OHM AutoRudder v1.2

[OrbitHangar]

Author: malisle

AutoRudder v1.0 (hielor):
This plugin implements an "autorudder" functionality similar to that found in FSX (or used on the Shuttle or Ercoupe in real life).  Intended for users who don't have joystick rudder control, this aids the pilot in making coordinated turns by using the rudder to counteract slipping and adverse yaw.
Source code is included in case vessel developers would like to tune this specifically for their vessels, or to allow others to learn from and expand on it.
Comments are welcomed and encouraged--I can't reasonably test this on every vessel out there, so if there's any that it doesn't work on, or any flight maneuvers that are more difficult with this addon than without, I'd love to know about it.

AutoRudder v1.2 (malisle):This is a slight modification of hielors AutoRudder plugin published back in 2010. He kindly offered to transfer ownership of the plugin to me in order to maintain download and comment history on orbithangar and to allow me further development. AutoRudder keeps the slip angle at zero degrees which can be especially useful during reentries. Don’t forget to activate the plugin!


AutoRudder v1.2 changelog:

• added OrbiterSound support. Notifications are given by voice instead of oapiDebugString()
• pressing Right Control + F11 changes the AutoRudder mode and Right Control + F12 reminds you what mode is currently active
• fixed conflict with multistage autopilot
• other small fixes

AutoRudder v1.1 changelog:

• toggle command using Right Control + 0
• four modes of operation: rudder only, RCS only, RCS & rudder and OFF
• notification about currently active mode
• changed PD regulator coefficients to better approximate critically damped oscillations (less overshooting)
• part of the code that checks if the dynamic pressure was high enough for the rudder to have an effect, if the vessel is landed and if the airspeed was different from zero was removed because the user can now turn the AutoRudder on/off depending on the current situation. 

Notes and possible issues:

• plugin will be able to control the rudder of more realistic spacecraft like XR fleet and DGIV even if  the APU, ELEVON & GEAR or AF control are disabled.
• same PD coefficients are used for all the vessels, regardless of their RCS thrust, inertias and aerodynamic coefficients so their behavior will be slightly different. 

Special thanks to hielor who made this plugin in the first place and Interceptor for testing, reporting bugs and giving useful advice.




DOWNLOAD

 

[N_Molson]

Wow. Maybe one of the best addons ever released ! 5 stars.

Tested on a XR1, makes unpowered landings a lot more easier and realistic (no fly-by-wire on a futuristic space shuttle was hard to believe !).

Thank you very much for this. :tiphat:

 

[Izack]

This works with the XR-5's differential airbrakes (although I think that those are just a difference in animation, not in the coded aerodynamics.)

 

[Spacethingy]

Dead useful, thanks Hielor.

That's got to be one of the quickest request-to-addon times ever!

 

[Thundersnook]

Damn! This is awesome! I love this!

 

[N_Molson]

Suggestion for possible improvements :

- add a key combo to toggle on/off the autorudder (can be useful).

 

[Hielor]

Suggestion for possible improvements :

- add a key combo to toggle on/off the autorudder (can be useful).

Yeah, I was thinking about this, but one of the problems with adding key combos is that you never know if there's an addon somewhere that uses that key combo, so you might interfere with something. I guess I could make the key configurable--pick something reasonable, and then if it causes a conflict for a user they can adjust it on their own.

The other option I considered was making an MFD which gives the user the ability to turn off the autorudder, or configure the parameters used in the PD controller, but that would be a lot more work for an MFD that's almost worthless...

 

[Interceptor]

Very nice,thank you

 

[Wishbone]

Hielor, you know you can take code from Precession MFD, don't you? The basic framework is there.

EDIT: Autopilot addons are actually very much needed, thanks for the effort.

 

[Hielor]

Hielor, you know you can take code from Precession MFD, don't you? The basic framework is there.

EDIT: Autopilot addons are actually very much needed, thanks for the effort.

You mean for the MFD itself? Thanks, I'll consider that.

 

[Spacethingy]

I might be getting thoroughly out of my depth here, but can't you check the key-map file to check key combos?

 

[C3PO]

Suggestion for possible improvements :

- add a key combo to toggle on/off the autorudder (can be useful).

Next step: A toggle for RCS Yaw channel?

PS: Wouldn't an external window (like the Remote Vessel Control) be more appropriate?

 

[Hielor]

I might be getting thoroughly out of my depth here, but can't you check the key-map file to check key combos?

That will prevent collisions with keys used for built-in actions, but doesn't guarantee the same for addons.

Next step: A toggle for RCS Yaw channel?

For what?

PS: Wouldn't an external window (like the Remote Vessel Control) be more appropriate?

Possibly, I might look into doing it that way, thanks.

 

[streb2001]

Great addon, thanks. Surprised noone has done this before...

 

[n122vu]

Very very cool. You just made atmospheric flight much easier when Orbiting on a laptop. Thanks! :thumbup:

 

[DevCo]

Next step: A toggle for RCS Yaw channel?

Yes, that would be fantastic. The greatest annoyance I have right now is that the XR2's Attitude hold autopilots do not keep the Slip angle at 0, it keeps AoA/Pitch and Bank, but doesn't even bother with slip, why? It moves all over the place when it's in thin or no air, only sticking at 0 when it starts to hit a dense enough airstream to bring the aerodynamics into play. It is impossible to keep the ship from slipping side to side above dense air while on attitude hold without constantly dickering with the RCS yaw thrusters. I won't even start on how much tinkering it takes to keep the slip at 0 while starting a re-entry at a bank, it's just silly.

If anyone knows of an easy way to lock the slip on the XR2 at 0 right now, please enlighten me, it might already exist and I've been too lazy to find it.

Thanks,

DevCo

P.S. Null Rotation doesn't work, it fights the attitude control making it impossible to set the correct AoA/pitch, you have to over or under compensate and it burns RCS fuel like crazy.

 

[Hielor]

Yes, that would be fantastic. The greatest annoyance I have right now is that the XR2's Attitude hold autopilots do not keep the Slip angle at 0, it keeps AoA/Pitch and Bank, but doesn't even bother with slip, why? It moves all over the place when it's in thin or no air, only sticking at 0 when it starts to hit a dense enough airstream to bring the aerodynamics into play. It is impossible to keep the ship from slipping side to side above dense air while on attitude hold without constantly dickering with the RCS yaw thrusters. I won't even start on how much tinkering it takes to keep the slip at 0 while starting a re-entry at a bank, it's just silly.

If anyone knows of an easy way to lock the slip on the XR2 at 0 right now, please enlighten me, it might already exist and I've been too lazy to find it.

Thanks,

DevCo

P.S. Null Rotation doesn't work, it fights the attitude control making it impossible to set the correct AoA/pitch, you have to over or under compensate and it burns RCS fuel like crazy.

Ah, makes sense--I'll see if I can put something to take care of that into AutoRudder. I suspect it will be somewhat more difficult to do than just the rudder, but I've done RCS autopilots before and this should in theory be pretty similar to AutoRudder--just a PD controller with slip as the input and RCS as the output.

That's the sort of thing you'd definitely want to be able to turn off, though, so I'll work on a way of doing that first...

 

[Hielor]

I have turned over control of this addon to malisle--he has some good modifications ready to go that meet some of the earlier requests in the thread. Any further updates will come from him.

 

[4throck]

Great to see this updated. Although I use a HOTAS to control Orbiter, It's always good to have this sort of flying aid. It's great for all the winged vehicles :thumbup:

 

[Interceptor]

OK,I ran into a little problem with multistage 2,make sure to disable autorudder1.1 in the modules before launching a multistage2 vehicle,or else it just goes straight up,BTW really great update.