Control or disable specific Thrusters with on/off Button or Lever

[Iggyboo]

I'm trying to figure out a way to have some emergency thrusters that are only used when I press a button. I was planning on them just turning full on when I press a button or maybe even use a lever. The idea is to have some "bug-out" engines that I don't need when I'm just putting around normally. I've worked out that you can't just set the value with YOLO on the thrusters. I've also investigated using a second FCU, but can't fathom how to distinguish it from the the other to just control these thrusters. Would it be so complicated that I would have to create a completely separate data/power network for these thrusters? Or perhaps I'm just misunderstanding how it all links together.

I saw a 'FcuMfcIO2" field in the MCU but not sure what that's used for since it's blank in the wiki, but I assume whatever you named the FCU. There are references that you can have multiple FCU's as well, but not multiple MCU's. That would seem that I would have to make sure they are all on separate networks and power if I wanted to control them separately. Hope I'm wrong as that makes it too complicated to care about it. I mean, some 'afterburners' would be pretty useful at times.

 

[Mur]

What do you mean by emergency thrusters?
Basically all ship controls are controlled by the FCU using device fields https://wiki.starbasegame.com/index.php/Flight_control_unit , these tell the MCU which thrusters to fire when you want to go a certain direction. You can name each thruster a different name in the MCU and you should not need a button to push. if you want to go backwards you push the backwards button and it thrusts backwards as much as you want. What you might want is a way to have more granular control (or less) of how fast controls go up or how they center (like cruse control) and that can be done with buttons.

 

[Aigrefine]

you can use thrusters by controlling them directly with button to turn on or lever for power as you would for a door without going through the FCU but this implies that they are not synchronized with the rest of the flight controls

 

[ChaosRifle]

Connect a disable switch to one end of your proptank and cable those thrusters to that specific end of the tank

 

[XenoCow]

I would have those thrusters on the other side of a network relay. Your button would then enable/disable the relay so that those thrusters are only seen by the MFC when the relay is active. Just remember to turn the thrusters' throttle back down before disabling the connection.

 

[Aigrefine]

une puce yolol peut aussi faire l'affaire et supprimer toute limitation

 

[Iggyboo]

Hmm I was afraid of that. It seems that the MCU/FCU controls all thrusters connected and there is no "Enabled" switch on those thrusters so I can turn certain ones on/off as desired.

you can use thrusters by controlling them directly with button to turn on or lever for power as you would for a door without going through the FCU but this implies that they are not synchronized with the rest of the flight controls

View attachment 2930

I can't seem to set values for the thrusters that are named in the MCU nor can I change the name and then set the value via YOLO as it will just set it back to 0 at the next tick and not thrust.

Connect a disable switch to one end of your proptank and cable those thrusters to that specific end of the tank

I can't find a device called a "Disable Switch". Is it in the designer but can't be built at a workbench?

I would have those thrusters on the other side of a network relay. Your button would then enable/disable the relay so that those thrusters are only seen by the MFC when the relay is active. Just remember to turn the thrusters' throttle back down before disabling the connection.

This one seems like the most promising. That way I could break the connection to them which should keep them part of the FCU/MCU control when it's connected and then they should reset back to not connected when I break it. I am concerned about them staying "Full blast" if I leave the throttle up but then if it behaves the same as I've seen it when it's not controlled by the MCU then it should go right back to 0 when I break connection ... assuming it behaves the way it has been.

I'll give the relay a try and see what I can destroy

 

[ChaosRifle]

Any switch named XYZ and rename the prop tank support flowid to XYZ. this will disable that side from flowing.

 

[Iggyboo]

So here is my testing setup:

One big problem is it seem the relays are bugged because as soon as you place one down, it doesn't come off. I can't pick it up, I can't un-weld it, and I can't even grind it off. It's there for good. It even shows not connected in the Universal Tool but doesn't move if I try and fly away or even try to kick it off. Also anything you put next to it is now stuck too. ... so that sucks. [... though maybe if it stays indestructible even outside the safe zone maybe I can make an asteroid protector out of them in front of the ship! ... ]

Aside from that it does seem to behave in a way you might expect. If I set the "input" [right side] to '0' then the "output" [left side] stops getting data. I set the lever to FCUForward and saw the "ThrusterCurrentThrust" on that thruster flickering 8k but it would instantly go back to 0. However, if I disabled the relay (TurboOn = 0 on the input side) then it wouldn't even flicker the 8k there. Not sure if this is because it's out of balance since it's the only thruster that's there and I would need more to make it symmetrical or if there is another issue. I guess I'll try and get the others on to get in symmetry to see if I can get them to actually fire and show a plume. That will have to be tomorrow.

Any more suggestions or think this will work? The only other possible thing I can think of is to see if I can put on separate propellant tanks [can't get to a place to isolate a second output for the current tank] and then use @ChaosRifle's suggestion of disabling the port. However if I get to that point then I figure it's time to give up on trying to hack this together on this existing Franken-Ship.

 

[XenoCow]

I am concerned about them staying "Full blast" if I leave the throttle up

The thrusters do stay at their last received throttle setting. If you don't throttle down before disconnecting them, they will remain on.

 

[XenoCow]

it doesn't come off

I've reported this bug before but you should too. The only way to remove them is to fly out into the danger zone and hack it off. I suggest using the pick.

 

[Iggyboo]

The thrusters do stay at their last received throttle setting. If you don't throttle down before disconnecting them, they will remain on.

Hmmm I'll have to do some YOLO chicanery then.