[1.3] Pilot Assistant: Atmospheric piloting aids - 1.13.2 (May 28)

[6.forty]

Yep, that did it. I had only adjusted the Min/Max AoA setting and thought the clamps were clamping some other value. This is with FAR, just my bad designs needing double-digit AoA to cruise up that high.

[Crzyrndm]

Output clamps are absolute "this value will not be exceeded" things.

I Clamps are an internal min/max on the integral sum that prevent issues caused by changes in setpoint (see: Integral Windup). The downside is that they also function as the zero error output clamp (if less than the output limits), so if it isn't high enough some offset will be required to achieve steady state.

Edited February 4, 2015 by Crzyrndm

[Crzyrndm]

v1.1.3

• Fixed incomplete presets causing errors
  
• Updated AoA override cfg to check for NEAR and increased default IClamps for stock users
  
• Reduced Throttle Increase/decrease sensitivity by 75% (was originally the same scale as the altitude controller...)
  
• Hard clamped outputs returning to KSP appropriately (ie. +/- 1 for control inputs)
  

Keybindings list added to OP

Edited February 4, 2015 by Crzyrndm

[Crzyrndm]

Anything to do with CKAN is all on Kerbalstuff (apparently you even if you untick the CKAN integration it still gets added...) or whoever added it originally.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Crzyrndm

[StainX]

This mod is just too good and thats why i have a question: If i restart the game, (after crash for sure) it always gets back to the weak "stock" SAS, is there a setting like "Enable on Startup and use *PROFILE* as default"!?

Thx for the effort on this mod, hugs and cookies for you, sir!

[Crzyrndm]

In the Pilot Assistant directory there will be a "Defaults.cfg" (if you have launched a flight with Pilot Assistant installed. It's created on first run). That will have three presets in it, one for Pilot Assistant, and one each for the SAS modes. Replace the SASPreset that has "stock = true" with another SASPreset (easiest to copy out of the Presets.cfg) and the SAS for craft that do not have a craft preset should become what is set in the defaults.

At the bottom of the defaults, there is also a craft preset. The true/false value in there is whether to use stock SAS or SSAS by default.

After you use a craft and load/save any non-default preset, any time you return to a craft that has the same name (the only value that persists for multiple launches of the same vehicle and through tweaking parts on a vehicle) that preset will again be loaded for you (as it has been saved. If you load a preset and then do some tuning but don't update the saved preset, the original will be loaded, not your tuning)

Edited February 6, 2015 by Crzyrndm

[StainX]

Awesome, thank you soo much!

[Crzyrndm]

Ugh, small mistake on my part there thats probably going to come up. DO NOT CHANGE THE NAME OF THE PRESET

It's saved separately but the association is by preset name, not which file it originated from.

PS

I'd recommend making the edits as a MM patch rather than directly. Makes for good insurance against things being overwritten.

[Crzyrndm]

In future, please bug CKAN people about CKAN issues. I've fixed it this time since you gave me the link and details of the issue and it took all of 5 seconds (seriously, you could have fixed this yourself if you identified the issue. It would have been faster)

CKANs problems are not my problem. I didn't put it there, and I don't particularly care for it being there.

[Van Disaster]

Could I get a hand-over button for PA->SAS? I used to use MJ SmartASS - activated with PA active - for the upper atmosphere transition for spaceplanes but it doesn't seem to like either 0.90 or current FAR very much, so I started using SSAS. However there's a hurried flurry of panicked clicking & typing to get SSAS stable when PA comes off, because if I arm SSAS and then disable any PA hold, it disables SSAS too...

[MoffKalast]

This mod gave me aids. Piloting aids.

[rosenkranz]

Bah, I'm at my wits end here. I'm pretty sure it isn't this mod that is the issue but for the life of me I can't figure which mod is causing it.

So here is the problem, when any of the pilot assist controls are activated, the associated key binding are locked out. Otherwise, it works fine. This is the only mod having this issue but I've gone back to known versions that worked and they do the same thing now. Turning off the assist re-enables the keys.

Has anybody else run across this and identified the culprit?

As a side note, does anyone know a good technique to printing out a list of the mods installed? Mine's a pretty long list.

[Crzyrndm]

Could I get a hand-over button for PA->SAS? I used to use MJ SmartASS - activated with PA active - for the upper atmosphere transition for spaceplanes but it doesn't seem to like either 0.90 or current FAR very much, so I started using SSAS. However there's a hurried flurry of panicked clicking & typing to get SSAS stable when PA comes off, because if I arm SSAS and then disable any PA hold, it disables SSAS too...

Oh yeah, theres a few leftover "don't interfere with me" functions that I've been identifying and cleaning up since they aren't needed any more

As a side note, does anyone know a good technique to printing out a list of the mods installed? Mine's a pretty long list.

All plugins and their install path are listed at the top of either log file. It's one of the reasons a full log is so important for support

Just to clarify, the keybindings aren't responding as you would expect them to with respect to how Pilot Assistant uses them? (as listed in post 223 and the OP)

Edited February 7, 2015 by Crzyrndm

[rosenkranz]

Between a bad head cold and a broken finger, thinking and typing are an adventure. How do I attach the log? The whole thing is 5mb. So I couldn't just wrap in in spoiler tags which I may or may not have been using correctly.

Anyways, what was lost in the prior attempt was this.

When activating the vertical speed/alt control, it does what it is supposed to do. However, the 'w' and 's' cease to do anything at all. If deactivated, it goes back to normal. Same with the heading controls. I've looked at the debug list but it shows no errors that i could see.

Like I said, I don't think it's your mod since prior verions that worked before don;t work now. So I was just throwing it out to see if anyone else might have run into this. Dunno, hard to think right now.

[Crzyrndm]

dropbox, google drive, pastebin etc. all work quite well. This forum doesn't allow attachments so you have to upload it elsewhere

[rosenkranz]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByYa3grrFv5vUXZLa2lWMTBqQm8/view?usp=sharing

Hopefully, this works. Thanks for the support. I've really enjoyed this mod. It has made flying much more enjoyable for me.

[Crzyrndm]

Can you just try a test with only Pilot Assistant installed?

If it works fine, these are the mods that I don't use, so the incompatibility is probably here one of these. If it doesn't, I'm slightly stumped as to what's happening. I may have to make a version with some extra logging to hunt it down.

BahaSP

MissionControllerEC

PlanetShine

QuickScroll

ScienceContainers

StageRecovery

TouhouTorpedo

TweakableEverything

[rosenkranz]

Huh, turned out to be AGX (Action Groups Extended)

Once that was off the list, it started working as normal. Who knew. Thanks for the help

[Crzyrndm]

Hmm, something must have changed with a very recent version then. I'll see if I can replicate and get it sorted out with Diazo

[Crzyrndm]

Version 1.2.1

• Resolved AGX incompatibility with keyboard controls - Thanks to Diazo for some help on this one
  
• Removed some log spam that found its way into 1.2
  

And since I forgot to post anything for 1.2 yesterday...

Version 1.2

• Added default update button
  
• Fixed default preset creation error with SSAS that was causing NAN control outputs
  

[Subcidal]

Mod works fine, Great actually been waiting for something like this for a while. But the windows don't seem to save their position, And for something that I open on every plane i launch it tends to get a bit annoying. Is this just me?

Edited February 9, 2015 by Subcidal
Half-Asleep, made little sense.

[Sampa]

Will this assist with setting a more correct angle of attack for SSTOs?

[BaseDrifter]

Mod works fine, Great actually been waiting for something like this for a while. But the windows don't seem to save their position, And for something that I open on every plane i launch it tends to get a bit annoying. Is this just me?

Nope, I noticed that as well.

Will this assist with setting a more correct angle of attack for SSTOs?

Yes it will, and it's glorious. It makes flying to other side of Kerbin for those survey contracts a joy. Kerbin has a lot of cool scenery I never got around to exploring before this mod because of how tedious it was to fly planes and keep the pitch/yaw under control.

My newest surveyor craft will cruise along at 13.5k up and 1000m/s. Doesn't take very long to go a decent distance.

As far as SSTOs. I'll climb to 10k, then set the vertical velocity to 30m/s or so to maximize in atmosphere speed before switching to closed cycle and pushing space wards.

[Crzyrndm]

Is this just me?

No it's not just you, and yes it's probably something I should add. I just never get around to it...

Could you log a github issue for it please, that way atleast it can't get buried again.

Will this assist with setting a more correct angle of attack for SSTOs?

Depends what you want to achieve with it, but the answer is probably

• So long as you're flying something in a manner even remotely similar to how a plane should fly, Pilot Assistant will handle it without issue (given correct settings ofcourse). Vertically, this includes things without wings that get lift mostly or entirely from engine thrust so long as the allowed AoA and craft control authority are high enough. Turning is another matter though...
  
• Just before switching to rocket mode I normally hand control to stock SAS since the steady "pitch up" is actually useful and PA doesn't handle attitudes directly.
  
• Re-entry I normally handle with SSAS so the AoA can be kept fairly consistent (switching to PA once AoA and VSpeed return to normal operational limits)
  

Yes it will, and it's glorious. It makes flying to other side of Kerbin for those survey contracts a joy. Kerbin has a lot of cool scenery I never got around to exploring before this mod because of how tedious it was to fly planes and keep the pitch/yaw under control.

Every time I have a survey contract I'm always so happy I got this working before they existed

EDIT

Something I forgot to mention at release time, v1.2+ has the ability to update the default presets ingame.

It uses the current active PRESETS not the current active VALUES.

If you want the current values to be the defaults, you need to make sure that you aren't using a default preset (which can't be updated directly), update the active preset, and then update the defaults.

The extra step is a bit of insurance against accidentally turning the defaults into something insane

Edited February 9, 2015 by Crzyrndm

[Crzyrndm]

So, I don't know how many people have noticed this, but a constant heading doesn't neccesarily mean a vessel follows a perfectly straight path (infact, that only happens when the heading is a multiple of 90 degrees). Nothing in Pilot Assistant currently allows you to hold a perfectly straight course (tracking an orbital plane).

I'm currently looking into correcting this deficiency, and it seems this would be able stand in for the wing leveller in almost all cases (The main exception being while landing, which I may just include override functionality for).

Does anyone use the wing leveller:

A) At all?

In a way that may conflict with the proposed functionality?

---

I've decided the new v1.0 SSAS engagement logic actually wasn't what I was after and changed it again

Having a much clearer idea of what I *actually* wanted (and giving it a thorough test drive), I think it's safe to say that the third iteration is the best yet

---

How Setpoint updates are made is also being thoroughly beaten into shape. SSAS targets are getting commit buttons and all transfers will be "bumpless" (that sharp upswing when you set the target altitude to 10000 meters above what it currently is, that's going to dissapear).