ADS-B Flight Tracker

A terminal-based real-time flight tracker using ADS-B data from the OpenSky Network API.

Realtime ADS-B monitoring near JFK, showing aircraft lined up to takeoff/landing, demonstrating zooming in/out, and LLM integration.

Features

• Real-time monitoring of aircraft in a specified area
• Detailed aircraft information display (position, altitude, speed, heading, etc.)
• Color-coded aircraft visualization based on altitude and ground status
• Airport-based tracking with configurable radius
• Support for OpenSky Network API authentication
• Interactive controls for navigation and view adjustment
• Comprehensive logging system
• Optional LLM integration for airspace summaries using Ollama

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• requests library
• curses library (included in Python standard library)
• Optional: Ollama for LLM integration

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/b-d055/adsb-copilot.git
   cd adsb-copilot
   

2. Install the required packages:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

3. (Optional) Download the updated airports database if needed: Download airports.csv from OurAirports and place it in the application directory.

Usage

Basic Usage

Run the flight tracker with default settings (tracking Swiss airspace):

python main.py

Track Flights Around a Specific Airport

python main.py --airport JFK --radius 30

Custom Geographic Bounds

python main.py --min-lat 40.5 --max-lat 41.0 --min-lon -74.0 --max-lon -73.5

Use OpenSky Network API Authentication

python main.py --username yourusername --password yourpassword

Enable LLM Integration for Airspace Summaries

This requires Ollama running locally or on a remote server:

python main.py --use-llm --ollama-url http://localhost:11434 --ollama-model gemma3:1b

Note that a _summaries.md file will be created in the logs directory, which will contain the prompt + summaries generated by the LLM.

List Available Airports

python main.py --list-airports

Interactive Controls

• Arrow Up/Down: Select different aircraft
• r: Force refresh data
• p: Pause/resume data updates
• +/-: Zoom in/out
• q: Quit the application

Configuration Options

Option	Description	Default
--airport	Airport code (IATA or ICAO) to track flights around	None
--radius	Radius around airport in kilometers	20.0
--list-airports	List available airports and exit	False
--min-lat, --max-lat, --min-lon, --max-lon	Geographic bounds	Swiss airspace
--username, --password	OpenSky Network API credentials	None
--refresh	Data refresh rate in seconds	10.0
--log-file	Path to log file	Auto-generated
--disable-logging	Disable logging	False
--use-llm	Enable LLM integration	False
--ollama-url	URL for Ollama API	http://localhost:11434
--ollama-model	Model to use for Ollama	gemma3:1b
--llm-refresh	How often to refresh LLM summaries in seconds	20.0

License

MIT License

Acknowledgements

• OpenSky Network for providing the ADS-B data API
• OurAirports for the comprehensive airport database