[1.12.x] Starship Expansion Project - SEP | v2.1.0 (March, 28th, 2024)

[Janus92]

A preview of what will come at some point:

Yeah, the Booster and Ship are being caught out of the air by Mechazilla!

Here's two Work-In-Progress Videos:

https://i.imgur.com/OVY37a4.mp4

https://i.imgur.com/TnltiRb.mp4

It will still take a lot of fine tuning and finding/fixing of bugs (some are big) before I will release it, so don't expect anything very soon.

 

[OrbitalManeuvers]

4 hours ago, Janus92 said:

A preview of what will come at some point:

Are any of those objects KK statics, or are you building the ship + tower + arms in the VAB? 

[Janus92]

10 minutes ago, OrbitalManeuvers said:

Are any of those objects KK statics, or are you building the ship + tower + arms in the VAB? 

I am building the ship+tower+arms in the VAB as kOS can't get access to KK statics as far as I know. Otherwise I would not be able to issue commands to the tower from the ship or booster.

If you would want to put the whole setup not on the KSC Launchpad but elsewhere near the KSC, then that's also fine. You'd technically be able to place the whole Launch Setup in a big area close to the equator, and the program will remember that particular location for landing on it. I haven't tested this yet, but it should work. It's basically for those people using KK to make their own launch pads.

[OrbitalManeuvers]

3 hours ago, Janus92 said:

I am building the ship+tower+arms in the VAB as kOS can't get access to KK statics as far as I know.

OK thank you - I'm not using kOS yet, but was trying to figure out how you made your video, in terms of construction. I don't think action groups have access to statics either, so yeah I'm building everything in the VAB as well. Just makin sure  

[JacobPF9]

I am having a ton of trouble with the engines in this mod wobbling every ship I put them on. Its almost as if you were to try and hold a broom by the bottom and balance it on your hands but its a little off and you are trying to correct it. Any ideas?

[kharly]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for this great mod and thanks to @Janus92 for his great kOS script which made my dream come true ! 

Automated launch and ascent to orbit "OK"

booster boost back and landing spot on "OK"

rendez vous and refuel starship "OK"

deorbit starship to choose target on kerbin "not yet"

what is the best method to designate a landing target before deorbiting procedure ? 

(too much engine corrosion )

Many thanks,

Kharly

[Janus92]

On 5/16/2022 at 5:57 AM, kharly said:

Hi Guys,

Thanks for this great mod and thanks to @Janus92 for his great kOS script which made my dream come true ! 

Automated launch and ascent to orbit "OK"

booster boost back and landing spot on "OK"

rendez vous and refuel starship "OK"

deorbit starship to choose target on kerbin "not yet"

what is the best method to designate a landing target before deorbiting procedure ? 

(too much engine corrosion )

Many thanks,

Kharly

Thanks for reporting your problem, @kharly! That obviously shouldn't have happened.

Which landing coordinates do you have in the settings page? Default should be the place you launch from, "-0.0972,-74.5577", the KSC launchpad in my case. You can reset the default by clearing the textbox and pressing enter.

Could you check the planned de-orbit burn with the trajectories mod showing expected impact position in mapview? Normally this way you can check to see if the planned re-entry roughly brings you back to base.

I would appreciate it if you would be willing to try to launch and land again, and write about what you did, in which order you pressed things, that cause this kind of behaviour. Maybe you could add some screenshots too of the interface (main page and settings page) and mapview during re-entry.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Janus92

[Janus92]

@kharly I suddenly realized that you may have been using a Target Landing Zone far away from the equator or the current orbit. The problem lies in the fact that the program only looks at longitude when calculating the deorbit burn. Therefore currently it can only automatically de-orbit to Landing Zones close to the equator. I may rework this in the future to allow automated de-orbit from higher inclinations to everywhere it can reach on Kerbin.

However, in the next update I will only allow automatic de-orbit when the projected impact position is closer than 35km from the Target Landing Zone (instead of allowing it even when it has no chance to reach the target).

EDIT:

That went quicker than expected. I have implemented a new functioning automatic de-orbit mechanism to allow de-orbits from higher inclinations to multiple places. I also added an easy button for selecting certain fixed landing zones in the settings page: KSC, Desert Launch Pad & Woomerang (if you inclination is high enough to reach them). Please report any bugs!

A little Cross-Track Error is not so bad. The script finds up to 35km X-Trk (like here) acceptable and easily corrects the error with some margin. If the script can't find any de-orbit that gets close enough you'll have to try another day.

Incoming...

Also I updated for the latest SLE update I found (today). The download link on page 5 has been updated.

 

EDIT 2:

I fixed a little bug that causes the program to fail on the de-orbit burn if high time warps were used before the burn itself. I also turned around the launch tower to facilitate launching the ship facing the same way after the first flight, also perhaps allows future cargo loading. And the ship can handle re-entries from higher inclinations better by rotating shortly before being caught. See this video:

https://i.imgur.com/ssomMeJ.mp4

Edited May 21, 2022 by Janus92

[kharly]

Hi @Janus92, Thank you for taking the time to reply to my last message. Can’t wait to try and post screenshots tomorrow with the new update. This GUI visuals/kOs script combo is for me the most advanced mod that I have ever tried for KSP. The level of precision and stability  achieved by the software is mind blowing ! 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Janus92]

23 hours ago, kharly said:

Hi @Janus92, Thank you for taking the time to reply to my last message. Can’t wait to try and post screenshots tomorrow with the new update. This GUI visuals/kOs script combo is for me the most advanced mod that I have ever tried for KSP. The level of precision and stability  achieved by the software is mind blowing ! 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

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Thanks! Tell us how it goes!

In the meanwhile I'm working on a Tower Page. It basically works already, but I need to check for bugs that will inevitably pop up.

I still have some room for additional buttons and functions. Any suggestions?

[squeaker0704]

whats the qd docking

[kharly]

On 5/24/2022 at 12:33 AM, Janus92 said:

Thanks! Tell us how it goes!

In the meanwhile I'm working on a Tower Page. It basically works already, but I need to check for bugs that will inevitably pop up.

I still have some room for additional buttons and functions. Any suggestions?

Hi @Janus92,

Thanks for the update ! Deorbiting and landing is on spot every time .

Mechazilla integration works perfectly too for me.

I am still trying to figure out how the "docking" process work with mechazilla as my booster get dropped into OLM ring upon return.

Here some screenshots . Having so much fun with it !!!! 

My suggestions would be if possible on the GUI a "Kerbal override button" to take manual controls (rather than going in kOS emergency suppress) and a more powerful integrated antenna in starship to keep control in most of Kerbolar system.

Thanks to all SEP contributors and big up to @Janus92 !!!!!

[adriangm44]

3 hours ago, kharly said:

and a more powerful integrated antenna in starship to keep control in most of Kerbolar system.

I think you need to take a good commnet into account for your missions. For sandbox, yeah, you just want to fly and explore, but in real life (let’s say career or science mode) starship would need to have a deployed antenna outside the fairing in order to reach Kerbin directly. 
Such case won’t work on a reentry as you have to close the fairing for it; or the dark sides of celestial bodies as well.

I’m pro commnets rather than overpowered antennas

[adriangm44]

On 4/13/2022 at 1:26 PM, Janus92 said:

I'm currently adapting my kOS scripts to SEP, in order to automate ship & booster launch and landing, by making a nice little interface for operating the ship. I'm a little bit busy with other stuff in between, and it's not 100% reliable, but if people wanna test it, I'll put the link in here:

 

https://mega.nz/file/attGwYQZ#DSqdy_ANa9lH8LjNCwTrE_JosqhdjanjWi_rVyUQ3ig

 

REQUIREMENTS:

• All basic requirements of SEP
• kOS
• Trajectories mod
• TundraExplorations "TundraExploration.dll" (or just install the mod)
• Only works with my provided .craft files
• SLE (For catching the booster and ship)

NOT SUPPORTED:

• RSS/RO
• FMRS

You'll need to load the craft files I added to the ships folder (should show up if you allow showing the stock ships) for the scripts to work correctly. With the proper craft file the interface should show up automatically on launching.

 

Let me know what problems you find!

Pictures:

Video: (https://i.imgur.com/SzPEF34.mp4)

UPDATE 22/05/21:

• Experimental catching of the booster and ship. Please use the latest SLE update from github!! Stacking is not yet working, so please recover your ship and booster soon after landing.
• Automatic De-Orbit has been reworked to allow de-orbits from higher inclinations to land in all the areas that such orbits cover. Please report any bugs.

UPDATE 22/05/24:

• New Tower Page, for controlling the tower and future re-stacking (once I figure out how to dock) after landing.

Janus do I also have to install "Flap Authority Limiter" from the extras folder?

[Janus92]

17 minutes ago, adriangm44 said:

Janus do I also have to install "Flap Authority Limiter" from the extras folder?

don't think so. Can't remember that I did that.

[kerbalboi]

just wondering what the progress is on the next update=

[Alex1234567890]

Like this mod!

[eagleswing12]

Hey, is it possible that the apogee height could be customizeable in the kOS script? I'm using a 2.5x rescale mod for context.

[PaisteP7]

Hi @Janus92

In which folder do I have to copy the content of the ZIP file? 

[Janus92]

14 hours ago, eagleswing12 said:

Hey, is it possible that the apogee height could be customizeable in the kOS script? I'm using a 2.5x rescale mod for context.

Actually no. The problem is that my scripts depend on the ship reaching orbit before the booster starts the final descent. This is so the focus is on the booster during final descent, and therefore the aerodynamic steering is more accurate and the booster doesn't crash or land off-target so often..

The range in possible apogee heights was so small that I decided to make one fixed parking orbit (around 75km) to make it work in all cases.

9 hours ago, PaisteP7 said:

Hi @Janus92

In which folder do I have to copy the content of the ZIP file? 

the 'Kerbal Space Program' folder (depends on your OS where it is).

[PaisteP7]

@Janus92have all installed.  When I go to the launch pad, the interface pops up and immediately disappears.  It happens again when reloading or when I reset the flight

what can i do ? 
 

thx. 

[PaisteP7]

20 minutes ago, PaisteP7 said:

@Janus92have all installed.  When I go to the launch pad, the interface pops up and immediately disappears.  It happens again when reloading or when I reset the flight

what can i do ? 
 

thx. 

just noticed when i toggle the power of the kos terminal off and on again (in the donnager main body menu), then the interface reappears but immediately disappears again

[Janus92]

15 hours ago, PaisteP7 said:

@Janus92have all installed.  When I go to the launch pad, the interface pops up and immediately disappears.  It happens again when reloading or when I reset the flight

what can i do ? 
 

thx. 

Sounds like kOS ran into an error. Can you open up the donnagers CPU in the kOS interface (menu is on the right hand side) and make a screenshot of the error? Maybe it's a preventable error that I need to correct.

[PaisteP7]

2 hours ago, Janus92 said:

Sounds like kOS ran into an error. Can you open up the donnagers CPU in the kOS interface (menu is on the right hand side) and make a screenshot of the error? Maybe it's a preventable error that I need to correct.

Yes no problem. Here is the screenshot with kOs interface and KSP Console

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/mtgIxxd

[Janus92]

7 hours ago, PaisteP7 said:

Yes no problem. Here is the screenshot with kOs interface and KSP Console

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/mtgIxxd

That's a weird error indeed! The only thing I can think of now is that you may need to change KSP or some language-changing mod to the english language. From what I can see all in the kOS cpu's terminal is that the "KSPActions" are written in german, and it's trying to look for the english word "deploy", and then it fails.

Do you have some kind of language-changing mod in there? I can see you're running a lot of mods that may interfere.