[1.6] Davon Throttle Control systems mod [v088]

[PrivateFlip]

Update

-version contains support for multimode engines (RAPIER) and has some small performance tweaks

-mapped keyboard and joystick throttle controls work without having throttle GUI open

Currently working on a new version of the mod, what I'm trying to do is have the center thrust mode run a simulation in which multiple adjustments are done and then pushed to the engines. I hope this will greatly increase the speed at which the center thrust mode can adjust to new situations

[EuSouONumero345]

[PrivateFlip]

Holy crap, this is awesome. I was really nervous while watching the video after reading your comment.

[PrivateFlip]

Update

Made a number of bug fixes to the testing version of the mod.

About two ago weeks I managed to implement a form of the simulation mode for the center thrust mode I mentioned a few post back. In addition the adjustment size is now automatically managed by the mod and adjusts itself to the situation. With both these enhancement in place the last aim for me was to somehow get air breathing engines with their delayed response time supported by the center thrust mode. I failed miserably and have (again) given up on it and air breathing engines now have their delay disabled while under control of this mode. In all my attempts I did come across a number of other bugs related to the above enhancements to the mod, which have been fixed.

Except for the unrealistic handling of air breathing engines by the center thrust mode the mod is now coming pretty close to what I thought it would be when I started on it way back. I will do some more testing of this new version this week, squash any remaining bugs and transfer it to the main version if I feel somewhat confident.

Since I don't have any other planned features for it, I'll be looking for some new pet project for KSP.

[cjones]

Doesn't seem to work with the ModuleEnginesFX module? So if you have HotRockets, this mod does not adjust the thrust of any engines that use the custom particles. I assume this is because it only works on the normal ModuleEngines module.

Just something to keep in mind for a future version.

[PrivateFlip]

Thanks you for reporting this. It does support moduleEngineFX but only as part of a multi mode engine setup and therefore a MultiModeEngine module present. I will correct this in the next version.

EDIT: Have corrected this in testing version. It also now allows for multimode engine to be SRB, or one of the modes to be an SRB.

The remaining assumption is that if there is a multimode setup it uses moduleEngineFX. Aside from that moduleEngineFX should be treated identical. Also sepatrons are assumed to be both SRB's and not multi mode (don't expect any issues there ).

Edited March 9, 2014 by PrivateFlip

[cjones]

Thanks, works great!

[cjones]

Just wanted to swing by again and say thanks for this awesome mod. It let me assemble this monstrosity and have it fly completely straight!

[ummwut]

PrivateFlip, does this support automated engine thrust balancing around the CoM, such that an unbalanced vehicle (similar to a Harrier jet) can take off and land vertically in between horizontal maneuvering? Apologies if this has already been asked/requested.

EDIT: Looks like this was actually the main goal of the mod. How did you handle engine gimbal and/or simultaneous RCS thrusting?

Edited March 15, 2014 by ummwut

[PrivateFlip]

PrivateFlip, does this support automated engine thrust balancing around the CoM, such that an unbalanced vehicle (similar to a Harrier jet) can take off and land vertically in between horizontal maneuvering? Apologies if this has already been asked/requested.

EDIT: Looks like this was actually the main goal of the mod. How did you handle engine gimbal and/or simultaneous RCS thrusting?

It does automatically balance thrust balancing around the CoM. This allows you to fly unbalanced vehicles. However it only allows thrust balancing of the engines facing in one direction. This works okay for rockets but for a VTOL system like a harrier things can be more complicated since there is in general thrust in at least two directions, vertical and horizontal. You can setup the center thrust mode to balance the downwards vertical engines, which is where most often the imbalance lies, and ignore the horizontal engines and control them on a separate throttle. If that's all you need this mod could work for you.

Gimbal is not handled nor taken into account by the mod. So although you can use this mod to launch shuttles, it prevents you from using gimbal to fly a 'true' NASA/Buran space-shuttle like design because, after the boosters are gone, the CoM no longer lies in between engines, and the mod won't gimbal the engines to make it so. Likewise, RCS is not handled nor taken into account by the mod.

Just wanted to swing by again and say thanks for this awesome mod. It let me assemble this monstrosity and have it fly completely straight!

You're welcome. Always good to hear someone is putting it to good use.

[PrivateFlip]

Update

-it has a drastically faster response time to sudden changes in the Center of Thrust: the system is now fast enough to compensate mid-flight engine failures in an reasonable time.

-the size off the adjustments is now dynamically regulated: this means the user no more has to choose and set an adjustment size and the size of the adjustment is continuously adapted to the vessel and it's current situation.

-ModuleEngineFX is now fully supported, not only for multimode engines. It also allows for multimode engine to be SRB, or one of the modes to be an SRB.

-the system now starts itself automatically when switching back to ship in which the module was active.

Edited April 19, 2014 by PrivateFlip

[roxedboxer]

Is there any way I can get the .23.0 release for this? .0.23.5 is broken for me.

[evilC]

Great little mod, though unfortunately it falls short of what I need.

My previous solution - KCA - seems discontinued, but the code is on GitHub. Any chance you would be interested in trying to get this working again? I think the underlying maths of what he is doing is probably fine, it's just that game changes have broken the code.

I have some experience of KSP UI coding and would be willing to help there where I can, but the maths part is way beyond me.

[philotical]

Hey PrivateFlip :-)

Davon TC is one of my standars parts - combined with Vertical Velocity Control you can land/start/fly any contraption..

You've done a great work here - thanks :-)

The only thin I'm missing are more than one axis..

Launch vertically with davon, swith over to an other davon configured for horizontall flight..

That would make my day..

[PrivateFlip]

Is there any way I can get the .23.0 release for this? .0.23.5 is broken for me.

Here's a dropbox link to version 0.68 (that's 23.0)

Would you mind sharing the problem you encountered for 0.23.5? This would allow me to fix it, which would help other users as well.

[PrivateFlip]

Hey PrivateFlip :-)

Davon TC is one of my standars parts - combined with Vertical Velocity Control you can land/start/fly any contraption..

You've done a great work here - thanks :-)

The only thin I'm missing are more than one axis..

Launch vertically with davon, swith over to an other davon configured for horizontall flight..

That would make my day..

You can set other directions in the center thrust configuration window. Using this you could make a profile for horizontal and vertical flights, but some way to switch quickly between profiles is missing, consider it a planned feature for the next update. (the VTOL's I test are usually only unbalanced front to back, so I only use the center thrust to balance the vertical engines and have the mode ingnore the horizontal ones wich I add to another throttle.)

Great little mod, though unfortunately it falls short of what I need.

My previous solution - KCA - seems discontinued, but the code is on GitHub. Any chance you would be interested in trying to get this working again? I think the underlying maths of what he is doing is probably fine, it's just that game changes have broken the code.

I have some experience of KSP UI coding and would be willing to help there where I can, but the maths part is way beyond me.

The maths are way beyond me as well. From what i gathered, there were issues with reaction wheels no longer working. There are probably also new issues with ModuleEngineFX being introduced. If that's it, it's could be doable. However the license doesn't seem to be permissive of making modifications, but please correct me if I'm wrong. Otherwise I would be willing to take a look at it, no promises beyond that.

EDIT: Oh evilC, have you looked at Throttle Controlled Avionics?

Edited April 27, 2014 by PrivateFlip

[roxedboxer]

Here's a dropbox link to version 0.68 (that's 23.0)

Would you mind sharing the problem you encountered for 0.23.5? This would allow me to fix it, which would help other users as well.

Vanilla ksp 0.23.5 is broken for me. It's not your mod. Switching back to captured asteroids, then time warping causes the rock and my craft to explodify. 0.23 is still functional for me. That's why I requested the previous version. Thank you for the .23 download!!

Edited April 30, 2014 by roxedboxer

[Ucender]

I submited a patch to add an option "Zero at center". It is a toggle, much like "Invert axis". When enabled, it allows a stick to act like a throttle pedal : when left untouched (at center), there is no thrust. When you push forward, you increase thrust up to 100%.

This way, you only use half of the course of the stick. But it is far more intuitive and easy to control (see it in action : http://youtu.be/-HplnPB-63o). I discovered this great setup while playing "Lunar Flight", and it proves to be efficient.

PrivateFlip accepted to integrate this feature in the next release of his mod. I hope you will enjoy it.

[cjones]

Does this work with asteroids? I had planned to use this setup:

but was not able to get it to balance thrust. I guess ships attached to asteroids are not exactly the same as ships docked together?

[bazz]

Does this work with asteroids? I had planned to use this setup:

http://i60.tinypic.com/2ui9q83.png

but was not able to get it to balance thrust. I guess ships attached to asteroids are not exactly the same as ships docked together?

You only have one engine.

If you had two or three around the COM you could use this mod to balance the thrust of each of these engines to get it going in a direction of travel of your choosing.

[westamastaflash]

What would it take to add toolbar support for the GUI? Thanks!

[Ucender]

You only have one engine.

If you had two or three around the COM you could use this mod to balance the thrust of each of these engines to get it going in a direction of travel of your choosing.

Actually there are three engines if you like into this dark screenshot : one big on the main rocket, and two small ones on the modules attached via KAS pipes. It's a funny setup, I like it Now I am not sure why it doesn't balance. Maybe :

- modular engines are misplaced

- modular engines are too weak to balance anything

- Davon Throttle Control cannot balance engines connected via KAS pipes

- Davon Throttle Control computation system is overwhelmed by the weight of the asteroid

These are only guesses, this subject deserves further investigation...

[Diazo]

Alright, I saw a comment earlier in the thread that my Vertical Velocity Control mod works great with this mod so I've gone and officially added support for it.

This requires no changes to the Davon Throttle Control mod and will work with the version you already have.

What I've done is made it so only engines on Throttle 0 are controlled by my mod. Have a VTOL? Put the vertical lift engines on Throttle 0 with Center Lift mode engaged, put the horizontal thrust engines on Throttle 1 with Center lift mode off. My vertical control mod will then ignore the Horizontal Thrust engines on Throttle 1.

This allows you to use my mod to hold your altitude while you throttle up the horizontal thrust engines to start generating lift from your wings. My mod should even compensate for the lift from the wings and throttle down your vertical lift engines automatically as the amount of lift being generated increases. This should also work the other way as you decelerate to land.

Let me know how that works out for those of you who give it a try.

D.

[Voculus]

I just discovered this mod, and I'm blown away! I've been experimenting using helicopter rotors to lift about 70 tons of Kethane, and being able to use my split throttle to independently control lift and forward thrust has renewed my love of KSP again. You mod-makers are the best!

[PrivateFlip]

What would it take to add toolbar support for the GUI? Thanks!

Will add that to the planned features, but I'm busy with some other stuff at the moment.

I just discovered this mod, and I'm blown away! I've been experimenting using helicopter rotors to lift about 70 tons of Kethane, and being able to use my split throttle to independently control lift and forward thrust has renewed my love of KSP again. You mod-makers are the best!

Your welcome