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  #1  
Old 09-01-2010, 08:51 PM
denbobp denbobp is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: California
Posts: 98
Default IPAD for use as PFD

Is there any known development using the IPAD as a primary flight display? There must be some knowledgable people out there that can some how rig sensors for engine analyzing, weather overlays, ahars systems etc.
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  #2  
Old 09-01-2010, 09:10 PM
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N546RV N546RV is offline
 
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Location: Brookshire, TX
Posts: 1,036
Default

Sportair is doing it with their iCub. Moving map, weather, and a pseudo-PFD screen, though the latter depends on the internal accelerometers and is thus limited in utility.

What you propose would be an interesting next step to take... figure out some way to take input from ADAHRS and such.
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  #3  
Old 09-01-2010, 09:30 PM
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kentb kentb is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Canby, Oregon
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Default You could have a problem.

The iPad shuts down when it get to warm. I have mine on the panel in a holder with the sun coming over my left shoulder right on it. After about 10 minutes, it pop up a little warning and then shutdown.

After remove from the panel holder and placing on my knee with cool air blowing on it, it was able to run again. Out of commission for about 4 minutes.

Kent
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  #4  
Old 09-01-2010, 09:54 PM
foka4 foka4 is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Ankeny, IA
Posts: 210
Default iPad reliability

My iPad is cool, but it's not nearly reliable enough to serve as a primary flight instrument in the cockpit. For the cost of an iPad plus sensors, i bet you could buy a purpose-built efis.

That's just my opinion, though.
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  #5  
Old 09-02-2010, 07:37 AM
bkthomps bkthomps is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Destin
Posts: 1,543
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i've heard of apple fans, but trusting your life with it?? using one as a PFD is a bit much
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  #6  
Old 09-02-2010, 07:53 AM
AirbusPilot AirbusPilot is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Santiago, Chile
Posts: 447
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I would love to have some kind of RS-232 to Bluetooth interface between my Dynons and my Ipad so I could have flight and engine information on the back seat of my 8 using the Ipad
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  #7  
Old 09-02-2010, 08:17 AM
terrykohler terrykohler is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,009
Default What's a PFD

Quote:
Originally Posted by gimp2x View Post
i've heard of apple fans, but trusting your life with it?? using one as a PFD is a bit much
I'm an Apple fan too, but I'm not sure I would want to use an iPad as either a Primary Flight Display or a Personal Flotation Device. I am, however, considering using it for Charts and IAPs with the Foreflight app.
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  #8  
Old 09-02-2010, 02:53 PM
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Flybuddy2 Flybuddy2 is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Fort Myers
Posts: 370
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Curious, for those using it in the cockpit, how is it in the bright sunlight of our bubble canopies??
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  #9  
Old 09-02-2010, 03:32 PM
jump4way jump4way is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Coolidge, AZ
Posts: 339
Default

readability with the bright sunlight is actually fine. I haven't had any troubles with that aspect of it in my RV4. The only trouble I have found is the overheating issue. It seems to be very sensitive to heat, not so much temperature inside the aircraft as much as direct sunlight to the screen. I have had some success with mine using a case that I keep folded closed unless I need to see something which I then fold closed right away if the Ipad will be in direct sunlight.
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  #10  
Old 09-02-2010, 04:14 PM
GSchuld GSchuld is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Toms River, NJ
Posts: 97
Default

There have been a bunch of complaints with the Ipad overheating, mostly it appears as a result of the screen subjected to direct sunlight rather than general overall air temperature. Finding a way to somehow get the an Ipad mounted in the shade would obviously be ideal for both overheating and sunlight readability concerns.


Below is a copy/paste from a post on a tech site regarding the issue that may shed some light on the issue:

I just think it's an intrinsic problem with the technology, not likely to be easily overcome.

1. Apple has to make this device relatively water-resistant. Check the iPhone -- certainly it'll go bad if you get it really wet, but obviously, for marketing purposes, Apple has to make sure that if you accidentally splash it with spaghetti sauce while eating dinner and using it, it won't fail instantly. Ditto iPad. So, engineering problem number one: we have to keep this device pretty sealed, we can't cover it with aerating holes.

2. Apple has to make this device fast, to be competitive. It has to cruise the internet faster than an iPhone, otherwise, who'd buy it? Fast means heat. Apple's pushing the limits here. Perhaps there are other suppliers of CPU (Intel) who can make a fast, low-power, low-heat-generating processor, but Apple chose to go with its own proprietary solution. That solution means trade-off of heat radiation for speed. You could probably make a cooler device, but it would be slower, or more expensive, or less under Apple's OCPD control.

3. Brightness. Again, you're fighting another fundamental engineering dilemma. To run this thing in the sun, even in the shade outdoors, the screen has to display considerably more brightly than it would have to in a cool, dark cave. Higher brightness means, again, greater heat generation. Apple is again clearly at the limits of current technology here.

4. Battery size. Larger battery, guess what?! More heat. The balance between making an even larger battery that might be engineered to run cooler, or a smaller battery that fits into the space allowed, another engineering trade-off. I'm sure Apple did the best they could here. They could've made a bigger unit, but then again, doing so == marketing fail.

All in all, Apple made a debut with showcase 1.0 technology that hit a clearly successful target market.

There are clear limitations to this device: the battery is not user replaceable, it is too heavy, it has limited connectivity, it does not multitask (and even when, come OS 4.0, it does, it will not do so well, compared with any equivalently-priced laptop), it smudges, etc. etc.

It's a shiny toy and it's probably the best Apple could make it, given the marketing goals. Are there limitations in the ways it can be used? Sure. Are those limitations opportunities for Apple to revise the device over and over again, keeping it in the public eye with new/improved all along the way? Most certainly. Are they bad enough to sink iPad in competition with, say, a Microsoft competitor? Possibly, but unlikely, given the establishment of iTunes and AppStore at this point (it's not all just about the device).

Enjoy your iPad within the constraints it operates under, or return it and wait, it's really your choice. I don't think any of us could have expected Apple to market this thing with, "won't work outside on a sunny day! Limited storage! Wi-fi may not connect to every device under the sun on the whole planet without any problems! etc. etc." -- so, as with all things, your happiness or unhappiness over YOUR decisions are YOUR responsibility. If there are things the iPad can't do that you wanted it to do.... you should have researched that better, or waited a little bit to see what kinds of limitations become apparent. You really can't blame anyone else for your own failures here, hard as you might try.



George
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