JELAIR's default deltaglider autopilot: BOB
version #1, March 12, 2004, by Jacob Larsen.
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Pre-instructions:

In this following text the autopilot will be known as AP or Bob (and be spoken of as if it was a live cockpit crew-member)

Bob is very easy to use and is activated/de-activated by a single key-press (it can be switched on and off back and forth)

This version of Bob is for the default deltaglider only. NOT for the enhanced deltagliders (such as the DGIII)


 

AP user's quick-guide (minimum required knowledge to operate Bob):

 

Master MFD switch is [shift-g]
Press shift-g to switch the MFD on and off (just like shift-m switches the map-mfd on and off)

 

Bob's internal buttons:

[shift-space] = engage/disengage Bob. This is the master-autopilot switch.

[shift-b] = choose target base. It cycles through all your installed bases incrementally.
[shift-v] = choose target base. It cycles through all your installed bases decrementally.

[shift-p] = choose target base landing pad. It cycles through all landing pads at the currently selected base incrementally.
[shift-o] = choose target base landing pad. It cycles through all landing pads at the currently selected base decrementally.

[shift-d] = switch between normal display and test-pilot's display. This is for trouble-shooting only.

[shift-s] = switch the automatic stewardess-announcements on and off. --->This requires the Bob soundpack.
[shift-c] = switch the cabin-audio on and off (listen to the passengers) --->This requires the Bob soundpack.

[shift-1] through [shift-0] = switch between specific AP-programs (this is for emergency AP overrides only).
1 = liftoff and begin heading-turn to target
2 = complete heading-turn to target
3 = departure burn
4 = cruise glide
5 = emergency landing
6 = long approach (yaw command)
7 = long approach (linear command)
8 = final approach (yaw command)
9 = final approach and landing (linear command)
0 = Reset all AP-control.


So basically you only need 3 keys to operate Bob: Shift-b to select your base, shift-p to select your landing-pad, and shift-space to takeoff.

DO NOT use any time acceleration when Bob is actively controlling the vehicle!

Have fun :)

 



In-depth info:

How to operate the AP (or: What is Bob saying?):

You begin by selecting a scenario in which the default deltaglider is present.

Enter the cockpit and complete your normal pre-flight checklist.

Bring up Bob on either mfd-display (press shift-g)

Cycle through the available bases by pressing shift-b or shift-v (cycle up and down)

When you have selected your target-base, then cycle through that base's available landing-pads by pressing shift-p or shift-o (cycle up and down)
If a landing-pad is occupied by another vehicle, or it has no ILS (instrument landing system) installed, Bob will warn you. It is however still possible to takeoff, but if you do so; you must land manually when you arrive (otherwise Bob will land on top of the already present vehicle (thats a bad career move), or continuosly hover around the landing-pad)

When youre happy with your selections, press shift-space to engage Bob, who will then takeoff. If youre initial heading is close to 0 (zero), it is advised to 'nudge' the vehicle towards the target-base bearing (otherwise Bob may inadvertantly do a 360 around himself, before settling at target-heading). For instance; if the target bearing shows 290 and your initial heading is 005, Bob will swing (yaw) to the right untill hitting 290. To avoid this, just nudge the nose a few degrees toward the bearing right after takeoff.
If you dont take any action, nothing crucial will happen, only it will take a few more seconds before Bob is settled for departure.

Raise the gear when Bob says to (this is the only action not automatically controlled by Bob, so pay attention here)

At first (below 3000 feet altitude) Bob will keep the speed at 250 knots and climb out at 2500 fpm (this is done to reduce turbulence and noise at the ground during takeoff)

Then above 3000 feet Bob will 'put the pedal to the metal' and throttle up to full. He will slowly raise the vehicle pitch to ~30 degrees.

At some point during the early cruise Bob will cut the throttle and mainly coast along for the rest of the journey (he may do small correction-burns underway)

At some point during the late cruise Bob will engage reverse thrust to decrease speed.
He will also tune the ILS-receiver to the landing-pad's frequency (you can use the landing-mfd (shift-L) to monitor the approach)

When the distance left to the target-base is 20km's, a ding-dong will sound to alert the pilot that the approach phase is close (this is in case he's chatting with the passengers or the stewardess or something). Also Bob will decrease speed to 300 knots maximum (He may operate the thrusters in seemingly odd ways, but this is normal)

When the distance left to the target-base is 5 km's, Bob will slow to below 10 knots and begin his long approach procedure (he yaws to a heading of approximately 0 (zero) +- 10 degrees to either side (350-010), and closes to the landing-pad by linear thrust commands, at an altitude of 200 meters)

When the vehicle is over the landing-pad, and Bob begins descending, another ding-dong will appear to alert the pilot. Make sure you have lowered the gear at this time.

When Bob has settled the deltaglider on the landing-pad, he will reset all vehicle control and switch himself off. By resetting vehicle control Bob makes sure no thrusters are left firing, he makes sure the trimmer is centered, and so on (he autopreps the glider for a new takeoff you might say)
A warning will pop-up on the mfd-display saying the pad is not available, but this is obviously because you have just landed on it :)

 

If you at any time during the flight run out of fuel or press shift-5, Bob's emergency autolanding program will be engaged. Reengage normal flight AP programs by pressing the correct key-combo (IE shift-3 if youre still in the early parts of the cruise, shift-6 if youre less than 20 km's from target-base, and so on (see the top of this text for individual key explanations, so you know which number does what))

Thats it :)

 

I'm sure all this info appears confusing right now, but you will quickly become good friends with Bob when you meet him, I think :)

 

The MFD screen display:

In normal mode (shown in the image):
The top-half of the screen will show color-coded warnings (yellow and red) and other info-pieces (green and cyan) will automatically appear and disappear whenever neccessary. A ding will sound each time a new warning or piece of info appears.

The lower-half of the screen will show a few handy bits of info that the pilot may find useful. These do not change color.

 

In testpilot mode the screen will show a lot of various info. This is not explained here, since youre not really supposed to use it :)

 

Here follows a run-through of the individual information text-lines on the MFD screen display:

Check gear up Make sure the gear is up
Check gear down DUH!! :) (said with my best Jay Leno (nbc's tonightshow) impression, hehe)
CMD - autopilot command Bob has control
Periapsis limiter active So you dont end up in LEO
Apoapsis limiter active So you dont leave the atmosphere
!! Emergency landing program Either youre out of fuel, or you have pressed shift-5
Low fuel (so many minutes left) Youll run out of fuel in so many minutes
Low fuel (so many percent total left) You have so many percent total fuel left
Emergency check gear down This only works during the emergency landing program, when the gear may have to be lowered at higher than normal speed
Landing sequence active Lights up during the final descend to the pad
Flight time Lights up when settled on the pad, showing your total enroute flighttime (halfway across the earth takes about 1.4 hours (~100 minutes) total)

xxx

xxx

 

I'm sure all this info appears confusing right now, but you will quickly become good friends with Bob when you meet him, I think :)

 

Known issues, trouble, short-comings, etc:

T/O (takeoff) phase:
If youre initial heading is close to 0 (zero), it is advised to 'nudge' the vehicle towards the target-base bearing (otherwise Bob may inadvertantly do a 360 around himself, before settling at target-heading). For instance; if the target bearing shows 290 and your initial heading is 005, Bob will swing (yaw) to the right untill hitting 290. To avoid this, just nudge the nose a few degrees toward the bearing (IE in this example; yaw slightly left) right after takeoff.
If you dont take any action, nothing crucial will happen, only it will take a few more seconds before Bob is settled for departure.

Cruise phase:
None

Approach phase:
None

Landing phase:
None

General issues:
The raising and lowering of the gear must be operated manually by the pilot, since Bob does not do this.

Other files needed:
Optional: the Bob default soundpack. (this requires you have OrbiterSound installed)

 

I'm sure all this info appears confusing right now, but you will quickly become good friends with Bob when you meet him, I think :)

 





The end.


Thanks for flying JELAIR.

JEL/jacob.

Main email: jelair@inbound.dk
Alternate email: jelstudio@hotmail.com
JELAIR on the web: http://home.tiscali.dk/8x066050/JELAIR/

Credits go to:

    CPP Code and theory:
        MattW
        Vinka
        Imaginos
        Trevor Johns (for the MFDlib library, and "MFDsample.cpp" which Otto is built upon.
        ( http://members.fortunecity.com/tjohns/ )
        MaverickTech (Smoke Hack MFD v1.0)

~