Airbrakes

This is the repository we use to keep track of all the code we are writing for the Wolf-works Experimental Airbrakes.

The primary device we are using for data collection is the Parker-LORD 3DMCX5-AR. The MicroStrain Communication Library provides information on how to interact with sensors developed by LORD Sensing. MSCL has language bindings in C++, .NET (C#, VB, LabView, MATLAB), and Python, we will primarily be using Python for the airbrake code.

Here is the MSCL Github Repository needed to interact with MSCL.

Here is the documentation for the MSCL API.

Setup

Cloning the repo with submodules

Since this repo uses submodules (for orhelper), you need to clone the repo with git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/NCSU-High-Powered-Rocketry-Club/Airbrakes. If you have already cloned the repo, use git submodule update --init --recursive to update submodules.

OpenRocket Setup

Currently, the ORIL (OpenRocket-in-the-loop) simulation requires the nightly version of OpenRocket. See this issue, for the up to date status. The latest build of OpenRocket can be found on the actions tab, this version is known to work. Make sure to update the CLASSPATH in _orhelper.py to point to this installation of openrocket.

Setting Up Your Python Venv

The first thing you should do prior to running your code is set up your virtual environment. To do this open you your terminal and make sure you are in the Airbrakes directory. Inside of that directory call the commands:

Install pip3:

sudo apt install python3-pip

Install venv:

sudo apt install python3-venv

Make venv:

python3 -m venv env

to set up your virtual environment in a folder called env. Next you need to set this folder as your interpreter (your IDE might prompt you to do this automatically. If it did not prompt you, to do this in VS Code, press ctrl+shift+p to open your command prompt and type in Python: Select Interpreter. Press enter and select the one that ends in something like ('env':venv).

Installing Required Packages

In order to install the required packages, open a new terminal in VS Code by pressing ctrl+shift+` . This terminal will already be in your virtual environment, and simply run the command

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Running the Program

Now that you have all the required packages installed, you can run the program by running the command

python3 main.py

or with arguments

python3 main.py <arguments>

To run locally with mocking all hardware, run python3 main.py -si. If you only want to mock parts of the airbrakes (e.g. for a HWIL test), run with -i(--mock_imu) or -s(--mock_servo) instead.