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Flight test data software question.

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p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:18 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

I am starting to plan for my initial flight testing.  The current 

area of interest is data collection.



I recently learned that Dynon EFIS/EMS boxes can output a stream of 

data reflecting the real time flight instrument and engine monitor 

data.  This seems like a wonderful source of data for aircraft 

performance monitoring and tuning.  Alas, I am not aware of any 

instant gratification software to analyze this data.



My question for listers:  Does anyone know of software that can 

analyze EFIS and or EIS output data?  Perhaps a package that eats 

this data and spits out appropriate graphs and data tables would be 

nice.  Being able to select a small subset of all the data would be 

wonderful.  For example, a graph of engine temperature against 

airspeed and RPM would be lovely.



Perhaps a good ultimate goal would be to build a small box to soak up 

all this data and record it.  This might make a nice cheap flight 

data recorder for experimental aircraft with even more value than the 

expensive boxes found on airliners.



I suppose I could write such software, but I am lazy in my old 

age.  I also recall there are many software people in this list and 

maybe a group effort is in order.



All comments are welcome.



Paul

XL fuselage





-

amyvega2005(at)earthlink.
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 6:43 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

Paul,

check with lance gingell, he is using his computer to help adjust his Jabiru after flight by analizing the data.



Juan



--

amyvega2005(at)earthlink.
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 6:43 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

Paul,

check with lance gingell, he is using his computer to help adjust his Jabiru after flight by analizing the data.



Juan



--

amyvega2005(at)earthlink.
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 6:43 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

Paul,

check with lance gingell, he is using his computer to help adjust his Jabiru after flight by analizing the data.



Juan



--

pilot4pay

Joined: 01 Jan 2007
Posts: 171
Location: Louisville, KY

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 6:52 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

Have you tried Microsoft excel? That would of course require to set up your

own table and math. Probably have to write a macro to directly process the

data file, other wise enter it by hand, or cut and paste from one file to

the other.

CS



--

_________________
Craig Smith
CH640 builder
SN: 0078

"Just think how stupid the average person is,
and then realize that half of them are even stupider!"
--George Carlin

lnk(at)iowatelecom.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 7:29 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

 	  Quote: 	
		   

 <p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att.net>


	


 	  Quote: 	
		   My question for listers:  Does anyone know of software that can

 analyze EFIS and or EIS output data?  Perhaps a package that eats

 this data and spits out appropriate graphs and data tables would be

 nice.


	




If you have a laptop available you might want to try a search for data

acquisition software or statistical analysis tools.  There are many out

there geared toward test labs and industrial machine monitoring and most

are pricey.  One that comes to mind is Minitab which would provide the

output analysis but not necessarily the acquisition.  Another possibility

is to search for automotive performance tuners.  I seem to remember seeing

one of the Automotive TV shows playing with a laptop that not only plotted

data points in real time but was able to adjust parameters on the fly, so

to speak.

Larry K.

601XL in Iowa

-- 

When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with

your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will

always long to return.



- Leonardo da Vinci

carlossa52(at)gmail.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 7:30 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

Paul, Dan Checkoway wrote about that on his website. I tried to find the info, but there is too much stuff and his server response time is bad (today).

I suggest you contact him directly.



BTW, Dan works in IT, so he may have concocted something to crunch the data produced by the Dynon. 



Good luck



Carlos

CH601-HD, plans

Assembling right wing.



On 08/01/07, Paul Mulwitz < p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att.net (p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att.net)> wrote:[quote]--> Zenith-List message posted by: Paul Mulwitz < p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att.net (p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att.net)>



I am starting to plan for my initial flight testing.  The current

area of interest is data collection.



I recently learned that Dynon EFIS/EMS boxes can output a stream of 

data reflecting the real time flight instrument and engine monitor

data.  This seems like a wonderful source of data for aircraft

performance monitoring and tuning.  Alas, I am not aware of any

instant gratification software to analyze this data. [b]

craig(at)craigandjean.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:18 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

Mark Langford captures the serial stream from his Grand Rapids EIS and plots

it:



http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford/performance/



You can use off-the-shelf software to do this. Use HyperTerminal to capture

the data (Start:Programs:Accessories:Communications:HyperTerminal).

Generally the data fields are separated by commas or tab characters.

Microsoft Excel will directly read either.



A few other points:



- the version of HyperTerm that comes with some versions of Windows has been

buggy. Hilgraeve (its author) offers a free upgrade:



http://www.hilgraeve.com/htpe/index.html



- the serial output from the Dynon units is at a very high bit rate: 115,200

baud or 11,520 characters per second. There is no particularly good reason

for this and it can overrun your capture program.



- a lot of laptops generate large quantities of RF interference.



-- Craig

lgingell

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 50
Location: Lake California Airpark 68CA

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:22 am Post subject: Re: Flight test data software question.

Paul,



Give the Flight recorder at http://iflyez.com/EFISRecorder.shtml a try. It will record EIS, EMS,EFIS  and GPS data that you can then look at in excel.



..lance

_________________
Zodiac XL/Jab 3300
http://lancegingell.com

p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:32 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

I have done this sort of thing using Microsoft Works - a low cost 

version of Excell.  Unfortunately, the data produced by Dynon doesn't 

include commas to separate the fields so there is a need to reformat 

the data to get it into the spreadsheet.  Once in the spreadsheet 

plotting graphs would be reasonably easy.



The other tricky part of this problem is the EFIS and EMS units each 

produce their own data with time stamps.  The data must be combined 

using the time stamps to get correlation between flight data and 

engine data.  I don't think this is a function easily done on a 

spreadsheet program.



I understand there are "Terminal" programs that can collect the 

serial data streams and store the characters on disk files.  The 

primary problems seem to be reformatting the data using Dynon's 

documentation to make it more friendly to interpret and collating the 

two streams into one.  Then a spreadsheet program could be used for plots.



Paul

XL fuselage



At 06:52 AM 1/8/2007, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  Have you tried Microsoft excel? That would of course require to set up your

own table and math. Probably have to write a macro to directly process the

data file, other wise enter it by hand, or cut and paste from one file to

the other.

CS


	


-

p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:44 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

Hi Larry,



Thanks for your comments on data software.



I took a look at Minitabs and found it is a standard statistical 

analysis package.  This might be useful for fancy details about how 

temperature changes over time, but I don't think it is simple enough 

to do what I was looking for.



My idea was to record a flight and use the record to dig out simple 

information like cruise speeds compared to engine RPM, Stall speeds, 

best glide speed, rate of climb, and similar things.  It is more 

serving a record keeping function than a data interpretation one.



I think the normal way to do this is to have the test pilot interpret 

all the instruments while flying the test plan and writing the 

results on a "Test Card".  I just want the computer to do the book 

keeping and save the pilot from the secretarial work.  Then all the 

test pilot needs to do is fly the plane.



Thanks again,



Paul

XL fuselage

At 07:28 AM 1/8/2007, you wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  If you have a laptop available you might want to try a search for data

acquisition software or statistical analysis tools.  There are many out

there geared toward test labs and industrial machine monitoring and most

are pricey.  One that comes to mind is Minitab which would provide the

output analysis but not necessarily the acquisition.  Another possibility

is to search for automotive performance tuners.  I seem to remember seeing

one of the Automotive TV shows playing with a laptop that not only plotted

data points in real time but was able to adjust parameters on the fly, so

to speak.

Larry K.

601XL in Iowa


	


-

craig(at)craigandjean.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 10:46 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

The Dynon data uses fixed width columns:



000036634895346000411340000000000000000000OAT-0004N/AXXXXXN/AXXXXX-012001300

4100

63006800390060-00442105486129399



The Excel text import "wizard" allows you to specify which columns in the

input text goes to which spreadsheet columns. You will automatically start

the wizard when you open a text file in Excel. You click and/or drag to move

the column dividers.



Merging the data by timestamp is easy in a spreadsheet program. Place the

timestamps in a common column and then sort all the data on that column. But

you don't need to merge the EFIS and EMS data to plot it. Plot the two

datasets on the same X/Y plot using the timestamp as the X coordinate.



Of course you should make sure the EFIS and EMS clocks are synchronized.



Since you will need to capture two serial streams in the cockpit you will

need two serial ports on the laptop. Most laptops these days have zero or

one. So you will need one or two USB/serial adapters. If the laptop is old

enough to have a PCMICA slot there are also PCMCIA serial adapters available

from Socket Communications or Quatech.



The other complication is that you want an older laptop with a lower clock

rate to minimize interference. But you also want a laptop that is fast

enough to capture two 115,200 baud serial streams without dropping data.



-- Craig

p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 11:11 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

Hi Lance,



I am forever in your debt.  This is exactly what I was looking for.



I can't wait to get the hardware and play with this toy.



Thank you very much,



Paul

XL fuselage



At 09:22 AM 1/8/2007, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  



Paul,



Give the Flight recorder at http://iflyez.com/EFISRecorder.shtml a 

try. It will record EIS, EMS,EFIS  and GPS data that you can then 

look at in excel.



..lance



--------

p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att
Guest

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 11:35 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

Hi Craig,



Thanks for the great information.



Please take a look at the free software description at 

http://iflyez.com/EFISRecorder.shtml which  Lance mentioned in his 

recent post.   This looks like a great tool to use along with your 

wonderful instructions.



Paul

XL fuselage

do not archive

At 10:45 AM 1/8/2007, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  



The Dynon data uses fixed width columns:



000036634895346000411340000000000000000000OAT-0004N/AXXXXXN/AXXXXX-012001300

4100

63006800390060-00442105486129399



The Excel text import "wizard" allows you to specify which columns in the

input text goes to which spreadsheet columns. You will automatically start

the wizard when you open a text file in Excel. You click and/or drag to move

the column dividers.



Merging the data by timestamp is easy in a spreadsheet program. Place the

timestamps in a common column and then sort all the data on that column. But

you don't need to merge the EFIS and EMS data to plot it. Plot the two

datasets on the same X/Y plot using the timestamp as the X coordinate.



Of course you should make sure the EFIS and EMS clocks are synchronized.



Since you will need to capture two serial streams in the cockpit you will

need two serial ports on the laptop. Most laptops these days have zero or

one. So you will need one or two USB/serial adapters. If the laptop is old

enough to have a PCMICA slot there are also PCMCIA serial adapters available

from Socket Communications or Quatech.



The other complication is that you want an older laptop with a lower clock

rate to minimize interference. But you also want a laptop that is fast

enough to capture two 115,200 baud serial streams without dropping data.



-- Craig


	


---------------------------------------------

Paul Mulwitz

32013 NE Dial Road

Camas, WA 98607

---------------------------------------------

gyro_cfi(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 6:42 am Post subject: Flight test data software question.

Count me in on this project. I can't believe that Dynon would not already have software available that parses the raw data into text message formats already. If not is there is an ICD available?

  

 Michael Parsons

 maparson(at)rockwellcollins.com (maparson(at)rockwellcollins.com)

 gyro_cfi(at)yahoo.com (gyro_cfi(at)yahoo.com)

  

__________________________________________________

Do [quote][b]

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