• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

    • Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.
    • Questions about making 3D assets can be posted in the 3D asset design forum. Either post them in the subforum of the modelling tool you use or in the general forum if they are general.
    • Questions about aircraft design can be posted in the Aircraft design forum
    • Questions about airport design can be posted in the FS2020 airport design forum. Once airport development tools have been updated for FS2020 you can post tool speciifc questions in the subforums of those tools as well of course.
    • Questions about terrain design can be posted in the FS2020 terrain design forum.
    • Questions about SimConnect can be posted in the SimConnect forum.

    Any other question that is not specific to an aspect of development or tool can be posted in the General chat forum.

    By following these guidelines we make sure that the forums remain easy to read for everybody and also that the right people can find your post to answer it.

Using FSX as a simulator for external embedded hardware-in-the-loop simulation?

F

FirmamentFX

Messages
144
Hi guys,

Can FSX be used as part of a "hardware-in-the-loop" simulator for external embedded hardware?

What data can be "got at" using SimConnect (and possibly FSUIPC) and handled by external processes?

Essentially, what I need is the ability to take data (airspeed, acceleration in 3 dimensions, altitude, and so on for hundreds of parameters) from the simulator, use a custom software interface to convert the data into a format that can be understood by the external embedded hardware (probably over the ethernet, serial or CANBus protocols), feed it into the embedded hardware, then take the outputs of the hardware and feed them back into the sim (again, with custom software).

Thanks! :)

Martin
 
Yes, you can do that with either FSUIPC or SimConnect. As to whether all the variables you want are provided through those interface is another matter. On top of that, many are read only.

Your best bet is to download the FSUIPC SDK and go through the list of offsets looking for the ones you need, or look at the Variables and Events sections in the Core modules portion of the FSX SDK. (Which isn't available for download, it's part of FSX Deluxe edition, but the documentation can be found online, hosted elsewhere.)

Si
 
Hi,

Yes, it is possible (depends a bit on which hundred other variables you need of course). But for the basic ones of an aircraft it should not be a problem.

I would first take a look at the SimConnect SDK, that should probably be enough. Or else you can always look at FSUIPC as well.
 
Thanks for the reply Si.

I have FSX so will load up the SDK and give it a look-see. As for FSUIPC, I can find the FS2004 SDK, but there appears to be not one released for FSX yet.

Various read only params *shouldn't* be a problem - the embedded hardware will only be adjusting what aircraft systems can adjust anyway...

Cheers,

Martin
 
The FSX FSUIPC SDK is probably available from a sticky thread at the top of Pete Dowson's support forum if it's not available on the main FSUIPC download page. There's definitely one available.

Si
 
Thanks for the replies!

I found a list of FSX offsets in the FS2004 FSUIPC SDK - it seems to be for all versions, even though it does not say it is for FSX...

As far as parameters go, basically I need to "fool" my hardware into thinking it is in a real aircraft and provide it with air and inertial data, and have the sim respond to control/command inputs from the hardware.

Cheers!

Martin
 
Has anyone created a plugin for this issue. I am in the process of designing a UAV and I would love to use FSX as a flight simulator.
 
I've used FSX (and later ESP) as 3D external awareness and camera payload visual feedback for a UAV simulator but in that case the dynamics were driven by different software.

Si
 
I guess what I am asking is there a way of getting FSX to output IMU and GPS data to a serial port or maybe a tcp port, and receive surface, gear and throttle control from the same or a different port. Thats all I need really, well and I need the format to be in float.
 
With the FSUIPC or SimConnect interfaces that is possible. But you would have to program it yourself.
 
I have never used SIM connect and I am a hardware design engineer by trade so I'm not much good @ software development do you think you or some one you know could help out, the I/O I need should be simple.

If its truly simple I could probably coded it up myself but I'd still need to be pointed in the right direction.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top