FireStats error : FireStats: Unknown commit strategy Stability & Control
Software Menu
Search openAE
User Login

ERAU Digital DATCOM 3D MatLAB Scripts

PostDateIconMonday, 21 June 2010 19:35 | PostAuthorIconWritten by Aleksey Matyushev | PDF | Print | E-mail
User Rating: / 6
PoorBest 

 In 2008 Professor Glenn P. Greiner and (then student) Jafar Mohammed created a collection of MatLAB scripts which would allow the user to create a three dimensional model of the aircraft from the Digital Datcom input file. They called the collection Plot Datcom3D. Mostly copying and pasting geometry data from the for005.dat input file into an easy to use master template and running the files creates a complete model which can be rotated, panned, resized and double checked for accuracy.  

Last Updated (Thursday, 30 December 2010 14:25)

Read more...

 

Datcom+

PostDateIconMonday, 05 October 2009 14:11 | PostAuthorIconWritten by Aleksey Matyushev | PDF | Print | E-mail
User Rating: / 2
PoorBest 

Description and review coming soon...

Please visit HolyCows.net to find out more about this program.

Last Updated (Saturday, 12 December 2009 22:04)

 

DATCOM

PostDateIconMonday, 05 October 2009 14:09 | PostAuthorIconWritten by Aleksey Matyushev | PDF | Print | E-mail
User Rating: / 7
PoorBest 

The United States Air Force (USAF) Stability and Control Digital DATCOM is a multi- purpose program written in FORTRAN IV that analyzes the stability and control of a given aircraft. Through basic geometric properties of the aircraft, along with the given flight conditions and propulsion elements, the DATCOM is able to compile coefficients which closely describe the performance and stability of the aircraft at the given conditions.

DATCOM for005.dat Input File

SAMPLE "for005.dat" INPUT FILE

The analysis is done by creating an input file which is named "for005.dat".  Input data is organized into NAMELISTS. Basic NAMELISTS include the flight conditions (FLTCON), synthesis (SYNTHS), body geometry (BODY), wing geometry (WGPLNF), horizontal tail (HTPLNF), and vertical tail geometry (VTPLNF).   The input file is created in a text based editor in which the user manually inputs the parameters in a FORTRAN compatible format.  Upon the creation of the input file, the user must use the command prompt window to run the DATCOM program.  The program takes a second or two to execute and creates a number text based output files.

 

Running DATCOM

RUNNING DATCOM TROUGH THE COMMAND PROMPT

for006.dat file contains the most important output charecteristics.  Opening the file with a text based editor allows the user to see the calculated static and dynamic coefficients. 

Sample for006.dat output file

SAMPLE "for006.dat" OUTPUT FILE

Instructions on the operation and available inputs has been collected into three manuals. These manuals will be posted under the resources page in the near future.  Currently there is no active development on the original Digital DATCOM code.  The software has been released into the community as FORTRAN IV open source code and was availble for download until recentely from USAF Research Laboratory Control Theory Optimization Branch.   Unfortunately for some reason, there has been no way to attain the original code.  OpenAE will attempt to contact the USAF laboratory and attain a copy, until then, the only way of attaining the program is to download  Datcom+ or OpenDatcom.

Currently the OpenAE community supports this original version of software.  If you have any questions relating to its operation please do not hesitate to post a question in our forum.

Last Updated (Wednesday, 30 December 2009 22:06)

 

OpenDatcom

PostDateIconMonday, 05 October 2009 14:02 | PostAuthorIconWritten by Aleksey Matyushev | PDF | Print | E-mail
User Rating: / 12
PoorBest 

Development in progress...

The United States Air Force (USAF) Stability and Control Digital DATCOM is a multi- purpose program written in FORTRAN that calculates the stability and control of an aircraft through analysis of its basic geometric structure. In addition, the DATCOM takes into account variable flight conditions (such as Mach and altitude) and the aircraft's propulsion elements. The DATCOM is able to compile meaningful aerodynamic coefficients that closely describe the performance and stability of the aircraft in numerous flight conditions.

DATCOM was written with 1970's technology and as a result some aspects of the program are outdated and/or archaic. A result of it's age the only input accepted by the Digital DATCOM is a tediously-formatted text file (for005.dat) that the user must generate according to FORTRAN syntax. In its purest form, the DATCOM format is time consuming to compile, troubleshoot, or even read. In addition, the only interaction a user has with the application is through the inherently difficult to use command prompt. 

OpenDatcom is being developed to combat these (and many unmentioned) outdated features. OpenDatcom is written completely in Sun Microsystems Java SE and uses the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to interface with USAF DATCOM. The interface is completely coded into OpenDatcom; as a result, no modification to the original DATCOM code is needed.

OpenDatcom uses an advanced GUI/development environment that allows the user to easily compile the input file and run DATCOM without any knowledge of DOS or the necessary FORTRAN formatting. In addition OpenDatcom processes, compiles, and exports the generated export of stability and performance coefficients. This feature was added with the specific intention of compiling three dimensional stability tables which can be copied straight into the FlightGear (using the JSBsim flight model) open source flight simulator. This allows for an aircraft to be analyzed in DATCOM and its flight to be tested in FlightGear.

Once completed, OpenDatcom will allow a user to quickly and easily follow the entire aircraft prototyping procedure from a paper design sketch, to a simulation-flyable model and everything in between

OpenDatcom V1.1, Release Jan 5, 2010

Installation Help

Report Bugs

 

Last Updated (Wednesday, 06 January 2010 01:51)

 

Copyright © 2010 openAE Team.
All Rights Reserved.