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== Automated checklist execution == | |||
{{WIP}} | |||
As of version 3.5, [[FlightGear]] can automate the execution of various sequences of aircraft checklists using the autochecklist.nas script in $FGDATA/Aircraft/Generic. This can be used to an create autostart menu but is not restricted to autostart; any checklist sequence can be run from any piece of Nasal code. | |||
=== Background === | |||
The script relies on a comprehensive set of checklists that have complete sets of bindings to take the aircraft from one state to another. For autostart, for example, you need to be able to start the aircraft solely by pressing the binding buttons on the right side of the checklist. | |||
To use the script, you define a named sequence of checklists to be run on demand. For example, you could define a sequence called "startup" that runs the sequence of checklists: "Before Starting Engines" and "Start Engines". You could also define a sequence of checklists called "shutdown" that runs a sequence containing a single checklist "Parking and Secure". | |||
When you invoke the autochecklist script, it executes the checklists defined in the sequence in the order that they are defined. Starting with the first item in the first checklist, it checks the condition associated with the checklist item. If false, it runs the binding. It then moves onto the next item and checks if the condition from the previous item has been satisfied. If not it waits (maybe the binding was interpolated or the condition is waiting for something to start, e.g. APU spooling up). Once the condition from the previous item is satisfied, it looks at the condition on the current item and runs the binding if the condition is false. Execution continues like this until all checklist items have their bindings satisfied. | |||
In some cases, e.g. checks on maximum takeoff weight, bindings will never cause the condition to be satisfied. To cover these cases, the script will consider the checklist to have failed if the condition associated with a checklist item does not become true within a timeout period. In these cases, the pilot needs to review the checklist manually and work out why the aircraft will not start. Once the condition has been corrected, e.g. they removed some fuel or payload to get below MTOW, the checklists can be executed again and should be successful. Because the script checks the condition of each item before running the binding, the automated execution is re-entrant; it just picks up where it left off and does only what needs to be done. | |||
=== Add the script === | |||
Add autochecklist.nas to the aircraft -set.xml file (or equivalent): | |||
<nasal> | |||
<!-- Other scripts here ... --> | |||
<autochecklist> | |||
<file>Aircraft/Generic/autochecklist.nas</file> | |||
</autochecklist> | |||
</nasal> | |||
=== Define checklist sequences === | |||
Create one or more named checklist sequences that specify ordered lists of checklists to execute. | |||
For example, to run checklists with indexes 0 and 1 for startup and checklist 9 for shutdown: | |||
<checklists> | |||
<checklist include="Checklists/before-starting-engines.xml"/> | |||
<checklist include="Checklists/start-engines.xml"/> | |||
<!-- Other checklists here ... --> | |||
<checklist include="Checklists/parking.xml"/> | |||
<startup> | |||
<index n="0">0</index> <!-- Before starting engines --> | |||
<index n="1">1</index> <!-- Start engines --> | |||
</startup> | |||
<shutdown> | |||
<index n="0">9</index> <!-- Parking --> | |||
</startup> | |||
</checklists> | |||
=== Execute the checklist sequence === | |||
For the typical usage of autostart, add a Nasal binding as a menu item and execute the named checklist sequence: | |||
<item> | |||
<label>Autostart</label> | |||
<binding> | |||
<command>nasal</command> | |||
<script>autochecklist.complete_checklists("startup");</script> | |||
</binding> | |||
</item> | |||
Obviously, additional logic can be included in the binding if you want the autostart menu to toggle between autostart and shutdown. | |||
==== Expedited checklists ==== | |||
For in-air start sequences, you can pass zero as the second argument of the complete_checklists function to expedite the sequence. All items in the checklist sequence will be executed without waiting for previous items to complete. This may not be suitable for aircraft that need to wait for something to happen before being able to start engines. Note that this means the checklist sequence can never be considered to have failed. | |||
if (!getprop("gear/gear/wow")) { | |||
autochecklist.complete_checklists(sequence: "in-air-start", wait: 0); | |||
} else { | |||
autochecklist.complete_checklists("ground-start"); | |||
} | |||
Clearly the checklist sequence used for in-air start should be different from a ground start and should put the aircraft into a flying state, e.g. gear up, flaps up. | |||
=== Customizing execution (optional) === | |||
The autochecklist script can be customized by setting properties, either in the aircraft -set.xml file or at runtime: | |||
<checklists> | |||
<auto> | |||
<completed-message>Checklists complete</completed-message> | |||
<startup-message>Running checklists, please wait ...</startup-message> | |||
<timeout-message>Some checks failed.</timeout-message> | |||
<timeout-sec>10</timeout-sec> | |||
<wait-sec>3</wait-sec> | |||
<auto> | |||
</checklists> | |||
* sim/checklists/auto/completed-message: message displayed on successful completion of the checklist | |||
* sim/checklists/auto/startup-message: message displayed prior to automated checklist execution | |||
* sim/checklists/auto/timeout-message: message displayed if checklist execution times out waiting for a checklist condition to be satisfied | |||
* sim/checklists/auto/timeout-sec: if the previous condition is not satisfied within this timeout, the automated execution fails | |||
* sim/checklists/auto/wait-sec: time to wait before re-checking the status of the previous item if its condition is false after running the binding | |||
Messages are displayed as copilot announcements (by setting sim/messages/copilot). They can be empty if messages are not required. Note that messages are not displayed for expedited starts. | |||
=== Other features and ideas === | |||
Sometimes, a checklist binding will do something like display a dialog, e.g. fuel and payload dialog. It would be irritating to the pilot if these things happened during automated execution. These bindings can make use of the "sim/checklists/auto/active" property, which will be true (1) when the checklist binding is being run by the autochecklist script and false (0) otherwise. | |||
Automated checklist execution is not restricted to autostart and shutdown. If you have an "After Landing" checklist that switches landing lights off, raises flaps and turns taxi lights on, for example, you could assign that to a keyboard shortcut. Rollout and taxi is a busy time on some aircraft and it's often not easy to find the switches and controls necessary to complete this kind of checklist. | |||
== External link == | == External link == | ||
* [http://www.mail-archive.com/flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net/msg38325.html Aircraft Checklists] (mailing list) | * [http://www.mail-archive.com/flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net/msg38325.html Aircraft Checklists] (mailing list) | ||
* [https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/message/33904555/ Automated Checklist Execution] (mailing list) | |||
[[Category:Aircraft enhancement]] | [[Category:Aircraft enhancement]] | ||