[WIN/MAC/LINUX] KSP Trajectory Optimization Tool v1.6.10 [Major LVD Improvements!]

[greg2010]

What's the status of n-body gravity modelling? I tried using NBODYCOAST in mission architect to plan Kerbin-Duna transfer, but the SOI for final never changed. After adding additional events after nbodycoast I started getting OOM errors.

Is it just broken or am I not using it correctly?

[Chocolat Oreos]

Can somebody make a tutorial video on how to import and execute a manouver using the multi flyby sequencer option? I can't get the manouver to work on something like kerbin-eve-moho without manually adjusting with correction burns and moving the main manouver nodes

 

It would be super helpfull!

[Baptastro]

On 5/6/2020 at 9:22 AM, Chocolat Oreos said:

What exactly did you do? I seem to be having the exact same problem, I reinstalled mrc but it's only launching/closing in task manager...

Well I completely uninstalled mcr and ksptot (I searched for every folder linked to it), and reinstalled them

[Drew Kerman]

@Arrowstar here is a simpler way compared to my last post to see something is going awry with the propagation in the latest release compared to earlier versions. Download this package.

1. Open Alaba_5-19-20.mat
2. Propagate to next Mun encounter (#39) and note time is Y4 D262 02:31:33
3. Copy initial orbital data
4. Open Alaba Prediction 3-10-20.mat
5. Advance script to Event 10 (Encounter 39)
6. Paste the copied orbital data into initial state
7. Get UT from end of Event 2 and note time is Y4 D262 02:12:40

I can confirm that in the game 02:12:40 is the actual time of the Mun encounter. Hopefully you can take a look at the MAT data to see what's making a difference here. I cannot recall what KSPTOT version I used to create the prediction file, but it was first created on March 21st this year. I can't say for sure it was using the latest pre-release at the time.

[Gilph]

On 5/6/2020 at 3:33 PM, Chocolat Oreos said:

Can somebody make a tutorial video on how to import and execute a manouver using the multi flyby sequencer option? I can't get the manouver to work on something like kerbin-eve-moho without manually adjusting with correction burns and moving the main manouver nodes

 

It would be super helpfull!

Hi, sorry for the late response...been playing No Man's Sky for the past few weeks.

Without some more data, I can try and give some general answers. I'm a long time user of TOT, although I'm not a huge expert in orbital mechanics.

Most things in TOT give approximations of a solution, and those should be input into Mission Architect (MA). There are several MA examples to help you with how to set it up including multi-flybys.  MA is the thing that will take the approximate values and fine tune them based on your criteria to give a more solid answer. But, there is always some general tweaking to make it work once you import, and, once you start, there will always be tweaking based on how well you executed the prior step.

Some of the manouver utilities, which I use heavily, are amazingly accurate without the need for MA, but if you are needing to plan a multi manouver plan, MA is usually the final word.

I haven't been able to learn the multi flyby to find specific routes yet, but I sometimes will find one in game by playing around a bit. When I do, I start TOT and put the steps in MA to see if MA will calculate the same answer. Then I'll experiment with the different ways to run the optimizer in MA and see the result. That was a really good tutorial for me.

Hope this helps.

Edited May 26, 2020 by Gilph
terrible english

[Nicholander]

...This work with Windows 7? Downloaded and installed the MATLAB runtime, seemed to install just fine, then the TOT itself, and everytime I try to start the TOT exe, it only appears as a background process, not an application. So task manager says it's running in the processes tab, but nothing I do can make it appear as a window for me to actually, well, do stuff with it. Tried administrator, backwards compatibility modes, rebooting many, many times, nothing. Does the latest version not support Windows 7...? Only thing I can think of.

[Arrowstar]

Hey guys, sorry I've been absent from the thread for a bit now.  I see your messages and notes.  Every so often I just need a creative break from KSPTOT to go do other things or whatnot.  Never fear, though, I will return.

9 hours ago, Nicholander said:

...This work with Windows 7? Downloaded and installed the MATLAB runtime, seemed to install just fine, then the TOT itself, and everytime I try to start the TOT exe, it only appears as a background process, not an application. So task manager says it's running in the processes tab, but nothing I do can make it appear as a window for me to actually, well, do stuff with it. Tried administrator, backwards compatibility modes, rebooting many, many times, nothing. Does the latest version not support Windows 7...? Only thing I can think of.

Yes, it does support Windows 7.  The first time you run KSPTOT it might take a few minutes to start because it's unpacking the application from the compressed state that it's in.  This is a quirk of MATLAB's app deployment tool, there's nothing I can really do about it unfortunately.  Next time you try to start KSPTOT, let it run for a few minutes and just make sure the background app is still there and doesn't disappear.

[Drew Kerman]

@Arrowstar as a simple exercise in using the new Objective Function interface, I've setup the same launch vehicle coming off the pad at a constant angle, and I'm using the optimizer to find which angle would give the highest apoapsis. MAT file. Is this the general idea of how to set things up? Because it doesn't seem to want to work at all, just quits after 0 iterations. The constraints I have setup in the Initial Steering reflect some experimenting I did with the launch vehicle in the game to see how fast it could turn over before clearing the towers  and going full throttle (event 3). The -0.32 max linear term is the quickest turn rate the rocket has.

Oh fuuuu - I just realized that I can't start turning at the Initial State cause the launch clamps are holding the rocket down for 6 seconds... derrrrp

Okay, here is the new MAT file with the turn setup to start at launch. The optimizer seems to be working as expected now. This also screwed up me trying to optimize constraints my pitch profile! Oh man, I am out of practice with this tool after only 2 months yikes

Edited June 14, 2020 by Drew Kerman

[Drew Kerman]

oh man, the Adjust Variables window is soooo close to being really useful here tweaking values. One big problem tho - I can't see the changes. I see that the script re-runs every time I make a change, but because the dialog is modal, I can't hover over the "Optimization constraints are active or violated..." warning to look at the pop-up text and see what the new values produced. So to use it I have to open the window, make a change, close, check, open, change, close, check...

Another suggestion - replace the GA option for Show Maneuvers that is disabled with Show Event Termination, which would put vertical lines where each event in the launch sequence ends

Edited June 14, 2020 by Drew Kerman

[Tonas1997]

I just tried to run TOT for the first time (yes, I followed the instructions) and... nothing happened. The process is running in the background, but no window pops up 

[Drew Kerman]

9 hours ago, Tonas1997 said:

The process is running in the background, but no window pops up 

how long did you wait?

On 6/2/2020 at 10:29 PM, Arrowstar said:

The first time you run KSPTOT it might take a few minutes to start because it's unpacking the application from the compressed state that it's in.  This is a quirk of MATLAB's app deployment tool, there's nothing I can really do about it unfortunately.  Next time you try to start KSPTOT, let it run for a few minutes and just make sure the background app is still there and doesn't disappear.

 

[Drew Kerman]

holy cow this whole time I've always converted Longitude from -180/180 to 0-360 when inputting it to KSPTOT. I just realized I absent-mindedly pasted -74.557677161204 for Longitude into LVD and it stays like that after saving and LVD is okay with it

[Arrowstar]

On 4/17/2020 at 4:55 PM, Drew Kerman said:

@Arrowstar hope you are healthy.

New bug: Can't open the Ground Stations window, even from a new MA file. I get the following error in the log:

  Reveal hidden contents

Reference to non-existent field 'markerSymbol'.

Error in ma_GroundStationsGUI>populateStation (line 113)

Error in ma_GroundStationsGUI>setupGUI (line 89)

Error in ma_GroundStationsGUI>ma_GroundStationsGUI_OpeningFcn (line 66)

Error in gui_mainfcn (line 220)

Error in ma_GroundStationsGUI (line 42)

Error in ma_MainGUI>groundTargetsMenu_Callback (line 1365)

Error in gui_mainfcn (line 95)

Error in ma_MainGUI (line 42)

Error in matlab.graphics.internal.figfile.FigFile/read>@(hObject,eventdata)ma_MainGUI('groundTargetsMenu_Callback',hObject,eventdata,guidata(hObject))

Error using waitforallfiguresclosed (line 9)
Error while evaluating Menu Callback.

Works okay for mission files where I already have ground stations defined, and the error happens when I try to add a new station but doesn't crash or otherwise prevent me from doing so.

Resolved for next release.

On 6/13/2020 at 6:19 PM, Drew Kerman said:

@Arrowstar as a simple exercise in using the new Objective Function interface, I've setup the same launch vehicle coming off the pad at a constant angle, and I'm using the optimizer to find which angle would give the highest apoapsis. MAT file. Is this the general idea of how to set things up? Because it doesn't seem to want to work at all, just quits after 0 iterations. The constraints I have setup in the Initial Steering reflect some experimenting I did with the launch vehicle in the game to see how fast it could turn over before clearing the towers  and going full throttle (event 3). The -0.32 max linear term is the quickest turn rate the rocket has.

Oh fuuuu - I just realized that I can't start turning at the Initial State cause the launch clamps are holding the rocket down for 6 seconds... derrrrp

Okay, here is the new MAT file with the turn setup to start at launch. The optimizer seems to be working as expected now. This also screwed up me trying to optimize constraints my pitch profile! Oh man, I am out of practice with this tool after only 2 months yikes

Are you all set here then?  It sounds like it from the look of it?

Edited June 20, 2020 by Arrowstar

[Arrowstar]

On 6/13/2020 at 8:42 PM, Drew Kerman said:

oh man, the Adjust Variables window is soooo close to being really useful here tweaking values. One big problem tho - I can't see the changes. I see that the script re-runs every time I make a change, but because the dialog is modal, I can't hover over the "Optimization constraints are active or violated..." warning to look at the pop-up text and see what the new values produced. So to use it I have to open the window, make a change, close, check, open, change, close, check...

Another suggestion - replace the GA option for Show Maneuvers that is disabled with Show Event Termination, which would put vertical lines where each event in the launch sequence ends

Both implemented for next release.

[Drew Kerman]

23 minutes ago, Arrowstar said:

Are you all set here then?  It sounds like it from the look of it?

yes I am good here.

23 minutes ago, Arrowstar said:

Resolved for next release.

sweet. Don't miss my post about the SOI propagation tho. Def something wrong there

I've also got more evidence as to how large orbital changes after encounters (like this one) can throw off MA by hours or days moving past them. But that may be a bigger issue you're not ready to tackle yet

[Arrowstar]

On 5/24/2020 at 4:38 PM, Drew Kerman said:

@Arrowstar here is a simpler way compared to my last post to see something is going awry with the propagation in the latest release compared to earlier versions. Download this package.

1. Open Alaba_5-19-20.mat
2. Propagate to next Mun encounter (#39) and note time is Y4 D262 02:31:33
3. Copy initial orbital data
4. Open Alaba Prediction 3-10-20.mat
5. Advance script to Event 10 (Encounter 39)
6. Paste the copied orbital data into initial state
7. Get UT from end of Event 2 and note time is Y4 D262 02:12:40

I can confirm that in the game 02:12:40 is the actual time of the Mun encounter. Hopefully you can take a look at the MAT data to see what's making a difference here. I cannot recall what KSPTOT version I used to create the prediction file, but it was first created on March 21st this year. I can't say for sure it was using the latest pre-release at the time.

I found the issue.  Luckily this one is a configuration issue.  The gravitational parameter of Kerbin is different in the two files.  One is using 3531.47300361997 and the the other using 3531.6 (Alaba Prediction... .mat is using this one).  I'm not sure if something I told you at some point caused this, but this is causing the mean motion of the search tool to be different, which in turn is causing the propagation to happen differently, which in turn causes the different arrival times.

Let me know if you need any help figuring out why this happened.

On 6/14/2020 at 4:40 PM, Tonas1997 said:

I just tried to run TOT for the first time (yes, I followed the instructions) and... nothing happened. The process is running in the background, but no window pops up 

 

On 6/2/2020 at 11:40 AM, Nicholander said:

...This work with Windows 7? Downloaded and installed the MATLAB runtime, seemed to install just fine, then the TOT itself, and everytime I try to start the TOT exe, it only appears as a background process, not an application. So task manager says it's running in the processes tab, but nothing I do can make it appear as a window for me to actually, well, do stuff with it. Tried administrator, backwards compatibility modes, rebooting many, many times, nothing. Does the latest version not support Windows 7...? Only thing I can think of.

Were you two ever able to get KSPTOT to work?  Did you wait for the package to fully unpack before killing it?

[Drew Kerman]

58 minutes ago, Arrowstar said:

Let me know if you need any help figuring out why this happened.

ok I got it backwards, 3531.6 is the *correct* value, which KSP is outputting, and somehow the bodies .ini file I've been using normally has the 3531.47300361997 value. Weird!! Yea I have no clue how that got that way

Edited June 20, 2020 by Drew Kerman

[Arrowstar]

1 minute ago, Drew Kerman said:

I do, because it's the value I get when KSPTOT outputs a bodies.ini file. I just tried it. About to launch a mission so can't restart the game yet and try a stock install but I did do a search of my MM cache for 3531.6 and didn't find anything so I'm pretty sure it's not Kopernicus fiddling with planetary values.

I'm using KSP v1.9.1

Can I see your bodies.ini file?  I can tell you that I'm pretty sure the xyz.6 version is what I think I have in the bodies.ini file that ships with KSPTOT.  Are you sure you imported your bodies.ini file when you created the other .mat file?

[Drew Kerman]

1 minute ago, Arrowstar said:

Can I see your bodies.ini file?  I can tell you that I'm pretty sure the xyz.6 version is what I think I have in the bodies.ini file that ships with KSPTOT.  Are you sure you imported your bodies.ini file when you created the other .mat file?

sorry, didn't edit before you saw it, but check my last post again

[Arrowstar]

5 minutes ago, Drew Kerman said:

ok I got it backwards, 3531.6 is the *correct* value, which KSP is outputting, and somehow the bodies .ini file I've been using normally has the 3531.47300361997 value. Weird!! Yea I have no clue how that got that way

Well on the up side, at least I know I didn't mess anything up.

[Drew Kerman]

6 minutes ago, Arrowstar said:

Well on the up side, at least I know I didn't mess anything up.

Nope, all me! I did a thread search for the whole number and came up with this:

So I manually changed it to test things and then forgot about it /facepalm

Thankfully it did not greatly affect the sub-orbital mission I recently planned and am in the process of executing...

[Arrowstar]

1 minute ago, Drew Kerman said:

Nope, all me! I did a thread search for the whole number and came up with this:

So I manually changed it to test things and then forgot about it /facepalm

Thankfully it did not greatly affect the sub-orbital mission I recently planned and am in the process of executing...

Glad to hear it!

[Drew Kerman]

OH! One little thing I forgot I just noticed recently - there's an error beep when I try to set a new drag profile event, to change the size of my reference area

[Arrowstar]

38 minutes ago, Drew Kerman said:

OH! One little thing I forgot I just noticed recently - there's an error beep when I try to set a new drag profile event, to change the size of my reference area

Resolved in KSPTOT v1.6.6 pre-release 1.

Change log:

• MA: Resolved issue where Ground Targets UI would not open.
• LVD: Adjust variables UI is now not modal.  Heed warning on dialog box.
• LVD: Graphical analysis now has an "event termination" time indicator line option for plotting.
• LVD: Resolved bug when adding a Set Drag Aero Properties action to an event that caused an error to be thrown (and no action to be added to the event).

[Tonas1997]

3 hours ago, Arrowstar said:

I found the issue.  Luckily this one is a configuration issue.  The gravitational parameter of Kerbin is different in the two files.  One is using 3531.47300361997 and the the other using 3531.6 (Alaba Prediction... .mat is using this one).  I'm not sure if something I told you at some point caused this, but this is causing the mean motion of the search tool to be different, which in turn is causing the propagation to happen differently, which in turn causes the different arrival times.

Let me know if you need any help figuring out why this happened.

 

Were you two ever able to get KSPTOT to work?  Did you wait for the package to fully unpack before killing it?

Sorry for not getting back at you, but it worked! Sadly it ate up all my memory and froze my computer when I tried to calculate a transfer with 3 gravity assists, so next time I'll go lighter on TOT