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Custom

Customizable generic fixed-wing aircraft, including vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft

Since R2021b

Description

Front view of custom aircraft.

Custom is one of the aircraft that you can use within the 3D simulation environment. It is the same skeleton as that used for the HL-20 aircraft. This environment is rendered using the Unreal Engine® from Epic Games®. This aircraft is designed to be customized with a user-supplied skeletal mesh. Two sample skeletal meshes are provided, one of which is shown in Views.

Simulating models in the 3D visualization environment requires Simulink® 3D Animation™.

To add this type of vehicle to the 3D simulation environment:

  1. Add a Simulation 3D Aircraft block to your Simulink model.

  2. In the Block Parameters dialog box, in the Aircraft Parameters tab, set the Type parameter to Custom.

  3. Set the Path to air transport mesh parameter to either the sample mesh path or to your own air transport skeletal mesh path. The two sample skeletal mesh paths are /MathWorksAerospaceContent/Vehicles/Aircraft/Custom/Mesh/SK_Aircraft.SK_ and /MathWorksAerospaceContent/Vehicles/Aircraft/Custom/Mesh/SK_HL20.SK_HL20.

  4. On the Initial Values tab, set the Initial translation (in meters) and Initial rotation (in radians) parameters to an array size that matches the Custom aircraft, for example, zeros(57,3).

Data for Aircraft Placement for Custom Mesh

The Custom sample mesh origin is near its center of mass, 1.163 meters above the bottoms of the tires. To correctly place the aircraft, consider using these values.

Custom Airport Scene Placement

To place the Air Transport mesh in the Airport scene resting on the pavement or other hard surface, which is at a Z of 1 centimeter, use the following body translation and rotation values.

Body Motion Ports and ParametersValue
Translation port and Initial translation parameter[0, 0, -1.163] + [0, 0, -0.01]
Rotation port and Initial rotation parameter[0, 0.01984, 0]

Custom Aircraft Altitude Sensor

For the altitude sensor in the Simulation 3D Aircraft block, use these values.

ParameterValue
Body Z offset (m)1.163
Front tire radius (m)0.203
Left tire radius (m)0.203
Right tire radius (m)0.203

Size

These are the unscaled sizes of the customizable generic fixed-wing aircraft mesh.

ParameterValue
Length (m)8.96
Width (wingspan) (m)9.30
Height (m)2.89

Data for Aircraft Placement for HL-20 Mesh

The HL-20 sample mesh origin is near its center of mass, 1.385 meters above the bottoms of the tires. To correctly place the aircraft, consider using these values.

HL-20 Airport Scene Placement

To place the HL-20 mesh in the Airport scene resting on the pavement or other hard surface, which is at a Z of 1 centimeter, use the following body translation and rotation values.

Body Motion Ports and ParametersValue
Translation port and Initial translation parameter[0, 0, -1.385] + [0, 0, -0.01]
Rotation port and Initial rotation parameter[0, 0.00901, 0]

HL-20 Altitude Sensor

For the altitude sensor in the Simulation 3D Aircraft block, use these values.

ParameterValue
Body Z offset (m)1.385
Front tire radius (m)0.1745
Left tire radius (m)0.2208
Right tire radius (m)0.2208

Size

These are the unscaled sizes of the HL-20 mesh.

ParameterValue
Length (m)7.27
Width (wingspan) (m)5.60
Height (m)2.73

Views

expand all

This topic shows the views of the Custom aircraft. The Custom aircraft uses the same skeleton as the HL-20.

Top-down view of custom aircraft.

Side view of custom aircraft.

Front view of custom aircraft.

Back view of custom aircraft.

Lights and Skeleton

Lights

LightBoneLocation in SK_Aircraft Mesh
Left landingLandingLight_LLeft of nose
Right landingLandingLight_RRight of nose
TaxiNoseGear_LightNose gear strut
Red navigationWing1_RedNavLightLeft wingtip of WING1
Green navigationWing1_GreenNavLightRight wingtip of WING1
Left wingtip strobeWing1_StrobeLight_LLeft wingtip of WING1
Right wingtip strobeWing1_StrobeLight_RRight wingtip of WING1
Tail strobeStrobeLightTop of vertical stabilizer, pointing aft
Position #1PosititionLight1Left wingtip of WING2
Position #2PosititionLight2Right wingtip of WING2
Beacon #1BeaconLight1Top of vertical stabilizer
Beacon #2BeaconLight2Bottom of fuselage

Skeleton

  • FixedWing

    • Engine1

      • Engine1_Prop

    • Engine2

      • Engine2_Prop

    • Engine3

      • Engine3_Prop

    • Engine4

      • Engine4_Prop

    • Engine5

      • Engine5_Prop

    • Engine6

      • Engine6_Prop

    • Engine7

      • Engine7_Prop

    • Engine8

      • Engine8_Prop

    • Engine9

      • Engine9_Prop

    • Engine10

      • Engine10_Prop

    • Engine11

      • Engine11_Prop

    • Engine12

      • Engine12_Prop

    • Engine13

      • Engine13_Prop

    • Engine14

      • Engine14_Prop

    • Engine15

      • Engine15_Prop

    • Engine16

      • Engine16_Prop

    • Wing1

      • Wing1_Aileron_L

      • Wing1_Aileron_R

      • Wing1_Flap_L

      • Wing1_Flap_R

      • Wing1_Spoiler_L

      • Wing1_Spoiler_R

      • Wing1_RedNavLight

      • Wing1_GreenNavLight

      • Wing1_StrobeLight_L

      • Wing1_StrobeLight_R

    • Wing2

      • Wing2_Flap_L

      • Wing2_Flap_R

    • Rudder_L

    • Rudder_R

    • HorizStab

      • HorizStab_Elevator_L

      • HorizStab_Elevator_R

    • NoseGear

      • NoseGear_Wheel

      • NoseGear_Light

    • NoseGear_Door

    • MainGear_L

      • MainGear_L_Wheel

    • MainGear_R

      • MainGear_R_Wheel

    • MainGearDoor_L

    • MainGearDoor_R

    • LandingLight_L

    • LandingLight_R

    • BeaconLight1

    • BeaconLight2

    • StrobeLight

    • PositionLight1

    • PositionLight2

Version History

Introduced in R2021b