General Question How To turn on Autopilot

[Toctiz]

HI how do i turn on the autopilot on space craft i have looked at the manuel and the tutorials but can't work out how to turn it on and program it.


Thanks Toctiz

 

[Urwumpe]

HI how do i turn on the autopilot on space craft i have looked at the manuel and the tutorials but can't work out how to turn it on and program it.


Thanks Toctiz

What kind of autopilot do you want?

Autopilot is a bit misleading in orbiter, the default modes are better described as "Auto-Pointing". It orients your spacecraft towards one of many reference vectors or reference planes.

A full autopilot for spacecraft would be something you can get rich with.

 

[diogom]

HI how do i turn on the autopilot on space craft i have looked at the manuel and the tutorials but can't work out how to turn it on and program it.


Thanks Toctiz

Do you mean the Prograde, Retrograde, etc autopilots? Or the Space Shuttle autopilot?

 

[MaverickSawyer]

It helps us if we know what vessel you're flying. :facts:

 

[PeriapsisPrograde]

Most vessels have built in autopilots for simple tasks. (like rotating prograde) You can press F1 to switch between cockpit and outside views, and once in the cockpit, you can press F8 to switch cockpit modes. (Some vessels only have 1 cockpit mode) In one mode, there will be buttons along the bottom that say PROGRADE, RETROGRADE, NORMAL +, etc. You can click on those to activate autopilots for such tasks. They also have key triggers.

Anything more complicated than "point here" has to be programmed to a custom function of the vessel. Read its documentation for vessel specific autopilots.

 

[Toctiz]

RE

Well basicly i wanted to set for example: destination moon and it does the rest for me

 

[garyw]

Well basicly i wanted to set for example: destination moon and it does the rest for me

No such thing like that exists with this version of orbiter. you have to do some work to have fun with it.

There is a LOT to learn so don't expect to press one button and you are on the moon, start slow, learn how to get into orbit, dock, then the moon, etc. It'll take time.

 

[Urwumpe]

To extend the reply a bit more: It is currently impossible to get a general autopilot for spacecraft programmed - the number of variables and options is too high to do that properly.

There are standard maneuvers in spaceflight, but they are not automatically the best choice, they can even ruin a mission if used in the wrong situation.

You are better off, if you learn the basic maneuvers yourself and train navigation yourself. Experience is usually better as any heuristic that scientists have found so far, and the trajectory optimization contests of ESA have shown that well. And the best route is usually the one that does not fight against gravity and force the trajectory to a standard model.

IMFD can for example assist you well by calculating the course and course corrections for getting to a destination, but it can not do the choice for you, which kind of transfer would be the best.

 

[NovaSilisko]

Silly man, you must work to reach the moon!

 

[insanity]

I suggest you start with the tutorial Go Play in Space for a good primer on Orbiter.

If you want to just go look at the moon, maybe celestia is more up your alley?

 

[Scav]

My gut feeling is that this gentleman is very much coming from where I came from initially.

I remember my first experience with Orbiter eons ago, when I took the stock Atlantis stack for my first launch to orbital insertion. As I kept my finger down on the + key, I moused over to the ORBIT+ button and clicked it.

The logic at the time was that ORBIT meant "Orbital Autopilot", and "+" meant "make the orbit higher" . . . and "-" meant the reciprocal of that.

I quickly became concerned when the shuttle stack began yawing and pitching radically, and became shocked and flummoxed when the stack ran out of vertical acceleration and crashed moments later.

Upon further review later, after many more nights of practicing, did I realize the true meaning of that autopilot, and the reason for the mutual confusion. The autopilot was looking for the proper heading, azimuth and roll angle with regards to a state vector that hadn't fully matured.

An already long story short, I really started having epiphanies once I downloaded DanSteph's DeltaGliderIV and started observing the ship's behavior as it cranked through the steps. Then I started doing it on the same vehicle without the autopilot.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

Do you mean Lunar Transfer MFD?

 

[Spacethingy]

Do you mean Lunar Transfer MFD?

Nice idea, it's fairly hard to get into, but more challenging than hard.

If you want a really basic "point and shoot" idea, (skipping the Orbital Mechanics aka rocket science... :lol try [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=4547"]WarpMFD[/ame] which will just take you to a planet.

If you wanna get the rocket science bit (and you do, 'cause it's not that hard really and it's REALLY COOL), yep, "Go Play In Space" is an excellent start.

[/lecture] Oh yeah, and the search function is your friend! :wink: