Board index FlightGear Development Spaceflight

Space Shuttle - Development

Discussion about development and usage of spacecraft

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby eatdirt » Thu May 13, 2021 11:18 pm

Merge request landed: https://sourceforge.net/p/fgspaceshuttledev/code/merge-requests/31/

The branch on which it is developed is this one (adjustrms):
https://sourceforge.net/u/dirteat/fgspaceshuttledev/ci/adjustrms/tree/

I'll post more information, but:
1) I did not change the way payloads are rolled once attached onto the RMS. It is not a solid motion as it should in SINGLE mode, but it is the clever way to do it to not have Euler singularity effects [If this is voluntary, well done Thorsten :)]
2) I did change the way the camera roll though, it should solidly follow the end effector, but not necessarily the payload then.

@Wayne, that should fix your moving frame! BUT, Euler singularity cannot be removed, so if you see shifts appearing at high pitch, we're done. These won't be fixable with the jsbsim channels we have now. Let me know how it goes! (I think we could add some ALS filter onto the view instead, in case the 3D frame is not good enough).

Edit with more info:

I've added a grapple fixture on all payloads. With the RMS tuning, the ac3d files of any payload have now the origin located on top of the head of the grapple fixture pin, this ensures good centering and offsets matching the end effector kissing the grapple fixture once the payload is grappled (so no more tweaking of this origin to align the end effector and the fixture).

I have also changed the diameter of the end effector to match 38cm (as reported in another posts), and all grapple fixture should be accurately sized (22.5 inches diameter). This is important for the camera to be just in front of the grapple target. Moreover, the camera is now on the wrist-roll, which is closer to what I can see on some RMS pictures. Plus, being exactly on wrist-roll location helps to minimize some errors in the computations of its coordinates.

In case someone wants to add a new payload, I have put the grapple fixture blender files there:

grapple_fixture/

Being already correctly sized and positioned, just add the payload around!

Let me know if clarifications are needed.



Cheers,
Chris.

PS: check how Spartan is not translucent any more :)
Last edited by eatdirt on Fri May 14, 2021 5:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.
eatdirt
 
Posts: 1012
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:06 pm

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby wlbragg » Thu May 13, 2021 11:51 pm

Yeah, It can be loads of fun! Can't wait to see all the work.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7588
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby GinGin » Thu May 20, 2021 9:01 pm

@EatDirt: the work seems great, I will test that soon.

@Wlbragg: Did you already test the merge request ? As you are part of the RMS/Hubble team, you might have a better feeling about it :)
GinGin
 
Posts: 1580
Joined: Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:41 am
Location: Paris
Callsign: Gingin

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby wlbragg » Thu May 20, 2021 9:26 pm

No, I'm sorry I totally spaced it off. I'll look at it tonight and get it merged. Thanks for nudging me.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7588
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby wlbragg » Fri May 21, 2021 9:31 am

Chris, I was able to briefly test the arm using an older 2020.4 installation of a FlightGear nightly I have and I am happy to report the RMS camera view overlay appears to be tracking perfectly. I haven't had a chance to reposition it to fill the view out to the edges yet or test all the translations and rotations, but what I did see was really encouraging and I hope to be able to work on it and have something to show in the next couple days.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7588
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby GinGin » Fri May 21, 2021 3:07 pm

I'll look at it tonight and get it merged


Thanks Wayne.
Let's test that nice RMS camera.
GinGin
 
Posts: 1580
Joined: Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:41 am
Location: Paris
Callsign: Gingin

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby eatdirt » Fri May 21, 2021 7:56 pm

I have and I am happy to report the RMS camera view overlay appears to be tracking perfectly


Hi Wayne, great!
I've tested with many payload unloading, so I know that there are some attitudes at which it should shift a bit though, when Euler gets in. We'll see with usage!
eatdirt
 
Posts: 1012
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:06 pm

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby wlbragg » Tue May 25, 2021 7:59 am

Chris, did you change or edit the RMS arm model at all? I'm talking about the .ac or Blend file? Or was it just the center position of the joints that changed in the .xml?
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7588
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby eatdirt » Tue May 25, 2021 12:20 pm

Chris, did you change or edit the RMS arm model at all? I'm talking about the .ac or Blend file? Or was it just the center position of the joints that changed in the .xml?


Yes, I did. I had to edit all *.ac files for payloads and also the rms.ac model to adjust the diameter of the end effector. So I've scaled it to 38cm (only on the transverse dimensions) to match the reported size in some documents. This is necessary to fit well within the grapple fixture size, this one being also scaled according to documentation now.

I hope I did not damage anything, but that size is important for everything to fit in!
eatdirt
 
Posts: 1012
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:06 pm

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby wlbragg » Tue May 25, 2021 6:36 pm

As far as I know everything's fine, I just needed to know before I pushed the addition of the CCTV camera overlay. I had a conflict when I pulled the RMS and that was the only reason I could figure. No problem, thanks.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7588
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby Hooray » Tue May 25, 2021 7:23 pm

Note that the recent switch to OSG 3.6+ makes it increasingly likely that "native CCTV" (at the Canvas level) can be more easily revisited in the upcoming release cycle, since OSG 3.6 is basically the prerequisite for Jules' CompositeViewer work (at least so that it doesn't suffer from certain event handling issues).
Please don't send support requests by PM, instead post your questions on the forum so that all users can contribute and benefit
Thanks & all the best,
Hooray
Help write next month's newsletter !
pui2canvas | MapStructure | Canvas Development | Programming resources
Hooray
 
Posts: 12707
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:40 am
Pronouns: THOU

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby eatdirt » Tue May 25, 2021 7:31 pm

Note that the recent switch to OSG 3.6+ makes it increasingly likely that "native CCTV"


Very good, thanks for the head-up.

I was wondering while tuning the RMS if it was possible to get the coordinates and attitude angles of an object which is moved within an animation sequence? I understand that an object is many vertices, but something like the center of mass, or tip, or whatever way we can select one (rather two) vertices. The point being, if this were be possible, we could add and use a tiny object at the end of the arm to actually track the end effector coordinates and attitude without resorting to calculation duplicates as we do now.
eatdirt
 
Posts: 1012
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:06 pm

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby wlbragg » Tue May 25, 2021 9:59 pm

I don't know offhand, maybe someone else does.

@eatdirt one reason I asked about the model .ac's being modified is I have a development resource repository for most if not all of the artwork for the shuttle, blends, lightmaps, some textures, etc. So I need to make sure all that get updated whenever there is any change to a blend-.ac or any art for that matter.

Can you list all the .ac files you modified? If you can I'll updated the resource files. One that is done I really should show you where and how and you should maybe work out of it in the future.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7588
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby wlbragg » Tue May 25, 2021 10:15 pm

I was wondering while tuning the RMS if it was possible to get the coordinates and attitude angles of an object which is moved within an animation sequence? I understand that an object is many vertices, but something like the center of mass, or tip, or whatever way we can select one (rather two) vertices.

When I place a model, such as in the cargo-towing addon, I have a access to the position, alt, height, etc. I'd have to take some time to think about using or converting to that type of model placement VS using the conventional model loading. Something like that might actually work if you could do the math, maybe. Then again, there may not be enough data for that. I suppose it would be possible to add each independent part of the RMS as a model and then you would have more of the data needed, I think. At least you would have the center point position of every piece. Not necessarily the joint position, so the conversion to something useful would be way over my head.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7588
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Space Shuttle - Development

Postby wlbragg » Tue May 25, 2021 11:45 pm

Chris, I can't grab the HST no matter how hard I try. I tried both targets as I forgot which one was the active target. Are you able to capture it out of the bay?

I added the CCTV view overlay and it worked great at first. Ar some point it suddenly disappears from view. Looks to me like a "view" glitch VS any drift. The arm eventually also disappeared. I didn't notice exactly when it disappeared though because I was switching between SRMS view and an exterior view. The CCTV overlay or object disappeared at what I refer to as a "sweet spot" in the view angle, I guess.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7588
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

PreviousNext

Return to Spaceflight

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest