Key Features

Non-features

Equally important is what it does not do:

• The library is not suitable for studying behaviors involving turbulence, wing deformations, rapid wing maneuvers, or post-stall behaviors.

• The library is not a structural simulator. The models are not adequate for designing or testing the structural integrity of a design; they assume rigid-body dynamics without estimating internal forces. (For example, it neglects suspension line tension, cell billowing, canopy wrinkling, etc.)

• The library is not focused on engineering control input sequences or wind field models. The bundled simulator is for executing simulations given some inputs, not for designing them.

• The library is not focused on execution time. Although speed is important, the design prioritizes readability, functionality, and flexibility.

Installation

To install the latest release of the package into a Python virtual environment:

$ pip install pfh.glidersim

Or, for the latest development version:

$ pip install git+https://github.com/pfheatwole/glidersim

Documentation

• Design overview: for the background and architecture of the library, refer to the design guide.

• Examples: to use the library to build glider models or run flight simulations, refer to the usage guide.

• API: to program using the library, refer to the library reference.

• Derivations: for a deeper discussion of the modeling choices, mathematical derivations, and literature references, refer to my thesis: Parametric Paraglider Modeling.

Disclaimer

This software has been stable for my purposes, but should be considered “alpha” quality. The design (including the API) needs more users to test it before it could be considered stable. Also the estimates produced by the nonlinear aerodynamics method needs more verification.