@dr_aerospace

Devlog 1 of the Dragonfly Control Software. I started this new project inspired by NASA’s Dragonfly mission since I wanted a harder challenge than the rover autopilot. However, I was then surprised by how difficult it was to make kOS control a drone’s angles (pitch, yaw, and roll) alongside with throttle, height control, speed, and who knows what more. So, I came up with PID functions that were built into kOS’s libraries that auto-correct the drone’s control variables mentiones before. After 2+ hours of troubleshooting in Kerbal Space Program (that sadly are not registered in Hackatime) I made the drone fly. Now, I need to debug the script even more to make it correct its pitch, and add altitude controls for adequate ascending, descending, and landing. I have the Outer Planets mod installed (quick context: KSP does not have Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; this planet pack mod adds them and some moons into the game), so I sent Dragonfly to Tekto (recreation of Titan, the target moon for the real mission) where gravity is low and atmospheric pressure is higher than Kerbin (Earth in KSP). This moon is an absolute paradise for rotorcrafts like this. I’ll leave a video of the craft successfully performing its first takeoff below. Also, I totally did NOT almost crash it after assuming control.

This is Devlog #4 (and possibly final before shipping) of the Rover Autopilot Software… The code is finally on its 1.0 version and ready for shipping. All testing has been concluded, along with the scripts limitations. I need to start writing the final README version (and add some pictures to it), and begin editing the Youtube video for the Demo URL. Here is timelapse video of the Scientific Sequence in action from waypoint arrival to end of script.

This is devlog #3 of the Rover Autopilot Software… I think I could FINALLY figure out how the rover can do efficient, controlled point-turns. The code had a function named setWheelReverse, which I removed because (after 4+ hours of debugging) I found out it was never reversing the assigned wheels. So, I came up with a smart solution: torque vectoring. There is a new function on the code named setWheelPower that sets a drive limiter on certain wheels -25% on the left wheels and 50% on the right wheels. Then, the executePointTurn function enables the drive limiter, sets every motor to 100% (or -100% for turns in the other direction), and rotates almost in place either way until the targeted heading is reached. Then, it stops turning, returns the wheels to normal, and starts driving. I also coded an intelligent slope-awareness function that does the following: maintains cruise speed on flat areas, speeds up on uphills (and recovers with max power if needed), and idles the motors and brakes on downhills. I will leave a video below showing every function in action, except for the science sequence, which I will show on the next devlog.

This is devlog #2.5 of the Rover Autopilot Software… The video from last devlog probably didn’t upload because of its size so I made a better, smaller one. I upgraded the code and fixed some bugs that were messing with the point-turn function. I need to add a slope-awareness function for the rover to maneuver appropriately, since there are too much steep mountains on Duna. I will continue developing this project and make it as similar as possible to a NASA/JPL software.

This is devlog #2 of the Rover Autopilot Software…Update version. I finished writing the code for the rover’s functions. These include the following: turning wheels and making point-turns, moving completely independent of user input (except for waypoint selection), performing scientific analysis, and moving various robotic parts. Update: I will leave in this devlog a video showing a test of the rover. It turns (somewhat; planning to rewrite/edit the function), drives, brakes, and overall, moves just fine. Btw, the rover definitely NOT moves at the speed a real rover does.

This is Devlog #1 of the Rover Autopilot Software… Touchdown confirmed! The test rover has landed successfully in Duna (Mars in KSP) and I already wrote the main control loop for the rover. It still needs a little bit of polishing, but I will be testing the code and adding more functions. Planned functions are the following: rotating certain wheels, and setting them to reverse to activate 360-degree turns; slope-awareness; robotic arm extension, retraction, and sample collection; and automatic data transmission (antennas are power-hungry). The test rover is a (state-of-the-art) replica of Curiosity. I’ll leave some pictures below: