Howto:C172P Cockpit Project/Miscellaneous notes

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Specifications - System Overview

The C172 Instrument Panel Hardware runs under the control of a web and gpio service running on a small server. The services' main responsibility is to act as a communications bridge between the flight simulator program and a set of lower level hardware that makes up the gauges, instruments, radios, switches and flight controls.

The services' responsibilities include:

  • Serving configuration pages to the user
  • Configuring, starting and managing ongoing data exchanges with the flight simulation software
  • Configuring lower level microprocessors and peripherals
  • Running tests of
    • configured lower level microprocessors and peripherals
    • configured connections with flight simulation software
  • Monitoring and logging end to end communications between the simulator software and the cockpit hardware.
  • Exchanging data with lower level microprocessors and peripherals
  • Evaluating if data changes are significant and need to be communicated
  • Prioritizing data exchanges
  • Ensuring timely delivery of data to the simulator and the lower level cockpit hardware

The server is written in Javascript and runs under Node.js. The server as written should run on any processor provided the processor and its operating system

  • has the necessary gpio pins or other interfaces to communicate with the lower level processors and peripherals
  • can run a node server
  • has a version of node that can access the appropriate communications bus from within the node server process,

The C172 Panel Project being built by Pat Callahan will use a Raspberry PI3 as the Node Server under the Raspberian Operating System

Callahanp (talk) 10:00, 7 December 2016 (EST)

Specifications - Cockpit Server

  • Need a high level description of how the Simulation Cockpit Server is structured and how it works
  • Need a general description of how the server interacts with connected peripherals and other microprocessors acting as peripherals

Specifications - Simulation Program Interface

  • Need a description of the communication between the Simulation Hardware Server and the Simulator works.

Cockpit Hardware Server

Server Level Data Protocol

Server Level Drivers

Specifications - Low Level Hardware and Controllers

Controllers

  • Need a list of each type of Low Level Hardware and processors used as controllers.

Lower Level Hardware

  • Need a list of Low Level Hardware Device types
  • Need documentation on each type of Low Level Hardware Device
  • Need a description of the lowest level of software that processes data from each type of physical device

Lower Level Data Protocols

  • Need a description of the data required for each type of lower level processor or peripheral

Low Level Drivers

  • Need a description of the lowest level of software that accepts data from each type of physical device

Low Level Processing

  • Need a description of the lowest level of software that processes data from each type of physical device and communicates a processed result to the server.

Specifications - Gauges, Instruments, Radios, Switches & Flight Controls

Gauges

  • general description of gauges

Instruments

  • general description of Instruments

Radios

  • general description of Radios

Switches

  • general description of Switches

Flight Controls

  • general description of Flight Controls

Specifications -System wide Data Flows

  • Need a list of each type of data flow between the Flight Simulation Software and the Low Level Hardware in the Instrument Panel
  • Need a complete description of each type of data flow with examples