Open-Source IT for recreational flying
I have done much pondering and some little work on creating my own I/T for flying. As it stands now, ir runs on an Asus netbook and produces a moving map with aerodromes and navaids displayed, along with planned and effective routes. Limited as this seems, it has once allowed me to find back my field when I had unwisely left the circuit in poor visibility.
The more I proddle about, the more obvious it becomes I can never turn out anything really useful on my poor little own self. So I thought I'd launch a discussion thread, to find out if others are thinking and/or working along the same lines, and see if perhaps a TEAM could be set up.
Resources:
-) a database with all kinds of info (a/d, navaids, airspace, roadmap, extended airfield info, &c &c)
-) GPS
-) some source of real-time Wx that is available up there?
-) data of other traffic either from 1090-ES receiver and/or flarm-receiver and/or ads-b
-) flight plans either to be created on the machine or imported (as gpx or whatever)
Pilot info supplied:
-) moving map with display of planned and effective routes
-) optional Wx overlay
-) terrain overlay
-) separate display (text mode?) of various data (ground speed, gps-altitude, gps-time, ...)
-) collision avoidance based on available info
-) early ground warning if elevation data available
Hardware:
-) some kind of portable PC, netbook or whatever
powered from the plane but with batteries for at least 30 minutes in case of electrical failure
-) gps-receiver
-) optional receivers for 1090-ES, ADS-B, flarm to allow traffic avoidance
Software:
-) linux seems the obvious choice of O/S
-) application(s) could be developed in whatever language, the most obvious seem C, C++, Java ; availability of libraries would be an important factor
Advantages:
-) integration would reduce the total number of gizmo's
-) open source would mean vendor indepence
-) extremely affordable, except probably for a sunlight-readable display of practical size (7 inches at least?)
Disadvantages:
-) neither the database nor the "other traffic" could ever be guaranteed to be complete
-) keeping the database up to date would be a huge and enduring task, requiring a separate well-coordinated team
-) psychologically, such a system would be dangerous because it would SEEM to supply very complete information, leading pilots to depend on it blindly
Ideas and comments welcome!