Visualization

Gimbal3D Block

Premium 3D Gimbal visualization. Nested rings respond to Roll, Pitch, and Yaw orientation inputs.

# 3D Gimbal Block

Description

The 3D Gimbal block renders a real-time WebGL visualization of three nested gimbal rings that respond live to Roll, Pitch, and Yaw input signals. The outer ring rotates about the vertical axis (yaw), the middle ring tilts fore-and-aft (pitch), and the inner ring spins about the longitudinal axis (roll). A pulsing neon core at the centre provides a visual reference for the body frame. Input angles are in degrees.

This block is a pure visualization sink — it has no output ports and does not affect simulation numerics. Use it to provide intuitive spatial feedback when simulating attitude dynamics, flight control systems, robotic joints, or any system where 3D orientation needs to be understood at a glance. It renders at the animation-frame rate regardless of the simulation sample time.

Parameters

This block has no configurable parameters.

Examples

Visualising aircraft attitude from a flight dynamics model

FlightModel → [roll]  ─┐
FlightModel → [pitch] ─┤ Gimbal3D
FlightModel → [yaw]   ─┘

Monitoring a single-axis rotation (roll only)

SineWave → [roll]  ─┐
Constant(0) → [pitch]─┤ Gimbal3D
Constant(0) → [yaw] ─┘

Leave unused ports unconnected; they default to zero rotation.

IMU integration test

Gyro_X → Integrator → [roll]  ─┐
Gyro_Y → Integrator → [pitch] ─┤ Gimbal3D
Gyro_Z → Integrator → [yaw]   ─┘

Remarks

Angle units: All three inputs are interpreted as degrees. Multiply by 180/π (≈ 57.296) when your signal source produces radians.
Rotation convention: Yaw rotates the outer ring about Z, pitch tilts the middle ring about X, roll spins the inner ring about Y. This matches an aerospace ZXY Euler convention applied sequentially through the gimbal hierarchy.
Sink block: The block produces no output signals. It cannot be used as an intermediate node in a signal chain.
Rendering: The block uses Three.js with WebGL. Performance scales with the size of the block on the canvas; very large sizes may increase GPU load.
Unconnected ports: Any port left unconnected defaults to zero rotation. Connect only the axes needed; the remaining rings stay at their rest orientation.
Default size: The block defaults to 250×250 px. Resize on the canvas to suit the available workspace.