Working with locks

[traisjames]

I am building a space tug that moves its arms out of the way from the object it is towing and re-aims it's main thrusters located on the arms based on direction of travel.  I am trying to use weak motors to save cost and weight, but I am finding that the toggle locked actions don't do any good.  They dont seem to trigger and toggling requires them to be in the right state to start.  I wish there was a way to say at the start of a movement unlock that part, and once moving is complete to lock it again.  Also setting the play head to 0 after getting to the end is nice too so I dont have to add those steps into the custom action groups.

[AHHans]

It is also my experience that setting the lock has a high chance to fail because "the part is moving". So using the "toggle locked" is next to useless because you don't really know which state it actually has afterwards. (And if you try to control more than one part, then the status gets out of sync almost immediately.)

So for "classic" action groups I don't use "toggle lock" but one group to set the locks and another one to release them. So that when I want to set the locks I can hit the "set locks" button as often as needed to get all parts locked.

My suggestion is to use the same method with the KAL-1000: don't use "Toggle Locked", but use "Engage Servo Lock" and "Disengage Servo Lock", and to be on the safe (well, "somewhat safer")  side put more than one "Engage Servo Lock" actions into the timeline, in case the first didn't work. But I haven't tried that myself yet.

Edit: My suggested timeline would be:

1. some time with no movement but a few "set lock" actions
2. one "release lock" action
3. the actual movement
4. one "release lock" action
5. some time with no movement but a few "set lock" actions

That way you can play the sequence in both directions. The superfluous set- or release-lock actions should just be ignored.

Edited August 2, 2019 by AHHans

[traisjames]

Well I tried a few things a few different times and to no success.  I posted a video of a test at https://youtu.be/y2Y8j_LzmYc.  I missed it initially but at 0:40, as things start moving, the extenders were suppose to travel to full extention. You can see in the PAW that, even though it's target is 4.8, its staying at 0, and no power is going to make it move.  You can see the same going on in the included image.  Litterally all I am doing is choosing one of three positions.  Wish I could just make buttons that do that, not timelimes.

[AHHans]

Quick answer: I don't know why the parts in your vessel behave so strange. In particular why some parts don't seem to move at all, even though they should...

Are you using any mods that interfere with the working of the robotic parts?

[traisjames]

45 minutes ago, AHHans said:

Quick answer: I don't know why the parts in your vessel behave so strange. In particular why some parts don't seem to move at all, even though they should...

Are you using any mods that interfere with the working of the robotic parts?

I dont know any mods that would interfere.  I have infernal robotics installed but am not using any of it's parts or anything for this.

[traisjames]

Looks like this isn't the only issue.  On a rover I am building, I am using the hinges to have it folded when on a ship and unfold when its ready to drive.  If I have autostruts on, they won't unfold, and when all autostruts are off they will.  It will also work if there is a pilot in the seat I added in the front. I also expect them to fall down when part way out and I disengage the motor, but it does not.  Its weird though because if you set struts to root they only go up to the henge, so they shouldn't be stuck.

[AHHans]

Can you post a craft file that shows this problem?

[traisjames]

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1941o3g1omhxptc/AAAKrxfN1q4rNJWcfCZdATQta?dl=0

Tug Probe Mk 1 is the one shown in the image.

For the hinge issues I mention:

Rover Test F is a vanilla rover.

Science Rover Mk I and Mk II use mod parts.

[AHHans]

Of the four craft I can only load the "Rover Test F", the other ones require some modded parts. And the "Rover Test F" throws quite a few warnings about "missing part module XYZ". But once loaded it behaves fine (sort of, see below): no stuck hinges (if they aren't locked), autostruts stopping at or traversing the hinges depending on locking state, and hinges "falling down" when I remove the motor and unlock them. (You do have the latest version, right? KSP 1.7.3.2954 and BG 1.2.0. IIRC the autostrut issue was only fixed in that version.)

What doesn't work well is setting the locks automatically via the controller. I set up a controller scheme as I outlined it in my earlier post. This can unlock and move the hinges just fine, but setting the lock only works sometimes. Even when I try to set the locks manually it usually takes a few tries before the lock is set.

[traisjames]

6 hours ago, AHHans said:

Of the four craft I can only load the "Rover Test F", the other ones require some modded parts. And the "Rover Test F" throws quite a few warnings about "missing part module XYZ". But once loaded it behaves fine (sort of, see below): no stuck hinges (if they aren't locked), autostruts stopping at or traversing the hinges depending on locking state, and hinges "falling down" when I remove the motor and unlock them. (You do have the latest version, right? KSP 1.7.3.2954 and BG 1.2.0. IIRC the autostrut issue was only fixed in that version.)

Sorry about that...I have been jumping between Vanilla and Modded versions with Rover Test F.  I knew the others have mod parts...though I also had problems where I stripped Science Rover Mk I of all Modded parts but when I would load it in Vanilla KSP the "mediumstoragecontainer " threw a part not loaded issue, and would not show in the Debug parts list.

Yes, my version matches what you have listed.

[AHHans]

4 hours ago, traisjames said:

Sorry about that

No problem.

But I can't really help you. It works for me, and I cannot reproduce your problems. Maybe ask in the technical support forum?

[Jognt]

On 8/2/2019 at 11:06 PM, traisjames said:

Well I tried a few things a few different times and to no success.  I posted a video of a test at https://youtu.be/y2Y8j_LzmYc.  I missed it initially but at 0:40, as things start moving, the extenders were suppose to travel to full extention. You can see in the PAW that, even though it's target is 4.8, its staying at 0, and no power is going to make it move.  You can see the same going on in the included image.  Litterally all I am doing is choosing one of three positions.  Wish I could just make buttons that do that, not timelimes.

Using KJRnext by any chance? That mod is known to bug out with robotics. Not sure if the newest version has a fix.