Airplane Computer 2016

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Hardware needing power for successful operation

  • FLIR
  • Laser Altimeter
  • Computer
  • Trimble NetR9 GPS


Important Diagnostic Commands and Information

  • To see if the gps logging service is active, from a command line (Program Terminal) type:
$ tail -f /var/opt/airplane/gps/current.txt
  • this will produce a continuously updating window. Each second it will update with any new data appearing in the logging file. current.txt is a symlink to the current log. Each time the program starts a new log is created.
  • A good line of data will look something like:
"2016-02-24 18:42:55",r7.926,a142,w6.000000,$GPGGA,184256.00,6456.94260454,N,14751.15034334,W,1,23,0.6,412.679,M,4.648,M,,*48,ON
$ gpsmon
  • that will bring up a text interface where you will eventually see a number of quickly streaming by NMEA strings plus position / heading etc info
  • check that the time is synced to gps time by typing from a command line:
$ chronyc sources

Running the FLIR System

  • To start the flir system, from the command line type:
$ matlab &
  • then, once matlab is running, click into the programming window (top half of the program window).
  • Above that in the menuing system you will see a play button. Press the Play button.
  • The program will begin. It will ask you if you would like to include the current directory in the path. The answer is YES
  • Now you will see the running application. Here you can adjust settings as needed (such as focusing distance and the logging directory).
    • You will need to adjust the focusing distance
      • try punching in a number rather than focusing at infinity (and then press <return>)
    • You will need to adjust the logging directory
  • Once you are ready, press the Green Start button.
  • Now the FLIR camera should be recording.
  • To tell the software when you are on an active flightline, use the Toggle Switch. When you are marking an active flight line the Green LED will be lighted.

Using Screens to interact with the system

If you have a tablet (ipad or otherwise) you can use a VNC client program to interact with the system. Screens is a suitable client for ipad. First, connect to the flirmobile wifi network. Next, start screens. There are two ways to connect. First, there may be an icon for a previously saved session, and second, there is a discover button which should identify this computer. Once you connect you'll be prompted for a password. It is hotdogs. That should bring up the desktop and from there you can basically see in real-time what is going on with the computer. It is useful to drive the Flir software from here and then at the end of the day, the proper way to shut down the computer is through this interface.