Mission Control for Orbiter v1

[davewave]

Hi All,
I may be a new face on the forums but I am most certainly a vet when it comes to orbiter. I doubt there is an addon i haven't downloaded and tried.

I have come here because I am both an orbinaut and I programmer and I am currently working on a Mission Control Program which allows one or many users to all connect to a remote simulation or orbiter currently running.

This program allows you to monitor all flight specifics (Apa, Alt, etc.) including a tracking map and much more.
It also allows for the interaction from mission control to the ship, so for example in AMSO, mission control has power over conducting manual staging or vessel control.

To top this all off what I really need are some volunteers who are willing to test this great new technology.

My proposed use of the mission control program is as follows:

1) A player - the pilot - will run a simulation state, say AMSO apollo 11 launch
2) One or more players can remotley connect using the Mission Control program and take charge of all flight dynamics.

here is the fun bit...

3) All players (mission control and pilot) download and use Roger Wilco (or some other chat program), and communicate using headphones and a mic as if they were really speaking from mission control. Most programs like Roger Wilco allow blocking of channels, etc, so that a flight director may have the final say over the intercom, etc.. many different combinations, all fun.


I have put out the word, and now I'm interested to see who would not only like to test this technology but also get their hands on it.

-Dave-

 

[GregBurch]

This sounds very promising. I've been hoping someone would develop something like this so I could run multiple pathways into the same orbiter session from multiple computers running on my home network. Will that be possible with your concept?

What I envision is a machine being the "primary" that is running Orbiter and from which the "pilot" controls the vessel that is the focus of that session of Orbiter. Other machines would be running the application that would have access to all the state information in the primary Orbiter session, so they could display cockpit data using the Orbiter native external MFD application, or at least something very much like that. The primary machine could then stay in VC view mode for internal views, and the other machines could display "fixed" MFDs and external views.

Please tell me your development can do that, and that it will run over a local network!!!!

GB

 

[davewave]

Mission Control

Hi,
Yes it already runs perfectly on a local host and is designed to even run over the net.

I suppose there are several ways you could use this app.

1) have a bunch of friends monitor you the pilot using their mighty Mission Control panels and feeding you verbal commands to help guide you through the cosmos so as to free you the pilot from any of that "boring" (but what I would call fun) navigation. Note that in apollo etc the crew didn't have time to plot a course using TransX, it was all down to timing, so this would mean that your mission control crew needs to be as good if not better then the pilot at navigation, flight checking, guidance, etc....

2) The other way to use this concept is to have several computers in one room with your main orbiter game running infront of you in complete VR mode whilst the other computers around you (using several or more LCD screens) act as your physical control panel. This is good because it means you will never have to switch between MFD's anymore plus you can also record all your flight data and anything else you can think of.


Just noting that the program "TeamSpeak" is free, its great and will give you the best online chat with other friends ever. The great thing about my concept is that it works over the net and because telemtry is not always accurate or instantaneus, it adds that element of realism to the mission control objectives. After all, at best it could take 2 seconds for signals to reach a ship orbiting the moon and longer if on mars etc...

 

[GregBurch]

OK, you are now officially a minor deity for even conceiving of this project. When can I have it?

 

[Arrowstar]

Sign me up too, this sounds like it could be good fun.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

I'll tenatively sign up, but I'm not sure if I can use the voice systems all the time. Only when my parents aren't home can I use it. But I'll see.
Definately a neat concept! I've been waiting to either build or use a MC myself for a while now!

 

[davewave]

MC

Hi All,
Just to add that there are several stages of this project.
Firstly I have a 40 page research report to complete for my studies #1

Second I am trying to increase awareness of this project so as to build up a fan base, testing base and just to see if it is even worth while because I would very much love orbiter to become a social event where pilot and mission control crew get together say every night and play a mission.
Each night someone else gets to be the pilot and its the pilots choice of which mission he/she gets to fly.

I am programming this in VB .NET and I would like to hear from you the awesome orbiter community about ideas you would like to see in MC and I will tell you whether or not they can be done and I may even include those ideas which you come up with. After all, a Mod by a user for the Users!

Cheers

 

[Master of Blades]

Sign me up too...

For creating this, you are on the verge of being considered as the left hand of the probe...

/worship

 

[davewave]

MC

Sign me up too...

For creating this, you are on the verge of being considered as the left hand of the probe...

/worship

Thank you, but please I urge patience, I only ever do a good job of what I program so I will do my best.
Please start submitting your ideas to this thread!

 

[Face]

Can this be considered as a new vMC?
regards,
Face

 

[davewave]

MC

yeah, except my MC is written in .NET and is much more advanced and will be rich with features

 

[James.Denholm]

davewave, I am proud that you are a fellow Australian. Welcome to the forums. Good luck with this new project. I can beta-test as well, if you want. School ends on Friday, and after that, it's 3 weeks of holidays. If my ever-infuriating Mother dosen't throw a spanner in the works, it's OK by me.

TeamSpeak, eh? Did you concider Skype? Of course, that might not do exactly what is needed.

 

[Face]

yeah, except my MC is written in .NET and is much more advanced and will be rich with features

Cool. How do you plan to do the Orbiter part of it? Mixed-mode assemblies or just native TCP/IP server?

If you're going the mixed-mode road you might want to take a look at this.

regards,
Face

 

[davewave]

asd

Hi,
I'm not sure what you mean by mixed mode assemblies but basically I am using OrbConnect API which by the way is the best thing I've come across in orbiter and saves me time having to write a DLL or anything.

I don't need to write a .NET wrapper because the OrbConnect already takes care of that for me. All I do is send and recieve the API command as I need (In plain text format) and it acts almost like a remote procedure call.

So here is how it works:

Orbiter.exe <- -> OrbConnect.dll plugin <- -> MyApplication

Therefore all i needed to do was program a simple socket application which I have got working now and I have access to all functions like states vectors etc.. everything needed to make a mission control.

All I need now are the hard hours to put it to actually building it up but what I really need are some suggestions on what to put up in mission control.

Do I need to make a orbit MFD or have a tracking map (I have already programmed the tracking map for any planet).

Its going good and the net connection is fast and accurate.

 

[davewave]

Good News.
I have just tested my latest implementation of Mission control for Orbiter (which I am yet to come up for a proper name for) and its working swish.
I will begin to post screenshots once things come together a bit more but the underlying mechanics of network control and the program are all finished. Its merley a matter of choosing which variables I want to monitor from the orbiter simulator and actually doing something with them!!!

More Soon...

 

[Face]

Hi,
I'm not sure what you mean by mixed mode assemblies but basically I am using OrbConnect API which by the way is the best thing I've come across in orbiter and saves me time having to write a DLL or anything.

A mixed-mode assembly is a native DLL that can be loaded by native programms, but contains .NET code. This way, a native plugin can use .NET functionality. OrbConnect's approach seems to be using the TCP/IP-stack for data exchange between managed and unmanaged worlds OTH.

I don't need to write a .NET wrapper because the OrbConnect already takes care of that for me. All I do is send and recieve the API command as I need (In plain text format) and it acts almost like a remote procedure call.

Ok, I understand... you're only doing the frontend in .NET.
Best wishes for you project !
Face

 

[yagni01]

Glad someone's making an Orb:Connect client.
On the top of my client list (the one I haven't been able to get to) is a graphical MFD with pages for PFD, ND, and EICAS for orbiter flightdecks. Something that provides more info at higher resolution than the stock MFDs

Second is a configurable hardware interface with connectors for Phidgets, LED-Wiz, Key-Wiz, GP_Wiz, etc.

PM me if you want some details.

 

[Arrowstar]

If you're programming a mission control app, at the very least you're going to want these console positions:

Flight Director
FIDO
Booster/Prop
Guidance

Others could include EECOM and others, depending on what the controlled ship is and what sorts of data is being used. A capcom console would also be nice, if only to give the person simulating capcom a console to look at. I'll be honest, I've never seen the consoles themselves in real life, so perhaps someone more suited to this area could help out and perhaps also list content on each console position.

 

[davewave]

Face,
Just thought that there is no point in developing ANOTHER API for orbiter, might aswell use the ones that are available and have something available for the whole community.

Yagni can you send me that MFD stuff please!

 

[davewave]

If you're programming a mission control app, at the very least you're going to want these console positions:

Flight Director
FIDO
Booster/Prop
Guidance

Others could include EECOM and others, depending on what the controlled ship is and what sorts of data is being used. A capcom console would also be nice, if only to give the person simulating capcom a console to look at. I'll be honest, I've never seen the consoles themselves in real life, so perhaps someone more suited to this area could help out and perhaps also list content on each console position.

Whilst this might be true for an apollo mission, can the same be said for say a descarte mission to jupiter or a deltaglider run around mercury?
What I hope to develop are non-stereotyped positions which each have a role to fulfill and all contribute to the outcome of the mission regardless of the craft being used.

This way the mission control program will be adaptable to any new craft which gets put onto orbithangar.

Lets not forget the Shuttle here too!!! could be loads of fun