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Aircraft Simulator
By: brentjustice ‎12-20-2014 09:43 PM Last Edited By: Paul-D ‎06-27-2017 09:39 AM Document options 

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Code and Documents

Attachment
 Simflight.zip 8835‫‏‬KB

Overview
A real-time controllable simulator was created for the purpose of test-flying the aircraft and for testing various
feedback control inputs. The following figure illustrates the graphical user interface (GUI) for the simulator.

Figure 1: graphical user interface for simulator

GUI display features

3-D render of aircraft

Attitude gimbal display

Ground track display

Airspeed indicator
 Control surface input display

Time plots of any state space variables or outputs

Control inputs
Elevator

Aileron

Rudder

Throttle

Control input options

Joystick (Logitech Extreme 3D Pro)

user-specified step function (no joystick needed)

user-specified doublet function (no joystick needed)

user-specified ramp function (no joystick needed)

Simulator configuration parameters

Specify aircraft
Specify aileron proportional feedback gain
Specify elevator proportional feedback gain
Specify rudder proportional feedback gain

Joystick Control
The simulation can be controlled in real-time through the use of a joystick. While it's possible that any generic
joystick might work with this code, I am only able to guarantee compatibility with the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro
joystick. The following figure illustrates the mapping of joystick axes to aircraft control surface input.
 Where:
Y = elevator control
X = aileron control
RZ = rudder control
Throttle = motor power

Figure 2: Joystick configuration for simulator control

Theory of Operation
The following is a summary of the process for simulating the aircraft response in real-time:
1. FlatEarth v9.53 generates linearized state space for aircraft dynamics
2. MATLAB script exports state space to text config files
3. Labview 2015 reads config files on startup
4. Labview 2015 Control Design and Simulation Module utilized for performing state space calculations
5. Timing logic used to enforce real-time operation

The state space obtained from FlatEarth is illustrated in Figure 3:

Figure 3: FlatEarth state space output to Labview

The state space variables, inputs, and outputs are defined in Table 4.

Figure 4: State Space Variable Definitions

State Space Feedback Control

It is desirable to be able to apply proportional feedback control gains to the aileron, rudder, and elevator for aircraft
testing. The figure below illustrates how the open-loop state space is wrapped by a proportional controller.
 Figure 5: proportional feedback controller applied to state space [10]

With the addition of the proportional controller, the state space equation can then be written as: [10]

User-Guide
Installation
You will need to install the following elements before being able to run this code:
1. LabVIEW 2015 Development system
2. LabVIEW Control Design and Simulation Module

3. Simflight.zip (at bottom of this page)

Please note that LabVIEW 2015 and the Control Design and Simulation Module can be downloaded/installed for free for a 7-day trial. You can
extend this to a 45 day trial by creating a free National Instruments account. You can extend this to a 6 month trial by verifying your status as a
student to National Instruments.

Create & SIM a new Aircraft

Step 1: Create FlatEarth constants input file
This is where you specify all the properties of your aircraft. FlatEarth will use these inputs to generate the state space
that LabVIEW utilizes to run the simulation. Simflight comes packaged with 3 example constant input files:
"Basic_Constants_MPX5.m", "Basic_Constants_PA_28_161_Warrior.m", "Basic_Constants_Albatross.m"

Step 2: Run FlatEarth to Simflight script

Locate the file: "FlatEarth_to_Simflight.m". This script wraps and runs the FlatEarth module to generate a state space.
The resulting state space is exported into a set of text files that LabVIEW will parse at run-time. You must edit this script
to properly identify and run the constants input file that you just created.

Step 3: (Optional) Modify SIM_Controls.INI

If the FlatEarth code ran successfully, you will have created a new folder in the config_files folder. It should look like this:

The newly created folder contains all of the text files (state space variables) required for the LabVIEW simulation. One
file that you may wish to modify is the SIM_Controls.INI file. This files looks like this:
These numbers affect the range of motion of the joystick in the simulator. More specifically, if the max rudder is set at
25 degrees, then full rotation of the joystick yaw-axis will yield 25 degrees rudder deflection in the simulation. If you find
that you want a more/less sensitive joystick, you can increase/decrease this number as you please. Simply edit the file
and save. LabVIEW loads this file at run-time.

The max_speed input in slightly different. This simply affects the maximum number shown on the speedometer on the
GUI.

Step 4: Run LabVIEW Simflight program

Locate and run the file: "Simflight.vi". Again, for this step, you will need both LabVIEW 2015 and the Control Design and
Simulation Module installed. (Click the run-arrow in the menu-bar of the VI to start the program.)

Step 5: Specify SIM Inputs

When the program is started, the user is promted for the following information:
aircraft selection. Use the drop-down menu on this control to navigate the possible options. You
should see your aircraft here if you ran the FlatEarth_to_Simflight.m script properly
proportional feedback gains
Control Input Source. (See below for more information about the various options here)

Step 5.1: joystick (autodetect) control option

This option will attempt to autodetect a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick plugged into the computer. If successful, you'll
be able to control the simulation in real-time with the joystick.

Step 5.2: joystick (select port) control option

If the auto-detect option isn't working, you can use this option to manually specify the port that your joystick is plugged into. This option might be
useful for attempting to use the simulator with a different type of joystick. (Again, I can only guarantee compatibility with the Logitech Extreme
3D Pro joystick.) Use device manager to determine what port your joystick is plugged into.
Step 5.3: step function control option
This option will apply a step-function to the state space. Note the following:
duration of step = how long the step input persists
rudder deflection = degrees of deflection from trim during step
aileron deflection = degrees of aileron from trim during step

elevator deflection = degrees of elevator from trim during step

motor (BHP) from trip = throttle input from trim during step

You do not need a joystick for this method

Step 5.4: doublet function control option
This option will apply a doublet-function to the state space. Note the following:
duration of up step = how long the positive step input persists
duration of down step = how long the negative step input persists
rudder deflection = degrees of deflection from trim during step
aileron deflection = degrees of aileron from trim during step

elevator deflection = degrees of elevator from trim during step

motor (BHP) from trip = throttle input from trim during step

You do not need a joystick for this method

Step 5.5: ramp function control option
This option will apply a step-function to the state space. Note the following:
duration of ramp = how long the ramp input persists
rudder ramp rate= degrees/s of deflection from trim during the ramp
aileron ramp rate= degrees/s of aileron from trim during the ramp

elevator ramp rate= degrees/s of elevator from trim during the ramp

motor ramp rate = BHP/s of throttle input from trim during the ramp

You do not need a joystick for this method

Data Analysis
The results of the simulation are automatically saved to a MATLAB data file (.mat) at the conclusion of the simulation. These data files can be
found in the datalogs folder. It should look something like this after having run a few sims:

The filename is simply a timestamp of when the file was created at the end of the simulation. These files can be loaded directly into the MATLAB
workspace using the "load" command. (These are simply Level-5 .mat variable files.)
GUI Interface Description
The following images describe the GUI interface and the meaning/usefulness of various elements.
Simulation Validation
Simulation Validation - Longitudinal Direction

The longitudinal model was tested by injecting a doublet input on the elevator. More specifically, the elevator was
deflected -1 degrees from trim for 1 second, then deflected +1 degrees from trim for 1 second, and then brought
back to trim. The following figures show the FlatEarth output and Labview simulation output.

Figure 6: FlatEarth - pitch rate response to doublet elevator input

 Figure 7: Labview simulation – pitch rate response to doublet elevator input

We see that the nonlinear FlatEarth, linear FlatEarth and Labview simulation results are all in acceptable
agreement for pitch rate response to elevator commands. As such, the following can be concluded:

Linearized model acceptable for near-trim flight

Labview simulation model acceptably operating at real-time

We also see that with an elevator deflection, the pitch rate dampens out and approaches a steady state value of
zero. This corresponds to a dynamically stable aircraft in the longitudinal direction. This observation is in
agreement with the flight qualities analysis.

Simulation Validation - Lateral Direction

The lateral model was tested by injecting a doublet input on the aileron control. More specifically, the aileron was
deflected +1 degrees from trim for 1 second, then deflected -1 degrees from trim for 1 second, and then brought
back to trim. The following figures show the FlatEarth output and Labview simulation output.
 Figure 8: FlatEarth - roll and yaw angle response to doublet aileron input

Figure 9: Labview simulation – roll and yaw angle response to doublet aileron input

We see that the nonlinear FlatEarth, linear FlatEarth and Labview simulation results are all in acceptable
agreement for yaw angle and roll angle for approximately 7 seconds. After this time, the linearized solution begins
to diverge from the nonlinear solution. This is to be expected as the linearized solution is only valid near trim
conditions. At t=7 seconds, the aircraft is in a deep spiral dive - far from steady-level flight. We can conclude the
following from these results:
Linearized model acceptable for near-trim flight
Labview simulation model acceptably operating at real-time

We also see from these figures that the aircraft is unstable in the lateral direction. As the aircraft rolls and yaws in
one direction, the angle grows over time. This is in agreement with the flight quality analysis which found the
aircraft to be unstable in the spiral mode.

Tutorial Video

Code Version Control:

The most recent code version can always be found at my GITHUB page:
GITHUB link

Acknowledgements
1) Aircraft indicators taken from project here
2) Aircraft gimbal taken from project here
3) FlatEarth written by Professor Andriasani

Example code from the Example Code Exchange in the NI Community is licensed with the MIT license.

 8 KUDOS

COMMENTS
 PrimaryKey NI EMPLOYEE (RETIRED) on Options 

‎10-15-2015 06:05 AM

Great work! This is what the developers forum should showcase! Kudos

 0 KUDOS

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Paul-D Paul-D brentjustice

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