Open-source software

Source code offer

Deneb Aero and its flight simulator include software licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). For every version we distribute, and for at least three years after we last distribute it, Deneb Systems will give anyone who has a copy the complete corresponding source code of those components: the source we built from, our changes to it and the scripts we built it with. We provide it as a download, or on a physical medium for no more than what it costs us to make and send.

To ask for it, write to contact@deneb-systems.com. Say which version you have (for example 0.1.12) and for which system: macOS, Windows, Linux or the flight simulator.

Much of this source already comes with the download; the lists below say where. Each component is free software under its own licence, which also states that it comes without warranty. Deneb Aero runs OpenFOAM, cfMesh, gmsh, ArduPilot and Gazebo as separate programs. Deneb Aero’s own tools that link OpenFOAM are licensed under the GPL as well, and their source ships with the app.

Deneb Aero for macOS

Paths are inside Deneb Aero.app.

• OpenFOAM v2606, by OpenCFD LtdGPL-3.0-or-laterSource in the app: Contents/Resources/runtime/openfoam-source.tar.gz. Upstream: develop.openfoam.com/Development/openfoam, release OpenFOAM-v2606.
• cfMesh (integration-cfmesh), commit 66409e86GPL-3.0-or-laterUpstream at the commit recorded in Contents/Resources/bin/cfmesh.commit: develop.openfoam.com/Community/integration-cfmesh. Also available under the offer above.
• Deneb Aero’s OpenFOAM tools (field export, field slices, mesh preview, live fields)GPL-3.0-or-laterSource in the app: Contents/Resources/workspace/apps/deneb-aero-worker/native.
• gmsh 4.15.2GPL-2.0-or-later, with the exceptions stated in its licenceSource, licence and credits in the app: Contents/Resources/gmsh. Upstream: gmsh.info.
• The Linux kernel 6.18.35, as built by Kata Containers 3.32.0, which Apple’s container starts for flightsGPL-2.0Linux 6.18.35 from kernel.org with the configuration and patches of Kata Containers 3.32.0; see Contents/Resources/container/kernel/SOURCE.txt. Also available under the offer above.
• container 1.5.0, by AppleApache-2.0Licence in the app: Contents/Resources/container/LICENSE. Source: github.com/apple/container.
• Node.js 24.19.0MIT, with the licences of the libraries it includesLicence in the app: Contents/Resources/node/LICENSE. Source: nodejs.org.
• The Studio’s JavaScript libraries, such as React and three.jsMIT, BSD, Apache-2.0, ISC and othersEvery package with its licence text: studio-packages.txt.
• Open CASCADE Technology, through occt-import-js and replicad-opencascadejs, for CAD import in the StudioLGPL-2.1Notices and sources: CAD importer notices.

Deneb Aero for Windows and Linux

Both run Deneb Aero’s Linux image: on Windows as its own WSL distribution, on Linux in Docker. The image lists its sources in /opt/deneb/SOURCES.md. The Windows installer is made with NSIS (zlib licence).

• Ubuntu 24.04 base systemEach package under its own licence, many GPL or LGPLUbuntu’s source packages (apt-get source <package>). Also available under the offer above.
• OpenFOAM v2606, OpenCFD’s openfoam2606 packagesGPL-3.0-or-laterOpenCFD’s source packages at dl.openfoam.com and develop.openfoam.com/Development/openfoam.
• cfMesh (integration-cfmesh), commit 66409e86GPL-3.0-or-laterIts source archive is in the image: /opt/deneb/source.
• Deneb Aero’s OpenFOAM toolsGPL-3.0-or-laterSource in the image: /opt/deneb/apps/deneb-aero-worker/native.
• gmsh, Ubuntu’s packageGPL-2.0-or-laterUbuntu’s source package (apt-get source gmsh) and gitlab.onelab.info/gmsh/gmsh.
• Node.js 24.19.0MITSource: nodejs.org.
• Docker Engine, containerd and runc (on Windows), and the Docker command lineApache-2.0Ubuntu’s source packages docker.io, containerd and runc.
• iptables (on Windows)GPL-2.0Ubuntu’s source package iptables.
• The Studio’s JavaScript libraries and Open CASCADEAs for macOSSee above.

Flight simulator

Deneb Aero downloads the simulator on your first flight. Its image keeps the build recipe (Dockerfile), the pinned commits (versions.json) and Deneb’s patches in /opt/deneb/source; from them, its programs can be rebuilt.

• ArduPilot: ArduPlane and ArduCopter, software in the loop, at commit f62fd81cGPL-3.0-or-latergithub.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot at that commit, with Deneb’s patch ardupilot-json-wind.patch, which lets the simulator’s airspeed sensor read against the wind.
• ArduPilot’s Gazebo plugin (ardupilot_gazebo) at commit 082a0fe2GPL-3.0github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot_gazebo at that commit, with Deneb’s patches ardupilot_gazebo-battery.patch and ardupilot_gazebo-wind.patch, which pass the battery’s state and the wind to the autopilot.
• Gazebo Ionic and its librariesApache-2.0gazebosim.org; Open Robotics’ packages at packages.osrfoundation.org.
• pymavlink, websockets and protobuf, for the bridge to the browserLGPL-3.0, BSD-3-Clause and BSD-3-ClauseTheir Python source is in the image; upstream on pypi.org.
• Ubuntu 24.04 base systemEach package under its own licence, many GPL or LGPLUbuntu’s source packages (apt-get source <package>).

The Gazebo ZIP

The ZIP the Studio exports for your own Gazebo contains no third-party software. It holds the aircraft files, the source of Deneb Aero’s Gazebo plugins and a script to run them. It is built for Gazebo, ArduPilot and ArduPilot’s Gazebo plugin as they are released; you install those yourself, under their own licences.

Propeller data

The catalogue’s 443 APC propellers use the performance data that APC Propellers (Advanced Precision Composites) publishes at apcprop.com, converted to Deneb Aero’s format. These are APC’s computed predictions, not measurements.

The measured data for two propellers, the APC Slow Flyer 10×7 and 10×4.7, comes from the UIUC Propeller Data Site, Volume 1, by the Applied Aerodynamics Group of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: J. B. Brandt and M. S. Selig, Propeller Performance Data at Low Reynolds Numbers, AIAA 2011-1255.

Trademarks

This offering is not approved or endorsed by OpenCFD Limited, producer and distributor of the OpenFOAM software via www.openfoam.com, and owner of the OPENFOAM® and OpenCFD® trade marks.

APC is a trademark of its owner; Deneb Aero is not affiliated with or endorsed by APC Propellers. ArduPilot, Gazebo, Docker, Ubuntu, Node.js and the other names on this page are trademarks of their owners, used here only to identify their software.

Contact

Questions about this page or the source code: contact@deneb-systems.com.