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

[Vegetal]

As a real pilot, I can say your job is top notch sir.

A few things I would like: Window positions to be saved when closed. They always open in their standard position, and I always put them on the corner to have better visibility.

Also, when on altitude hold mode, when you want to change altitude, it always does that at 50m/s vertical speed (I guess that's the number). That can be inconvenient, and real autopilots allow you to change vertical speed together with altitude hold.

That would make it perfect in my opinion. It's already very close to that...

[Crzyrndm]

[quote name='DeputyLOL']I found the problem, PA's heading control cant go passed 0.[/QUOTE]
Logs, Logs, Logs...

EDIT

Nvm, I found it. I don't use the actual Heading control mode very often :P
[quote name='DeputyLOL']I have been meaning to ask, could there be someway of disabling PA keyboard control.[/QUOTE]
Tab pauses all control systems
[quote name='Vegetal']A few things I would like: Window positions to be saved when closed. They always open in their standard position, and I always put them on the corner to have better visibility.[/QUOTE]
It's meant to be doing that, although it's been quite hit and miss for a while. Time to go and prod it with a sharp stick maybe...
[quote name='Vegetal']Also, when on altitude hold mode, when you want to change altitude, it always does that at 50m/s vertical speed (I guess that's the number). That can be inconvenient, and real autopilots allow you to change vertical speed together with altitude hold.[/QUOTE]
You can increase/decrease the vertical speed limiter by opening the limits for the altitude module and changing the "max speed" field

EDIT

Latest [URL="https://github.com/Crzyrndm/Pilot-Assistant/blob/master/GameData/Pilot%20Assistant/PilotAssistant.dll?raw=true"]Github[/URL] version should hopefully fix any save/load issues. If someone experiencing issues could confirm this for me... Edited November 22, 2015 by Crzyrndm

[Vegetal]

Oh i'm gonna take a look at that, seems promising.

Ah, one thing I forgot to mention, when you set a new altitude while climbing or descending, PA seems to first zero VS to then apply the correct VS you set. Is that as intended?

As always, thanks for this plugin man! :wink:

[Crzyrndm]

[quote name='Vegetal']Ah, one thing I forgot to mention, when you set a new altitude while climbing or descending, PA seems to first zero VS to then apply the correct VS you set. Is that as intended?[/QUOTE]
What's happening there is the setpoint is trying to shift smoothly between the current altitude (target? I'd have to check) and the new target. Since the smoothing is exponential (slow start), you tend to blow right past it if ascending/descending at any reasonable speed (and since I tend to only use the unsmoothed keyboard control I keep forgetting about it >.>) Edited November 22, 2015 by Crzyrndm

[Van Disaster]

Any chance of speed readouts in kts/kmh? might even be handy for stock users to have something other than m/s, I know I use the speed hold readout as an instant m/s number sometimes given I leave FAR reading knots mostly.

Come to think of it, how far is a nautical mile on Kerbin...

[Crzyrndm]

[quote name='Van Disaster']Come to think of it, how far is a nautical mile on Kerbin...[/QUOTE]
Heh, making that Kerbin relative sounds like a really great way to confuse people :P (for reference, by the original definition, one nautical mile is 174.53... metres on Kerbin if my math is correct (600000 * 2 * PI) / (360 * 60))

[Van Disaster]

Even better if it's SoI relative :P

At least it's not a Sea Mile, that really is the arc of 1 minute wherever you are on the surface ( also a good job that was never applied to aircraft! ). Maybe that would be better written in minutes per hour.

[DeputyLOL]

Problem with new update, I cant select between TAS, IAS and EAS.
When I click the arrow, the small menu pops up but clicking on any of the options doesn't do anything (except close the menu).

I went log hunting and found this:

[LOG 19:42:58.070] (123.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.076] (123.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.123] (125.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.129] (125.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.174] (125.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.180] (125.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.225] (115.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.231] (115.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.277] (73.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.283] (73.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.331] (63.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.341] (63.0, -179.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.395] (82.0, -183.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.401] (82.0, -183.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.450] (116.0, -183.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.457] (116.0, -183.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.504] (115.0, -183.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.511] (115.0, -183.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.563] (76.0, -182.0)
[LOG 19:42:58.590] (76.0, -182.0)

(This isn't all of it, this a small fraction of these types of messages)

This starts filling up the log when the menu is open and the numbers are something to do with the position of my mouse on the screen.

PLZ FIX DIS!

[Crzyrndm]

[quote name='DeputyLOL']Problem with new update[/QUOTE]
Oops, that was not meant to be included...

[Wolf Baginski]

[SIZE=1]Wasn't the original definition of the metre supposed to be based on the size of the Earth?
Yep, it's easy to Google on the history; [/SIZE][COLOR=#000000][FONT=sans-serif][SUP]"1[/SUP]⁄[SUB]10,000,000[/SUB][/FONT][/COLOR][SIZE=1][COLOR=#000000][FONT=sans-serif] part of one half of a [/FONT][/COLOR][URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridian_(geography)"]meridian[/URL][COLOR=#000000][FONT=sans-serif], measurement by Delambre and [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#252525][FONT=sans-serif]Méchain."
Only now it is defined with the speed of light. There's some interesting stuff in all the history on how the standard for the metre changed as more precise measuring methods came along. And the second is defined a little more precisely than the metre.[/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Crzyrndm]

v1.12.3

[LIST]
[*]Speed selection window now closes automatically if you click outside it
[*]Speed selection window now includes a unit selection
[/LIST]
And no, the units are not kerbin/body relative :P

[Vegetal]

Hey man, I couldn't find the VS adjuster you said before. Only found the response adjusters, but nothing about changing VS itself on altitude hold.

[Crzyrndm]

The limits are hidden by default. The second toggle from the left at the top of the window makes them visible

[sashan]

On 22.11.2015 23:17:54, Van Disaster said:

Any chance of speed readouts in kts/kmh? 

FAR can do that. It also makes aerodynamics realistic, so it you know basics of aerodynamics and flight dynamics it'll be easy to understand for you.

Btw, this mod is beautifully compatible with FAR. I once left my Koeing-747 for overnight flight with it, and it flew like charm while I slept  

One question - was the bug with controls being stuck when you decouple a small plane from your carrier fixed? This also happens when I simply have 2 crafts flying on PilotAssistant at the same time. ALso, there was a bug with both planes having linked roll control and no direct throttle control after that. Was it fixed as well? I'm gonna update now and see it myself, but would be nice to know anyways.

Edited November 30, 2015 by sashan

[Crzyrndm]

I don't actually remember either of the bugs you mention, never mind fixing them, so you're going to have to tell me if they're still an issue or not. If it was reported and I saw the report it should be fixed, but I have been very busy recently

[sashan]

Okay, freezing controls after craft attaching/detaching still persists.
Also, I used KAS pipe to attach drone to the mothership in flight. The PilotAssistant window then vanished and it disabled itself. I could open that small menu but not main window where you set velocity, heading etc- the button did nothing. Also, since the point where crafts were separated till they were connected I couldn't revert to manual throttle on any of them. THe throttle was simply stuck where it was last set by PA. The latter bug is easily repeatable btw, just get two crafts flying at the same time on PA, then try to take manual control of one.
So, K-17 crashed, killing 2 Kerbals that weren't quick enough to bail out.  First one of them to crash.

Here's what I was doing:

Here's the log: https://www.dropbox.com/s/31bbaugbhx3bf7i/output_log.txt?dl=0

Edited November 30, 2015 by sashan

[Crzyrndm]

Ok, the throttle thing is fixed (missing active vessel check...). Can you elaborate a little more on the freezing controls?

[sashan]

SAS was on and active but elevator was simply frozen in center of the range and completely unresponsive and unmoving.

[Nothalogh]

When I used this mod under FAR, the SSAS worked flawlessly, but now when trying to use it in stock aero I get violent control oscillations.

The oscillation fix listed in the OP does not seem to cover SSAS, so I am curious if others have devised a workaround for this

[Crzyrndm]

Increase the scalar parameter on the axis which is acting up is the simplest way. The "fix" is both out of date and unreliable (it only ever works for certain craft)

[sashan]

An example of using the mod in circum-Kerbin flight, around an inclined great circle. Sorry, I've got only Facebook video:
https://www.facebook.com/Sashan13/videos/814996251956375/?theater
Suggestion: An option to keep constant airspeed-horizon angle. Would be extremely useful.

 

Edited December 2, 2015 by sashan

[Hyomoto]

My question, Cyzyrndm, would be you have a PID for both your vertical speed and altitude, correct?  So what is the easiest way to find out which one is causing you problems?  For my recent craft I was able to get it to fly rock solid at warp, but I feel like that was a lot of luck.  Mostly because when it's acting up I'm rarely sure if it's the vertical speed or the altitude that's causing the oscillations.  I don't know if this is WAAAAAY too far out there, but it would be interesting to see a graph of the PID outputs so you get a better idea of what's happening when it's going wrong.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Hyomoto
readability

[lemon1324]

1 hour ago, Hyomoto said:

My question, Cyzyrndm, would be you have a PID for both your vertical speed and altitude, correct?  So what is the easiest way to find out which one is causing you problems?  For my recent craft I was able to get it to fly rock solid at warp, but I feel like that was a lot of luck.  Mostly because when it's acting up I'm rarely sure if it's the vertical speed or the altitude that's causing the oscillations.  I don't know if this is WAAAAAY too far out there, but it would be interesting to see a graph of the PID outputs so you get a better idea of what's happening when it's going wrong.

If you're having problems with the controllers not being fully stable, there's two things you can do:

1. The controller causing you the most problems is the one that has the largest error/oscillation about its own set point.  You can figure this out by opening the controller parameters for each controller, and then watch how the actual value changes with respect to the set-point for that controller.
2. Tune controllers from the bottom up; for longitudinal motion, that means tuning the AoA controller, then the VSpd controller; the Altitude controller shouldn't need tuning, as it's just proportional.

I've found that (and this will be generally true for cascaded controllers) the lowest controllers need the most tuning from craft to craft.  I've never once needed to touch the altitude controller apart from setting VSpd limits.

[Crzyrndm]

Watch the "target" field in the controller below (AoA for VSpeed, etc.). If it's bouncing from +ve limit to -ve limit, then that controller is the one which is overly twitchy. Normally I just focus on the VSpeed controller, and use the AoA controller for any final tweaking. The altitude controller tuning is mostly just tweaking how it approaches the targets (limits set how fast it can move, kP how sharply it moves between the VSpeed limit and its target (eg. default 50m/s limit and 0.15 kP => It starts flattening off at (50/0.15 = 333m) from the target altitude). Tweak the limit to your desired climb speed, and then decrease kP as necessary so it doesn't overshoot (or increase if it takes forever)

[RadarManFromTheMoon]

Something I thought about recently while landing: There is a great HSI mod out there. How about a localizer/glideslope autopilot? I know mod integration is often a hazzle but it would surely be awe-some!