Problem Help setting up "robotic arm" in a spacecraft3 ini?

[Saturn V]

Hi guys,

I'm about at the end of my rope. Been trying (unsuccessfully) to configure the Recovery Helicopter to drop the cable (animation done & working), pick up an astronaut and retract (with the astronaut in tow).

The "attachment" option has the astronaut "jumping" out of the Gemini & dangling in mid-air (he doesn't move with the hook) before the cable retracts.

Zatnikitelman suggested the "robotic arm" function of spacecraft3, but left no other info. After a little research, it looks like it might be the way to go, but all attempts I've made thus far have been in vain. All I succeeded in doing was destroying two otherwise functional ini files.

There are no joints per se (the line animation is scaled & the hook is translated). I am completely lost and the docs may be helpful to someone who has a lot of experience with this stuff, but to me, they're woefully incomplete and ar81's tutorial on advanced SC3 concepts doesn't address it any better than the SC3 docs.

Frankly, I'm frustrated enough that I'm about to give up on the whole thing so can someone who actually understands this feature PLEASE explain it to me in plain english?

Thanks...

 

[Zatnikitelman]

For the record I didn't see that you had requested more help in the previous topic, sorry.
For your case, it looks like you'll need to define four things, an Animation sequence, component, robotic arm, and an attachment point.
The sequence is the initial position of 0, the duration however long you want the cable to extend, and repeat = 0.
The Animation comp just defines the sequence that activates this component, then the coordinates of the end of the cable, the range over which the animation will be applied (0.0,1.0), the TYPE which I assume is scaling, how much of each axis the animation is scaled (1,10,1) which will mean the x and z values will stay the same size, but it will be scaled 10 times its y-axis size, and the reference point the animation is scaled around.
The robotic arm is simple, just define the name of the joint (anything work), the sequence number, the range (can be arbitrary), the grap_seq which is the animation that is at the end of the cable (same in your case), and the attachment point.
Other than that, there's not much to do other than just trying it and seeing what happens. SC3 comes with several examples that I used to help produce my addons.

 

[Saturn V]

Thanks for the reply.

Do I have to define "parent" & "child"? And if so, how do I do so.

 

[Donamy]

I have a hangar, that has a crane that may show you what you want.

 

[Saturn V]

YES PLEASE!!! I've been trying to follow the examples in SC3 but there's too much going on and I keep getting lost. ANY help from ANYBODY is MUCH appreciated!!!

 

[Donamy]

What's your e-mail ?

 

[Saturn V]

Check your PM. Thanks...

---------- Post added at 09:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:13 PM ----------

BTW: I got the cable to extend, but I'm not sure if that's part of what I tried, or a remnant of the original animation. Still can't get the hook to move though...

---------- Post added at 10:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 PM ----------

Okay, I finally got the cable and the hook moving together.

Zatnikitleman or Donamy, can either of you tell me how to establish the position of the PARENT_ATTATCH point which also appear to be the figures used for TIP_1, TIP_2 & TIP_3. I've tried several things, but all Ive managed to do is stop the hook from moving again.

Also, there's a PARENT =X specification at the end of the animation sequences. How do I determine what number to use?

Sorry for the rudimentary questions. I'm trying to gain some understanding what I'm doing.

OWWWW!!!! My brain hurts!

 

[MJR]

I think the group of the mesh is what determines what PARENT you choose. Try CHILD attachments too.

 

[Donamy]

It might be easier to get familiar with the simpler animations, before tackling the robot arm animations, but the robot can do some interesting animations.

 

[Saturn V]

Would there be another way to achieve the recovery of the astronauts?

 

[Donamy]

I don't believe so.

 

[Saturn V]

Then I guess I have to figure this out! Thank you for all the info.

---------- Post added at 07:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:35 AM ----------

Hi guys,

I believe I'm making at least some small measure of progress. I now have the cable and hook moving together as specified by the ROBOTIC ARM in the ini. I'm guessing I must be on the right track since previous efforts resulted in disabling the movement of the hook.

I tried to test it out, but I think I'm setting up the attachments wrong because I can't get them to attach. The helicopter is the "parent attachment" and the astronauts would be "child attachments" correct?

Tried following the examples provided with SC3 and looking over Donamy's work (as well as Greg Burch's X-15 ini's), but apparently I'm losing something in the translation.

If I posted my ini files (heli & astronauts), could somebody look them over and see what I might be missing?

Thanks.

 

[Donamy]

I could try

 

[Saturn V]

Here's the helicopter:

[PARENT_ATTACH_0] ;hook
NAME="recovery_hook"
POS=(2.28,-1.36,0.24)
DIR=(1,0,0)
ROT=(0,0,1)
LOOSE=0
RANGE=25

[ROBOTIC_ARM]
JOINT_0_NAME="hook_lower"
JOINT_0_SEQ=3
JOINT_0_RANGE=(0,1)
JOINT_0_NAME="hook_catch"
GRAP_SEQ=3
GRAP_ATTACH=0

[ANIM_SEQ_0]
; landing gear
KEY=G
DURATION=6.7

[ANIM_SEQ_1]
; Rotors
KEY=K
DURATION=0.22
REPEAT=1

[ANIM_SEQ_2]
; Rear Door
KEY=1
DURATION=6.7

[ANIM_SEQ_3]
; Hook and lines
KEY=2
DURATION=15

[ANIM_COMP_0]
; front gear
SEQ=0
GROUPS=257,258,259,260,348,349,350,351,352,353,354,355
RANGE=(0.1,0.9)
ROT_PNT=(0,-2.05,5.8)
ROT_AXIS=(1,0,0)
ANGLE=80

[ANIM_COMP_1]
; Main Rotor
SEQ=1
GROUPS=182,183,184,185,186,187,188,189,190,191
RANGE=(0,1)
ROT_PNT=(0,3,4)
ROT_AXIS=(0,1,0)
ANGLE=360.

[ANIM_COMP_2]
; Rear Rotor
SEQ=1
GROUPS=192,193,194,195,196,197,198,199,200,201,202,203,204,205,206,207,208,209,210,211,212
RANGE=(0,1)
ROT_PNT=(-1,1.52,-12.45)
ROT_AXIS=(1,0,0)
ANGLE=360.

[ANIM_COMP_3]
; Rear Door
SEQ=2
TYPE=TRANSLATE
GROUPS=422,423,424,425,436
RANGE=(0,1)
ROT_PNT=(0,0,0)
SHIFT=(0,0,1.7)
ANGLE=0

[ANIM_COMP_4]
; Line
SEQ=3
GROUPS=261
RANGE=(0,1)
TYPE=SCALE
SCALE0=(1,1,1)
SCALE=(1,36.5,1)
REF=(0,0.73,0)

[ANIM_COMP_5]
; hook_lower
SEQ=3
TYPE=TRANSLATE
GROUPS=356
RANGE=(0,1)
ROT_PNT=(0,0,0)
SHIFT=(0,-10.3,0)
ANGLE=0

[ANIM_COMP_6]
; hook_catch
SEQ=3
RANGE=(0,1)
TIP_1=(2.28,-1.36,0.24)
TIP_2=(2.28,-3.36,0.24)
TIP_3=(2.28,-1.36,-0.24)
PARENT=5

And one of the astronauts (no animation involved):

[CHILD_ATTACH_0]
POS=(0,1,0)
DIR=(0,-1,0)
ROT=(-1,0,0)
LOOSE=0
ID="XS"

Am I correct that L-SHIFT + "0" (numberpad) should attach/detatch?

 

[Donamy]

for one thing the attacment for the grapple has to be "GS" on the astronaut.

also try;

TIP_3=(2.28,-1.36,-1.24)

 

[Saturn V]

Thanks for the help. Something's happening...I'm just not sure what!

I start the scenario.

I press the "space bar" and get a message in the lower left that says "hook_lower"

So I press L-SHIFT + numberpad "2"

The cable & hook descend

I press L-SHIFT + number pad "0"...and...

The command pilot just disappears!

If I press the "spacebar" again, I can retract the cable & hook, but there's no sign of the pilot (even when I select him with F3).

BTW: the only way I am able to retract the line is to hit the "spacebar" (disengage the ROBOTIC ARM?). Does this sound correct?

 

[Donamy]

You can press L-shift+A then L-shift+keypad 5 to view the attachmeny arrows.

 

[Saturn V]

In trying incremental changes, I've managed to get the cable & hook moving correctly (L-SHIFT + NP "2" & "8" keys), got the attachment to work properly and now I'm just trying to get the pilot oriented correctly on the hook (he's facing roughly 180 degrees from the way I want him to).

I think I've had enough for one night so I'm going to give it a rest for now.

I know I've thanked you for your help (and I still do), but I also want to thank you for your work on the original Gemini add-on. It's obviously what's been pushing me to do this and I've got to tell you, the challenge of trying to make something that looks like it fits in with the stuff you did almost 4 years ago just shows how good you guys really are.

 

[Donamy]

Get AC3D and life with Orbiter addons will be alot simpler.