[1.0.4] Kramax Autopilot: Course guidance and auto-land for spaceplanes (v0.2)

[Kramer]

well I have edit the cfg to land my plane to the Cape ，yep，in RSS

works fine ，thanks for the great mod，I can now finally land my space shuttle fully automaticlyï¼Â

Great to hear that it works in RSS!

[Van Disaster]

That's great, thanks for contributing! The fun thing about creating an approach is you get to name all the waypoints; you'll be immortalized

I took what you had and tweaked it a little and made it just ILS 27 without any extra points.

Seems to work OK. I went and took things a little farther south, because I think with our spaceplanes we need a big wide

turn for the course reversal. I added an extra point to make a box at the end when it turns around. You can try it out if you like:

Yeah, I was considering that myself - originally I had the IAF point a bit further west but that made the approach rather untidy. My spaceplanes might be a little more nimble I guess - that's why I put it up to try out the CAMEL WP ( that was somewhat randomly named but I guess vaguely fits the island ) has been my turn marker since sometime in 0.25. This was a fairly typical workhorse in my last install, you can imagine it's pretty high-performance empty!

I come in more via DODAH from the big circuit than DONUT ( that one did get some minor thought because it's pretty useful from all sorts of angles ) so my arrival at CAMEL is possibly a bit straighter, but anything works.

Anyway, Bug: Crosstrack & GS indicators are still visible in IVA - they go away when the main window does, but they look a bit odd stuck there without the navball.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Van Disaster

[Kramer]

I just uploaded v0.2 of the mod. Just a few tweaks and bug fixes:

• Add first cut at RW27 approach to KSC to default flight plans; thanks to Van Disaster for contributing.
  
• Change window IDs to hopefully now be unique and not collide with PA mod.
  
• Make hitting the target speed button with the auto-throttle off turn it on.
  
• Make app launcher button see the correct state of the GUI window so it should always toggle properly.
  

[Van Disaster]

Unwanted feature: PA traps WASD to use for adjusting horizontal/vertical setpoints - this appears to still trap the keys but with no function. I've not yet tried having this and PA open together& seeing who gets the keys

Also is it possible to get the GS indicator up seperately from GS Vertical mode? would be handy for flying hand-programmed rather than slaved to WP tracking.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Van Disaster

[Ser]

Very interesting. Though I won't use this mod in the nearest future just because I like to land things by hands but it certainly worth checking out.

Just for note, if you have troubles with keyboard there's another nice mod by Crzyrndm for controlling a plane with mouse: Analog control

[Crzyrndm]

Unwanted feature: PA traps WASD to use for adjusting horizontal/vertical setpoints - this appears to still trap the keys but with no function. I've not yet tried having this and PA open together& seeing who gets the keys

Both will see the inputs since they aren't consumed, and the locks are identical to PA's so they get added and removed at the same time so overlap shouldn't be an issue (they even use the same ID's since they are remnants of my work >.>)

The lines dealing with the locks should be easy to find. There are boolean values to indicate when the locks are engaged (x2), const strings for the lock ID's (x2), and a couple of lock/unlock calls that look like this

[Van Disaster]

Here's a first take at a deorbit profile:

FlightPlan

{

planet = Kerbin

name = Re-entry to ILS 27

description = FAR - Spaceplane re-entry to KSC ILS 27

WayPoints

{

WayPoint

{

Vertical = true

lat = 0

lon = -180

alt = 80000

name = DEORB

}

WayPoint

{

Vertical = true

lat = 0

lon = -132

alt = 40000

name = ANGEL

}

WayPoint

{

Vertical = true

lat = 0

lon = -105

alt = 28000

name = BURNS

}

WayPoint

{

Vertical = true

lat = 0

lon = -95

alt = 23000

name = FISHY

}

WayPoint

{

Vertical = true

lat = 0

lon = -88

alt = 18000

name = DOGMA

}

WayPoint

{

Vertical = true

lat = -2

lon = -78.5

alt = 15000

name = DODAH

}

WayPoint

{

Vertical = true

lat = -1.7

lon = -71.2

alt = 4000

name = LLAMA

}

WayPoint

{

Vertical = true

IAF = true

lat = -0.050185

lon = -71.75

alt = 2500

name = KSC 27 IAF

}

WayPoint

{

Vertical = true

FAF = true

lat = -0.050185

lon = -73.25

alt = 1000

name = KSC 27 FAF

}

WayPoint

{

Vertical = true

RW = true

lat = -0.050185

lon = -74.47

alt = 110

name = KSC RW27 FLARE

}

WayPoint

{

Vertical = true

Stop = true

lat = -0.050185

lon = -74.7

alt = 67

name = KSC RW27 STOP

}

}

You'll want to substitute your CAMEL for my LLAMA ( old CAMEL ) and add THRED again; not sure how good these deceleration targets are but they seem reasonable from a few runs. Won't want to use the glideslope during reentry, mind you...

[ComatoseJedi]

All I have to say is this mod is now my favorite of all time. And being this is my first post about a mod, which is something I didn't even consider until I tried out yours. This thing works like magic. Keep up the good work!

[Kramer]

All I have to say is this mod is now my favorite of all time. And being this is my first post about a mod, which is something I didn't even consider until I tried out yours. This thing works like magic. Keep up the good work!

Thanks lynwoodm, I appreciate that!

[stickman939]

Not gonna lie.

I love you, man. (or woman. Whichever you be)

This is an amazing mod, and it's perfect for things I need in my YouTube videos. Well, some of them at least.

[ShawnPhillips]

Tried this mod for the first time today. Loving it so far. Once the wingman update for BDArmory is ready this would come in handing for moving squadrons of fighters around.

[Aghanim]

Now we just need to implement this, Pilot Assistant and Throttle Controlled Avionics inside RPM so that we can use these in IVA mode and do fully automated takeoff, cruise and landing

[Van Disaster]

Now we just need to implement this, Pilot Assistant and Throttle Controlled Avionics inside RPM so that we can use these in IVA mode and do fully automated takeoff, cruise and landing

Would need an API for PA ( which I've mentioned to Crzymdmn in the past because there'd be other uses too ), but a generic text input screen for RPM would cover a lot. If there isn't one already anyway, I've only really messed with RPM configs briefly to get more compatible stuff into it.

[jbrandon]

Make sure and checkout kerbalmaps.com if you don't want to fly around to get your gps points.

[MOARdV]

Now we just need to implement this, Pilot Assistant and Throttle Controlled Avionics inside RPM so that we can use these in IVA mode and do fully automated takeoff, cruise and landing

Would need an API for PA ( which I've mentioned to Crzymdmn in the past because there'd be other uses too ), but a generic text input screen for RPM would cover a lot. If there isn't one already anyway, I've only really messed with RPM configs briefly to get more compatible stuff into it.

I've had an outstanding request for RPM to support PA for a month now, and this mod popped up on my radar a week or so back. I am interested in getting them to work with RPM (I've seen hints of some very cool autopilot control panels for RPM), but I'm not a spaceplane guy, so I really don't know what stuff needs to be or can be controlled through RPM, or what changes in the mods need to be done to create a useful API. I don't want to hijack this thread, so if people want to discuss that with me in PM, or over on GitHub at the link above, I'll be happy to make it happen (provided any required changes needed in the source mods occur, too). Just please go easy on me - like I said, I'm not a spaceplane guy, so I may be a little slow on some concepts, like flying straight-and-level.

[Van Disaster]

It's very little to do with spaceplanes & quite a lot to do with UI design aircraft flight management systems still seem to use text-based terminal windows ( I presume there's some graphical systems around somewhere ) for data entry, look quite like the waypoint window in this mod. A RPM device that had support for text-based forms ( with data input boxes and specified label boxes ) rather than "here's a screen, format it" and a keypad would cover quite a few mods, I'd be surprised if there wasn't one.

Then this & PA would need the gui abstracted so it could handle multiple GUIs... I suppose we'd best wait for 1.1.

[MOARdV]

A RPM device that had support for text-based forms ( with data input boxes and specified label boxes ) rather than "here's a screen, format it" and a keypad would cover quite a few mods, I'd be surprised if there wasn't one.

The big problem with raw text input in RPM is usability - having to hunt-and-peck with the mouse on a virtual keyboard is a slow process. I've got the ability to support numeric inputs (with +/- keys, or a rotary switch), but not text - although numeric inputs could be used with text (if there's a list of flight plans, you could spin a knob to select an entry in the list, for instance).

[meyerweb]

I finally got some time to mess around with this, and I love it even more in practice than I did in theory.

Since I’m still running Pilot Assistant, I got confused by both this and PA having the same icons, so I cleaned up some cruftiness around the plane’s silhouette and added “KA”. Since I thought there might be others in my situation, I created a pull request over on Github to merge in my icons, if you like them. If not, no worries.

I also created some short approaches for KSC, meant more for atmospheric jets than spaceplanes. If you’d like, I could also create a pull request to bring that in, if you’d like to have an example `FlightPlans.cfg` for others to look at and work with. Again, if not, not worries, but let me know. Thanks!

Edited December 12, 2015 by meyerweb
Cleaned up forum migration errors (Unicode and hyperlinking were both botched—sigh)

[ss8913]

Now we just need published instrument approach plates like JeppCharts or NACO plates (IFR pilot here myself as well). One thing I'm not finding by searching the thread here is any reference to FAR - MechJeb's plane autopilot can't even hold altitude properly with FAR, can this one? I'd settle for even a basic Piper Altimatic-III style altitude hold at this point if I could get it... but it has to work with FAR and not wobble all over the place

[Crzyrndm]

It's a modification of Pilot Assistant, and Pilot Assistant only cares about the aero system in that it changes the dynamics of the plane (ie. some retuning may be required when shifting between the two. It is developed 90% in FAR though...). In terms of control consistency, this is a pretty good demonstration (note the lack of port control surfaces which were lost mid flight when the wing dipped into the water in a turn)

[Van Disaster]

Now we just need published instrument approach plates like JeppCharts or NACO plates (IFR pilot here myself as well). One thing I'm not finding by searching the thread here is any reference to FAR - MechJeb's plane autopilot can't even hold altitude properly with FAR, can this one? I'd settle for even a basic Piper Altimatic-III style altitude hold at this point if I could get it... but it has to work with FAR and not wobble all over the place

I have used FAR since the first month of the game ( some time before my forum join date which itself is bogus because I got lost when the forums had a fit in 2013 ) - I had no trouble at all with this & FAR, and all the screenshots I took were using FAR ( and the approaches I did were developed in FAR too ). It did help that this mod can read PA presets though - so I'd recommend setting your plane up in PA first and then importing the preset.

[ss8913]

So I tried it with FAR - it's much better than MJ2 at controlling the plane, although there is still some wobble, although it may be due to my control surfaces being too large for the mass of the craft. Is there, however, any way to add an APPLY button? I type in a heading and it doesn't take effect until I hit + and then -. Also is there a way to change the interval that + and - increment/decrement by?

[Van Disaster]

So I tried it with FAR - it's much better than MJ2 at controlling the plane, although there is still some wobble, although it may be due to my control surfaces being too large for the mass of the craft. Is there, however, any way to add an APPLY button? I type in a heading and it doesn't take effect until I hit + and then -. Also is there a way to change the interval that + and - increment/decrement by?

For wobbles: hit the PID/Lim/Srf buttons, and fiddle; if you don't know anything about PID tuning visit the pilot assistant thread.

For heading & other entries, the apply button is to the left of the box.

Well this would be a bug report if I knew what was going on: how this guy got lost between IAF & FAF I have no idea, but that is a rather large ( and still growing ) crosstrack error. He pulled the wheels up & drove into a hill eventually.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Van Disaster

[gavman420SSJ]

would it be possible to make unpowered landings with a custom flightplan?

[Van Disaster]

would it be possible to make unpowered landings with a custom flightplan?

There's no reason you couldn't write an approach for "I only have half a craft left" . Nothing in there requires any power, only if you set speed holds & your craft can't follow the approach at the given speeds without any power. Most of the time mine won't slow down enough...