Raw Control¶

If you wish to have your kOS script manipulate a vessel’s flight controls directly in a raw way, rather than relying on kOS to handle the flying for you, then this is the type of structure you will need to use to do it. This is offered as an alternative to using the combination of LOCK STEERING and LOCK THROTTLE commands. To obtain the CONTROL variable for a vessel, use its :CONTROL suffix:

SET controlStick to SHIP:CONTROL.
SET controlStick:PITCH to 0.2.

Unlike with so-called “Cooked” steering, “raw” steering uses the SET command, not the LOCK command. Using LOCK with these controls won’t work. When controlling the ship in a raw way, you must decide how to move the controls in detail. Here is another example:

SET SHIP:CONTROL:YAW to 0.2.

This will start pushing the ship to rotate a bit faster to the right, like pushing the D key gently. All the following values are set between \(-1\) and \(+1\). Zero means the control is neutral. You can set to values smaller in magnitude than \(-1\) and \(+1\) for gentler control, (but be aware of the 5% null zone mentioned below):

print "Gently pushing forward for 3 seconds.".
SET SHIP:CONTROL:FORE TO 0.2.
SET now to time:seconds.
WAIT until time:seconds > now + 3.
SET SHIP:CONTROL:FORE to 0.0.

print "Gently Pushing leftward for 3 seconds.".
SET SHIP:CONTROL:STARBOARD TO -0.2.
SET now to time:seconds.
WAIT until time:seconds > now + 3.
SET SHIP:CONTROL:STARBOARD to 0.0.

print "Starting an upward rotation.".
SET SHIP:CONTROL:PITCH TO 0.2.
SET now to time:seconds.
WAIT until time:seconds > now + 0.5.
SET SHIP:CONTROL:PITCH to 0.0.

print "Giving control back to the player now.".
SET SHIP:CONTROL:NEUTRALIZE to True.

One can use SHIP:CONTROL:ROTATION and SHIP:CONTROL:TRANSLATION to see the ship’s current situation.

CONFIG:SUPPRESSAUTOPILOT¶

If Config:SUPPRESSAUTOPILOT is true, then none of the controls on this page will have an effect. That setting is there to provide the player with an emergency way to quickly click a toggle on the toolbar window to force kOS to stop taking control, letting the player move the controls manually.

Breaking Ground DLC¶

Please note that the Breaking Ground DLC parts that can be configured to respond to the control axes, such as electric motors and propellor pitches, will only respond to the settings described on the pilot controls page and NOT the settings described here on this raw control page, nor will it respond to the settings in lock throttle or lock steering. SQUAD designed the Breaking Ground DLC parts to only pay attention to the player’s controls, not autopilot controls.

5% null zone¶

Warning

KSP imposes a built-in 5% null zone on RCS thrusters that makes it impossible for small raw inputs to have any effect in situations where RCS thrusters are the only source of control. However, kOS allows you to override KSP’s stock RCS null zone for RCS parts with a bit of trickery under the hood, using the RCS:DEADZONE suffix of RCS parts.

Raw Flight Controls Reference¶

These “Raw” controls allow you the direct control of flight parameters while the current program is running.

Note

The MAINTHROTTLE requires active engines and, of course, sufficient and appropriate fuel. The rotational controls YAW, PITCH and ROW require one of the following: active reaction wheels with sufficient energy, RCS to be ON with properly placed thrusters and appropriate fuel, or control surfaces with an atmosphere in which to operate. The translational controls FORE, STARBOARD and TOP only work with RCS, and require RCS to be ON with properly placed thrusters and appropriate fuel.

Suffix	Type, Range	Equivalent Key
MAINTHROTTLE	scalar [0,1]	`LEFT-CTRL`, `LEFT-SHIFT`
YAW	scalar [-1,1]	`D`, `A`
PITCH	scalar [-1,1]	`W`, `S`
ROLL	scalar [-1,1]	`Q`, `E`
ROTATION	`Vector`	`(YAW,PITCH,ROLL)`
YAWTRIM	scalar [-1,1]	(No real effect, see below) `ALT+D`, `ALT+A`
PITCHTRIM	scalar [-1,1]	(No real effect, see below) `ALT+W`, `ALT+S`
ROLLTRIM	scalar [-1,1]	(No real effect, see below) `ALT+Q`, `ALT+E`
FORE	scalar [-1,1]	`N`, `H`
STARBOARD	scalar [-1,1]	`L`, `J`
TOP	scalar [-1,1]	`I`, `K`
TRANSLATION	`Vector`	`(STARBOARD,TOP,FORE)`
WHEELSTEER	scalar [-1,1]	`A`, `D`
WHEELTHROTTLE	scalar [-1,1]	`W`, `S`
WHEELSTEERTRIM	scalar [-1,1]	(No real effect, see below) `ALT+A`, `ALT+D`
WHEELTHROTTLETRIM	scalar [-1,1]	(No real effect, see below) `ALT+W`, `ALT+S`
NEUTRAL	Boolean	True if ship:control is doing nothing.
NEUTRALIZE	Boolean	Releases Control

SHIP:CONTROL:MAINTHROTTLE: Set between 0 and 1 much like the cooked flying LOCK THROTTLE command.

SHIP:CONTROL:YAW: This is the rotation about the “up” vector as the pilot faces forward. Essentially left \((-1)\) or right \((+1)\).

SHIP:CONTROL:PITCH: Rotation about the starboard vector up \((+1)\) or down \((-1)\).

SHIP:CONTROL:ROLL: Rotation about the longitudinal axis of the ship left-wing-down \((-1)\) or left-wing-up \((+1)\).

SHIP:CONTROL:ROTATION: This is a Vector object containing (YAW, PITCH, ROLL) in that order.

SHIP:CONTROL:YAWTRIM

This has no real effect and is just here for completeness.

IF you really want to control TRIM, use SHIP:CONTROL:PILOTYAWTRIM from the suffixes in the Pilot control section instead.

The reason why this trim does nothing and you have to use the pilot trim instead is because KSP only looks at the trim when its part of the pilot’s own control structure, not an autpilot’s control structure.

Warning: Setting this value can cause :NEUTRAL to return false negatives by confusing the system about where the “at rest” point of the controls are.

SHIP:CONTROL:PITCHTRIM

This has no real effect and is just here for completeness.

IF you really want to control TRIM, use SHIP:CONTROL:PILOTPITCHTRIM from the suffixes in the Pilot control section instead.

The reason why this trim does nothing and you have to use the pilot trim instead is because KSP only looks at the trim when its part of the pilot’s own control structure, not an autpilot’s control structure.

Warning: Setting this value can cause NEUTRAL to return false negatives by confusing the system about where the “at rest” point of the controls are.

SHIP:CONTROL:ROLLTRIM

This has no real effect and is just here for completeness.

IF you really want to control TRIM, use SHIP:CONTROL:PILOTROLLTRIM from the suffixes in the Pilot control section instead.

The reason why this trim does nothing here is because KSP only looks at the trim when its part of the pilot’s own control structure, not an autpilot’s control structure.

Warning: Setting this value can cause NEUTRAL to return false negatives by confusing the system about where the “at rest” point of the controls are.

SHIP:CONTROL:FORE: Controls the translation of the ship forward \((+1)\) or backward \((-1)\). Note that this control has a game-enforced 5% null zone that kOS doesn’t seem to be able to change.

SHIP:CONTROL:STARBOARD: Controls the translation of the ship to the right \((+1)\) or left \((-1)\) from the pilot’s perspective. Note that this control has a game-enforced 5% null zone that kOS doesn’t seem to be able to change.

SHIP:CONTROL:TOP: Controls the translation of the ship up \((+1)\) or down \((-1)\) from the pilot’s perspective. Note that this control has a game-enforced 5% null zone that kOS doesn’t seem to be able to change.

SHIP:CONTROL:TRANSLATION: Controls the translation as a Vector (STARBOARD, TOP, FORE). Note that each axis of this this control vector has a game-enforced 5% null zone that kOS doesn’t seem to be able to change.

SHIP:CONTROL:WHEELSTEER: Turns the wheels left \((-1)\) or right \((+1)\).

SHIP:CONTROL:WHEELTHROTTLE: Controls the wheels to move the ship forward \((+1)\) or backward \((-1)\) while on the ground.

SHIP:CONTROL:WHEELSTEERTRIM

This has no real effect and is just here for completeness.

IF you really want to control TRIM, use SHIP:CONTROL:PILOTYAWTRIM from the suffixes in the Pilot control section instead.

The reason why this trim does nothing here is because KSP only looks at the trim when its part of the pilot’s own control structure, not an autpilot’s control structure.

Warning: Setting this value can cause NEUTRAL to return false negatives by confusing the system about where the “at rest” point of the controls are.

SHIP:CONTROL:WHEELTHROTTLETRIM

This has no real effect and is just here for completeness.

IF you really want to control TRIM, use SHIP:CONTROL:PILOTYAWTRIM from the suffixes in the Pilot control section instead.

The reason why this trim does nothing here is because KSP only looks at the trim when its part of the pilot’s own control structure, not an autpilot’s control structure.

Warning: Setting this value can cause NEUTRAL to return false negatives by confusing the system about where the “at rest” point of the controls are.

SHIP:CONTROL:NEUTRAL

SHIP:CONTROL:NEUTRALIZE

These used to be two suffixes but they are now synonyms who’s meaning changes depending on if you set or get them.

Getting:

if (SHIP:CONTROL:NEUTRAL) is true when the raw controls are at rest.

Setting:

set SHIP:CONTROL:NEUTRALIZE TO TRUE. causes the raw controls to let go. Setting it to false has no effect.

Warnings:

Although it has no effect, setting a raw control TRIM value CAN cause NEUTRAL to return false when the control is at rest. For example, if you do SET SHIP:CONTROL:YAWTRIM to 0.1.` then when the controls are at rest, ``SHIP:CONTROL:NEUTRAL will return false because the yaw position of 0 is differing from its trim position of 0.1.

The two terms NEUTRAL and NEUTRALIZE are synonyms. (They used to be two separate suffixes, one for getting and one for setting, but that made no sense so they were combined but both spellings were retained for backward compantiblity with old scripts.)

Unlocking controls¶

Setting any one of SHIP:CONTROL values will prevent player from manipulating that specific control manually. Other controls will not be locked. To free any single control, set it back to zero. To give all controls back to the player you must execute:

SET SHIP:CONTROL:NEUTRALIZE to TRUE.

Advantages/Disadvantages¶

The control over RCS translation requires the use of Raw control. Also, with raw control you can choose how gentle to be with the controls and it can be possible to control wobbly craft better with raw control than with cooked control.