195 lines
8.2 KiB
Markdown
195 lines
8.2 KiB
Markdown
Hello, this is a project to create a simulation of a vintage marine radar before the
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days of digital electronics and we had to use a cathode ray tube with p7 phosphor
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I plan to use c++ and opengl and shaders for access to a GPU. I am in ubuntu 25.10.
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I wish the c++ be arranged as follows:
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All code in the src subdirectory
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The main program and the binary would be called radar-simulation.
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The shaders are in the shaders subdirectory
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We need to use classes. For now, I can see one class for all things
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having to do with putting stuff on the screen. Includes initializing
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OpenGL and put up two windows on the screen. One is for the PPI display,
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locate on the right hand side of the screen with margins for the sides of
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the monitor. The A Scope is a smaller window on the center of the left
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side of the display.
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All inputs to either display will be performed in that class. Data fields
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for the methods of that class should be put into a header file in the
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headers directory.
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Another class would be used to communicate with the raspberry pies that
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will obtain data from the ais and ads-b software defined radios. This
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is for purposes of adding targets. Marine radar can pick up low flying
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targets plus I may (in the future) add an option for a vintage air traffic
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control radar with precision approach radar, but not now.
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Another class would be used for simulating targets, like for example
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a sailboat regatta race.
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Classes:
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1. Anything to do with sending anything to the display. Needs to be on the
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same thread as the main function
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2. Communications with outside sources; ais and ads-bl for targets
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3. Operator controls
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4. Internal target simulation
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5. All of these have to use mutex for anything going into the display class
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There may be more classes TBD
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The platform is a Geekom GEEKOM A8 Max, AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS 5.2GHz 32GB RAM
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Now here is the overall project and proposed architecture
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This project is to simulate a period 1950 to 1960 marine radar with a crt p7
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phosphor for the ppi scope and a p1 phosphor (this is oscilloscope phosphor)
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for the a scope. The ppi scope
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will be on the right side of the screen and the a scope will be on the left
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hand side of the screen.
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Notes for controls the user can play with
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Here are the controls that I am proposing
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1. Intensity
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2. Focus
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3. Astignatism
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4. Range selection (for both a scope and ppi scope)
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5. Sensitivity
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6. Clutter elimination (I believe only ppi scope; please research)
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7. There is some sort of control having to do with the mangatron
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but I don't know what its called and what it does.
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8. Bearing (only for a scope) which in the old days uses a servo motor to
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rotate the antenna. I don't know what form of feedback (text on the
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screen or mechanical numbers on a dial)
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9. Magnetron tune
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10. Anti clutter rain (ftc)
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11. Will not need heading (this will be a fixed radar location for
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the harbor master or lifeguard
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12. Off-centering
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13. Graticule brilliance
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14. Reset (in case kids really mess things up)
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15. Pulse length selection (short pulse for better range resolution,
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long pulse for better sensitivity at distance; operator selectable)
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(Please suggest other controls I may have missed.)
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Now, for controls, the tentative approach is to use encoders (that do not
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have end stops so they cannot be broken by visitors at the museum) I will
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need help on how to impliment them. I am guessing a few raspberry pies to
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handle the encoders. I am thinking of encoders have one common terminal and
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a clockwise pulse terminal and a counter clockwise pulse terminal.
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Let do this like this. The control handling will be a different class and run
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as a separate thread from the display. Each control function will have a parameter
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for how many pulses received and in what direction. That would be permanent.
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Temporary code necessary for changing control selection and value via the
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keyboard until I get the necessary hardware for the controls.
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Also please note that thill will need to be flexible as encoders can
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be expensive, especially robust ones that kids cannot break.
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Shaders:
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Each of the following is a separate shader set. Keeping them separate is
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intentional for easier debugging — each layer can be disabled, modified,
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or tested independently without affecting the others. At least the following shader sets
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1. PPI targets, current, in white blue
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2. clutter for rain, in white blue
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3. clutter for waves, in white blue
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4. graticule for PPI for bearing ticks, numbers, and range rings that
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will change with range selection
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5. Have operator switch graticules on the vintage a scope
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6. Shoreline; tricky as shoreline has hills.
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7. This may be overkill, but something for notable buildings and docks. The
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curved south bay trail and taylor dock comes to mind, also the squalicum
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marina and the breakwaters.
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Details for A scope (predecessor to the PPI scope)
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The a scope will have pulse amplitude on the vertical axis and the range on the horizontal
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axis. There will be a graticule for the a scope. This will show range markings. In the
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day, the operator would physically change the graticule overlay. What we can do is to
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electronically change the overlay and put a brief message saying operator changes
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the graticule.
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The graticule was illuminated with #47 incandescent dial lights, we need to have that
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graticule lit with an equivalent color. Horizontal is range, vertical is strength
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of the return blip. The phosphor of the A scope is green, similar to P1, which was
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used on oscillosopes.
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On vintage a scope, the operator changes the graticule when range is changed. Suggest
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briefly display the message "operator inserts new graticule manually". If possible for
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realism, have the old graticule move up and off the screen and then the new graticule move
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onto and down the screen until it is in place, simulating the operator changing the
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graticule.
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There are as of now, no shaders nor any c++ files created yet
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Details for PPI display:
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Located on right hand of the screen. Put 1/2 inch margins on the right and top and bottom.
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The PPI display will need shaders for the following:
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1. Active radar target echos (blue white phosphor)
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2. Graticule (warm incandescent color, it was a plastic overlay lit with lamps. Does
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not get included with persistant phosphor. Can change if the operator changes the
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range. Have ticks for bearing; each degree. Every 10 degrees have a small text label, put these
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outside the ring. No range rings for now. Have to figure out how that is done with vintage
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radars. Perhaps you can suggest. Does operator have to change the plastic graticule when they
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change the range?
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3. facility to change clutter, rain and waves. Immediate is blue white same as targets
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4. facility to include shore lines. This will change with range settings. If possible, can
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we include docks and tall buildings? Immediate is blue white same as targets.
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5. Persistance (green yellow) for targets, clutter, and shore lines.
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Communication:
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All I know now is that I plan to use a combination of raspberry pi 4 and a Airspy
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SDR for each of ais, ads-b, and uat. UAT (978 MHz) and ADS-B (1090 MHz) are different
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frequencies and require separate SDRs, but a single Raspberry Pi 4 is powerful enough
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to run both dump1090 (ADS-B) and dump978 (UAT) simultaneously with two SDRs on its USB
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ports. AIS requires a separate Raspberry Pi with its own SDR tuned to VHF 161/162 MHz.
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Each Raspberry Pi will act as a server fielding requests from this program.
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Lets try to have each raspberry pi as a separate instantiation of a class
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called raspberry pi. Those classes will use a common data structure:
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1. float longitude
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2. float latitude
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3. char *vessel_name
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4. char *registration
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5. char *vessel_size
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Looking for suggesions
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Each of these raspberry pis will called by a main function (running as its own thread)
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to gather this data structure if there are any targets received since the last
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call.
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The Raspberry Pi code will live in a separate git repository with its own CLAUDE.md
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and its own CMakeLists.txt, since it targets a different architecture (ARM) and has
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a different toolchain and dependencies. Do not mix it into this repository hierarchy.
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Right now, I just want to make sure that the structure is okay and that the CMakeFile.txt
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looks okay. I am not ready to ask you to create any code
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