[1.8.0-1.12.5] AtmosphereAutopilot 1.6.1

[Boris-Barboris]

8 hours ago, DrLicor said:

Any suggestions what to do?

Turn off SAS.

[DrLicor]

3 hours ago, Boris-Barboris said:

Turn off SAS.

Ahh, I feel so dump right now hahaha

Figured it out, for mouse flight you need to move red line in the middle of the screen by ajusting your camera angle, I though it would just follow your mouse.

Thankss

Edited July 20, 2016 by DrLicor
completion

[the_machemer]

So what exactly does the fly-by-wire do? Does it dampen out oscillations? Does it do other things too? I saw the video but I'm not entirely sure as to its exact capabilities. I too spend most of my time flying in atmo, specifically flying tubeliners between Kerbinside bases. Even if it just dampens out oscillations, my kerbal flight attendants will be ever so grateful for having significantly less vomit to clean up after each flight 

Edited August 4, 2016 by the_machemer

[Boris-Barboris]

@the_machemer dampens, restrains, trims, isolates. It's easier to just try it for yourself and decide.

[Elmetian]

Hi guys,

I posted on the FAR thread requesting help with the PID tuner and they directed me to this mod. Atmosphere Autopilot seems to work quite well at times but I've got an issue with my flying wing (see pic in the spoiler).

Spoiler

I want to use the autopilot in fly-by-wire mode. Unfortunately the autopilot really REALY wants to roll the aircraft even when the wings are level. When I make a turn by banking and then manually level the wings again, it will then apply full aileron deflection for no reason... I have no idea why it's doing this, but I've tried turning the wing leveler and auto-trim off and even fiddling with the snap angle and the roll angle velocity PID settings.

Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I love the way the FBW autopilot uses the brake rudders properly and holds the pitch (unlike the crappy stock SAS), but this roll issue makes it practically unflyable.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Elmetian

[Boris-Barboris]

Just now, Elmetian said:

Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I love the way the FBW autopilot uses the brake rudders properly and holds the pitch (unlike the crappy stock SAS), but this roll issue makes it practically unflyable.

FAR break rudders are very different from simple control surfaces, AA can't handle them (that explains erroneous roll as well, it's all connected). That plane of yours is looking stock mostly, if so, maybe if you would share the craft file I could investigate and come with some quick bandaid.

[Elmetian]

35 minutes ago, Boris-Barboris said:

FAR break rudders are very different from simple control surfaces, AA can't handle them (that explains erroneous roll as well, it's all connected). That plane of yours is looking stock mostly, if so, maybe if you would share the craft file I could investigate and come with some quick bandaid.

Thanks Boris. The craft is entirely stock except for requiring FAR of course. I've uploaded it to to KerbalX for you to have a play with.

I'll be honest, I'd settle for having a simple PID tuner at this point. One that just forces the crappy stock SAS to make full use of the control surfaces. I'd love to know why the stock SAS 'slips' (see pic), even when only applying a fraction of the control surface deflection. I know it's important to have an SAS that allows player input, but it's almost useless at holding pitch...

EDIT: I think I've found the issue! I'd left FAR's roll flight assistance toggled on and I think that was fighting Atmosphere Autopilot. Seems to fly beautifully now

 

 

Edited August 5, 2016 by Elmetian

[Pol]

Love it. Make my keyboard piloting smooth and steady. Only minor concern I have so far is thrust balancer(recent new toy) is somtimes, for some reason, use not optimal solution, ie there exist balanced solution where some engine is full power and some  are limited, instead it limits all engines, it's still balanced but resulting twr is less then possible. Is there some way to tweak it(I dont understand what it's other than steereng_k settings doing) or some workaround to make it do what I want?

Edited August 8, 2016 by Pol

[Boris-Barboris]

@Pol no, not atm, i know it's crap, but i needed it once, disn't invest in it. Maybe that will change, maybe not, TCA for now is the answer.

[Pol]

You too harsh to it. For some reason I never had much success with TCA, AA on other hand most of the time doing what I want it to do pretty well. Just some minor inconsistencies.

[SkyKaptn]

Any chance to make PID the default choice in thrust director? Is is rock stable as opposed to the default that does some very aggressive hunting.

[Boris-Barboris]

@SkyKaptn your choice to use PID is saved per vessel name, i can make it global if you wish.

[SkyKaptn]

2 minutes ago, Boris-Barboris said:

@SkyKaptn your choice to use PID is saved per vessel name, i can make it global if you wish.

Global would be nice. I think that "opt out" rather than "opt in" reduces clicks by a lot for most ppl.

[kiwinanday]

If PID is made a global change option, can you keep the default setting the same? Or at least, which sub-menu is it under for disabling? I don't have much need of thrust control, as I mostly build "standard-style" crafts—even my flying wing has two ventral rudders.

Edited August 8, 2016 by kiwinanday

[Boris-Barboris]

Just now, kiwinanday said:

If PID is made a global change option

It will be off by default, but if toggled, saved globally, not for a craft name, that's all.

[kiwinanday]

Sweet.

On the topic of tweaks/suggestions, and maybe this has been asked already, is it possible to get a "Hold Radar Altitude" mode, similar to terrain-following radar as used by the F-111, Panavia Tornado, and other strike aircraft?

[Jacke]

13 minutes ago, kiwinanday said:

Sweet.

On the topic of tweaks/suggestions, and maybe this has been asked already, is it possible to get a "Hold Radar Altitude" mode, similar to terrain-following radar as used by the F-111, Panavia Tornado, and other strike aircraft?

Low-level terrain-following autopilot is more than holding a constant radar altitude.  With either forward scanning radar (early models) or internal terrain maps and GPS+dead reckoning (later models) it pulls up before terrain uplifts and pushes down before terrain drops.  I flew enough hours in Tornado to see this in action.  From my experience in Tornado flying low level without the autopilot, simple constant radar altitude will work down to about 200-300m altitude at near-sonic speeds, a bit lower on very flat terrain.  But to get lower in general or to fly through really rough terrain, you need real terrain-following, which is likely to be non-trivial to implement.

[kiwinanday]

11 minutes ago, Jacke said:

 

I'm mainly looking to keep under 2km radar altitude for ScanSat BTDT mapping. I did some quick reading on terrain-following radar, and it definitely would be tricky for holding under 100m or so, especially in the rough terrain of the Kerbin badlands. But I can't help but wonder if it's possible, since the altitude of the surface is a known and defined amount. That's how the ScanSat mappers work—they're just displaying the surface altitude in 2d visual format.

[Sarxis]

One thing I'd love is that the AA interface (Master; Director; Course; FBW mini control interface plus any activated sub GUIs) automatically activates for anything that launches on the runway - for me, it's always open on my planes, but I have to do a few clicks everytime to get it setup and in place. 

[Boris-Barboris]

@Pol try balancer in 1.5.7, should handle most cases.

@SkyKaptn done.

https://github.com/Boris-Barboris/AtmosphereAutopilot/releases/tag/v1.5.7

[SkyKaptn]

Works like a charm. Preflight checklist just got a little shorter

[Talos]

I'm unsure if this is a bug or not, but the mod seems to reset elevon pitch, yaw and roll on saved planes. Basically, if I've set elevon's to only pitch or roll or yaw, then install the mod, they reset to do everything instead, which causes minor instability on some of the planes I use.

Edited August 10, 2016 by Talos

[Boris-Barboris]

@Talos AA uses custom control surface module, it's a necessary evil under stock aero, if you reconfigure the craft again and save it it'll be fine. Up until you delete AA of course.

Edited August 10, 2016 by Boris-Barboris

[fluxornyc]

hi guys im new in ksp. i installed the plugin but i dot know how to turn it on. P key doesnt work for me, if this is the way to turn it on. i appreciate your help

thanks

[Boris-Barboris]

@fluxornyc You need to lear where your log file is located on your install in order to upload it. Until that, modders will not be able to help you.

This topic contains some important info on that (scroll down a little):