[PART, 1.0.2] Anatid Robotics / MuMech - MechJeb - Autopilot - Historical thread

[sarbian]

r4m0n told me he would look into Autom8 a couple of month ago. I don't have any news, so he may have done something or not.

I'll try to get some news (it's not that easy since we are not in the same timezone) but don't hold your breath.

If he can't work on it I'll have a look at the old code base and see how hard it would be to port

[Jethro Bodine]

Much appreciated!

[Mordrehl]

I'll do a code compare between those 2 later to see what's going on. I'll try to get some time to work a bit on MJ this week because the asteroid pack will come sooner or later, and there is a few things I want to add to MJ before release a new official (related to checking how MJ is installed and displaying a message when it's not done right, and redoing the toolbar integration).

It may be a good idea. I'll have to see if it's a small code change.

I don't supposed you could add "Current Biome" to the Orbital Infomation screen as well?

[BARCLONE]

Additional observations, re: dev189-193...

Just flew a quad-path mission to Moho to see if dev189 had the shakes. Sadly, yes it does. So the problem (whatever it is) is pre-189 in origin. Here's what I watched, though:

• When using the LGAP, selecting "Pick Target On Map" / "Land At Target", the event is well-behaved until the de-orbit burn gets down to 0.2 m/s (there's that low-ball value again). At that point, the guidance goes crazy and never seems to find a vector that properly allows the lander to finish the burn. The "pitch" and "yaw" needles oscillate back and forth in very wide swings (at least half the meter's range).
  
• If I abort the landing at this point, switch to SA, and engage RETR GRADE, then give the throttle a slight nudge, I can adjust the path to something close enough to the target to call it OK. I then turn SA off and re-engage the LGAP to "Land Somewhere", and LGAP takes the lander beautifully down the path to an altitude of about 15-20 meters above terrain, then flips heads-up to complete a soft touchdown. "Land Somewhere" works really well, if a bit on the nerve-wracking side of life as the terrain gets very close very quickly.
  
• Only quirk I can speak of in the "Land Somewhere" routine is, it never engages Time Warp during the free-fall from orbit. I found I could engage it manually down to about 25 Km above the (Moho) terrain, then drop back to normal time, and LGAP picks up right where it should.
  

Noticed you posted dev194 while I was doing all this. I'll install it and see what's changed...

[Galane]

Build 194 "RCS as thrust if no other thrust is available and RCS is on"

So it can do automatic de-orbits with only RCS now?

[Starwaster]

I don't supposed you could add "Current Biome" to the Orbital Infomation screen as well?

That's actually incredibly easy to do yourself from within the game. Most windows have an E on the title bar. Click that and you will get an editing window. IIRC, Biome's are under Miscellaneous.

It shouldn't take you but a minute or two, unless you get caught up editing the hell out of everything, which you probably will once you see how easy the editor is.

[TinfoilChef]

I've made up a custom "flight stats" window that displays all the data I want during flight but there's one item I'd like to be able to add and haven't found anywhere. "Throttle TWR" .. the TWR of the ship at the current throttle setting. I know KER has this available but I really don't want to add it to a ship that has MJ just for that one stat.

[Starwaster]

I've made up a custom "flight stats" window that displays all the data I want during flight but there's one item I'd like to be able to add and haven't found anywhere. "Throttle TWR" .. the TWR of the ship at the current throttle setting. I know KER has this available but I really don't want to add it to a ship that has MJ just for that one stat.

That would be nice. I think you're right, I don't think it's in MJ. So I second this motion.

[sarbian]

Build 194 "RCS as thrust if no other thrust is available and RCS is on"

So it can do automatic de-orbits with only RCS now?

it should use RCS to do any burn when there is no other source of thrust and RCS is active.

[AndreyATGB]

Suggestion for editor information, could you include min and max acceleration in parenthesis in the SLT and Max TWR respectively for example. I can deduce acceleration from TWR by multiplying by about 10 but it would be nice if it was included there. Something like:

SLT 1.20 (11.77)

Max TWR 3.10 (30.41)

[JedTech]

it should use RCS to do any burn when there is no other source of thrust and RCS is active.

Would also like a setting to use RCS in addition to other source of thrust. This is useful when I am no longer in need of my RCS fuel on the way home and I want to use use the RCS thrust while loosing its weight.

[Mordrehl]

That's actually incredibly easy to do yourself from within the game. Most windows have an E on the title bar. Click that and you will get an editing window. IIRC, Biome's are under Miscellaneous.

It shouldn't take you but a minute or two, unless you get caught up editing the hell out of everything, which you probably will once you see how easy the editor is.

Oooooooooh!!!! Never noticed that E ... will have to try it when I get home from work

[ScottyDoesKnow]

I seem to have found a bug with mechjeb calculating dV stats on certain probes, which seems to be due to them still having a coupler on the end:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Also get this debug error when I load the ship in the VAB for the first time after starting KSP, don't know if it's important:

[drtedastro]

I really like the new ability to have RCS used if 'other' is not available.

However, using RCS, in auto Rendevous, the craft is still being turned around back and forth as it there was only the 'primary' propulsion.

Might want a flag that if RCS is being used, don't need to slew ship around by 180 back and forth...

Just and Idea...

thanks.

[mwlue]

Just updated from dev183, got sth strange with dev193 & 194 version.... the mechjeb windows just don't shown up when i put the MJ part on to a pod. I got tons of nullreference error in the log whenever i place the mj part to sth.... if i revert to dev183 then everything seems fine again. But seems im the only one having the problemmmm.....

trying to remove my mods 1by1 to figure out if anything to do with the mods.....

[BARCLONE]

Dev194...

Landings on Mun and Kerbin seem to work fine, no glitching or shaking in the landing sequence. However, every time I try to "plant the flag", the game crashes. Whoever is on EVA, the game goes into ultra-slow-motion and the Kerbal no longer has any response to the direction keys. I can't even get the text entry screen up to say what I want on the flag plaque.

Haven't tried a landing anywhere else yet. Doesn't seem to be any point in going out farther when the game crashes like this. I'll try creating a new sandbox and see if that clears the cobwebs a bit.

[tmbomber]

Hi Everybody, I've been having an issue with the docking auto pilot, and last night I finally tracked down what was happening...

I've spent the last month playing around with landers and hadn't been doing much docking. The docking I had been doing was only playing around with small craft. I've been updating all my mods all along and noticed the docking AP was changed and the GUI for it now included the lines "safeDistance xxx", "target Size", "Distance Dock", and "Distance Axe Dock". I wasn't using it much, and with the small vessels I was playing with it worked just fine.

Recently I went back to messing with my large stations. When I was playing with them back in January I had no problem using the Docking AP to dock with them. I'd select "control from here" on my probe docking port, "set target" on the station, engage the AP and head to the kitchen for a snack. By the time I'd get back to my machine the probe would be docked. It was *verry* reliable.

Now the Docking AP doesn't work with my stations at all. I'd do the usual procedure and the RCS would come on full bore and if I was lucky my probe would shoot straight away from my station. On occasion it would crash straight into it. Distance Dock & Distance Axe Dock would increase and keep increasing until I was more than 200m away from the station. Then I'd loose the targeting on the station docking port and the docking AP would disengage. Leave my probe sailing away at 15m/s+.

I remember it use to work, so I started downloading and trying every version of MechJeb going back to January. When I hit Rev 170 popped up I noticed:

"3. New Docking AP and updated RCS Controler"

Rev 170 was where those new lines in the docking AP GUI showed up. Rev 169 turns out to be the newest version that still works on my stations.

One clue as to what's going on. My stations are rather large. In the docking AP I'd see values for safeDistance and targetSize greater than 250.

It seems to me that the docking starting point is being calculated based on target size, and if the target is huge enough it places the starting point outside the range of a docking port that can stay targeted.

I'll try and get some screen captures of it messing up, but this is easily repeatable. Just try and dock a 20 ton probe with a 700 ton station. It happens every time for me.

Is anyone else having this issue???

[Mordrehl]

That's actually incredibly easy to do yourself from within the game. Most windows have an E on the title bar. Click that and you will get an editing window. IIRC, Biome's are under Miscellaneous.

It shouldn't take you but a minute or two, unless you get caught up editing the hell out of everything, which you probably will once you see how easy the editor is.

Actually found it now ... but this seems to be the current biome you're in. What I meant, was the biome of the surface below you ... ie so you don't have to pop an eva to see what's on the surface?

Turning "Current Biome" on doesn't do this

[mwlue]

Just updated from dev183, got sth strange with dev193 & 194 version.... the mechjeb windows just don't shown up when i put the MJ part on to a pod. I got tons of nullreference error in the log whenever i place the mj part to sth.... if i revert to dev183 then everything seems fine again. But seems im the only one having the problemmmm.....

trying to remove my mods 1by1 to figure out if anything to do with the mods.....

I think i have pinned down which mod caused those null reference, i removed JSI, MechJeb2RPM & SCANsatRPM which come from FSAS 3.86, MJ works fine again. If i put them back to GameData, MJ not shown & null reference again.

Edited March 28, 2014 by mwlue

[MOARdV]

I think i have pinned down which mod caused those null reference, i removed JSI, MechJeb2RPM & SCANsatRPM which come from FSAS 3.86, MJ works fine again. If i put them back to GameData, MJ not shown & null reference again.

Do you get the same null ref errors using MJ dev build 192? That's what I'm currently using for RPM development, and I'm not getting the null ref errors. It looks like there was a change in MJ 193 that might could be a problem for RPM, but I'm at work right now, so I won't be able to dig into it until later.

[Woodstar]

I think i have pinned down which mod caused those null reference, i removed JSI, MechJeb2RPM & SCANsatRPM which come from FSAS 3.86, MJ works fine again. If i put them back to GameData, MJ not shown & null reference again.

Yea the only parts I left of FASA was the probe and LEM parts, but I use the JSI, MechJeb2RPM & SCANsatRPM folders from KSO and it controls the LEM from FASA just fine with working IVA's.

Oh edit: I'm using dev build 194

[MOARdV]

I think i have pinned down which mod caused those null reference, i removed JSI, MechJeb2RPM & SCANsatRPM which come from FSAS 3.86, MJ works fine again. If i put them back to GameData, MJ not shown & null reference again.

I've had a chance to check RPM with MJ 194, and I am not getting null reference errors. I checked RPM 0.14, the dev version in FASA 3.86, and my latest dev builds, and none of them are causing null reference errors.

[BARCLONE]

Dev194...

Serious problems. RendAP is borked in the final phases of a rendezvous, and I'm getting tons of exceptions in the logfile .

Here's what I observe:

In Kerbin orbit, my crew ships seem to behave well. But out at Mun, my lander acts ugly when returning to a rendezvous with the crew ship. The lander reaches my 200 km orbit with no issue, and handles the phasing orbit (and plane matching) OK. The initial transfer burn down to the crew ship appears to work, but when the AP enters the velocity matching part of the maneuver, it undershoots the target. When trying to do the last (short) burns to bring the lander close to the target, it starts a repeated series of +NML and -NML twists and turns, burning about 1 m/s each time. It never stops doing this, and steadily gets farther away from the target instead of closer. The lander never points toward the target, but always +NML and -NML.

[AntiMatter001]

uhm anyone getting this error? this happens when i board a mechjeb craft and the mechjeb unit "pings/flys" off the craft...

[ERR 21:43:50.330] MechJeb caught exception in core OnSave: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at MuMech.MechJebCore.OnSave (.ConfigNode sfsNode) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

help? i don't use the dev builds just the normal build.

[OrbitalDebris]

You should try one of the more recent dev builds, the release version of mechjeb has had a lot of bugfixes since it was released. There's a good chance the problem you're seeing has been fixed.