/simconnect-bus-toolbox

Primary LanguageC++

SimConnect Bus Toolbox

Overview

SimConnect Bus Toolbox is a MATLAB/Simulink Toolbox for allowing easy transfer of Simulink buses into Microsoft Flight Simulator. The Toolbox contains the Block SimConnectBusInterface, which can act both as Sink and Source.

Building

Prerequisites

  • MATLAB/Simulink (tested with R2023b)
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator SDK
  • CMake
  • A C++ Compiler (tested with Visual Studio 2022)

How to Build

git clone https://github.com/lukecologne/simconnect-bus-toolbox
cd simconnect-bus-toolbox
cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build --config Release

Adding the block to Simulink

Add the <simconnect-bus-toolbox>/matlab directory to you MATLAB path, then add the Block to your model from the Simulink Block Library.

Using the block

To use the block, first add it to your model. It can then be configured via the mask:

mask

  • The Connection Name Entry specifies the name of the client data area registered to SimConnect.
  • The Is Sink option specifies wether the block should act as source (request data from SimConnect) or sink (send data to SimConnect).
  • The Bus Data Type option specifies the data type of the in-/output port. It must be a valid Simulink Bus type.

Now, when running the model with MSFS open, the block will connect to SimConnect, register a client data area with the size of the specified Bus Type, and then either write or read data to/from the data area. The data is taken/sent to directly from/to Simulink via a raw buffer, which is structured like a normal C++ struct with the fields of the bus type.

When receiving/sending the data in another SimConnect Client, you should provide a header file with the corresponding fields of the Bus to cast to. It is recommended to use Simulink Coder to generate the header files for maximum ease of use.