FLIGHT PATH GUI David Alfego Josh Harrison

PURPOSE  Trials flown in Microsoft Flight Simulator X  Data collected according to coordinates of each flight  Each individual has100 total trials and there are 15 subjects  Often need to look back at the flights  We wished to create a GUI that can visualize these paths  GUI would need to be able to call from established organized data to give graphical representation  3D plot of [longitude x latitude x altitude]  Need a way to make sense of confusing paths

PURPOSE  Data selection  Different pilot subjects  Each subject has session numbers  Each session has trial numbers  Each simulation requires the subject to have flown through pre-established gates (think of them as checkpoints) along a path  Need to quickly visualize path, model for the path and the location of gates

Example of simulated flight: Green circles represent the gates that must be flown through

PURPOSE  GUI prompts user to input subject #, session # and trial # of the specific flight and loads the corresponding data file  User can choose between which gates to visualize in the graph  There’s an option to have spheres appear to represent gates  User can select what type of model to draw  No Model, Linear, Spline, 4 th Order Polynomial, Floating Linear or Floating Spline  Create Flight Path Button creates a visualization of the flight path  Animate button moves a through through the flight path  Save button will save a snapshot GUI with the coordinates chosen

Select Directory for.txt Choose Subject, Session #, Trial # Select LOAD FLIGHT DATA GUI searches for choices in txt file, organizes data into matrix Select LOAD FLIGHT DATA GUI searches for choices in txt file, organizes data into matrix Choose range of gates? Path will be between gates 1 & 10 Path will be between this range of gates Display gates? Gates represented by spheres No spheres will appear Select Model of Path Create Flight Path! Graphical visualization of coordinates in matrix with selected model to fit it Create Flight Path! Graphical visualization of coordinates in matrix with selected model to fit it Animate: a sphere will slide down the path Save snapshot of path No Yes No

INPUT DATA  Data will be called and read from a text file  Text file will contain longitude, latitude and altitude coordinates that will be converted into a matrix for the GUI to read  There will be multiple text files that can be called  Once directory is chosen, the exact subject/session/trial text file will be located in the directory by what the user selects in the GUI  No web based data feed  Everything included with GUI folder

DATA STRUCTURES

 Importflight.m  Locates name of.txt file using sprintf and user selections  Uses importdata function to organize coordinates into a matrix  Plotpath.m  From the established matrix, define longitude, latitude and altitude coordinates for each model of path  Calls from the GUI in an if loop using strcmp to see what type of model was chosen  Create a 3D plot using the data selected by the if loop  Plotmodel.m  Similar to plotpath.m but allows for the graph to change upon selection

DATA STRUCTURES  Plotgates.m  Defines a matrix from established gate coordinates  Uses sphere and surfl functions to create a sphere at each coordinate on the plot  Animateflight.m  Uses for loops to place a sphere at each coordinate  Removes sphere before next one is placed by the loop  Animation appears to run smoothly (similar to a movie reel)

RESULTS/INSIGHTS  Visualization of flight paths can be analyzed to explain any anomalies in the results  Can also be used to examine accuracy of flights through gates  3D graph allows image of flight after it has been performed to reevaluate if necessary  Good representation of gate locations  GUI allows for much faster visualization of data  Do not need to manually search for a specific file in a large data base of text files  Could help with future analysis of the UAV project

CHALLENGES  Discovering how to animate the sphere along the path, adjusting its speed accordingly  Turning the gate spheres on and off through the checking/unchecking of the box while the plot is already created  Changing the model after the the flight path is created without disturbing the plot of the path or gates  Still works in progress:  Changing the color of buttons!!

REFERENCES  Picture Reference: decider.html decider.html  Disclosure: All of the data presented in this presentation are flight paths created outside of the actual funded UAV Project

WHO DID WHAT?  David  Import flight  Plot gates  Save Function  GUI Design (Button Functionality)  Josh  Plot Path  Plot Model  Animate flight  GUI Design (Button Functionality)