Propellers not spinning visually and occasional attitude disturbances in FlightGear (PX4 v1.17 + JSBSim + custom F550 hexacopter)

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Hi everyone,

I have successfully integrated a custom F550 hexacopter with PX4 SITL, JSBSim, and FlightGear. The vehicle is able to arm, take off, and respond to commands correctly, but I have observed two issues.

Current behavior

  1. Propellers are not visually rotating in FlightGear
    • The drone generates thrust and flies normally.
    • Position and attitude updates are visible.
    • However, the propellers remain static in the FlightGear model.
  2. Motion is not completely smooth
    • During flight, I occasionally observe small, sudden pitch and roll motions.
    • These disturbances are not severe or unstable, but they appear as brief attitude changes rather than smooth motion.
    • The vehicle remains controllable and continues flying.

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Software versions

  • PX4: v1.17.0
  • JSBSim: 1.2.3 (GitHub build 1561, commit 570e8115a102df8f877b11e0e59b964ea483e3c0)
  • FlightGear: 2020.3.18
  • SimGear: 2020.3.18
  • OSG: 3.6.5
  • Operating System: Ubuntu

Model information

  • Vehicle: Custom F550 Hexacopter
  • Simulation backend: JSBSim
  • Visualization: FlightGear
  • Frame configuration: X-frame

Questions

  • Are propeller animations expected to work automatically with PX4 + JSBSim, or do they need to be implemented manually in the FlightGear model XML?
  • Does JSBSim provide rotor RPM information to FlightGear?
  • Has anyone implemented spinning propellers for a custom multicopter model?
  • Could the occasional pitch and roll disturbances be due to the FlightGear visualization, SITL timing, or some issue with the JSBSim model?

Any guidance or references would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!