IT-AUTOFLIGHT

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IT-AUTOFLIGHT
Started in March 2016
Description Advanced Autopilot System
Contributor(s) it0uchpods
Status Beta
The latest IT-AUTOFLIGHT GUI

IT-AUTOFLIGHT is a modular, light, customizable, and advanced Autoflight system for FlightGear. It is designed for most airliners, however, with some tweaking, GA aircraft have been proven to work.

This article contains information on only the V3.0.0 and later versions of IT-AUTOFLIGHT. Therefore, it required a new wiki page.

A version of IT-AUTOFLIGHT for helicopters has started being developed. More information will be available later.

History/Information

Version 1.0

IT-AUTOFLIGHT was first my attempt of making the autoflight system in the MD-88 more advanced. It used a modified Generic Autopilot, and a simple nasal logic controller which decided if the modes were active or not, and put them all under one switch. Here is the very first Nasal controller for IT-AUTOFLIGHT. It would print modes into the console mainly for later debug. It was designed to put engaging/disengaging under one switch because User:it0uchpods didn't know alot about the <enable> tags yet, and did not know complex conditions could be used (like the latest it-autoflight.xml does). This went on for a while, with User:it0uchpods refining it and adding things like LOC ARM/G/S ARM. Then User:it0uchpods decided to install the system into other aircraft. This required bring moving, and adding new logic for the thrust system, due to the way it had been integrated.

Version 2.0

IT-AUTOFLIGHT got a new nasal file in Version 2.0. It was used to get rid of buttons in the cockpit and dialog having 10 or 12 bindings. Here is logic file for V2. This made integration into other planes alot easier. It still had fully generic controllers. Update 2.7 included automatic altitude capturing. After realasing some stability updates for update 2.9, User:it0uchpods finally decided to get rid of the generic controllers, and use custom ones. With JWOCKY's help, User:it0uchpods learned alot about PID Controllers, and installed his own based off the SYS8 controllers. 2 builds were released, V2.10, and V2.11. These included a major update to the dialog, FLCH mode, more advanced logic, and more. However, both were very unstable, and had alot of problems. They were quickly abandoned and replaced with the first V3.0 in development build.

Version 3.0

IT-AUTOFLIGHT Version 3.0 was a major update for the system. It had fixed all the stability issues from V2.10, and V2.11. It also moved the engage logic mostly to the <enable> in the PID Controllers. The active modes, however, are still controlled in the nasal file. The 2 nasal files merged into one, and the Autothrottle moved to a seperate XML file, so that custom autothrottle systems (like A340s) can be used. You can now tune the controllers from the -set or -main file, and keep the ability to drop in updates, without needing to retune anything. It also includes a custom pitch system which used the elevator to set pitch, and the trim to keep the yoke as centered as possible. Version 3.0 also has a completely redone filesystem. All the properties are grouped, and renamed for easier understanding. It is still in development at this time, so there is not much more to write yet.

Development status

  • Magnetic Heading Hold/Select 90}% completed
  • True Heading Hold/Select 90}% completed
  • LNAV 60}% completed
  • VOR/LOC 90}% completed
  • Altitude Hold/Capture 90}% completed
  • Vertical Speed Hold 90}% completed
  • Flight Path Angle Hold 20}% completed
  • Flight Level Change 80}% completed
  • VNAV Not done Not done
  • G/S Hold 80}% completed
  • Autoland 50}% completed
  • IAS/Mach with Throttle Done Done
  • Climb Thrust/Idle Thrust 80}% completed
  • A/T Retard Done Done
  • Dual APs 90}% completed
  • Flight Director 90}% completed
  • Control Wheel Steering 40}% completed
  • Custom Pitch System 70}% completed
  • Takeoff Go Around (TOGA) Mode 50}% completed

Installation Instructions

Coming soon.