How would i change this code so that it plots all of the circular paths and markers all at once instead of one after the other?

close all; 
clear all;
earth_radius = 6371; % Earth radius in km
satellite_altitude = 500; % Altitude of satellites in km
num_satellites = 4;
a = 0;
b = 2*pi;
angle = (b).*rand(num_satellites,1);
r = earth_radius + satellite_altitude;
% Initialize marker position
marker_pos = zeros(num_satellites, 3);
for i = 1:num_satellites
    center = [0,0,0];
    th = 0:pi/20:2*pi;
    x = center(1) + r.*cos(th)
    y = center(2) + r.*sin(th)
    z = center(3) + r.*sin(angle(i)).*cos(th)
    
    
    % Plot satellite path
    plot3(x,y,z,'b-.','linewidth',1)
    grid on;
    hold on;
    xlabel('X-axis');
    ylabel('Y-axis');
    zlabel('Z-axis');
    
    % Plot marker at initial position
    marker = plot3(x(1), y(1), z(1), 'ro','MarkerFaceColor',[1 0 0], 'MarkerSize', 10);
    
    % Plot marker moving along the path
    for j = 2:length(x)
        set(marker, 'XData', x(j), 'YData', y(j), 'ZData', z(j));
        drawnow;
        pause(0.05); % Adjust the pause time as needed
    end
end  

x = 1×41

1.0e+03 * 6.8710 6.7864 6.5347 6.1221 5.5588 4.8585 4.0387 3.1194 2.1233 1.0749 0.0000 -1.0749 -2.1233 -3.1194 -4.0387 -4.8585 -5.5588 -6.1221 -6.5347 -6.7864 -6.8710 -6.7864 -6.5347 -6.1221 -5.5588 -4.8585 -4.0387 -3.1194 -2.1233 -1.0749

y = 1×41

1.0e+03 * 0 1.0749 2.1233 3.1194 4.0387 4.8585 5.5588 6.1221 6.5347 6.7864 6.8710 6.7864 6.5347 6.1221 5.5588 4.8585 4.0387 3.1194 2.1233 1.0749 0.0000 -1.0749 -2.1233 -3.1194 -4.0387 -4.8585 -5.5588 -6.1221 -6.5347 -6.7864

z = 1×41

1.0e+03 * -6.4263 -6.3472 -6.1118 -5.7259 -5.1990 -4.5441 -3.7773 -2.9175 -1.9858 -1.0053 -0.0000 1.0053 1.9858 2.9175 3.7773 4.5441 5.1990 5.7259 6.1118 6.3472 6.4263 6.3472 6.1118 5.7259 5.1990 4.5441 3.7773 2.9175 1.9858 1.0053

x = 1×41

1.0e+03 * 6.8710 6.7864 6.5347 6.1221 5.5588 4.8585 4.0387 3.1194 2.1233 1.0749 0.0000 -1.0749 -2.1233 -3.1194 -4.0387 -4.8585 -5.5588 -6.1221 -6.5347 -6.7864 -6.8710 -6.7864 -6.5347 -6.1221 -5.5588 -4.8585 -4.0387 -3.1194 -2.1233 -1.0749

y = 1×41

1.0e+03 * 0 1.0749 2.1233 3.1194 4.0387 4.8585 5.5588 6.1221 6.5347 6.7864 6.8710 6.7864 6.5347 6.1221 5.5588 4.8585 4.0387 3.1194 2.1233 1.0749 0.0000 -1.0749 -2.1233 -3.1194 -4.0387 -4.8585 -5.5588 -6.1221 -6.5347 -6.7864

z = 1×41

1.0e+03 * 6.3644 6.2860 6.0529 5.6707 5.1489 4.5003 3.7409 2.8894 1.9667 0.9956 0.0000 -0.9956 -1.9667 -2.8894 -3.7409 -4.5003 -5.1489 -5.6707 -6.0529 -6.2860 -6.3644 -6.2860 -6.0529 -5.6707 -5.1489 -4.5003 -3.7409 -2.8894 -1.9667 -0.9956

x = 1×41

1.0e+03 * 6.8710 6.7864 6.5347 6.1221 5.5588 4.8585 4.0387 3.1194 2.1233 1.0749 0.0000 -1.0749 -2.1233 -3.1194 -4.0387 -4.8585 -5.5588 -6.1221 -6.5347 -6.7864 -6.8710 -6.7864 -6.5347 -6.1221 -5.5588 -4.8585 -4.0387 -3.1194 -2.1233 -1.0749

y = 1×41

1.0e+03 * 0 1.0749 2.1233 3.1194 4.0387 4.8585 5.5588 6.1221 6.5347 6.7864 6.8710 6.7864 6.5347 6.1221 5.5588 4.8585 4.0387 3.1194 2.1233 1.0749 0.0000 -1.0749 -2.1233 -3.1194 -4.0387 -4.8585 -5.5588 -6.1221 -6.5347 -6.7864

z = 1×41

1.0e+03 * 5.5266 5.4586 5.2561 4.9243 4.4711 3.9079 3.2485 2.5090 1.7078 0.8646 0.0000 -0.8646 -1.7078 -2.5090 -3.2485 -3.9079 -4.4711 -4.9243 -5.2561 -5.4586 -5.5266 -5.4586 -5.2561 -4.9243 -4.4711 -3.9079 -3.2485 -2.5090 -1.7078 -0.8646

x = 1×41

1.0e+03 * 6.8710 6.7864 6.5347 6.1221 5.5588 4.8585 4.0387 3.1194 2.1233 1.0749 0.0000 -1.0749 -2.1233 -3.1194 -4.0387 -4.8585 -5.5588 -6.1221 -6.5347 -6.7864 -6.8710 -6.7864 -6.5347 -6.1221 -5.5588 -4.8585 -4.0387 -3.1194 -2.1233 -1.0749

y = 1×41

1.0e+03 * 0 1.0749 2.1233 3.1194 4.0387 4.8585 5.5588 6.1221 6.5347 6.7864 6.8710 6.7864 6.5347 6.1221 5.5588 4.8585 4.0387 3.1194 2.1233 1.0749 0.0000 -1.0749 -2.1233 -3.1194 -4.0387 -4.8585 -5.5588 -6.1221 -6.5347 -6.7864

z = 1×41

1.0e+03 * -6.8309 -6.7468 -6.4966 -6.0864 -5.5263 -4.8302 -4.0151 -3.1012 -2.1109 -1.0686 -0.0000 1.0686 2.1109 3.1012 4.0151 4.8302 5.5263 6.0864 6.4966 6.7468 6.8309 6.7468 6.4966 6.0864 5.5263 4.8302 4.0151 3.1012 2.1109 1.0686

[Mario Malic]

Your code calculates each point within for loop and plots it. You can reorganise your code to calculate x, y and z to be a vector for 1 satelite. Afterwards, if you put it in a 2D matrix where each column represents the coordinate, you can do the same for num_satelites that will end up with 3D matrix, where each page (3rd dimension) represents a satelite.

Consult the documentation on plot3 on how to plot data when input arguments are vectors or matrices.

Answer 1

[Mathieu NOE]

simply commenting the inner for loop , and you get this result :

(I also reduced the number of theta points by factor 2 ) : th = 0:pi/10:2*pi;

earth_radius = 6371; % Earth radius in km
satellite_altitude = 500; % Altitude of satellites in km
num_satellites = 4;
a = 0;
b = 2*pi;
angle = (b).*rand(num_satellites,1);
r = earth_radius + satellite_altitude;

% Initialize marker position
marker_pos = zeros(num_satellites, 3);

for i = 1:num_satellites
    center = [0,0,0];
    th = 0:pi/10:2*pi;
    x = center(1) + r.*cos(th);
    y = center(2) + r.*sin(th);
    z = center(3) + r.*sin(angle(i)).*cos(th);
    
    
    % Plot satellite path
    plot3(x,y,z,'b-.','linewidth',1)
    grid on;
    hold on;
    xlabel('X-axis');
    ylabel('Y-axis');
    zlabel('Z-axis');
    
    % Plot marker 
    marker = plot3(x, y, z, 'ro','MarkerFaceColor',[1 0 0], 'MarkerSize', 10);
    
%     % Plot marker moving along the path
%     for j = 2:length(x)
%         set(marker, 'XData', x(j), 'YData', y(j), 'ZData', z(j));
%         drawnow;
%         pause(0.05); % Adjust the pause time as needed
%     end
end  

[Mathieu NOE]

problem solved ?