Is there a way to control rotor speed to very small increments?

[maddog59]

I was able to bind my rotor so that it's speed is controllable by the throttle keys, but  when using  Shft/Ctrl it seems to jump from one RPM speed to another: for instance, tapping the Shft key to increase speed I see it going up from 0 to 4.3 to 9.7  (I'm rounding), then down to 3.2 to 0 (tapping Ctrl).  The actual numbers are different each time, so I think it may have something to do with how hard I tap the key, maybe? Is there a way to more finely control the speed? For instance, with engines you can reduce the thrust from 100% to a lower % so that the thrust is more finely controlled for maneuvers. Is there something similar with the rotor PAW that I've missed? 

Add'l: If I unbind the rotor from the throttle and just use the PAW to input values for RPM, the RPM settings appear to only be available  in units of 5:  if I try for 2, it returns to 0; if I input 3 it jumps to 5, and so on.

I don't seem to see any difference in behavior when I use the torque limit % field, whether it's bound to the throttle or not ... values change, but whether or not the rotor is moving seems to be only dependent on the RPM value. 

Edited January 20, 2021 by maddog59

[InfernoSD]

The reason torque limit doesn't matter is that, by default, a rotor is much more powerful than you need it to be. If you reduce the motor size, or if you add more mass for it to turn, then you'll start to see it struggle to maintain target RPM.

If you want better numbers control, you may want to delve into the world of KAL-1000 Controllers. You could for example bind the Throttle to Play Position on a KAL Controller. Then set the KAL Controller to alter your rotor's RPM. Maybe set it to just a specific range, like from 200-360. This will give you small increments with Shift/Ctrl, but in a narrower range. You can take this a step further by combining multiple KAL Controllers, perhaps creating different gears for the rotor. But it gets complicated fast.

Most likely what you're trying to do is fly a plane, in which case you should instead consider binding Throttle to the Authority on your blades. Tweaking the blades gives you better control than tweaking the rotor, and since the best blade angle changes with air pressure and speed, it's something you'll want to have direct control over anyway.

[Gargamel]

Moved to GamePlay Questions. 

[vv3k70r]

14 hours ago, maddog59 said:

I don't seem to see any difference in behavior when I use the torque limit % field

Your propeller is not draggy enough for motor output.

Use bigger proppeler to abuse motor.

 

[maddog59]

11 hours ago, InfernoSD said:

Most likely what you're trying to do is fly a plane. <snip>

Thanks much for taking the time to provide those suggestions. My application is a rotating ring station with a spoke that I want to remain static while the ring rotates. I found that, after I set the spoke rotating, I could use RCS to spin up the ring in the opposite direction to just the right speed so I could get to the effect I wanted.