Vessel aircraft tug

[Grover]

After using a couple of tonnes of fuel to get to the runway, i decided a tug would be more apropriate for rocket propelled craft to taxi.

Is it possible to make a vessel that could attach to any vessels nosewheel and act as a tug to move the craft about the cosmodrome.

I understand that there was a thread about this before, but to avoid necroposting, i decided to ask here

Thanks guys

 

[garyw]

I use this -> [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=1335"]Shuttle tow vehicle[/ame] <-With UCD attached. Let's me tow any vehicle.

 

[Grover]

Ill give it a try, but how does the UCD work with an addon like this?

 

[garyw]

Two vehicle is a mesh which I've set up as a UCGO Car.

Attach UCD to the Tow Vehicle

Add the vehicle you want to tow as a 'payload'.

Done.

 

[insanity]

you attach UCD to the tow vehicle, then add the spaceship/whatever as payload, adjusting it with the x/y/z coordinates to make it look pleasing. Then you drive the tow vehicle around

 

[Grover]

Nice one, and if i make my own ugco car, it will work the same way?

 

[Nistenf]

Yes

 

[vchamp]

For a better realism such tug is a must have. For several days I was thinking about making this add-on or asking someone else to do that. I'm trying to think up a method of attachment when a transported vessel doesn't turn immediately when a tug makes a turn. I mean there should not be hard connection between two vessels. Tug pulls only the front wheel. As we already have a touchdown points specified, it can be used for automatic attachment position calculation.

 

[Grover]

So you turn the nosewheel not the entire vessel, this is more realistic, but youll need some magical coding to do it, i might be able to model it if you can do the coding

 

[Gerdih]

hope you do this addon

 

[Grover]

If somebody can code it and somebody texture it (after i do the UV map) its possible im going to do the model anyway for the UGCO method mentioned before

 

[garyw]

You'll need a DLL if you want to get an accurate turn animation for whatever is attached to the towbar. UCGO won't work.

 

[tl8]

Maybe you will succeed where I failed...

http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=20484

:tiphat:

 

[Grover]

Hopefully, but we need a code first, how did you try to do the attachment and why didnt it work?

 

[tl8]

All I did was use attachment points.

The problem is the code that makes the aircraft turn. The equations used are not stable.

 

[Grover]

Well at the momemt, i cant code like this to.save my life, if i can find someone else to write a code for this.kind of vessel, it may be possible, but in the meantime, ive come up with a UGCO solution which may be more realistic than previous ideas

 

[Nistenf]

What solution?

 

[Grover]

Having the UGCO cars reference at the xr5s rear wheelline, this means that the xr5 would still turn like normal.

But to make it handle properly wihout an xr5 in tow, the tugs rear wheels must be just as far back as the xr5s

Ill give more info when i start a new thread in the dev section on wednesday when i get proper internet, rather than this mobile internet rubbish

 

[C3PO]

Having the UGCO cars reference at the xr5s rear wheelline, this means that the xr5 would still turn like normal.

But to make it handle properly wihout an xr5 in tow, the tugs rear wheels must be just as far back as the xr5s

I've had the same thought. This system may be better if it's integrated in the vessel's dll.

This way you avoid the animation problems.

And there's already a real world pendant.

 

[Grover]

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