AERO Console

AERO Console is a modern graphical user interface (GUI) for Mark Drela's renowned Athena Vortex Lattice (AVL) and XFoil aerodynamic analysis tools.

Originally developed for the Aerodynamics and Performance course (MECH-4671) at the University of Windsor by Dr. Afshin Rahimi, this tool bridges the gap between powerful aerodynamic calculation engines and user-friendly design environments.

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📖 Table of Contents

• Background
• Key Features
• Installation
• Important Workflow & File Structure
• Tutorials & Support
• Credits

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💡 Background

AVL and XFoil are industry-standard, powerful, and free tools for aerodynamic analysis. However, their reliance on legacy DOS-command interfaces creates a steep learning curve for students and modern engineers.

AERO Console solves this by providing:

• A visual design environment to replace command-line inputs.
• Real-time syntax highlighting for AVL files.
• Instant visual feedback on geometry and mass distributions.
• Streamlined workflow for design iteration.

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🚀 Key Features

🖥️ Interface & Editor

Feature	Description
Graphical User Interface	User-friendly forms and consoles to manage simulation parameters.
Syntax Highlighting	Color-coded and automatically indented AVL/XFOIL code editor.
Custom Owner-Drawn ToolTips	Hover over key terms for monospace (Consolas 10-11pt) helper explanations in clean white card styling.
Autosave Control	Toggle auto-saving on/off. When off, a warning indicates dirty states, and prompts confirm closing, tab changes, or project reloads.
Optimized Rendering	Batched console log updates and cached font/GDI+ resources eliminate textbox/combobox flicker and reduce CPU/fan load during heavy AVL output.
Drag-and-Drop File Import	Drop .avl/.mass/.run/airfoil files, whole folders, or .zip archives onto the drop zone at the bottom of the main window. Archives are extracted and folder structures are flattened automatically, with collision-safe renaming and a runtime-file exclusion list so the app's own .exe/.dll files can never be overwritten by accident.
Light / Dark Theme	Toolbar toggle switches every custom-drawn view — 2D/3D geometry, all analysis plots, and the Derivatives tab — between light and dark palettes. The choice is saved to user settings and restored automatically on the next launch.
Release Packaging (maintainers)	File → Package as Zip (Portable) zips the bare-minimum runtime files to the Desktop. File → Package as Standalone Exe publishes a single self-sufficient .exe (bundles its dependencies, no sibling DLLs needed) to the Desktop — both are ready to attach straight to a GitHub Release.

📺 Interface Visual Showcase

Interactive Graphical Interface	Syntax Highlighting Editor
Custom Owner-Drawn ToolTips

✈️ Visualization Tools

Feature	Description
3D Navigation	Rotate, zoom, and pan the 3D view with mouse controls. Dragging orbits around the model's own center rather than the world origin, the scroll-wheel zoom range scales to the model's size, and all geometry, control-surface fills, and mass points are depth-sorted (painter's algorithm) for correct front-to-back layering at any angle.
Rotation Hint	A "?" button on the 3D view (hover or click) explains exactly which mouse-drag direction rotates the model around which axis, matched to the color-coded axis gizmo on screen.
Component Overlay	Toggle visibility for sections, mass distribution, control surfaces, and vortex-lattice panels mesh.
3D Mesh Rendering	Displays panels mesh overlay in 3D visualization with proper perspective coordinates clipping.
Node Highlighting	Interactive highlighter for geometry and mass nodes.
ClearType Typography	High-fidelity text rendering using ClearTypeGridFit for smooth grids, labels, and documentation; axis tick labels use a regular-weight Consolas font for crisp, non-bold numerals.
Centered Fit All	Automated scaling with dynamic margins padding to keep models centered with breathing room.

📺 Visualization Visual Showcase

3D Interactive Navigation	Component Overlay Controls
Geometry & Mass Node Highlighting

⚙️ Multi-Engine Support (AVL & XFOIL)

• Engine Switching: Switch seamlessly between AVL and XFOIL engines from the main ToolStrip.
• Auto-Downloader: Automatically downloads and unzips XFOIL6.99.zip from MIT's official server into the local appdata/ directory when first activated.
• Contextual Actions: Button labels, tooltips, and background execution pathways dynamically morph to support the active tool:
  • AVL Mode: Load Geometry (.avl), Load Mass (.mass), Load Run (.run).
  • XFOIL Mode: Load Airfoil (.dat or NACA codes), Init Polar (pacc), Run Alpha (alfa interactive prompt).
• Plot Controller: A specialized "Close Plot" action dispatches safety escape key sequences and restarts XFOIL automatically if it terminates, ensuring plotting windows close cleanly.

📊 Analysis & Plots

All of the plots below are rendered natively by AERO Console rather than opening AVL's own graphics window, so every one supports the same PNG/SVG/PDF export as the geometry views and runs from an in-tab Run button — no separate menu needed.

Feature	Description
Trefftz Plane Plot	In-house recreation of AVL's Trefftz Plane window: spanwise circulation/downwash distribution plus the full coefficient readout (CL, CD, e, etc.), pulled directly from AVL rather than screen-scraped.
Loads (Shear & Bending Moment)	Spanwise shear force and bending moment distribution per surface, from AVL's VM command.
Drag Polar	Runs a configurable alpha sweep and plots the resulting CL–CD polar.
Derivatives	Stability and control derivatives (ST, SB, FN, FB, HM), shown as AVL's own formatted text output.
Pressure / Element Forces	Chordwise pressure distribution per strip, from AVL's FE command, with a strip selector.
Dynamics (Eigenmodes)	Root-locus/eigenvalue plot from AVL's .MODE analysis, with automatic mode classification (Phugoid, Short Period, Dutch Roll, Roll Subsidence, Spiral), hover tooltips showing ωₙ/ζ/period/stability, and a Stability Tips button explaining how to fix an unstable mode via geometry or mass changes and why it helps.
Load Test Project	One-click button that generates a ready-to-run 3-surface test aircraft (wing+aileron, tail+elevator, fin+rudder) with a mass breakdown and trimmed run case, sized to exercise every analysis tab above without needing your own project.

🖱️ Interactive Geometry Editing

Feature	Description
Properties Panel	Click any Section, Control, or Mass node in the 2D/3D views to open a side panel of editable fields (Xle/Yle/Zle/Chord/Ainc/Airfoil for sections; Cname/Cgain/Xhinge/HingeVec/SgnDup for controls; Mass/X/Y/Z/Ixx/Iyy/Izz for mass points). Edits write straight back to the underlying line - the raw text editor remains the source of truth - and it correctly handles mirrored (YDUPLICATE) geometry.
Field Help Tooltips	Every properties-panel field has a "?" hint describing what it does, sourced from AVL's own documentation.
Structure Tree	A collapsible Surface → Section → Control navigator with drag-and-drop reordering/reassignment (type-aware: Sections only accept drops onto Sections/Surfaces, Controls only onto Controls/Sections), Add/Delete buttons, single-click-to-navigate, and double-click-to-open-properties.
Drag-to-Reposition	Toggle Drag Mode to directly drag leading/trailing edges and control hinges in any 2D view; the underlying line updates automatically.
Auto-Prettify	Edits made through the Properties Panel or Structure Tree automatically re-align the file's column formatting, so panel edits and manual edits never leave the file with mismatched spacing.

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📥 Installation

Note

Compatibility: This software is designed exclusively for Windows OS. Mac/Linux users should use a Virtual Machine (VM) or Boot Camp.

1. Download: Get the latest standalone version from the Releases Page.
2. Location: Place the .exe file in a folder where you have Read/Write permissions (e.g., specific project folder, not C:\Program Files).
3. Run: Open AERO_Console.exe.
   • Security Warning: You may see a "Windows protected your PC" popup. Click More Info > Run Anyway. This occurs because the app is not digitally signed by Microsoft.
4. Setup: The program will automatically unpack necessary dependencies into the same folder.

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⚠️ Important Workflow & File Structure

To ensure the software functions correctly, please adhere to the following file naming and structural rules.

1. Reserved Filenames

The program relies on specific temporary filenames in the root directory.

Warning

Risk of Overwriting: The program constantly writes to the files listed below. Do not use these names for your saved projects. Once you are satisfied with a design, Rename or Move these files immediately to a safe location.

Filename	Purpose	Location
test.avl	Temporary Geometry File	Root Folder*
test.mas	Temporary Mass File	Root Folder*
test.run	Temporary Run File	Root Folder*

*Root Folder is the directory where AERO_Console.exe is located.

2. Geometry Hierarchy

When editing .avl files, you must follow this specific nesting order to prevent calculation errors or crashes:

+- AVL Template (Root)
   |
   +-- Surface 1
   |    |-- Section A (Root Chord)
   |    |    +-- Control Surface
   |    |
   |    +-- Section B (Tip Chord)
   |         +-- Control Surface
   |
   +-- Surface 2 ...

The Structure Tree panel (see Interactive Geometry Editing above) enforces this same nesting automatically when adding, deleting, or dragging blocks to reorder them.