Controlling the vessel

SAS

The simplest way to control the orientation of the vessel is by using the SAS system.

SAS can be enabled/disable via

vessel.autopilot.enabled = true/false

or

vessel.actions.sas = true/false

Note: The SAS action group is somewhat wonky, so under the hood both ways do exactly the same thing.

The SAS system can be then set to different modes:

vessel.autopilot.mode = AutopilotMode.$(Mode)

with $(Mode) as

• StabilityAssist: Default mode that does not any steering, just kills rotation

• Prograde, Retrograde, Normal, Antinormal, RadialIn, RadialOut: Steer to orbital directions

• Target: Steer towards target (if vessel has a target)

• AntiTarget: Steer away from taret (if vessel has a target)

• Maneuver: Steer in direction of next maneuvering node (if there is one)

• Navigation, MODE_AUTOPILOT: Not sure what the difference is between those two, but you can provide a target orientation.

So

vessel.autopilot.enabled = true
vessel.autopilot.mode = AutopilotMode.Autopilot
vessel.autopilot.target_orientation = direction

tells the SAS to steer the vessel into direction.

Use input override methods

If direct control is required is is possible to just override the controls of a vessel by using the following methods:

• override_input_pitch

• override_input_yaw

• override_input_roll

• override_input_translate_x

• override_input_translate_y

• override_input_translate_z

Control manager

All control managers in the ksp::control module follow the same principle:

let manager = vessel.manage_the_thing_to_control(value_provider)  // Script takes over the control (overriding the pilot)

// ... wait/sleep for whatever condition

manager.release()  // Script releases control, i.e. give control back to the pilot


// Optionally wait from something else

manager.resume()  // Take back control again

The value_provider is a function that will call on very game update, it gets a deltaT: float of the time since the last update and return the steering value.

ThrottleManager

let manager = vessel.manage_throttle(fn(deltaT) -> throttle_value) 

manages the throttle of a rocket or airplane. The value is between 0.0 (no throttle) and 1.0 (full throttle).

let manager = vessel.set_throttle(throttle_value) 

is just a shorthand to set the throttle to a constant value. This can be changed at any time via manager.throttle = new_value.

SteeringManager

let manager = vessel.manage_steering(fn(deltaT) -> vec3(pitch_value, yaw_value, roll_value)) 

manages the pitch, yaw and roll of the flight stick. All values are between -1.0 and 1.0 (full rudder in either direction)

let manager = vessel.set_sterring(vec3(pitch_value, yaw_value, roll_value)) 

is just a shorthand to set pitch, yaw, roll to a constant value. This can be changed at any time via manager.pitch_yaw_roll = new_value.

RCSTranslateManager

let manager = vessel.manage_rcs_translate(fn(deltaT) -> vec3(x, y, z)) 

manages the RCS controls. All values are between -1.0 and 1.0 (full thrust in either direction)

let manager = vessel.set_rcs_translate(vec3(x, y, z)) 

is just a shorthand RCS thrust to a constant value. This can be changed at any time via manager.translate = new_value.

Note: This will do nothing is RCS is disabled.

RCS can be enabled/disabled via

vessel.actions.rcs = true/false

WheelSteeringManager / WheelThrottleManager

… the corresponding control managers for rovers. Completely untested so far.