This program plots heading, speed and altitude and creates an animated gif.

compass_animation.py

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.animation as animation
import sys
import os

# This is version 4 of the program

def create_compass_animation(file_path):
    # Load the flight data
    flight_data = pd.read_csv(file_path)

    # Number of frames
    num_frames = len(flight_data)
    print(f'The movie contains {num_frames} frames.')

    # Convert time from milliseconds to seconds
    # flight_data['time (s)'] = flight_data['time (ms)'] / 1000

    # Set up the figure and axes
    fig, ((ax1), (ax2), (ax3), (ax4)) = plt.subplots(4, 1, figsize=(10, 20))

    # Setting up the first plot (Compass)
    ax1.set_xlim(-1.5, 1.5)
    ax1.set_ylim(-1.5, 1.5)
    ax1.set_aspect('equal')
    ax1.set_title('Compass Heading')

    # Create a circle for the compass
    circle = plt.Circle((0, 0), 1, color='black', fill=False)
    ax1.add_artist(circle)

    # Add heading markings
    for angle in range(0, 360, 30):
        x = np.cos(np.deg2rad(angle))
        y = np.sin(np.deg2rad(angle))
        ax1.text(x * 1.1, y * 1.1, f'{angle}°', ha='center', va='center')

    # Create the compass needle
    needle, = ax1.plot([], [], 'r-', lw=2)

    # Setting up the second plot (Heading over time)
    ax2.set_xlim(0, flight_data['time (s)'].iloc[-1])
    ax2.set_ylim(flight_data['angle (deg)'].min() - 10, flight_data['angle (deg)'].max() + 10)
    ax2.set_xlabel('Time (s)')
    ax2.set_ylabel('Heading (deg)')
    ax2.set_title('Heading over Time')
    heading_line, = ax2.plot([], [], 'b-')

    # Adding segment labels
    segment_labels = {
        'Upwind': 60,
        'Crosswind': 150,
        'Downwind': 240,
        'Base': 330
    }
    for label, heading in segment_labels.items():
        ax2.axhline(heading, color='gray', linestyle='--', linewidth=0.5)
        ax2.text(0, heading + 5, label, color='gray', fontsize=12, ha='left')

    # Setting up the third plot (Speed over time)
    ax3.set_xlim(0, flight_data['time (s)'].iloc[-1])
    ax3.set_ylim(flight_data['speed (kn)'].min() - 10, flight_data['speed (kn)'].max() + 10)
    ax3.set_xlabel('Time (s)')
    ax3.set_ylabel('Speed (kn)')
    ax3.set_title('Speed over Time')
    speed_line, = ax3.plot([], [], 'g-')

    # Setting up the fourth plot (Altitude over time)
    ax4.set_xlim(0, flight_data['time (s)'].iloc[-1])
    ax4.set_ylim(flight_data['alt (m)'].min() - 10, flight_data['alt (m)'].max() + 10)
    ax4.set_xlabel('Time (s)')
    ax4.set_ylabel('Altitude (m)')
    ax4.set_title('Altitude over Time')
    altitude_line, = ax4.plot([], [], 'm-')

    # Initialize the plot data
    heading_time = []
    heading_angle = []
    speed_time = []
    speed_data = []
    altitude_time = []
    altitude_data = []

    # Function to initialize the plot
    def init():
        needle.set_data([], [])
        heading_line.set_data([], [])
        speed_line.set_data([], [])
        altitude_line.set_data([], [])
        return needle, heading_line, speed_line, altitude_line,

    # Function to update the plots
    def update(frame):
        angle = np.deg2rad(flight_data['angle (deg)'].iloc[frame])
        x = [0, np.cos(angle)]
        y = [0, np.sin(angle)]
        needle.set_data(x, y)

        heading_time.append(flight_data['time (s)'].iloc[frame])
        heading_angle.append(flight_data['angle (deg)'].iloc[frame])
        heading_line.set_data(heading_time, heading_angle)

        speed_time.append(flight_data['time (s)'].iloc[frame])
        speed_data.append(flight_data['speed (kn)'].iloc[frame])
        speed_line.set_data(speed_time, speed_data)

        altitude_time.append(flight_data['time (s)'].iloc[frame])
        altitude_data.append(flight_data['alt (m)'].iloc[frame])
        altitude_line.set_data(altitude_time, altitude_data)

        return needle, heading_line, speed_line, altitude_line,

    # Create the animation
    ani = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, update, frames=num_frames, init_func=init, blit=True, interval=50)

    # Define the output file name in the same directory as the input file
    base_name = os.path.splitext(file_path)[0]
    animation_path = f'{base_name}_heading_animation.gif'

    # Save the animation as GIF
    ani.save(animation_path, writer='pillow')
    print(f'Animation saved as {animation_path}')

if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(sys.argv) != 2:
        print("Usage: python script_name.py <file_path>")
    else:
        file_path = sys.argv[1]
        create_compass_animation(file_path)