OHM Launch MFD - v. 1.6.6 for Orbiter 2016

[Interceptor]

Why is it that when I enter the moon as a target,or Inc,Lan my target is called LaunchMFD-Probe-plus my ships name?

 

[Enjo]

These are two questions in one:

1) Why a probe is spawned and shown even when targeting Moon?
Because it simplifies the targeting system. It's much easier to act on vessels, of which type the probe is, than on celestial bodies. Thanks to this, you get the great circle drawn for Moon (unlike before), and I get a unified, thus simpler to maintain system. The probe's orbital parameters are the same as the Moon's except their positions in orbit, but the position doesn't matter for celestial bodies, as you won't perform direct ascents to them, only to vessels in low orbit.

2) Why the probe has the ship's name encoded?
I advertise the MFD as being able to support and guide simultaneously many ships. When there was only one probe spawned for all vessels, when you entered an inc-lan target in the other vessel, the probe was transferred to different orbit. Now imagine what would happen when one ship was being guided to this probe's orbital parameters, and you've just entered a different inc-lan target in another ship. The probe would be transferred to different orbit and the former ship's ascent would be screwed. Therefore, having unique probes for each vessel prevents such situations and the MFD and its guidance algorithms may be used simultaneously even in the described case.

 

[Enjo]

New version is out:

v. 1.5.9 13-04-2013
- Fixed targeting and tracking celestial bodies
- Manual inclination and LAN is now displayed instead of LaunchMFD-Probe
- Recompiled for OrbiterSound v. 4.0

One thing is that I've realized that numbers of celestial body targeting were wrong. Second thing is that I've resorted to targetting celestial bodies directly, instead of using Probes after all. The reason is, that the Probes are subject to LAN drifts due to non-spherical gravity sources, and the celestial bodies' parameters change as well. This time though, I'm able to track them directly and display their Great Circles in the same time! It wasn't possible before, because the Orbiter API doesn't provide required orbital elements of such bodies, only state vectors. I've figured out that I could use the [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3825"]KOST library[/ame] to convert the state vectors of the bodies into orbital elements and parameters (same for vessels, which can be also pointed by OBJHANDLE basic pointer). The following code does this task nicely:

#ifndef SPACEMATHORBITER_H
#define SPACEMATHORBITER_H

#include <orbitersdk.h>
#include <kost.h>

class SpaceMathOrbiter
{
    public:
        ...
        struct ElementsOrbitParam;
        ElementsOrbitParam GetElements( const OBJHANDLE hObj, const  OBJHANDLE hRef, int frame );
       ...
};

struct SpaceMathOrbiter::ElementsOrbitParam
{
    ElementsOrbitParam( const kostElements & pel, const kostOrbitParam & pop );
    kostElements el;
    kostOrbitParam op;
};
#endif

// ElementsOrbitParam constructor
SpaceMathOrbiter::ElementsOrbitParam::ElementsOrbitParam( const kostElements & pel, const kostOrbitParam & pop )
{
    el = pel;
    op = pop;
}

SpaceMathOrbiter::ElementsOrbitParam SpaceMathOrbiter::GetElements( const OBJHANDLE hObj, const OBJHANDLE hRef, int frame )
{
    kostStateVector stateVec;
    oapiGetRelativePos(hObj, hRef, &stateVec.pos);
    oapiGetRelativeVel(hObj, hRef, &stateVec.vel);
    if ( frame == FRAME_EQU )
    {
        MATRIX3 rot;
        oapiGetPlanetObliquityMatrix (hRef, &rot);
        // Rotate to get state vector in equatorial frame
        stateVec.pos = tmul (rot, stateVec.pos);
        stateVec.vel = tmul (rot, stateVec.vel);
    }
    // Orbiter uses left hand coordinates. Accommodate KOST.
    std::swap(stateVec.pos.y, stateVec.pos.z);
    std::swap(stateVec.vel.y, stateVec.vel.z);
    double mi = oapiGetMass(hRef) * GGRAV;
    kostElements el; kostOrbitParam op;
    kostStateVector2Elements(mi, &stateVec, &el, &op);
    return ElementsOrbitParam( el, op );
}

 

[Cras]

I cannot target celesital bodies. I tried to target the Moon and nothing happens, it just says manual target.

Also, was something changed in the HUD code? It didn't show up this last time I used it.

 

[Interceptor]

I cannot target celesital bodies. I tried to target the Moon and nothing happens, it just says manual target.

Also, was something changed in the HUD code? It didn't show up this last time I used it.

I also can confirm Enjo.

 

[Enjo]

Is your latitude smaller than Moon's inclination?
Have you enabled HUDDrawer module? (it should be there)

 

[Interceptor]

Is your latitude smaller than Moon's inclination?
Have you enabled HUDDrawer module? (it should be there)

Yes on both.

 

[Cras]

Is your latitude smaller than Moon's inclination?
Have you enabled HUDDrawer module? (it should be there)

Oops, I most certainly forgot about the HUDDrawer, and I should have know to check that since I saw you mention this new thing before.

And as for the latitude, I am quite certain, I am launching from KSC.

 

[Enjo]

And as for the latitude, I am quite certain, I am launching from KSC.

KSC's latitude is greater than the Moon's inclination. You can check it on Map MFD.

Interceptor:
What's your latitude exactly?

[EDIT]
Now that I've redesigned the targeting system, it will be easy for me to provide an audio warning about the inclination vs. latitude problem. It happens to everybody, regardless of skill.

 

[Cras]

KSC's latitude is greater than the Moon's inclination. You can check it on Map MFD.

Wait, I am confused. I often wait to launch till when the Moons path is at or above KSC, so I assumed then that my latitude is within the Moon's inclination.

 

[Enjo]

Moon's inclination is slightly below KSC's latitude. Orbit MFD can show you this in a numerical manner in the equatorial frame.

 

[Interceptor]

Wait, I am confused. I often wait to launch till when the Moons path is at or above KSC, so I assumed then that my latitude is within the Moon's inclination.

And,I am getting the same results when launching from KourouCSG too.

 

[Enjo]

I have two PCs, one with Vista and other with Windows7 and it works on both.

Can anyone else confirm this problem? (mind the launch latitude!)

 

[dgatsoulis]

Just downloaded and tested the latest version. Everything works fine.

The Moon cannot be targeted from KSC because its equatorial inclination is lower than the lattitude of the base.
The next date you can launch from KSC directly into a coplanar to the Moon orbit is on end of August/beginning of September 2024.

Moved the vessel to WIN and the Moon was targeted just as it should be.

Tested with these specs:

Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU [email protected](2 CPUs),~2.4GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GT 620
OS: Windows Vista

 

[Interceptor]

OK,Enjo tried it on a fresh install,and it's working now,I guess it could have been another MFD,or addon.Thanks

 

[Cras]

Moon's inclination is slightly below KSC's latitude. Orbit MFD can show you this in a numerical manner in the equatorial frame.

Ah, so both are then Cras error. 0-2, oh dear....

 

[Interceptor]

Thanks Enjo.:thumbup:

 

[Enjo]

A small but important note:

As an another HUD drawing addon is brewing, the latest Launch MFD release is the last release that includes HUDDrawer SDK in the same package. The next release will rely on an additional download, which has to be installed separately. This approach helps in JSGME's module management - you can install/deinstall addons in any order then.

 

[Interceptor]

Hey Enjo,I have been using Brianj's HST_EX telescope addon,and when I put the HST,as target,I am getting the latitude voice error every way I tried it, 600km circular orbit at 28.45deg inc.equatorial.BTW launching from Cape Canaveral.

 

[Enjo]

I cannot say anything other than the voice. Cape is slightly higher. You even have your latitude displayed on Launch MFD.