FGFS output to foreflight on iPad

[mnewbery]

Hello all,

 

I was doing some research to figure out how Flight Gear 2.6.0 could output the X-Plane format to OzRunways so that the simulation could drive the moving map.

 

I didn't figure that out (yet) but I'm confident I have the right approach.

 

What I did figure out was that the protocol to drive ForeFlight is dead simple (link here). So I did that and tried it out on ForeFlight. Following the instructions in the link, it worked!

 

Here are the basic steps:

 

1. FGFS start up wizard should not be running
    
    
   
2. Determine the IP address of the iPad (OzRunways displays this on its simulation settings page or ask a grown up)
    
    
   
3. Go to the /data/protocol folder in FGFS and create a new XML file. See the text below for the contents of the file I used. Save the file as ForeFlightGPS.xml or whatever you want to appear on the screen
    
    
   
4. Go to the advanced settings in the FGFS start up wizard, select input/output and create a new generic output entry which must be port 49002 and UDP. The host IP address should be the iPad as per step 2 above. See screen grab
    
    
   
5. Ensure the settings appear as-expected in the command line output in the wizard as per the second screen grab
    
    
   
6. Click the Run button on FGFS start up wizard
    
    
   
7. Start ForeFlight, enter simulation mode. It should have identified that a device is feeding it valid data
    
    
   

 

 

 

To Test

 

1. Find the current location of the simulation on the ForeFlight map
    
    
   
2. At the simulation, move the current location to another place
    
    
   
3. On ForeFlight, watch the current location dot move around. it will move if everything is happy
    
    
   

 

 

 

Below is the protocol definition I authored

 

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<PropertyList>

 

<comment>

 

<![CDATA[

 

Usage:

 

◦Longitude

 

◦Latitude

 

◦Altitude in meters MSL

 

◦Track-along-ground from true north

 

◦Groundspeed in meters/sec

 

]]>

 

</comment>

 

<generic>

 

<output>

 

<line_separator>newline</line_separator>

 

<var_separator>,</var_separator>

 

<chunk>

 

<name>LinePreamble</name>

 

<format>XGPSMy Sim</format>

 

</chunk>

 

<!-- Position -->

 

<chunk>

 

<name>longitude-deg</name>

 

<type>double</type>

 

<format>%.10lf</format>

 

<node>/position/longitude-deg</node>

 

</chunk>

 

<chunk>

 

<name>latitude-deg</name>

 

<type>double</type>

 

<format>%.10lf</format>

 

<node>/position/latitude-deg</node>

 

</chunk>

 

<chunk>

 

<name>altitude-m</name>

 

<type>float</type>

 

<format>%f</format>

 

<node>/position/altitude-ft</node>

 

<factor>0.3038</factor>

 

</chunk>

 

<!-- Velocity and track -->

 

<chunk>

 

<name>track-deg</name>

 

<type>double</type>

 

<format>%f</format>

 

<node>/orientation/track-deg</node>

 

</chunk>

 

<chunk>

 

<name>groundspeed-ms</name>

 

<type>double</type>

 

<format>%.1lf</format>

 

<node>/veocities/groundspeed-kt</node>

 

<factor>0.50277</factor>

 

</chunk>

 

</output>

 

</generic>

 

</PropertyList>