Controls

Also referred to as pilot inceptors, these nodes should send MARSH_TYPE_CONTROLS in their HEARTBEAT message, and send the pilot inputs in MANUAL_CONTROL.

Currently the main implementation is joystick_controls.py for generic USB HID devices. Axis mapping can be adjusted with parameters, but it is already configured for:

• Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X (make sure the switch is in PC position, not PS3)
• ATTILA-Sim controls using Arduino Leonardo

Alternatively there is labjack_controls.py for measuring analog sensors using Labjack T4 board.

Roadmap

To support flight control systems as a node separate from flight models, the FCS will send MANUAL_CONTROL when used. This means that all the control scripts here should be configurable to send MANUAL_SETPOINT with mode_switch set to MARSH_MANUAL_SETPOINT_MODE_DEFAULT to differentiate between controls before and after FCS.

To support control inputs sent from more than one device, the flight model implementations should be able to only update valid values from MANUAL_CONTROL messages. Until that is the case, the recommended approach is to handle that by forwarding in the controls node, cf. labjack_controls.py with --cyclic-port argument.