Vessel aircraft tug

[vchamp]

Any ideas how is the turning in UCGO vehicles coded? I'm trying to add two forces in clbkPreStep(). The first has the attack point at _V(0, 0, 0) and it just pushes the tug forward. No problems with this. The second force, which must turn vehicle around the Y axis, has the attack point at _V(0, 0, <distance of front axis from vehicle's center>). The question is how to set the direction and magnitude of the force vector correctly.

What a pity Dan's cars are not extendable. They turn so nicely. If only it was possible to add a custom functionality to them. Probably I'll have to make an utility module that would only manage the tug-to-plane attachment. I already had some good animation this way, pulling DeltaGlider by UtilCar.

 

[C3PO]

I had sometging much bigger in mind, a fully loaded xr5 weighs over 1Mg, so you need a huge amount of torque to get it moving, i was thinking of a front mounted tug with a wheelbase extended back to the XR5s rear carriage, ill get pictures up later this week

I think I understand what you're talking about, but size isn't everything.

I better elaborate on my initial idea.
My idea was to drive the tug into position as a UCGO car. After it's attached the tug is remotely controlled by the pilot of the XR5. The tug is actually attached as a child, so the visible mesh just follows the XR5.

Being a C++ illiterate I have no idea if it could work, but if the tug could add a force to the XR5 in the +Z direction, the pilot could still use the steering and the brakes of the XR5. The "thrust" control could be via a MFD, CFD or keyboard shortcuts.

 

[n122vu]

I think I understand what you're talking about, but size isn't everything.

I better elaborate on my initial idea.
My idea was to drive the tug into position as a UCGO car. After it's attached the tug is remotely controlled by the pilot of the XR5. The tug is actually attached as a child, so the visible mesh just follows the XR5.

Being a C++ illiterate I have no idea if it could work, but if the tug could add a force to the XR5 in the +Z direction, the pilot could still use the steering and the brakes of the XR5. The "thrust" control could be via a MFD, CFD or keyboard shortcuts.

It's my understanding, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the case that a child attachment cannot exert any forces on the parent vessel?

 

[C3PO]

It's my understanding, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the case that a child attachment cannot exert any forces on the parent vessel?

That's correct. Hence the suggestion to have a separate dll (MFD or CFD) to apply the force.
But as mentioned, I'm not a coder, so IDK if this is possible. It would probably be simpler to have it implemented in the towed craft's dll, but I'm just guessing here.

 

[Grover]

This sounds good, im sure there is a way to get an external module to apply forces to a vessel, but i dont know how

Maybe rendering a mesh (not a vessel) near the nosewheel then having it apply its force on a point along the gear truss in the direction of the nosewheel, so you could still control the vessel as normal, but you set the taxi speed through a dilogue box or key command

 

[C3PO]

Maybe rendering a mesh (not a vessel) near the nosewheel then having it apply its force on a point along the gear truss in the direction of the nosewheel, so you could still control the vessel as normal, but you set the taxi speed through a dilogue box or key command

If you look at the video I posted above, that's exactly how the TaxiBot works. The reason I made that UCGO tug use the main gear is that you don't need to animate the pilot's steering inputs to make it look believable. If you want to use the nosewheel, you need to get the steering input from the XR5, and AFAIK that means some change to the XR's code.

 

[Grover]

Full addon for the control of surface vessels

this is a little more in-depth than a simple vessel request:

ive been frustrated with UGCO recently, because what i aim to do is made almost impossible using the current UGCO car possibilities

what i propose is a new control system for orbiter, creating a whole new group of vessels, similar to UGCO cars, but with more functionality

it may well be that it can be done as an extention for UGCO, but my coding skills prevent me from telling whether or not that is the case

basically, it has a similar core functionality, vessels are defined, and an orbiter addon dll makes sense of a vessel (made as either a simple CFG like UGCO or a more complex dll to make the more complex aspects a little easier to implement) then the control interface is similar, maybe we would include some advanced sytems like a cruise control to hold speed and such

then we improve the core functionality, engine power is defined by engine torque, then the driving force of the vehicle is calculated by taking into account each driving wheel's diameter to calculate linear force. turning radii are calculated using Z axis offset between pivot axis and turning wheels (more complex for setups including multiple wheel configurations, like front AND rear wheel steering).

then, since a dll is possible, UGCO can be better defines, since it is a dll, so complex cargo arrangements can be made (imagine a truck with a box above the cabin roof as well as the larger main body of the trailer: you would now be able to fill that gap in the upper front edge of the trailer) and UMMU can be implemented accuratley, as well as other little systems and goodies that im sure the intuitive community will dream up

finaly, what i had hoped for from UGCO, the capability of creating a "Tug" vessel, that could attach to another, and have a complex turning system, where the child vessel (a trailer or spacecraft) will not rotate around the tug's rotation axis, but its own, turned only to keep the attachment point between the two connected (basically, a realistic towing system)

then it could be cleaned up with some nice animation support (though this is probably handled within the dll) and control dialogue boxes to make attaching vessels through the tug system easier, to allow altering configurations etc

i can only imagine that its possible, since UGCO works, and this is broadly similar, but there would be difficulties with the more complex parts (perhaps why dan hasnt implemented it yet?)

thanks guys

 

[Scruce]

This does not look too hard to do. So what ive gathered here is:

- A UCGO Car,
- That can tow other UCGO Cars,
- The towed car can turn side-to-side.

 

[Grover]

The hard bit is keeping the turning of the towed vessel realistic. Ive tried to mathematically model the towing but i cant find a way to do it. Good luck if you decide to try!

Thanks

 

[Scruce]

It would be easier not to have the side-to-side rotation. If the "tow truck" is modelled you can just use Universal Cargo Deck for it.

 

[Grover]

I tried that, but the result wasnt very satisfactory

 

[Hielor]

I think tl8 was working on towing awhile back, don't know how far he got--you might want to talk to him?

 

[Grover]

i think his project stalled, i checked a while ago, but i cant remember the details

 

[Scruce]

Try PM'ing him about it.

 

[tl8]

The hard bit is keeping the turning of the towed vessel realistic. Ive tried to mathematically model the towing but i cant find a way to do it. Good luck if you decide to try!

Thanks

I have posted information on how to do this