Is there a “sun sensor” type mod?

[LameLefty]

Many spacecraft - even today! - have star and solar trackers that integrate with the vehicle’s attitude control system and either provide navigational fixes in 3D space or provide pointing data for solar arrays. Heck, KSP itself does this whenever you jump to a a craft and physics kicks in; you can see the arrays turn and try to orient perpendicular to the sun.

But is there a mod that will actually add “Sun pointing” to a craft itself? For instance, I have some mid-Career tech space stations in my current save that have barely enough power to transmit a full load of Science after processing experiments. So whenever I visit the stations and try to transmit, I have to manually orient the craft to the Sun to ensure maximum solar flux on the arrays to get the batteries charged up quickly, then make my transmission. It would be excellent if the craft would automatically orient itself sunward- much as an SAS mode would do for Normal/Anti-Normal, Radial/Anti-Radial, etc.

 

[ARS]

I usually just set the sun as the target and hit "target" on SAS tracking (Besides, if you want your entire craft pointing at the sun, there's no point for other SAS tracking anyway)

[Gargamel]

4 hours ago, ARS said:

I usually just set the sun as the target and hit "target" on SAS tracking (Besides, if you want your entire craft pointing at the sun, there's no point for other SAS tracking anyway)

Is there a reliable way to target the sun?  I've been able to in the past, but sometimes furiously clicking in flight or map mode does nothing. 

[Simog]

17 hours ago, LameLefty said:

Many spacecraft - even today! - have star and solar trackers that integrate with the vehicle’s attitude control system and either provide navigational fixes in 3D space or provide pointing data for solar arrays. Heck, KSP itself does this whenever you jump to a a craft and physics kicks in; you can see the arrays turn and try to orient perpendicular to the sun.

But is there a mod that will actually add “Sun pointing” to a craft itself? For instance, I have some mid-Career tech space stations in my current save that have barely enough power to transmit a full load of Science after processing experiments. So whenever I visit the stations and try to transmit, I have to manually orient the craft to the Sun to ensure maximum solar flux on the arrays to get the batteries charged up quickly, then make my transmission. It would be excellent if the craft would automatically orient itself sunward- much as an SAS mode would do for Normal/Anti-Normal, Radial/Anti-Radial, etc.

 

Try the Persistent Rotation Mod. I think it has just what you are looking for. Turn the vessel as you like and activate the rotation based on a target. The mod maintains the chosen orientation. Also in timewarp and unloaded vessel.
 

 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Simog

[Wolf Baginski]

I can think of a few mods which have parts that wouldn't line up so easily. Greenhouses, for instance. And early-game craft often don't have the extendable arrays of solar panels. So pointing the stack-axis at the sun (up-down in the VAB) just wouldn't work.

It's questionable, cheat or not, but this is one situation where HyperEdit could make things a bit simpler. It has a function where you can alter the level of battery charge, and you could just move the slider to 100%. If it's going to recharge anyway, that at least saves time, and it's not so different from changing game speed. I mostly use HyperEdit during testing but, occasionally, I try to transmit data, the battery goes flat, and I lose all control until it gets charge back. If the solar panels are badly aligned, and something such as a SCANsat unit is running with even a low continuous power drain, the probe is dead.

So, a related idea. A mod that stops a transmission at some very low charge level, rather than at 0%

[DStaal]

9 hours ago, Wolf Baginski said:

So, a related idea. A mod that stops a transmission at some very low charge level, rather than at 0%

Already done:

Though I tend to treat a 'ran out of power while trying to transmit' or something similar as a natural hazard - if I can't recover the satellite, it's my own fault for getting it into that mess.

[Wolf Baginski]

13 hours ago, DStaal said:

Already done

Though I tend to treat a 'ran out of power while trying to transmit' or something similar as a natural hazard - if I can't recover the satellite, it's my own fault for getting it into that mess.

I just had my Android tablet shut down on me with a 5% power warning, so it's not even rocket science... Thanks for the link to that Mod.

[sarbian]

Mechjeb does it.

[DerekL1963]

1 hour ago, sarbian said:

Mechjeb does it.

I should have thought of that when I first saw this thread...  @LameLefty it's a Smart A.S.S. function:



IIRC it's generally easiest to use if you have a control point that you can point at the Sun or that is oriented towards a cardinal point as compared to the solar panels.   I usually use it to position the axis of the station module that has the arrays mounted on orthogonal to the LOS to the Sun, then manually roll about that axis.  If you want it to *stay* oriented between visits, you'll want Persistent Rotation.