[1.0.2] B9 Aerospace | Procedural Parts 0.40 | Updated 09.06.15

[doudou]

:cool::cool:

[bac9]

Version 0.10

https://bitbucket.org/bac9/b9_aerospace_plugins/downloads

• Added an all-moving control surface (configured exactly like procedural wing, rotates around attachment point).
  
• Fixed some property captions
  
• Added proper descriptions to all three parts
  
• Some internal fixes

No solution for the SPH/VAB memory leak available so far (the issue is reproduced with some other mods like RSS and seems to be reproduced in stock in some cases, so there is no clear fix), the only workaround so far is to monitor your memory use in the editor and reload the craft when it goes too high - this will trigger Unity garbage collection and clear all objects cluttering the memory.

Edited January 3, 2015 by bac9

[falken]

It's all coming along beautifully, Bac9. This is easily one of my favorite mods of the past year or so.

Still got to figure out a solution for the OMS shoulders and rear RCS, but this flies pretty darn nicely!

[Agathorn]

Version 0.10

https://bitbucket.org/bac9/b9_aerospace_plugins/downloads

• Added an all-moving control surface (configured exactly like procedural wing, rotates around attachment point).
  
• Fixed some property captions
  
• Added proper descriptions to all three parts
  
• Some internal fixes

No solution for the SPH/VAB memory leak available so far (the issue is reproduced with some other mods like RSS and seems to be reproduced in stock in some cases, so there is no clear fix), the only workaround so far is to monitor your memory use in the editor and reload the craft when it goes too high - this will trigger Unity garbage collection and clear all objects cluttering the memory.

Yay on all-moving control surface!

As for "fixing" the memory leak, one thing we were talking about in #RO would be no longer using those tweakable menus and making your own UI instead. I'm actually in favor of that approach since I think the tweakables menus are a bad interface anyway, but that's just me.

[SchildConstruct]

Not sure what you're asking about - leading and trailing edges already have two curved cross section types available.

Wing shape, rather than leading/trailing edge shape, from a top-down / bottom-up perspective. NURBS / B-Splines. You know, curves!

[blowfish]

Wing shape, rather than leading/trailing edge shape, from a top-down / bottom-up perspective. NURBS / B-Splines. You know, curves!

That gets really complicated really fast. Also FAR/NEAR can only approximate trapezoidal wings. Your best bet is to use several wings to get the desired shape.

[bac9]

Wing shape, rather than leading/trailing edge shape, from a top-down / bottom-up perspective. NURBS / B-Splines. You know, curves!

Yeah, there are some issues with that

• That's extremely complicated code-wise, there is a reason why leading DCC software spent decades perfecting those kinds of tools
  
• Construction of meshes at runtime is a memory leak risk, deformation and skinned mesh renderers are as far as you should usually go
  
• There is zero reason to implement that as even FAR is not accounting for any thickness, cross section and leading/trailing edge shapes, instead using a particular standardized cross section from NASA for it's simulation
  
• It's not compatible with the concept of modular wings unless you want to severely complicate the tech even further by allowing longitudinal wing sequences to take on arbitrary intervals of arbitrary cross sections
  
• And finally, if we're talking about leading/trailing edge curving in the top-down plane and not about curved cross sections, there aren't many reasonable designs that actually use significantly curved edges (underlying structure is always a grid of cross-sectional supports linked by straight plating anyway, which existing parts approximate well)
  
• Aside from the fact that most designs can be replicated by simply stacking varied narrow quadrilateral pieces, simulation of curved wings will have to be approximated using a set of quadrilateral shapes anyway, defeating the purpose of actually supporting such a part type when slice-based wings are already simulated properly

Yay on all-moving control surface!

As for "fixing" the memory leak, one thing we were talking about in #RO would be no longer using those tweakable menus and making your own UI instead. I'm actually in favor of that approach since I think the tweakables menus are a bad interface anyway, but that's just me.

Yeah, and I have almost implemented it. As my mod has quite a few more properties than pwings, it's control scheme is not really usable, but I came up with a relatively elegant solution (mix of mouse input and a window).

Edited January 4, 2015 by bac9

[Sufficient Anonymity]

Have been playing around with this for a while now - loving the flexibility without having to sacrifice the looks of your craft

[Horus]

Hi bac9!

Really appreciate your work. The mod becomes a real wings pearl for the game.

Just wanted to ask - is there any roadmap for the project? I mean what do you have more in your plans before final (quite unusual word for KSP & mods...) release?

[bac9]

Hi bac9!

Really appreciate your work. The mod becomes a real wings pearl for the game.

Just wanted to ask - is there any roadmap for the project? I mean what do you have more in your plans before final (quite unusual word for KSP & mods...) release?

Probably something like that:

• DRE integration linked to heat shielding configuration of a wing
  
• FAR-exclusive support for fuel tanks within a wing
  
• Alternative UI/input method in addition to tweakables
  
• Trailing edge shape selection for control surfaces
  
• Proper aerodynamic value calculation for distorted control surfaces (right now distortion based on Offset R/Offset T is not accounted for, which makes some heavily swept and distorted shapes imprecisely simulated)
  
• Optional support for leading/trailing edge collisions
  

I think those additions are than enough for a mod that was supposed to take just a few hours on one weekend but still isn't finished

[Horus]

Probably something like that:

• DRE integration linked to heat shielding configuration of a wing
  
• FAR-exclusive support for fuel tanks within a wing
  
• Alternative UI/input method in addition to tweakables
  
• Trailing edge shape selection for control surfaces
  
• Proper aerodynamic value calculation for distorted control surfaces (right now distortion based on Offset R/Offset T is not accounted for, which makes some heavily swept and distorted shapes imprecisely simulated)
  
• Optional support for leading/trailing edge collisions
  

I think those additions are than enough for a mod that was supposed to take just a few hours on one weekend but still isn't finished

Quite a list of features Thanks for sharing

[gkorgood]

Great work bac9, always love your stuff. could someone enlighten me as to whether the full KSPAPIExtensions is required? Or can I get by with just what comes in the GameData folder of this release?

[RainDreamer]

https://i.imgur.com/MxnOig5.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/iyA4qBY.jpg

Have been playing around with this for a while now - loving the flexibility without having to sacrifice the looks of your craft

Question: What is that cockpit? Is it a radial attached cockpit, or is it just fancy light and you are flying a drone?

[falken]

It looks like a Mk2 cockpit offset into an S2 fuselage.

[Sufficient Anonymity]

It looks like a Mk2 cockpit offset into an S2 fuselage.

This Mk1 placeholder by K3|Chris - http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/92630-0-90-B9-Aerospace-Release-5-2-8-%28updated-30-12-14%29?p=1401790&viewfull=1#post1401790 - don't want to derail this thread too much though - images were more about being able to tweak the wings to exactly the right shape.

[ijiin]

Is it possible to get the root height even thicker on this mod ? love the wings to death, and getting the option to exceed 0.48 as it is now would be the cherry on top.

[camlost]

@Bac9, a serious problem that might be simple to fix on your side.

Before Start() is called for the FARWingAerodynamicModel. Later than that means that FAR isn't going to get interactions right.

Yet on the runway, the mesh of wings are set during the first round of Update(), if I read it correctly.

[bac9]

Before Start() is called for the FARWingAerodynamicModel. Later than that means that FAR isn't going to get interactions right.

I don't think I understand the issue from that sentence, can you elaborate?

Is it possible to get the root height even thicker on this mod ? love the wings to death, and getting the option to exceed 0.48 as it is now would be the cherry on top.

Not at the moment, I dislike severe distortion that occurs on leading and trailing edge geometry when you go that far.

Edited January 6, 2015 by bac9

[falken]

I'm not sure myself, bac9. however it seems that sometimes the FAR calculations window does not get any data at all from the procwings on initial load. I stress the *sometimes*, as it typically gives me the calculations.

[bac9]

I'm not sure myself, bac9. however it seems that sometimes the FAR calculations window does not get any data at all from the procwings on initial load. I stress the *sometimes*, as it typically gives me the calculations.

Well, I can call it from OnStart before geometry is created, sure. I prefer not to because the game spams OnStart every single time you mouse over a part over a potential attachment point. As about Start, I'm not sure it's safe to call anything from other plugins from that event, but sure, I can try.

[sober667]

i played a lot testing in santbox for me -work good i have mod to wach my RAM usage so its not big deal to be aware of it.

but when i swiched to career i saw that i cannot found it in any of nodes wich im resarching ( i have olmost all tree in plane parts in wich node it is?)

nice mod for RAM usage information

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/99494-0-90-MemoryUsage-v1-11-2014-11-19

Edited January 6, 2015 by sober667

[Citrom]

Issue with center of mass of b9-PCSA.

As you can see, on the KER screen, torque is 0. When the control surface's center of mass would be in the right place torque should be non-zero.

http://imgur.com/woXYtyt

[bac9]

Version 0.11

https://bitbucket.org/bac9/b9_aerospace_plugins/downloads

• Centers of mass are now shape-dependent
  
• Added an alternative UI/input method in addition to existing tweakable support
  
• Minor fixes in code, textures and descriptions
  
• Increased the control surface width limit to 1.5m

More info on the new way of editing the wing (implemented to avoid tweakable window memory leak and to provide an alternative control scheme for those who are familiar with pWings):

• Small window that appears in the editor when you attach a procedural part to the craft
  
• Window saves it's position and initially shows only a small control hint about entering edit mode
  
• You can point at any part with your mouse and press G to enter editing mode on that part
  
• As you do that, window starts showing contextual info about the wing and new hotkeys are registered
  
• You can move your mouse to adjust the currently selected wing property (like semispan)
  
• Alternatively, you can use two buttons to adjust a property by a fixed increment
  
• You can scroll through properties using other two buttons
  
• Order of properties is exactly the same as in the tweakable context menu, so it's easy to remember)
  
• The window shows the short name of the property used in the tweakable window, expanded description of what it does, and control hints
  
• Unlike with pWings, adjustment is not stopping as your mouse pointer leaves the wing (always irritated me)
  
• Once you're done, pressing G exits the edit mode (detaching the part or clicking the catalog does that too)
  
• The window can be hidden at any time by hitting close button on it

[camlost]

FAR needs to detect mesh in order to know which wing part is in front of another, this process is called wing interaction. The mesh detection is done when Start() is called for the FARWingAerodynamicModel.

So pWing must update the mesh before Start() is called for the FARWingAerodynamicModel on the runway. Right now it is done in Update()

Fail to do so, FAR does not know a trailing edge flap is behind a wing part, so it would make it stall early.

[Citrom]

Thank you for the quick fix