News New output possibilities for DCS

I have allocated some time to revisit my G-Seat project after a long hiatus. I wasn't happy using roll, pitch and yaw in addition to the surge, heave and sway forces in my earlier testing.

As many of you are aware I made previous attempts at a new plugin with limited success. I have removed that plugin and put the thread on hold until something better is available. After more studying and trawling the web I have found a few things which may be of interest.

After studying the export.lua used to feed alternative software to simtools I have discovered a few new values which can be utilised.

We have the rotational velocities for all three axis expressed as radians per second (rad/s) and the velocity vector of all three axis. I don't know what unit this vector is expressed at yet, perhaps m/s? We can also get the vertical velocity.

I think the rotational velocities alone may be usable on their own. Has anybody any thoughts on this? It may be difficult to establish a min and max to scale the output!

I hope to get some input from other users in this thread and once I sit down and spend some time with simtools v2 I will hopefully be able to share something worth testing,

If anyone wants to view the outputs you can use this code to create an export.lua. It will create an export.log file in your main DCS folder which can then be viewed after a flight (open the log file with notepad++ to make it more readable). Remember to back up your existing export.lua before hand!

Code:

function LuaExportStart()

default_output_file = io.open("./Export.log", "w")
    package.path = package.path..";.\\LuaSocket\\?.lua"
    package.cpath = package.cpath..";.\\LuaSocket\\?.dll"
    socket = require("socket")

end

function LuaExportAfterNextFrame()

   local Time = LoGetModelTime()
   local Velocity = LoGetVectorVelocity()
   local Accel = LoGetAccelerationUnits()
   local data = LoGetSelfData()
        local Yaw = data.Heading*180/math.pi
        local Pitch = data.Pitch*180/math.pi
        local Roll  = data.Bank*180/math.pi
   local RotVel = LoGetAngularVelocity()
   local VertVel = LoGetVerticalVelocity()
 

default_output_file:write(string.format("Time, %.4f, VelX, %.4f, VelY, %.4f, VelZ, %.4f, AccX, %.4f, AccY, %.4f, AccZ, %.4f, Pitch, %.4f, Bank, %.4f, Heading, %.4f, RotVelX, %.4f, RotVelY, %.4f, RotVelZ, %.4f, VertVel, %.4f \n", Time, Velocity.x, Velocity.y, Velocity.z, Accel.x, Accel.y, Accel.z, Pitch, Roll, Yaw, RotVel.x, RotVel.y, RotVel.z, VertVel))


end

function LuaExportStop()

   if default_output_file then
      default_output_file:close()
      default_output_file = nil
   end

end

I have a couple of questions that perhaps some experienced plugin developers could help me with. They are regarding the min and max values for force outputs. I have read that the max and min values are +1 and -1 and values outside this range are clipped. Is that the case in simtools v2 and does it also apply to the extra outputs?

Thanks to @value1 I have successfully built a plugin which outputs the angular velocities about the x, y and z axis on extra1, extra2 and extra3. The values are being passed from the game to the plugin in radians/sec. That would mean a value of +1 corresponds to a clockwise rate of rotation of 57.29 degrees per second. Should I scale these values in the plugin? Propeller aircraft can generate faster rotations about the roll axis and I'm sure some of the jets, once tested, will show much higher rates.

For those who don't know I want to explain the effect of using angular velocity instead of pitch, bank or yaw. The platform output, for however many of the three rotational axis you use will move to a greater or lesser extent depending on the rate of in game rotation. A slow rate of roll will result in a shallow bank of the platform. Once the rate of rotation stops changing the platform will return to level. I'm not sure how useful this will be for a typical 2-6 dof motion platform but I'm hoping when used on a G-Seat the effect will be much more beneficial. We should get sustained pressure applied to the user in a turn the intensity of which will vary depending on the rate of rotation. I hope this centripetal force output will complement the current forces of heave, surge and sway.

Nice work RiftFlyer. I agree the roll effects are relative and should be factored in. You would have to feel more in a snap break turn other than g's.

See https://theaviationist.com/2015/05/01/aileron-roll-in-t-346a/ for the effect you are talking about.

@RiftFlyer - do you know if the DCS plugin supports wind? And 2 more questions - with the extra data available, is there data for canopy position and would it be possible in SimTools to convolute those so that wind is minimal until you open the canopy?

New to all this so may be a dumb set of questions but thought I’d ask.

By default the plugin does not support wind.

With the data available it should be relatively easy to get what you want. You could have wind speed as an extra value and set it to minimum while the canopy is closed and have it output a value based on airspeed while canopy is open.

Do you want to control a fan?

@RiftFlyer - I sure do if it is possible. I like to drive the WWII planes in DCS and those had the roll back canopies for the most part and when rolled back is where I hope to get the wind blasting. With the canopy closed I’d still like some wind just because it really ups comfort level in VR.

For driving in VR I really like the open cockpit cars. Visibility is great and wind really increases immersion. Same for flying in XPlane. Mostly closed cockpit there but I can just set the multiplier low in Game Dash and leave it since mostly closed.

So you think it would be easy to do?

I don't have time for working on sim tools at the moment due to other commitments. When I find time for it again I'll see if I can extract the necessary data for you.

How are you controlling the fan? Can you show me details of how you have it working in other sims?

It’s a kit I bought from @Avenga76 but it’s actually pretty simple and others have built their own. It’s an Arduino Uno mated to a MonsterMoto with each H-bridge controlling 4" SeaFlo axial flow bilge fan motors through a choke on each motor lead.

Here is his thread at isrtv.com: http://www.isrtv.com/forums/topic/23039-my-diy-wind-simulator/

I was just starting to think about building a motion sim, saw his thread, and gambled on a set. No regrets! He included velocity stacks and flow straighteners and it’s a trip for anything open cockpit.

@SilentChill did the Arduino code and there is a thread here about all the technical bits and troubleshooting: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/simulated-wind-using-monstermoto-and-arduinouno.6876/

Really cheap if you do it yourself and highly recommended!

Anything ever come of GameDash simulated Wind for DCS? I put my monitor and fans on an articulated arm so it will reach both my flight and driving simpit. Would be great to feel air movement in the cockpit.

Hey there

nice idea, using a fan to "cue" an open cockpit. AFAIK, the DCS plugin does not directly allow for this out of the box, but you can modify the Export.lua to make it work.

Here's what you'd need:

- One of the slots needs to export Indicated airspeed by calling LoGetIndicatedAirspeed() and sending it out to Simtools. I'd prefer indicated airspeed over true airspeed, but LoGetTrueAirspeed() will work as well. You DON'T need to export the meteorological wind (if that is even possible) because that information is already contained in the calculation of the indicated airspeed.

- Another slot would have to export the status of the canopy. You can get this status by calling LoGetMechInfo(). Here's the part of the Export.lua that shows an example:

Code:

LoGetMechInfo() -- mechanization info
result_is =
{
    gear          = {status,value,main = {left = {rod},right = {rod},nose =  {rod}}}
    flaps          = {status,value}
    speedbrakes   = {status,value}
    refuelingboom = {status,value}
    airintake     = {status,value}
    noseflap      = {status,value}
    parachute     = {status,value}
    wheelbrakes   = {status,value}
    hook          = {status,value}
    wing          = {status,value}
    canopy        = {status,value}
    controlsurfaces = {elevator = {left,right},eleron = {left,right},rudder = {left,right}} -- relative vlues (-1,1) (min /max) (sorry:(
} 

...so a total of two extra slots.

I find that a good example of users (as opposed to developers) getting creative And I would argue that a motion software should allow users to express this creativity. With the 9 slots available in Simtools of which 6 are being already used, I'd say this thread illustrates nicely that more slots could be a great addition for quite a few users.

A few days ago I had a brief conversation with @yobuddy about striking a balance between more exported data on one hand and smaller overhead load on the other. And even though I am very much in favour of many many many many more slots, I was struggling to come to up with an answer to the question "how much exported data do we need?".

Reading this thread made me realise that probably the answer should be: So much, that 99 out of 100 users will never say the words: "Damn, I wish there were more slots"

...I think it's always a plus if people can get creative

Bicycle across Europe right now but when I get home in a couple of weeks I will give it a try! Thank so much.

Wait, there is a simpler method

You can do the math in lua and export the result through Simtool. That would require only 1 Slot

Let me test the code before I post a snippet.

Dirty

I played around a little with the Simtools Plugin for DCS (actually, only with the Export.lua file that it creates) but after like an hour or so I was none the wiser. *scratching head*

I can manipulate the string that is being sent to SimTools. While the raw string that goes through the wire is perfectly fine, the data showing up in Simtools is strange. If I send "0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0" (all zeros), Simtools reads...

"180" in yaw
"1" in heave and
"0" in all other slots.

I mean, I have a faint suspicion of why that would be, but nonetheless it keeps me from actually using the 6 default slots (Roll Pitch Heave Yaw Sway Surge) to play around. I can also not use the extra slots, because if I send a 7th, 8th or 9th value, they just won't show up in the tuning center. No idea why.... If someone could explain this to me, I'd appreciate.

But I was still curious about the idea of feeling the wind in the cockpit when the canopy opens So, if you want to follow along, here's a step by step tutorial on how to read a value out of DCS that vaguely represents the "windiness" in the cockpit:

1. Download my Github repository. Go to TCP-Server Console/bin/release and run the TCP-Server Console.exe
2. Rename the Export.txt file that I attached to this post into Export.lua and copy it into your [Username]/Saved Games/DCS/Scripts folder. If you already have an Export.lua file in that folder, MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR EXSTING EXPORT.LUA!
3. Create a mission with a little wind, or taxi an aircraft around at speeds of about 10-20Kts. Then open the canopy
4. In the console you should see three values: Canopy value, Indicated Airspeed and Windiness (the product of the two).

Feel free to play with the string that is being sent out. There are plenty of functions to call that will give you data to export.

If you run into problems, ask me any time. Everyone can get this to work. I think it's a great way to take a peek behind the curtain of the DCS Plugin too. It exports data in a very similar way.

Maybe this can be a starting point for someone to make it work in Simtools, or maybe send it to an Arduino directly. Would sure be fun...

Dirty

Oh,... 38 is more than I thought! But isn't Dash and Vibe only for the commercial version? Did I get that wrong?

Cheers...

38 yes, but still only 9 for the motion platform.

Dash and Vibe concerns the butkicker and ventilator stuff and not the platform.

Am I wrong?

I just wanted to make sure.

So glad to see this discussion! I’ve been missing wind in DCS but to maybe even get "windiness" would be a holy grail!