How can I automate a Falcon 9 booster landing?

[Waseemq1235]

Hi,

I'm very much fond of Falcon 9 and the automated landings.

I've downloaded the SpaceX launchers pack by @Kartoffelkuchen and I've been trying to land the first state of the Falcon 9... With little success.

I've first tried using Mechjeb to automate the landing, though it always messes up and ends up doing no boostback, meaning it ends up in the ocean... Often not in one piece.

Then I've tried using existing kOS scripts released by various people, however, none of them work on the current version of KSP and kOS (my KSP version being 1.4)

Lastly, I've tried doing it manually. It usually ends up close to the target however not close enough, plus I really want it to land automatically like the real Falcon 9.

 

If anyone is willing to offer any help, I am more than happy to accept it.

 

(p.s: I'm not willing to learn kOS programming as I don't have the time nor patience for it)

[Pecan]

Turning round and coming back is a pretty odd thing to do, so it's just not in the MJ repertoire.  The best MJ will do is try to make a whole orbit in order to get 'back' to the barge - which it can't, so it fails.

However, that also tells you what you can do ... get the thing heading in the right direction then tell MJ to land it.  That is, get your trajectory heading back towards the barge manually and then hand-off to 'land at target'.

Edit:  That said, I haven't had much luck with MJ's landing autopilot since KSP's aerodynmics were improved.  KSC landings within 20km probably don't cut it compared to a barge!

Edited December 9, 2018 by Pecan

[Waseemq1235]

12 hours ago, Pecan said:

Turning round and coming back is a pretty odd thing to do, so it's just not in the MJ repertoire.  The best MJ will do is try to make a whole orbit in order to get 'back' to the barge - which it can't, so it fails.

However, that also tells you what you can do ... get the thing heading in the right direction then tell MJ to land it.  That is, get your trajectory heading back towards the barge manually and then hand-off to 'land at target'.

Edit:  That said, I haven't had much luck with MJ's landing autopilot since KSP's aerodynmics were improved.  KSC landings within 20km probably don't cut it compared to a barge!

Yeah that's the thing, land at target doesn't do any different from land somewhere when you have your trajectory close to your target, mechjeb will not try to adjust course towards target and will instead land anywhere, that being on water. 

If someone could write such a kos script I would be more than happy to accept it. 

[Not Sure]

My approach was just to crack my knuckles and make a half automated kOS script. This script automatically throttled the engines properly for a suicide burn and a soft landing, I couldn’t do the massive amount of maths required to guide the rocket automatically. 

Making the f9 land autonomously is no easy job, I’m sure spacex has poured thousands of man hours into making their script. 

[FleshJeb]

@Waseemq1235 Installing KRPC and Python is a little more complex than most mods, but it's worth it.

 

[Waseemq1235]

3 hours ago, Not Sure said:

My approach was just to crack my knuckles and make a half automated kOS script. This script automatically throttled the engines properly for a suicide burn and a soft landing, I couldn’t do the massive amount of maths required to guide the rocket automatically. 

Making the f9 land autonomously is no easy job, I’m sure spacex has poured thousands of man hours into making their script. 

Could you please share your kos script? 

Thank you. 

1 minute ago, FleshJeb said:

@Waseemq1235 Installing KRPC and Python is a little more complex than most mods, but it's worth it.

 

Will take a look

[Waseemq1235]

On 12/11/2018 at 10:17 PM, FleshJeb said:

@Waseemq1235 Installing KRPC and Python is a little more complex than most mods, but it's worth it.

 

So I've checked the thing out.

Though I am stuck on how to run the actual program itself, I'm using Python.exe at where I have installed Python at, and I have placed all of the scripts in the /Scripts folder.

But I don't know how to run the thing...

I've been able to run a simple print command but then I don't know how to run the entire "softland" script.

The documentation that @oyster_catcher has provided is very confusing to me, as someone who has zero python knowledge.