New · real ArduPilot (SITL)
UAV and VTOL flight simulator with ArduPilot SITL
Fly your tilt-rotor with the real ArduPilot and your .param.
With AIRLAB Connector on your Mac, ArduPilot is no longer an imitation: it is the real ArduPlane, the same code your flight controller runs, compiled for your computer. ArduPilot decides the modes, PIDs, transition and failsafes; the simulator provides the physics, the 3D and the scenery, step by step and in lockstep.
Hover, transition and return home, decided by ArduPilot.
QHOVER, QLOITER, the transition in FBWA with its wait for airspeed, QRTL with its braking and vertical landing, QLAND until it disarms. With the rudder, ArduPilot tilts the front motors just like on your aircraft (vectored yaw).
- Load your .param in one step: the simulator reads your outputs, your arming channel and your modes
- Board-specific settings (orientation, calibrations, ports) are removed automatically; the flight settings are yours
- The failure menu works with real ArduPilot: stop a motor or jam a tilt servo
- Optional QGroundControl over TCP 5760 for parameters and missions
AIRLAB Connector
A small program for the Mac: it installs with one command and opens with a double click. The Connect tab tells you live what is working and what is missing.
Two aircraft
The VTOL tilt-rotor (tricopter QuadPlane) and the twin-engine fixed wing, each with its own test .param and its parameters saved separately.
Real flight with an instructor
The same connector picks up the real aircraft's MAVLink telemetry over the ExpressLRS Backpack WiFi and Captain Pitot analyses it.
It does not touch your aircraft
It never writes to the flight controller: with the real aircraft it only listens, and with SITL everything happens inside your computer.
Mission planner included
Plan the mission, fly it in AUTO and take it to your aircraft.
Vertical take-off, waypoints, loiters and VTOL landing on the map. The planner estimates distance, time and consumption before you arm, and warns you about anything that does not add up.
- VTOL_TAKEOFF, WAYPOINT, LOITER_TURNS, LOITER_TIME, VTOL_LAND, RTL
- Export and import .waypoints (QGC WPL 110), the Mission Planner and QGroundControl format
- Geofence, rally points and survey area with camera triggering for photogrammetry
- The mission is shown in 3D while you fly
New · ENAIRE UAS geographical zones
Before you fly, check where you are allowed to fly.
Spain's official UAS geographical zones, the same ones as in ENAIRE Drones, on the planner map and in 3D. They check your mission against their heights and warn you in flight, including on real flights with telemetry.
- Aerodromes and heliports, controlled airspace, prohibited and restricted zones, infrastructure and railway lines
- Mission traffic light, a card for each zone with its contact details, and a PDF report
- Warnings as you approach, enter and leave, in Captain Pitot's voice
- Legal flight planning exercise with a score out of 100
Guidance information obtained from ENAIRE. It does not replace the official check in ENAIRE Drones or coordination through ENAIRE Planea.
What ArduPilot SITL is and how AIRLAB FPV uses it
SITL (Software In The Loop) is the ArduPilot firmware compiled for a computer instead of a flight controller. It is the tool the ArduPilot developers themselves use to test the code without flying.
Two ways to fly
Without installing anything, the simulator reproduces ArduPlane's behaviour in the browser, following its official documentation. With AIRLAB Connector on a Mac, you fly the real ArduPlane (SITL): the firmware decides and the simulator provides the physics, the 3D and the scenery.
Importing .param parameters
Load the .param from Mission Planner or QGroundControl. The simulator reads your outputs, your arming channel and your modes; with SITL, the flight settings are yours and the board-specific ones are removed automatically.
Flight modes and VTOL transitions
14 ArduPlane modes: QSTABILIZE, QHOVER, QLOITER, QLAND and QRTL for vertical flight, plus MANUAL, ACRO, FBWA, FBWB, CRUISE, LOITER, CIRCLE, RTL and AUTO. More in the VTOL simulator.
Automatic missions
VTOL_TAKEOFF, WAYPOINT, LOITER_TURNS, LOITER_TIME, VTOL_LAND and RTL, with geofence and rally points, exportable to .waypoints (QGC WPL 110).
Failsafes and procedures
Motor stop, jammed tilt servo, radio loss with the ArduPlane failsafe chain, and low or critical battery, also with real ArduPilot.
Real flight with an instructor
The connector listens to your aircraft's MAVLink telemetry over the ExpressLRS Backpack WiFi and Captain Pitot analyses it. It never writes to the flight controller.
Technical requirements and compatibility
- Browser simulation: an up-to-date browser with WebGL2; for a USB radio, Chrome or Edge
- Real ArduPilot (SITL): a Mac with AIRLAB Connector; ArduPilot is compiled once with a script (20-40 minutes)
- Aircraft with SITL: the VTOL tilt-rotor (tricopter QuadPlane) and the twin-engine fixed wing; the others fly with the browser simulation
- Optional QGroundControl over TCP 5760 for parameters and missions
- The physics are the simulator's: your .param behaves as it does on your aircraft to the extent that the simulated aircraft resembles yours
Already have your .param? Check it for free with the ArduPilot .param analyzer: errors, failsafes, outputs and tilt checked against the official documentation, plus a report from Captain Pitot.
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