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1234567890 ‘’“”
5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
Design of Flight Control Panel Layout using Graphical User
Interface in MATLAB
A Wirawan1, 3) *, T Indriyanto2)
1) Aeronautic Technology Centre, National Institute of Aeronautics and Space
(LAPAN), Indonesia
2) Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung,
Indonesia
3) Institut für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
*adi.wirawan@lapan.go.id
Abstract. This paper introduces the design of Flight Control Panel (FCP) Layout using
Graphical User Interface in MATLAB. The FCP is the interface to give the command to the
simulation and to monitor model variables while the simulation is running. The command
accommodates by the FCP are altitude command, the angle of sideslip command, heading
command, and setting command for turbulence model. The FCP was also designed to monitor
the flight parameter while the simulation is running.
1. Introduction
In general, an aircraft is controlled by the following principal modes: mechanical control mode and
electronic control mode. The electronic control mode can support two types of control, which are
automatic control and manual control. In automatic control mode, pilot sends input commands to
Electronic Flight Control System (EFCS) using Flight Control Panel (FCP). The FCP also display
flight plan sequentially as a function of aircraft position.
The Flight Control Panel (FCP) also has functioned as Human Machine Interface (HMI). In this
case, the FCP is placed in the avionic panel in front of the pilot. The FCP has three main functions:
1. To load and transmit initialization data to Flight Control Computer (FCC) to be read by
Flight Control Law (FCL). The loaded data are aircraft and weight data, waypoints or flight path
pattern and mission data, as well as runway data.
2. To allow the pilot to input data or to manually give commands to EFCS. Commands given
by pilot to EFCS are engaged or disengage EFCS in normal condition, various switching command
modes, and flight profile commands (airspeed, height, and heading).
3. To display information that the pilot has to observe during flight such as flight condition,
EFCS status and visual warnings [9].
The FCP in these research is required to sends input commands to the flight control model and
turbulence model and also to display aircraft data model.
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5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
2. Study on FCP Layout
LAPAZ Project
LAPAZ Project (abbreviation for Luft-Arbeits-Plattform fur die Allegemeine Zivilluftfahrt in
German, translated as an aerial work platform for general civil aviation). The project is intended to
develop and demonstrate a reliable, high-precision automatic flight control system for the S15 aircraft
to support in flight geo-exploration and surveillance tasks. The partners are German aircraft
manufacturer STEMME, the Universität Stuttgart and Technische Universität Berlin (TUB).
Automatic Flight Control Panel (AFCP) of LAPAZ project is an example of human machine
interface in aircraft. LAPAZ AFCP allows the pilot to engage and disengage AFCS, to set target
values for various flight states (airspeed, altitude, course, etc.), to switch between flight control modes
as well as to load predefined waypoints and runway data. [3]
The AFCP consists of a central processor unit, a display, push buttons and rotary encoders as
shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. FCP of the LAPAZ Project
TEMO HMI
Another example of dedicated HMI platform is TEMO HMI for cockpit touch screen display as
shown in Figure 2. The TEMO HMI consists of a Primary Flight Display (PFD), Navigation Display
(ND), Vertical Situation Display (VSD) and a Time & Energy Display (TED) [8].
Generally, two types of cockpit applications distinguished by symbology applications and
interactive applications. Symbology applications present one-way information to pilot. Typically,
symbology displays are data-driven applications. Interactive applications enable the pilot to react on
the information shown by means of, for example, a toggle button, push button or combo box. This
type of information exchange has an event-driven character [12].
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5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
Figure 2. TEMO cockpit HMI [8]
HMI for A380 flight test
Another example of HMI (Figure 3) is a unique HMI used in flight test and On-board computing for
Airbus A380 that has been designed to integrate all test monitoring applications [2].
Figure 3. HMI for Flight Test of Airbus A380 [2]
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5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
3. Requirements and Design Process
The method used within the research are: define the key function of FCP, design the layout, then
implement the layout by using GUIDE Matlab, iterate the design to fulfil all requirements, and finally
test the communication within the FCP program and with simulation program in X-Plane and
Simulink.
Key maps for the initial design of FCP in this research consist of three major functions as required in
FCP requirements, i.e. input command, display flight parameter and load and transmit initialization.
The FCP key maps function is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. FCP key maps function
Input Command
Initialization
Display
Trimming command
Velocity command
Heading command
Beta command
Set initial condition
Set loop mode
Set turbulence condition
Velocity
Altitude
Heading
Beta
Visualization of aircraft heading
Layout
Because of the similarity of the functions, the layout of FCP in this research is designed similar to
LAPAZ AFCP. For current task, the design will follow Matlab GUIDE in [6].
.
Figure 4. Initial FCP layout design
Initial FCP layout design as shown in Figure 4 consists of three main block as defined in FCP key
maps function in Table 2. The layout consists of command input block, initialization block, and
display block. After several evaluations and iterations, the final layout is as shown in Figure 5.
1
2
3
5
1234567890 ‘’“”
5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
Figure 5. Final FCP Layout design
MATLAB GUIDE
MATLAB has a built-in Graphical User Interface Development Environment (GUIDE),
which can be used to lay out GUI graphically and generate MATLAB code automatically [6]. The
GUI is a modern tool found in MATLAB versions 7.0 or later, and not automatically compatible with
version 6.5 and earlier [11]. GUIDE automatically generates two kinds of Matlab files: one file for
Matlab interface figures and another M-file used to store command function of Matlab program [5]. In
previous Matlab version, users had to write Matlab algorithm in an M-file and if there were any
changes, they had to go back to M-file to make the changes.
General procedure to design GUI in MATLAB are shown in Figure 6. The design starts with
user interface design where programmer put button, text, editor or other GUI objects and then continue
with programming callback function for each GUI objects to define the behavior and responses of the
objects. After programming callback functions, users then continue to build M-file as editor for user
interface design. In the build M-file process if the process success then continues to the final process
that is the creation of user interface for program application, but if still, any function needs to add then
the process back to the callback functions.
EFCS : send EFCS activation mode
SIM : run Simulink simulation process
VEL : velocity command input
ALT : altitude command input
HDG : heading command input
BE : angle of sideslip command input
CLR : set initial condition to reference
LON TRM : longitudinal trimming
LAT TRM : lateral trimming
LOOP : setting for open loop / closed loop
TRB : turbulence setting
PAR : show all parameter
VIS : show visualization
Simulation status
Heading visualization
Loop status
Turbulence status
Command values
Current values
EFCS
SIM
VEL
ALT
HDG
BE
CLR
LON
TRM
LAT
LOOP
TRB
PAR
VIS
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5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
Figure 6. General flowchart of GUI design with Matlab
Figure 7 shows an example of Quick Start window to create a new GUI in MATLAB.
Figure 7. GUIDE Quick Start window
By using the GUI Layout Editor, the user can populate a GUI by clicking and dragging GUI
components — such as axes, panels, buttons, text fields, sliders, into the layout area. From the Layout
Editor, the size of GUI interface can be changed. GUIDE automatically generates an M-file that
controls how the operation of the GUI. This M-file provides code to initialize the GUI and contains a
UI control
Design
Callback
Build
M-file
User Interface
Application
N
Y
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5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
framework for the GUI click-backs, i.e. the routines that execute when a user interacts with a GUI
component. Using the M-file editor, the user can add code to the click-backs to perform required
functions [9]. The GUI for the development process of FCP design is shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8. GUI development process for FCP
Dynamic Data Input
To get dynamic data as the input for GUI FCP, data from the flight simulation program were taken. X-
plane is the flight simulation program used in this research.
The principle of operation of X-Plane is based on reading the geometric shape of an aircraft to predict
its flight dynamics and performance. X-Plane is certified by the U.S. FAA (Federal Aviation
Administration) to train pilots because its method ensures a reliable system since it is more detailed,
flexible and advanced than flight model based on stability derivatives used by other flight simulators
[1].
X-plane standard method for communicating with external processes and machines is User Datagram
Protocol (UDP). UDP provides a minimal overhead communication method for passing data between
nodes. Unlike Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), UDP is a non-guaranteed protocol and gives no
assurances that data packets will arrive in order or at all. UDP is designed to minimize bandwidth
usage but presents a possible problem resulting from corrupted data. Although this problem does exist,
degradation of control and simulation has been unseen in X-plane experimentations [4].
X-Plane UDP Data
On this research, the communication established between X-Plane and Matlab was performed on a
single computer using the IP address "127.0.0.1", which is the network card’s internal address. In
this type of configuration, it is necessary to use four access points, two for Simulink, two for X-
Plane and a single IP address as shown in Figure 9.
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5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
Figure 9. UDP ports connection between FCP and X-Plane
To receive data from UDP user should define IP Port and local port first. Because the program is run
on the same computer, remote IP address is set to 127.0.0.1 and local IP Port to 39006. M-file code for
receiving UDP data test is shown in Figure 10.
Figure 10. M-file for UDP Receive
To send data from UDP user should also define IP Port and local port. Because the program is run in
the same computer remote IP address is set to 127.0.0.1 and local IP Port to 39003 as was set in X-
plane. M-file code for sending UDP data test is shown in Figure 11.
Define the incoming IP address and port
Read UDP data from selected IP address and port
Parsing and convert data from UDP
FCP
X-PLANE
IP/Output Port:
127.0.0.1/39006
IP/Input Port:
127.0.0.1/39003
IP/Input Port:
127.0.0.1/39006
IP/Output Port:
127.0.0.1/39003
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5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
Figure 11. M-file for UDP Send
4. Results and Discussion
To demonstrate the integration according to the scenario, some parameter values need to be set up.
Those parameter values are velocity command, altitude command, the angle of sideslip command and
heading command. The setting of parameter values is done by using FCP function as shown in Figure
12.
Figure 12. Parameter values setting in FCP
Angle of sideslip command
Heading command
Altitude command
Velocity command
Show all parameter
Turbulence setting
Setting header for throttle data = “DATA0,25”
Command value set to 0.552
Set IP address and port destination
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5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
Turbulence setting consists of turbulence intensity selection, current turbulence intensity mode run on
Simulink models as well as a button to activated and deactivated turbulence models. The turbulence
setting on FCP is shown in Figure 13.
Figure 13. Turbulence models setting in FCP
While the simulation in Simulink is run, flight parameters observe by using PAR function on the FCP
as shown in Figure 14.
Figure 14. Current Parameters values
Final layout of FCP is shown in Figure 15 below with description and function of each button and
display.
Primary control surface and throttle position
State responses
Angles responses
Angular rates responses
Actual altitude
Acceleration and load factor
Turbulence Intensity selection
Current intensity running in models
Activate turbulence models
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5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
Figure 15. Final FCP layout
5. Conclusions and Future Works
Flight Control Panel Layout using Graphical User Interface MATLAB has been successfully
designed. The FCP is used as interface and monitor for command input and aircraft data model
including an input for turbulence model setting.
The setting of command can also be done using FCP function with velocity, altitude, the angle of
sideslip and heading command values. While simulation in Simulink is run, flight parameter can be
observed by using PAR function on the FCP.
Later on, the FCP will be combined with the flight mechanical model and disturbance model. The
FCP will be the is used as an interface to command the input to the flight control model and turbulence
model and to be an interface for aircraft data model.
Acknowledgements
This work is the final report of minor research of the first author, held in ITB Bandung. The authors
would like to thank Drs. Gunawan Setyo Prabowo, MT the director of Aeronautic Technology Center
(Pustekbang) LAPAN for providing administrative support, and also Dr. Ony Arifianto, Dr. Rianto
Adhi Sasangko and Dr. Yazdi Ibrahim Jenie for supporting this research.
EFCS : send EFCS activation mode
SIM : run Simulink simulation process
VEL : velocity command input
ALT : altitude command input
HDG : heading command input
BE : angle of sideslip command input
CLR : set initial condition to reference
LON TRM : longitudinal trimming
LAT TRM : lateral trimming
LOOP : setting for open loop / closed loop
TRB : turbulence setting
PAR : show all parameter
VIS : show visualization
Simulation status
Heading visualization
Loop status
Turbulence status
Command values
Current values
12
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5th International Seminar of Aerospace Science and Technology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1005 (2018) 012018 doi :10.1088/1742-6596/1005/1/012018
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