FlightPanel: aircraft gauges for Android


FlightPanel is an application for Android and the G1 phone that recreates functional aircraft cockpit gauges using the phone's built-in GPS, accelerometer, magnetic sensor (compass), clock, and battery power info. It's a fun way to show off everything your phone can do, especially if you're an aviation enthusiast.

FlightPanel icon FlightPanel costs $1.99 and you can download it through your phone in the Google Android Market.

If you're viewing this page from your Android phone, you can click here.

FlightPanel is a paid-application, so it is only available where the Android Market supports paid-applications. It's listed as an application/tool, although it's easiest to search the Android Market for "FlightPanel" (one word) or pub:"Octopus Motor".

If you have your phone handy and have the BarcodeScanner application installed, you can point your phone's camera at the 2D barcode below, which will take you directly to the application in the Android Market.
Barcode for FlightPanel app


screenshot
For more details on how FlightPanel works and what all those gauges do, check out the INFO page.

For troubleshooting, visit the FAQ.

Note: FlightPanel's performance is entirely dependent on the quality of your phone's GPS signal. Please see the FAQ for more detailed information. FlightPanel is intended for recreational use only. No guarantees of accuracy, suitability or usability are given. Use at your own risk.

Flight Panel 1.1.3 Changes

  • Changed the GPS time vs accuracy filtering to improve stability.
  • Added an Advanced GPS Status Indicator option which shows the quality of the GPS updates & rejected updates.
  • fixed bug where altimeter did not update in metric units.
  • fixed bug with initial preferences not being displayed properly

    Known issues:
  • sometimes will "force close" when exiting preferences screen if GPS update rate is set to maximum.

    Update 1.1.2 changes:

  • Landscape mode auto-rotation fixed
  • Fixed bearing indicator backwards
  • Removed bearing-to-magnetic compass lock preference. Bearing is now always locked to magnetic compass when not moving. When moving very slowly or stopped, errors in the GPS data cause the bearing indicator to spin wildly.

    Known issues:
  • When you exit Settings, it will reset the Upright / Flat setting to Flat
  • The artificial horizon "spins" with the zero-crossing when held upright in landscape mode, which is caused by the phone's sensor data. At close to 90' upright in landscape, the roll data will randomly "flip flop" -- this appears to be a limitation of the phone, perhaps because of "gimbal lock" in that particular orientation.

    Update 1.1.1 changes:

  • Bug Fix: Speedometer is working again
  • Bug Fix: Battery polling set to higher rate
  • Added option to lock bearing to magnetic compass when stopped

    Update 1.1 changes:
    Fixes for Cupcake (removed "auto-enable GPS setting" option)

    • Bug Fix: Thousands needle on altimeter was misaligned
    • Bug Fix: Ten-Thousands indicator on altimeter fixed and made clearer
    • Increased dampening on some gauges to reduce needle-bounce from noisy GPS data
    • Bug Fix: magnetic compass was offset by about 5 degrees
    • Bug Fix: very slow movements could be missed
    • Bug Fix: speedometer would reject data if initial GPS speed reports were too large
    • Bug Fix: Mach indicator working better
    • Bearing indicator now follows the magnetic compass when speed is zero.
    • Improved partial-redraw logic to improve framerate / reduce CPU load.
    Known Bugs:
    • Date indicator doesn't always refresh automatically at midnight
    • Artificial horizon is incorrect at obtuse or extreme angles.


  • © 2009 Octopus Motor Games