Automation (and Action Groups?) tuitorial?

[Esme]

Hello all! I have recently got back into playing KSP after quite a long time away, and it is even better than it used to be, I am having so much fun!

I decided to see if I could work out how to use automation. So far I have been unfolding hinges and telescoping pistons etc manually in the few circumstances where I have used them, but I'd like to be able to press a button instead, and I know this is possible.

To my great surprise I have been unable to find any tutorials on using automation. Have I simply missed them somewhere? But also, when I opened the automation editor (which baffles me utterly - I mean, I can see it is set up to play a string of actions, but how the heck do you tell it the actions you want it to play in sequence?!) it seemed to me that Action Groups are involved, and I have never used those before either. I did find and read the article in the wiki on those, but am still a mite puzzled.

NB: I am aware that I may be struggling at least partly due to poor mental health issues at the moment (I had a nervous breakdown), so please bear that in mind when responding.

To give you an idea of my level of ability with KSP, I have in the past sent probes to every planet except Eeloo (not sure Eeloo was even in the game back then!) , although havent before got Kerbals out of Kerbin's SOI (hope to be attempting to send Kerbals to Duna soon with a 100 ton ship I now have in orbit). I play Science games only simply because I have no interest in a business-type of game. I'm fairly adept with orbital mechanics and can land manually (just about!) on the Mun, though I prefer to use MechJeb for landings, generally.

The sort of thing I;d like to automate is a rover using hinges for legs and the light rover wheels - have te legs unfold and the wheels deploy with a single command. I'd LOVE t be able to use automation on the cool stuff in the Konstruction mod, but baby steps first!

 

All help greatly appreciated! :-)

[Kim Hanson]

I too was baffled by this element of the game, then I finally saw someone use it on YouTube.

After you open the action groups, move your cursor back to craft you are building and click on the part you want automated.  It will turn blue.  Click on an action group you want to use and a list of options appear which you can click on to activate and deactivate.  After that it's pretty straight forward.

[Stamp20]

The KAL-1000 controller can be used to create sequences with robotic parts, assuming you have Breaking Ground. It probably works differently if you're using IR.

Step-by-step guide:

1. Place a controller and some robotic parts on your craft.

2. Go to the Actions menu and select the controller on the left side.

3. Click the robotic part on your craft and select Target Angle on the left.

4. Repeat Step 3 until all robotic parts you want are in the KAL's control.

5. Open the KAL's UI and set up how you want the hinges to move.

6. (optional) Assign "Play Sequence" for the KAl to an action group.

If done right, when the controller is played, the sequence will play out.