[1.7.3] Real Battery v1.7

[JeffreyCor]

Stock batteries aren't really useless. They provide the EC buffer for things like transmitting research data. Especially for large data chunks where the battery discharge rate will not maintain more stored EC in the system than is required for each transmitted portion.

[Irenicus]

Hello! Tnx for the mod!

 

But I have some problem: I have installed RO 1for KSP 1.4.5 version. But in game, I have the message: not RO parts.

 

How fix this?

[Cheesecake]

6 hours ago, Irenicus said:

How fix this?

Write your own RO-configs or ask in the RO-thread.

[fr33soul]

can you update this for ksp 1.6.1?

[Blackline]

Hi Guys, taking a break from KSP for over a year now, sorry for not being here.

About the update to the newest version: i forgot everything i have to do to make it work again, but I'll try it :-)

EDIT: recompiled and pushed to git master, if the bot catches the update, it should be available within the next hour or so. Give feedback if it did work out.

Edited July 29, 2019 by Blackline

[MacGregor]

Just got your mod. Trying it out now for the first time on a mission to the Mun. Anything I should be aware of not mentioned in the first post? 

[Krzeszny]

FAQ

Q: Does it work in 1.12.1?

A: Mod broke.

Q: Understandable, have a great day.

(A: That's not a question )

TL;DR Here you can see the batteries from this mod (in this screenshot Battery 5 kg) appear to have 10 times less capacity than stock but they have a hidden SC capacity that doesn't show in the VAB unless you look at the parts menu. Also, the discharge is bugged visually with EC draining by 20% and stopping draining... it's a lot of bugs.

As I'm a battery junkie myself, to the point of soldering my own chargers and dischargers for Li-Ion/Li-Pol (they're the same) batteries, I'd like to use this mod but unfortunately it's broken and doesn't change much in terms of gameplay, which it could (see suggestions below).

Here we go, bug list:

- All cloned batteries (this mod clones and modifies all batteries, as it seems) have Electric Charge (they were supposed to have only Stored Charge) which is 10 times less than stock batteries or than batteries from other mods

- The parts list shows Stored Charge and Electric Charge

- The PAW in the VAB only shows EC and dis/charge rate

- The PAW outside of VAB shows EC and SC

- Janitor's Closet classifies all batteries this mod as clones as non-clones. For example, stock batteries cloned by this mod appear to be made by Squad. Not a big issue but still, the mod should make its custom parts show up as Real Battery parts.

- Stored Charge and Electric Charge... they're just bugged. EC doesn't drain completely, SC drains in a weird way.

To test the 5 kg battery from this mod, I started draining some power, about 1.5 EC/s. The battery had 1 SC and 10 EC. The EC dropped just 2 units from 10.0 to 8.0 and then stopped dropping. Very slowly, SC started dropping, with EC always staying at 8.0/10.0. When I started recharging the battery, first SC charged very slowly to full and then EC charged from 8.0 to full. This is reproducible.

 

Suggestions:

• I can retexture the batteries if @Blackline decides to fix and improve this mod.
• The batteries would be more practical if they displayed remaining EC. SC is arbitrary so it's hard to guess how much is left and it's hard to see whether it's being used at all.
• Storage mode - discharges batteries slowly to 50% charge and hibernates them. This not only prevents self-discharge but also degradation, speaking of which:
• Capacity should degrade
  • I'd suggest basing the calculations on this Battery University page: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries
  • Lithium batteries always permanently degrade, even if stored at nominal voltage, albeit then it takes dozens of years in the right temperature. They don't only degrade when nearing full voltage (near full voltage they do it (permanently) in a matter of months).
  • Lithium batteries always degrade, but I believe they only stop degrading when frozen (ofc. they can't be used when frozen)
  • (Maybe this mod already simulates degradation, not only discharge over-time, but I can't read .cs and it's not mentioned anywhere)
  • Discharge and charge limits should be configurable with sliders in the PAW in VAB and during missions (shown as one bar that allows visually setting the minimum and maximum limits it if possible, having those limits also editable as values):

This mod would be amazing with storage/usage modes, capacity degradation and variable charge/discharge limits. At least for those who like tinkering with everything and understand lithium batteries.

Charge/discharge limits, called Depth of Discharge (DoD, the usable capacity) affect expected longevity. One could limit the Depth of Discharge (DoD) to prolong the longevity for multi-year missions or not customize DoD at all for short missions and stages when the batteries will burn up anyway. For balance, batteries with a customizable DoD should cost more credits. That's because it's possible to use cheap chargers with fixed voltages, while chargers with variable voltage limits cost more, and even more if you can customize them on the fly. What should stay in the cfg file is the default DoD limit (10%-90% or so) which is the fixed microprocessor limit.

According to Accubattery's research which debunks Battery University's research, speaking about Depth of Discharge is the result false interpretation of data, with scientists to blame. What affects battery longevity is not how much you discharge it, but yow much you charge it, and also the temperature, chemistry and how much time it spends charged fully. In short, lithium-ion batteries deteriorate quicker when they're stored above 3.94V, or about 70% of their capacity. Storing them at 100% makes the deterioration about 4 times faster. This is why modern smartphones lose 50% capacity over 1 year. Just don't charge them fully! There's no need to replace the battery if you know how to take care of it!

Making the charging limit customizable in the VAB would add more depth to designing rockets. Do you want a lighter battery that deteriorates quickly or a larger battery with less capacity that deteriorates slowly?

What would add even more depth is limiting DoD charging on the fly or at least a storage mode. For example, you'd launch a rover with batteries kept at their nominal voltage, and when you get to a planet/moon for a mission, "activate" the batteries. They wouldn't deteriorate in storage mode (or would take dozens of years).

All things considered, I hope this mod will be brought back to life once Blackline comes back.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Krzeszny
typo, formatting, clarification

[Blackline]

@pap1723 Reached out to me, about reviving this for mod.

@Krzeszny Thanks for your amazing list. Yes, there are plenty of bugs (I came far since then :D) but I do not plan to work on this anytime soon, sorry. Your ideas are amazing, and if there is someone out there with the C# skills and the expertise to write a KSP mod, I am happy to hand over the repo!

@all sorry for ghosting this, but I have not played KSP in years and do not plan to do so anytime.

Fly Safe!