# radar-simulator

Museum exhibit software simulating 1940s–1960s vintage radar systems.

## Project overview

This application runs as a full-screen interactive exhibit on a Geekom A8 Max
(AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS, Radeon 780M GPU, Ubuntu 25.10). Visitors can explore four
historical radar types by cycling through a selection screen and interacting with
keyboard controls.

**Four radar displays:**

| # | Name | Type | Location |
|---|------|------|----------|
| 1 | Chain Home | A-scope (WWII, 1940s) | RAF Ventnor, Isle of Wight |
| 2 | Marine A-Scope | A-scope (pre-PPI, manually steered dish) | Community Boating Center, Bellingham Bay WA |
| 3 | Marine Traffic Control | PPI scope | Center of Bellingham Bay WA |
| 4 | Police Boat | PPI scope (moving platform) | Taylor Dock / Boulevard Park, Bellingham Bay WA |

## Tech stack

- **Language:** C++20
- **Graphics:** OpenGL 4.3 Core, GLFW, GLAD
- **Text:** FreeType 2
- **Maps/LIDAR:** GDAL (libgdal-dev)
- **Database:** PostgreSQL (database: radar, user: radar)
- **Build:** CMake

## Build

```bash
mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)
```

The executable is `build/radar_simulator`.

## Running

```bash
# All four radars available
./radar_simulator

# Specific radars only
./radar_simulator chain_home marine_ascope
./radar_simulator marine_traffic police_boat
```

If only one radar is specified, it auto-activates after 5 seconds.

## Screen layout

The window is 1920×1080 and is divided into three areas:

- **Left text panel** (upper-left, 500 px wide): radar description and keyboard controls
- **Status bar** (lower-left, 500×250 px): current control values in yellow
- **Scope** (right side, square, full height): radar display

## Keyboard controls

| Key | Action |
|-----|--------|
| **1** | Step forward in radar selection (or return to selection when operating) |
| **2** | Step backward in radar selection |
| **ENTER** | Activate selected radar |
| **ESC** | Exit |
| **3 / 4** | Intensity lower / higher |
| **5 / 6** | Receiver sensitivity lower / higher |
| **Q / W** | STC sensitivity lower / higher |
| **E / R** | STC range lower / higher |
| **T / Y** | Rain noise filter lower / higher (PPI scopes only) |
| **U / I** | Radiogoniometer left / right (Chain Home only) |
| **O / P** | Max range step down / up (all except Chain Home) |
| **A / S** | Range cursor lower / higher (PPI scopes only) |
| **D / F** | Bearing cursor CCW / CW (PPI scopes only) |
| **G / H** | Antenna rotation CCW / CW (Marine A-Scope only) |

## Component .md files

Each component has a specification and status file:

- `01_classes.md` — class hierarchy (RadarBase + 4 subclasses; stubs built)
- `02_text_description.md` — text renderer and left-panel text content (complete)
- `03_setup_and_radar_selection.md` — startup, selection loop, main render loop (complete)

## Current build state

The initialization and radar-management infrastructure is complete:

- Four stub radar subclasses render description text, keyboard control lists,
  and current control values in the status bar.
- The scope area shows the radar name with a `[stub]` label — no actual radar
  simulation is drawn yet.
- All keyboard controls update CPU globals; uniforms will be pushed to shaders
  as each scope component is built.

Real radar scope rendering (sweep, targets, graticule, range rings/ticks,
terrain, P7 phosphor persistence) will be added one radar at a time.