This page contains links to utilities that I've written over the years.
Rather than let them rot on my computer I've posted them here, free for
you to use. If you find them useful, or you can think of something that
would make them better, let me know.
This is a program for automatically generating C source code for packet
communications. The protocol is specified in an xml file and the
software generates well commented and readable source code as well as
html formatted documentation for the protocol.
Detailed documentation and source code of the ProtoGen software can be found
here.
This is a program (Windows or OSX) for doing low speed propeller
analysis. The propeller is specified according to blade section
properties (lift and drag as a function angle of attack and Reynolds
number), and blade shape and twist. McCormick's blade element momentum
method is applied to calculate the propeller characteristics at one or
multiple advance ratios (J).
The propeller specification is done through input text files, and
examples are provided.
Results are given as dimensionless coefficients as well as
dimensioned results.
Selectable units: Metric or English.
Standard atmosphere model is included so you can input the altitude
and PropBEM will compute the density, kinematic viscosity, and speed
of sound.
A plot of the propeller performance (Ct, Cp, Efficiency) versus
advance ratio is included. The plot data can be saved to a text file
for incorporation into other simulation software.
For any advance ratio plots of the blade element properties are
available which include: lift and drag coefficient, induced velocity
and angle of attack, total velocity and Reynolds number, bending
moment and specific thrust. The plot data can be saved to a .csv file
for more detailed analysis
In addition to efficiency the propeller "Merit" is computed, which
is the ratio of ideal power to the actual power consumed by the prop.
This is a useful metric for analyzing rotor performance at zero
advance ratio (where efficiency is zero).
This is a native android app (minimum SDK: 15, i.e. Android 4.X) for
doing unit conversions. This version is 1.2.2. You can find newer
versions on the google play store. There are many similar apps,
but this one is particularly useful for my kind of work:
The choice of unit is done very quickly. Rather than selecting input
and output unit separately a single choice is made, with all supported
conversions for that unit type displayed.
Angle unit conversion is provided, with support for
degrees:minutes:seconds. This is extremely useful for navigation
problems that often use d:m:s units and are therefore dificult to
compute with.
Earth position conversion to and from UTM/UPS, MGRS, ECEF, LLA,
ellipsoid and geoid altitude (google play version only).
Ideal gas computation is provided, with defaults for standard dry
air.
Standard atmosphere with Kollsman window. Look up based on altitude,
pressure, temperature, density, viscosity (dynamic or kinematic), and
speed of sound.
Speed conversion includes conversion to dynamic pressure at standard
density.
Volume conversion includes many useful cooking conversions.
Non-metric conversions follow US customary system (sorry, no
imperial units).
Support for pressure and ambient temperature sensors in the
pressure, atmosphere, and ideal gas conversions (google play version
only).
Support for GPS or Network positioning in Earth position conversions
(google play version only).
Support for simple mathematical expressions as input.
The conversions supported are: Length, Area, Volume, Speed, Angle,
Pressure, Energy, Power, Mass / Weight / Force, Ideal Gas /
Temperature, Standard Atmosphere, and Earth Positions.
This is a Win32 program (should run on XP, Vista, 7, and 8) for
plotting airfoils. I originally wrote it to make templates for cutting
foam core wings. As such it can apply wing skin thickness, leading edge
cap, and template incidence to the plot. The program can also be used to
increase or decrease the camber and thickness of the airfoil. Airfoils
are specified according to the Selig .dat format. An example airfoil is
included and more can be easily downloaded from the UIUC
web site.
This is a Win32 program (should run on XP, Vista, 7, and 8) for doing
low speed propeller analysis. The propeller is specified accoridng to
blade section properties (Coefficient of lift and drag versus angle of
attack and Reynolds number), and blade shape and twist. The propeller
specification is done through input text files, and examples are
provided. McCormick's momentum method is applied to a series of blade
elements to calculate the propeller performance (Coefficient of thrust
and power) at one or multiple advance ratios (J). The tool produces a
nice plot of the propeller performance and can save the resulting data
to a text file for incorporation into other simulation software.
