAME with your IP-Address or hostname)

Todo

• some python code that talks UDP and/or Telnet with FlightGear DONE
• add more buttons and switches One screen is full :-)
• make everything look more real - Michat works on additional graphics
• I started some code to make it bi-directional but run into "race-conditions" so I disabled that for now. atm the panel only writes values to FlightGear but does not read anything.

Conclusion

Although it is not a hardware TQ, I think it is more fun to use than the PC-keyboard. And it is nice to have visual indicators for the position of speed brakes, throttle, flaps, gear