MechJeb Docking AutoPilot?

[chucknorris101]

Been using Mechjeb to dock the pieces of my space stations together, theyve been going together for the most part but it seems like MechJeb uses tons of RCS for control and stability - moreso than I see alot of people using for manual docking. Is this normal? Are my ships just excessively wobbly? MechJeb issue/ bug-feature? And sometimes it will just wig out and start spinning back and forth.

[nothke]

MechJeb is good, but not reliable. I really use it "without looking" only on tested vehicles that I know will perform 99% as same as the previous flights. It could be a few things, try using "RCS balancer" (not sure if it works with docking AP). It could be also that the MechJeb is trying to dock with a spinning station, in which case it would spend lots of RCS, switch to station and SAS it (or use timewarp, a bit unrealistically). Also make sure that your RCS thrusters are positioned so you have them in all axis. I had a problem when I only placed thrusters on sides, so the ship couldn't translate left-right and docking AP was trying to move but couldn't so it wasted tonnes of RCS. After I've placed place-it-anywhere thrusters on sides it used very little fuel. Also try to balance it according to CoM as much as possible.

Well, those are the things that come up to me right now, it could be anything really.

Edited May 12, 2013 by nothke