Need help finding/ writing an autopiloting program....

[zekes]

All right, chaps. I've got a question for you all. As you may know, I have a space shuttle, which is life- size -

-And it works, but it's a bear to fly manually, and here's why:

The SRBs do not throttle independently from the SSMEs. This is a problem because I cannot operate the SSME's throttle, and so I cannot balance out the thrust when fuel flows. On takeoff, the SSMEs need to be throttled down, but later in flight they must be at full throttle, and the SRBs need to throttle down. Now, the SRBs are not really solid, they are liquid fuel, which means like the real thing, they can lose thrust over the duration of the flight.

Also, the orbiter needs to drain its orbital fuel on ascent to balance with the orange tank, but then i have to feed the last dregs of orange tank fuel back into the orbiter at apsis. IS there a way I can automate this?

So, what I'm looking for is some kind of plugin that allows two throttles, or that allows an autopilot to both keep the craft flying straight and aldjust thrust along the way. Is this possible, or do i have to write one myself? And is it possible to write one myself without destroying the stockness of the game? Or, can i make an action group setting where I can "activate" or deactivate the throttle (not the thrust) of an engine, OR adjust throttle limiters of multiple engines in flight. Because right now i'm stuck with manually adjusting the thrust with thrust limiters, and manually feeding fuel.

Im sorry if none of this makes sense, but in short I would like to find a way to automate all this without a stock-ruining mod......

(EDIT: Ideally, I'd get a space shuttle-guidance computer and connect it to KSP, i'm sure that would do the trick)...

Edited December 9, 2014 by zekes

[AlexinTokyo]

I don't know of anything that can do what you describe.

The only thing I can think of that might be able to is KOS. (http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/68089)

Edited December 9, 2014 by AlexinTokyo

[Srpadget]

Ideally, I'd get a space shuttle-guidance computer and connect it to KSP, i'm sure that would do the trick)...

Nope, sorry, that wouldn't do it either. The Shuttle's guidance computer could steer with the SRBs via thrust vectoring (unlike KSP solids) but it couldn't throttle them (they were no more throttleable than any other solid rocket). They did have a thrust profile that varied with time (unlike KSP's solids), but that was accomplished through clever design of the shape of the hollow center in the solid-fuel grain, and was preset when the motor grain was cast at the factory. Once those puppies were ignited, they were going to burn through their canned (pun intended) thrust profile until tailoff and separation.

For your problem, it seems to me that what you need is some way to tweak the thrust-limiter tweakable of BOTH your strap-on boosters simultaneously. I would think there should be some way to do that with scripting (though I am not a scripter nor a modder, so take my opinion in this with a large grain of salt).

[Red Iron Crown]

Davon Throttle Control gives you multiple independent throttles, to which you assign individual engines. Sounds like it would help with your issue, and it's also quite handy for craft that have forward flight engines and VTOL engines.

[FleshJeb]

It's not clear to me the level of automation you want. Is it supposed to be completely "hands-off", or are you just looking for something to make launching easier?

If NOT "hands-off", then TAC Fuel Balancer is the obvious choice for fuel management.

If "hands-off", I can't help you with the fuel.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING MAY BE A MONUMENTALLY STUPID AND IMPRACTICAL IDEA.

So, the problem is managing two sets of engines that are coupled to a single analog throttle, that ALSO have a binary ON/OFF option.

There's a solution to this! Pulse-Width Modulation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation

In KOS, you can control the action groups programmatically.

AG1 is the boosters.

AG2 is the SSMEs.

Write a PWM routine to control the duty cycles for each Action Group.

Obviously, this will most likely shake your craft to pieces and/or make it unflyable, but it's a very KERBAL solution. RIC's solution is much better. ;-)

[Ival70]

Regarding your action-group idea, there is a plugin called Action Group Manager, I'm not sure if it lets you make action groups for thrust levels though. Red Iron Crown's suggestion of Davon Throttle Control plus TAC fuel balancer seems to be the best solution here. Also, you should consider putting a link to your thread about the shuttle here. =)

[Laie]

kOS can set thrustlimits on individual engines and last time I checked, even on SRBs. Getting into kOS will be a bit of work, though. AFAIK it can not pump around the fuel.

[bsalis]

kOS can set thrustlimits on individual engines and last time I checked, even on SRBs. Getting into kOS will be a bit of work, though. AFAIK it can not pump around the fuel.

Though you could kindly ask the developer for that feature.

[zekes]

thanks guys- but nevermind, I just did another flight and it's not that bad that I need an autopilot. I'll just struggle through it

Thanks anyway! I like the Davon Throttle Control.