[PLUGIN] dodADA - Advanced Descent Assistant alphav6 for KSP .14

[dodrian]

Advanced Descent Assistant - alphav6

(Press \'y\' to activate throttle control, press \'u\' to add helm control)

If you\'re like me, you probably have trouble controlling the throttle on your descent, especially when using the keyboard controls. There\'s nothing more infuriating than being meters away from touch down, accidentally throttling up too far and zooming away from the Mun!

Well, those days are over! Presenting the fully-automated Advanced Descent Assistant! It replaces the Landing Struts, and by pressing \'y\' (can be changed in part.cfg) it controls throttle, bringing you down to a perfect touchdown.

dodADA is intended to help you with the final descent. It assumes you are fairly on target for landing already, and you just need a bit of help for the final touchdown. dodADA can\'t make major course corrections, and may cause you to crash if you have too much lateral velocity!

Name: Advanced Descent Assistant - dodADA

Author: dodrian

License: Attribution-ShareAlike, code included in download

Project State: Alpha, v6 (13th March, 2012)

KSP Version: Tested under .14

How to use:

• 
  [li]Best activated while falling but still several hundred meters above Kerbin/Mun[/li]
  [li]You still need to steer! (but not anymore if you press \'u\')[/li]
  [li]Make sure the descent stage engine is already activated before turning on dodADA[/li]
  [li]Sometimes if you are several hundred meters up and descending slowly, the dodADA will not increase the throttle. This is normal, the throttle will kick in at a lower altitude[/li]
  

Changelog

alphav6 - Adds in helm control by pressing \'u\'

alphav5 - Automated descent now activated on keypress. part.cfg has options for choosing which key and how fast to land. Added GUI clues.

alphav4 - Removed ASAS module, code restructured, descent algorithm changed and is now much smoother.

alphav3 - Now includes landing leg part which controls descent when deployed.

alphav2 - Code changed to better follow plugin guidelines and made easier to read/modify

alphav1 - Initial release!

Development notes

• 
  [li]Still very early development! Expect changes when official plugin docs come out[/li]
  [li]I plan to eventually make this a fully automated landing system[/li]
  [li]Would any part modellers like to create a custom model for this plugin? PM me![/li]
  

dll, source code, parts and example landers included in download

Let me know what you think!

[Manhattan]

Great Plugin Idea =P. Though I am worried about not being able to use the actual ASAS while using your ADA.

[dodrian]

Great Plugin Idea =P. Though I am worried about not being able to use the actual ASAS while using your ADA.

Yeah, flying to the Mun with this was a lot trickier than usual . That\'s something I hope to fix when the official documentation comes out.

[Just Great]

[Warringer]

Please try to map the activation key to a different key.

Thank you.

[ForumHelper]

Combine this with rotation and landing is never going to end with a crash ??? Will this work when approaching the Mun with velocity nearing 700m/s?

Please post the source code here as well.

[Nomad]

Usually i would prefer seeing the source code not only to learn but to skim through it to make sure no malicious code is there.

Refer to the plugins board with the rules as to why, nevertheless i am downloading and going to try this out.

[witeken]

Respect for this! Also nice video. I\'ll download this when I HarvesteR gives me KSP. It\'d also be nice if you try to automate the controlling of the ship, all in 1 machine. Then my kerbals won\'t die everytime I start the landing process. They\'ll thank you.

[Nomad]

Respect for this! Also nice video. I\'ll download this when I HarvesteR gives me KSP. It\'d also be nice if you try to automate the controlling of the ship, all in 1 machine. Then my kerbals won\'t die everytime I start the landing process. They\'ll thank you.

So wait, normal SAS is unusable with this?

[dodrian]

Please try to map the activation key to a different key.

I want to do that, but it may have to wait until the official docs come out (and I finish my end of term essays ).

Will this work when approaching the Mun with velocity nearing 700m/s?

Dunno. Try it and let me know :-)

Usually i would prefer seeing the source code not only to learn but to skim through it to make sure no malicious code is there.

I understand completely, as stated in my first post the source code is part of the zipped download.

[dodrian]

So wait, normal SAS is unusable with this?

I\'m afraid for the moment it is. I\'ve made landing easier, but now it\'s harder to fly to your destination. Think of it as balancing 8)

[ForumHelper]

The source code is in a strange format(*.cs I believe, C#?). Please give us a .txt:P

Edit: lol, MS Word does the job and opens the file. What program are you using to compile the code?

[dodrian]

The source code is in a strange format(*.cs I believe, C#?). Please give us a .txt:P

Edit: lol, MS Word does the job and opens the file. What program are you using to compile the code?

The source code is in the .cs file – because it\'s written in C#...

I\'m compiling it from the command line using mono. I posted how in the Plugin Development Forum

[monkyman2013]

probably a ridiculous question, but i am new to this. where do i put all of the files in the download to make this work?

[TaTaRinBsB]

Going to test!!!!

[dodrian]

probably a ridiculous question, but i am new to this. where do i put all of the files in the download to make this work?

After unarchiving the zip, the folder \'dodADA\' goes in the \'Parts\' folder, dodADA.dll goes in the \'Plugins\' folder, and TestdodADA.craft goes in the \'Ships\' folder. dodADARelease.cs is the source file, and not needed for the plugin to work.

[Styxy]

Seen as there is no documentation yet. Is it possible to connect it to the lander leg key like it is currently being connected to the sas key?

[TaTaRinBsB]

works fine!

[Splendid]

Woo, great job, although I don\'t like autopilots, this looks very nice.

[dodrian]

Seen as there is no documentation yet. Is it possible to connect it to the lander leg key like it is currently being connected to the sas key?

That\'s a good idea, will probably try that next. Unfortunately I\'m very busy with schoolwork this week, may have to put that off until next weekend. Thanks!

[Panichio]

That\'s awesome! Though, is there a way to make it go more smoothly with out the throttle going up and down so much? (Sorry for crap explanation).

[eran100]

please make it a bind key!

[Romn]

Good plugin but I am wondering if the \'G\' key (the one for the landing legs) will be more adapted to activate the ADA (we could imagine that the landing legs open just before touch the land) and so we could always use the SAS for guidage ?

[eran100]

Good plugin but I am wondering if the \'G\' key (the one for the landing legs) will be more adapted to activate the ADA (we could imagine that the landing legs open just before touch the land) and so we could always use the SAS for guidage ?

good idea!!! please do that!!! :sos:

[Guest]

KSP needs more key binds, a lot of times I\'d like to just turn on SAS and no ASAS.

Same with this, though 'G' key is a good suggestion if a separate button isn\'t possible.