Progress in the Migration of Flight Test Analysis Routines to Python

Abstract

In recent years, the Python language and its associated scientific libraries have been enjoying increasing acceptance. Scientific Python’s ability to replace MATLAB® for many disciplines makes its consideration as an alternative imperative. Python is popular in the engineering academic arena; many entry-level Engineers have experience coding engineering tools in Python already due to its open-source nature and status as a low-cost, low-risk alternative to MATLAB. The IADS Development Group (IDG) has been working on uses of Python and ways to allow users to write Python code from within IADS to help streamline their data processing efforts. This paper will document the progress made since 2015. Experience gained with some of the available Python libraries will be shared, and various tools that have been developed in Python by IADS programmers for their users will be introduced and described in detail. An attempt will also be made to assess the acceptance of Python in the Flight Test community.