SSU Crawler Transporter development

[SiameseCat]

Thanks. I'm stll working on the aerodynamic data files; after that I'll fix the jacking and steering/speed control stuff.

 

[SiameseCat]

That should take care of the cabs except for the FWD, NEUT and REV PBIs. These could be used to start/shut down the C/T ALCO GenSets. Right now the noise (CrawlerEngine.wav) is only played when the C/T is moving. This is incorrect as that is the noise of the ALCO GenSets. So it should be played as long as the ALCOs are running.

For the PBIs, what I'll do is turn the engine on when the FWD or REV PBI is selected; the NEUT PBI will shut the engine down. The direction in which the crawler moves will be determined by whether the FWD or REV PBI is selected. Any objections?

---------- Post added at 07:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:19 PM ----------

Do you know what the AVERAGE HEIGHT gauge measures? Is it jacking height (so when the Crawler is jacked down, it measure 0), or is it something else?

---------- Post added at 08:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:21 PM ----------

I think the problem with the LDS if-statement is that you're comparing two char pointers in the line

if(name.c_str() == "SSU_Pad")

This doesn't work (because you're comparing the memory addresses, not char values). What you need is

if(name == "SSU_Pad")

There might be other issues, but this is definitely a problem. One other problem with this approach is that the LDS will work for SSUPad vessels; in real life, I think it is used when picking up the MLP from the VAB as well. I think it might be better to check the attachment ID and see if the strings match.

Another potential problem is that, IMHO, the LDS mouse click event handling shouldn't be part of the Crawler class. I think it makes more sense to have the LDS class derive from the CrawlerPanel class and put all the mouse click event (and drawing, when it is implemented) in there. You can take a look at the CrawlerLeftPanel/CrawlerRightPanel classes to see how this works. This will also avoid having duplicated code for the fwd/rear LDS displays; at the moment, there seems to be 2 copies of everything.

 

[DaveS]

For the PBIs, what I'll do is turn the engine on when the FWD or REV PBI is selected; the NEUT PBI will shut the engine down. The direction in which the crawler moves will be determined by whether the FWD or REV PBI is selected. Any objections?

None. Commanded speed should only be allowed to go negative when the REV PBI is selected.

Do you know what the AVERAGE HEIGHT gauge measures? Is it jacking height (so when the Crawler is jacked down, it measure 0), or is it something else?

Based on on what I can see in various videos, it is JEL cylinder extension. That would explain why the gauge only goes to 6.

There might be other issues, but this is definitely a problem. One other problem with this approach is that the LDS will work for SSUPad vessels; in real life, I think it is used when picking up the MLP from the VAB as well. I think it might be better to check the attachment ID and see if the strings match.

It is used essentially to align the C/T with the mounts either in the VAB (HBs 1, 2 and 3), the two MLP refurbishment sites north of the VAB and the two pads.

 

[Poscik]

Another potential problem is that, IMHO, the LDS mouse click event handling shouldn't be part of the Crawler class. I think it makes more sense to have the LDS class derive from the CrawlerPanel class and put all the mouse click event (and drawing, when it is implemented) in there. You can take a look at the CrawlerLeftPanel/CrawlerRightPanel classes to see how this works. This will also avoid having duplicated code for the fwd/rear LDS displays; at the moment, there seems to be 2 copies of everything.

Ok, I'll try to move code to separate LDS class that derives from CrawlerPanel. And about attachments. First I want to do basics, to see if alignment works properly. If yes, I'll recode to check if attachment string matches our targets. Thank you SC.

 

[SiameseCat]

Checked in the code to use the FWD/NEUT/REV PBIs. DaveS, let me know if anything needs to be changed.

 

[DaveS]

Checked in the code to use the FWD/NEUT/REV PBIs. DaveS, let me know if anything needs to be changed.

Everything is good. Just need to play the CrawlerEngine_shutdown.wav and CrawlerEngine_startup.wav files and generate a ton of smoke. See this time-lapse video. You can quite easily see when the ALCOs are being turned on.

---------- Post added at 03:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:25 AM ----------

Checked in updated panel meshes which now has the missing the MODE PBI on the right panel.

---------- Post added 12-22-10 at 09:59 AM ---------- Previous post was 12-21-10 at 03:44 PM ----------

Small bug noticed. It seems like that the VIEWPOS parameter doesn't work. It would nice if that could be fixed.

 

[SiameseCat]

That's intentional, actually. Now that we have the FWD and REV PBIs, it seems to make more sense to have '+' accelerate in the direction selected, while '-' will slow down the crawler. This is also how the speed control knob on the crawler behaves, I think.

 

[DaveS]

That's intentional, actually. Now that we have the FWD and REV PBIs, it seems to make more sense to have '+' accelerate in the direction selected, while '-' will slow down the crawler. This is also how the speed control knob on the crawler behaves, I think.

Yes. There seems to be discrepancy between the printed Target Speed and the speedometer.

What about the VIEWPOS parameter? It would be nice to have it working as right now for a rollback you're in the wrong cab. For a rollback, Cab 1 would be the "forward cab". During rollout Cab 3 would be the "forward cab".

 

[SiameseCat]

The discrepancy between the Target Speed and speedometer is because the units are different; I'll fix this.

I'm not really sure what the problem is with the VIEWPOS value. This just determines the camera/VC position, so you'll need to switch cabs to do a rollback instead of a rollout.

---------- Post added at 05:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 AM ----------

Checked in the new jacking code, so now CTRL+J and CTRL+K will cause the Crawler to automatically move up or down to a preset level. I've also added the Average Height gauge. Let me know if there are any problems.

---------- Post added at 05:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:26 PM ----------

There seems to be a mismatch between the required docking heights for the Pad and the VAB. At the moment, the code works at the pad, but it's too low to drop the MLP off at the VAB. Do we need different jacking heights for the Pad and the VAB, or is this a problem with the attachment points?

 

[Urwumpe]

Do we need different jacking heights for the Pad and the VAB, or is this a problem with the attachment points?

AFAIR, the VAB does currently not have attachment points, since we don't yet use a module for it... or did I miss something?

It is possible we need different jacking heights there, but this should be controlled by the attachments if possible...

 

[SiameseCat]

There's a VAB_MLP_stands vessel which has attachment points for the MLP.

 

[Urwumpe]

There's a VAB_MLP_stands vessel which has attachment points for the MLP.

Ok, didn't notice this one yet.

 

[DaveS]

There seems to be a mismatch between the required docking heights for the Pad and the VAB. At the moment, the code works at the pad, but it's too low to drop the MLP off at the VAB. Do we need different jacking heights for the Pad and the VAB, or is this a problem with the attachment points?

Let me check with my sources. I know that the mounts at the pad currently is too tall but I'm not sure about the mounts in the VAB.

Edit:
Just checked and the mount heights are the same at 6.832 m.

---------- Post added at 01:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:19 AM ----------

Checked in some changes to the Crawler VC positions and the jacking times. Now the only things missing is the steering mods and the LDS. Then we're pretty much done here.

 

[DaveS]

Any progress in the last week or has the holidays slowed things down?

 

[SiameseCat]

I've been working on restructuring the GPC code for the past few days. For the MODE PBI, do you know what the allowed steering range is? The NSF posts indicate the range is either 2 or 6 degrees, but the panel photos show steering angles above 12 degrees.

 

[DaveS]

I've been working on restructuring the GPC code for the past few days. For the MODE PBI, do you know what the allowed steering range is? The NSF posts indicate the range is either 2 or 6 degrees, but the panel photos show steering angles above 12 degrees.

I think the panel photos is just showing non-valid data. Kinda like how the AVERAGE HEIGHT display shows -21.40 while the actual bar display only shows 1 bar.

 

[SiameseCat]

Checked in the MODE PBI code. I also modified the turning code a bit (earlier, the turn rate would decrease under time acceleration), so let me know if there are any problems.

 

[DaveS]

Checked in the MODE PBI code. I also modified the turning code a bit (earlier, the turn rate would decrease under time acceleration), so let me know if there are any problems.

No problems except that the actual VC PBI doesn't indicate the selected mode. Also, it seems like you'll have to tackle the LDS as Poscik won't have the time to do it in the near-term future.

Also, could you modify the Cab VC view angle position to be more straight-looking?

 

[SiameseCat]

What PBI are you talking about? The MODE PBI works for me.

 

[DaveS]

What PBI are you talking about? The MODE PBI works for me.

Weired. For me the 2°/6° mode indicators on the actual PBI doesn't show up. The MODE label does however.