woodywood245

That would indeed be very handy. I was planning a short-range laser ranging system, but I am open to other systems as well.

I haven't made any official announcements about this, but I am actually working on a project to solve the not-enough-science issue. While the 0.22 update was great, I still prefer using sandbox mode, and so most of the new things don't affect me. As a result, I've started creating new sensors and science instruments that do actual science, with real data. So far I have one sensor completely written, modeled, and tested. I will be releasing the parts as I build them, packaged together in one mod, and they will be Science Reporter compatible. The current part I have built is a dynamic pressure sensor, which I built specifically to work with kOS, so that you could easily find your max Q, but it still works like an ordinary sensor also. Parts I have planned, or have already written (but not modeled and tested): A long-distance laser rangefinder, with accompanying retroreflector. Attach a retroreflector to a vessel, send it to the Mun or something, then use your long-distance rangefinder, and it will tell you the distance. This is intended to be similar to the Lunar Laser Ranging experiment. A spectrometer for determining the contents of an atmosphere. At the moment, it's only written to determine if there's oxygen present, but I am hoping to expand that significantly in the future. A seismometer. When on, and on solid ground, this sensor will detect seismic activity. For the sake of not boring the pants off of users, quakes happen much more often than you'd expect. However, I've added some low-level noise for realism. Those are what would be in the first two or three releases, depending on how quickly things get finished. The list of things I'd like to add go on from there. If you guys are really interested in a mod like this, I will create a thread for it, and we can discuss what kind of sensors and instruments you'd like to see added. I have another couple mods in the works, but things aren't quite ready to be talked about yet, in case they fall through.

Yes, I am separating the non-sensor functions and tying them to the computer part. I'm also adding a few new functions, one of which needs some additional testing: math!log(), math!logb(), math!ln(), math!e(), and vessel!isp(). The math!log() function returns the base-10 logarithm of a number, whereas math!logb() returns the logarithm of a number using the base you specify.

Maybe this is a stupid question, but have you tried saving your files to the archive? save filename to archive.

That's a great idea. I will implement that on the next update. I will tie it to kOS parts.

The patch has been released.

I am aware of the issue, and I am going to release a patch today. The new version of kOS uses a rebuilt expression system, which apparently uses colons as namespace operators for internal values. As a result, my existing namespace scheme doesn't work on kOS 0.9. I am still fleshing out exactly what I want to change the colon to. I'm thinking an exclamation mark, but I could also use a pipe, or anything else, as long as it isn't an existing operator.

Okay, since there have been SO MANY problems with kOS 0.8x, and I'm still trapped using 0.71 because of the bugs, I've begun working full steam on this mod again. Official first release features: - Compatibility with kOS 0.7 - Create and remove maneuver nodes. - Target celestial bodies (planets, moons, the Sun). - Get phase angles on celestial targets. - Four parts (1.25m, 2.5m, 3.75m, and 5m), each containing one of each sensor and a kOS computer. I will keep this thread up-to-date with the latest developments. I am nearly finished with the coding portion, and then I will have to test this thoroughly to ensure that it works.

This problem has been fixed in the latest release.

That's bizarre but not unexpected, as I'm still very new to making mods for this game, and official documentation is non-existant. I am looking into fixing this, but it will probably won't be fixed by today's release.

Sometime today (10/10/2013) I will be releasing an update for Sensor Reporter that will include several new functions, and provide a temporary fix for the eta:apoapsis/eta:periapsis math bugs. Functions will include: math:pi() - Returns a value containing the constant PI. physics:gravconst() - Returns a value containing the gravitational constant. vessel:velocity() - Returns a value containing the vessel's orbital velocity magnitude. This is to fix a bug in kOS that is preventing me from getting the magnitude of the orbital velocity vector. Each of the above functions return a double-precision float, and included a ____f() version that returns a single-precision float for those with kOS 0.71 or earlier. Also included will be: eta:apoapsis() and eta:periapsis(). These will return double-precision floats and will work for comparisons and math operations. NOTE: eta:apoapsis() and eta:periapsis() may change names, depending on whether or not they conflict in any way with the existing built-in properties.

To turn sensors on using toggle, try printing the result (which is always null). print sensor:temp:toggle(). NULL It's a crappy answer, I know, but it's a limitation of kOS. Void functions don't work well with kOS at the moment. As far as addressing multiple sensors, it's something I've been thinking about for a while, but I have yet to come up with a solution. If I think of anything, I will definitely do something about it. EDIT: This exact method no longer works in Sensor Reporter 1.3.2. Toggle functions now return a value, and you MUST use SET for toggle to work. Again, it's another quirk with kOS. The return value of the toggle method is the result of the toggle. If the sensor is turned on by the toggle, the result is true. If the sensor is turned off by the toggle, the result is false. If you don't use SET with the toggle, the toggle function will do nothing and return the current setting. I'm not sure why. set bitbucket to sensor!temp!toggle().

At last check (a week ago), that mod is a work in progress, and isn't always caught up with the rest of kOS. It has a few problems on the pUTTY side that made me abandon it within an hour of playing with it.

I've been thinking about something similar for a while. I was going to write a program that did something very similar to this and have the data transfer back and forth via a script and the logging system. That was going to be my next project, but I wasn't sure if anyone would want it besides me.

Another thing I just noticed: switch to 1. // doesn't work copy flight-params from archive. // doesn't work. kOS doesn't like the dash? copy prelaunch from archive. // works, because there's no dash? I'm going to have to switch back to kOS 0.7 until this is fixed.

An update for Sensor Reporter is now available. It fixes some bugs I'm sure you've noticed. It works on kOS 0.7, but works best on kOS 0.8.

kOS 0.8 is out, which does everything this mod would have done, and more. So this mod is officially being abandoned until further notice, unless anyone else can think of things that it should do. On the upside, I've released an update of my Sensor Reporter, which should fix a couple bugs for those of you with kOS 0.7 and earlier, and works best with kOS 0.8.

Thanks. I will check this out.

Well, it seems, from changes to the docs, that adding and removing maneuver nodes is coming in kOS natively, possibly soon. So the question is, does anyone still want me to develop this? The initial release was due tonight, after I finish the last bit of testing. If you'd still like me to release this, then I will. If I don't hear anything, I will assume "yes" and I will release it anyway. By the way, my initial release will come with the Sensor Reporter and 1.25m, 2.5m, 3.75m, and 5m parts, each with one kOS computer, all of the sensors, a little bit of power.

It would be possible, but also a bit of a pain to use (how many people around here know how to read octal?) It's been something I've thought about for a long time though. Even if I wanted to work on it, I wouldn't be able to until the government shutdown is over. The NASA site is down for right now, so I can't get access to any of the official AGC docs.

A preliminary release for the maneuver node portion of the system will hopefully be released today after some more testing and debugging. It will allow you to create maneuver nodes only. Maneuver nodes will be created by using the function node:create(), which takes four parameters: mission time of execution (in seconds), and prograde, normal, and radial delta-v values. I want to get the initial release out there right away because it is part-independent, and I know this is something that a lot of people probably want. I still have some things to work out regarding tracking maneuver nodes and being able to remove them at the appropriate times. If all goes well, a full first release, with parts, should occur in less than a week. If it takes longer, I apologize. I'm a college student so obviously school comes first, but this project is important to me also. Edit: I just had a sudden inspiration regarding tracking nodes for removal. Instead of having node:create() return an index, I'm going to have it return a hash value as its tracking value. In the event that a node is executed, the node will be removed from internal tracking, and later nodes will change index but not tracking value. If this idea works out (which it ought to, I've done something like this before), node removal will be available in the initial release.

It would require the user to enter a start time and a 3D vector representing delta-v. The vector can be calculated using another function I'm putting in here that takes prograde, normal, and radial values (or their opposites, as negatives), and it will return the appropriate vector. I'm not sure yet if the kOS V(x,y,z) structure is equivilent to a Vector3d object, so I will be working on that. But essentially, it would be the same as going into map mode and creating a node, then pushing and pulling the delta-v markers around on the gizmo, or using the Edit Node (I think that's what it's called) option in MechJeb. You have to set all the parameters to make it work, which means you have to calculate all the parameters yourself in your script.

I definitely don't want to go too far towards the MechJeb path, and I'm looking more towards being able to expose game data and do certain things that kOS simply cannot do that can be done manually (like creating maneuver nodes). However, if you know enough of the math, or you borrow someone else's scripts, it will be possible to automate your entire system like Autom8, the only problem is you actually have to write your own scripts. But for right now, that's not really the goal of this plugin. It's more to provide additional tools for writing scripts. Maybe I'll write a more extensive plugin that does a similar job as Autom8, but that isn't the goal of this one. However, I will keep it in mind. I too liked Autom8. As far as the Mission Control idea, what kind of interface and workflow are you thinking of?

I will definitely try to add code that will allow you to target bodies. That shouldn't be too difficult. Interplanetary transfers is a different story. I'm not quite sure about the math for doing that, so that may have to be in a future release, but I will definitely keep it in mind.

Coming soon! So far, I've written the code that lets kOS scripts create and remove maneuver nodes, and calculate delta-v vectors based on prograde/normal/radial values of delta-v. This would be the equivalent of adding them manually in the map or in MechJeb. I'm going to add Saturn V Instrument Unit-style ring parts in all the appropriate sizes and at least one radial part, each including at least one kOS computer (sometimes I use two), and possibly an accelerometer, gravimeter, barometer, and thermometer. If I include the sensors, my Sensor Reporter will be included in this project. If there is anything else that you think you might want that cannot be done directly with kOS, please let me know, and I'll be happy to look into it. Official first release features: - Compatibility with kOS 0.7 - Create and remove maneuver nodes. - Target celestial bodies (planets, moons, the Sun). - Get phase angles on celestial targets. - Four parts (1.25m, 2.5m, 3.75m, and 5m), each containing one of each sensor and a kOS computer.