Enhance MockLink for Multiple ADS-B Vehicle Simulation

[Paschalis]

Description

This PR addresses the limitations of the current MockLink implementation by enabling the simulation of five ADS-B vehicles, providing a more realistic and consistent flight path on the QGroundControl map. The following changes were made:

• Updated MockLink.cc and MockLink.h to allow the addition of five vehicles that simulate realistic movements and smooth transitions.
• Ensured that the heading of each ADS-B vehicle aligns with its movement direction, improving the overall accuracy of the simulation.
• The existing ADSB_Simulator.py script remains in the project to facilitate testing of SDR hardware faults and antenna issues. This redundancy is crucial for users who require a fallback method for ADS-B simulation via TCP link, mimicking a real ADS-B server setup.

Screencast.from.2024-10-30.21-23-23.mp4

Checklist:

• Review Contribution Guidelines.
• Review Code of Conduct.
• I have tested my changes.

Related Issue

#12006

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[HTRamsey]

As it seems like you are actively using ADSB, do you think it would be valuable to parse more ADSB messages for the remaining data not currently used in mavlink_adsb_vehicle_t? Like hor_velocity, ver_velocity, tslc, etc

[Paschalis]

As it seems like you are actively using ADSB, do you think it would be valuable to parse more ADSB messages for the remaining data not currently used in mavlink_adsb_vehicle_t? Like hor_velocity, ver_velocity, tslc, etc

I agree that parsing additional ADS-B messages would be beneficial. In addition to the mentioned fields, we would like to add:

• Groundspeed (hor_velocity) in knots.
• Climbing/Descending Indicator: A small icon (such as ^ for climbing and v for descending) to visually indicate the vertical velocity of the aircraft.
• Emergency Squawk Status: Indicate emergency squawks (7500, 7600, 7700) with visual markers, such as changing the vehicle icon to a red version, to allow easy identification.

Suggest displaying these details in a hover field when the mouse is over each vehicle, allowing users to access relevant information only as needed.

Additionally, should adding appropriate vehicle images based on aircraft type to help distinguish between planes and helicopters, as discussed on Aviation Stack Exchange.

[HTRamsey]

Could you make a feature request for that and any other thoughts you have on it? Adding the messages is very quick and easy, visual stuff might take a slight bit more