[1.12.x] Booster Guidance Boosted

[linuxgurugamer]

Forum user @oyster_catcher write this mod Dec, 2020, original thread is here:  https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/198760-181-1101-boostguidance-v101/

This mod aims to autonomously guide a Booster to land on a drone ship or the launch site (or anywhere else) using a combination of Boostback, Re-entry Burn, Aerodynamic Descent and Landing Burn, i.e. SpaceX Falcon 9 style.

Select your landing point either by clicking on it, typing the latitude+longitude+altitude or selecting a target (e.g. drone ship).  Its aimed to be reliable and fairly easy to use.  It also works in Realism Overhaul where limited throttle able engines and limited ignitions mean you can't play fast and lose with your engines.  With suitable engines and using the right number active you can achieve in Realism Overhaul which gives a real feeling of satisfaction.

The mod relies on accurately simulating the entire trajectory to landing including burns later in the flight which means guidance should be accurate without the need for any heroic maneuvers as the impact of say the reentry burn is properly factored in. Booster Guidance will continuously monitor the target error and aim to reduce it in boostback, re-entry burn, aerodynamic descent and in the landing burn steering either via engines or via grid-fins depending on the phase of flight.  You can set the steering gains during the flight to give the grid fins more/less to do, and configure the reentry burn via altitude and target velocity.  Some more advanced settings allow you to set safety margins, speed of final descent, at what height to give up steering and more. You can also log the whole flight and plot it to examine in detail what happened and how closely you could copy SpaceX.

Availability

• Source code: https://github.com/linuxgurugamer/BoosterGuidance
• Download:https://spacedock.info/mod/3018/Booster Guidance Boosted
• License: GPLv3

Available via CKAN

New Dependency

• Click Through Blocker
• ToolbarController
• SpaceTuxLibrary

Here's some videos showing it working with a single stage Falcon 9 booster

In Realism Overhaul with a 2-stage Falcon 9 rocket where I make a half-hearted attempt to get the 2nd-stage to orbit.

Limitations

• Clicking the target only works  close to the terrain or there are physical structure (some KSP/Unity Raycast limitation I don't understand)
• In Realism Overhaul you may need to manually reduce the gain close to landing to avoid large oscillations
• Landing legs deployment is unreliable
• Guiding more than one booster simultaneously should be possible but is currently unreliable. My goal is a Falcon Heavy two booster landing. That will be awesome!
• It should work on other planets too though the trajectory should be sub-orbital to impact the ground within about 10 minutes as simulation time is limited for CPU reasons

Changes by Linuxgurugamer

• Removed need to have FAR installed to compile, now accessing FAR via Reflection
• Reorganized repo
• Added InstallChecker and AssemblyVersion
• Moved DLL into Plugins directory
• Added missing Localization folder
• Added support for the ClickThroughBlocker
• Added support for the ToolbarController
• Merged code in BoosterGuidanceApp.cs into the MainWindow.cs 
• Added code to hide window controls if target is not set
• Increased width of window slightly
• Added sample F9 built with Tundra Exploration (will need to be manually moved into save game)
• Consolidated all logging functions into a single class
• Moved Logging files into <KSPDIR>/Logs/BoosterGuidance/
• Fixed issue with NullRefs caused by inconsistent logging calls
• Added automatic enabling of RCS
• Added automatic triggering of a desired action group
• Added limitation of engine thrust vs where vessel is pointing
• Moved Enable/disable guidance button to top of buttons, and changed Enable color to green, Disable color to red
   

Edited April 18, 2022 by linuxgurugamer

[ElonsMusk]

Wow I was wondering if this would ever see a release!! Wonderful! Excited to try it.

[Jcklemme]

You work so quick, I'm really glad you've taken it upon yourself to try to keep all the old abandoned mods up to date.

[Tundra]

Would this work if I had a part rescaled, or would it throw off the aerodynamics?

[EritoKaio]

Are you just maintaining it or planning to add new features?

Something that would make this a lifesaver is to have something like Mechjeb where you have a config file with preset landing zones you can select in a drop down menu.
Oh, and it doesn't hide the UI when using F2 which kinda sucks for recording videos.

@linuxgurugamer

Edited June 8, 2022 by EritoKaio

[dlrk]

I've been asking around for something like this!

EDIT: This is working great/perfectly as far as navigation, but its starting the landing burn too late.

Edited August 31, 2022 by dlrk

[ItchyBrother]

I've tried this everyway and Sunday and still can't get it to work with my design to land on a drone ship.  Always lands short.  I've watched every tutorial that I can find without success.  Anyone else have any success with this?

[IllicitMedic]

Forgive me this is probably a dumb question, but I've been away A VERY LONG time so maybe something has changed.

How is one supposed to land the boosters AND continue onto orbit?

[ItchyBrother]

22 hours ago, IllicitMedic said:

Forgive me this is probably a dumb question, but I've been away A VERY LONG time so maybe something has changed.

How is one supposed to land the boosters AND continue onto orbit?

 

[IllicitMedic]

On 10/25/2022 at 8:18 PM, ItchyBrother said:

 

Thank you

EDIT: 10/27/2010

Thanks so much for these 2 mods, my agency has already launched 10 rockets & have landed 7 of those dead center, other 3 were lost due to fueling error.

We've also managed to return 2nd stages from LKO with an unrelated ingenious heat shielding method I came up with lol.

Edited October 27, 2022 by IllicitMedic

[Hatsune]

I need help landing my boosters accurately. They have airbrakes with controls enabled and RCS thrusters, but most of the time, the mod doesn't consider aero forces. So here is a catch: my booster only flies above 50 instead of space, which is 70km. Any tips for increasing the accuracy of landing?

[pinwheel]

Hey, I don't see a "target height" option in the settings, is the mod outdated?

[jeffreymelton24]

Hey guys I need some help understanding  the UI of Boosterguidance, like what is max offset thrust range? Also, are there any tip when working with FMRS?