Model Rocket

mwilson914

mwilson914

Well-known member
So this is an experiment thread since it's already built.

I'm trying to think of a way to have the launch pad be positionally adjustable, but since the Rootframe has to be the top of the hierarchy, I can't think of a way to make this possible. I thougt it would be cool to be able to position the rocket towards the wind as you would a real one, but you need to adjust the angle of the rod and make the base swivel about. Modeling the pivot points and making the launch pad make these movements is easy, but I'm pretty sure the rocket will stay in place or do something weird.

I'll experiment with it and see if it is easier than I imagine.
 

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I think it depends on your hierarchy and how you detach it from the pad. You could put the launch rod/plate on a moveable pod and use the knob.

... you get my PM?
 
willsonman said:
I think it depends on your hierarchy and how you detach it from the pad. You could put the launch rod/plate on a moveable pod and use the knob.

... you get my PM?
Click to expand...

Yeah I got your PM. I haven't had a chance to respond yet or try out your AV. You make me think I should upload the version 2 EA I created because the physics are much better.
 
And just as an experiment, the only way I could get the rocket to pivot and rotate on the base is by making the base the top of the hieararchy and making the rocket a child of the launch rod. It works in the sim on ground animation, but during flight, well, it is an invisible rocket with the visible model still on the pad.
 

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For anyone that wants it, here is the .max file and the .tga. This version might actually have the base and rod seperate from the rest of the launch pad.

Change the .rfx extension to .zip to get the files.
 

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From Boof69's suggestion in the screenshots thread:
If I can offer a suggestion. I assume all of the parachute segments rotate from there X if I read that right. If each part where given the GD1 designation and then you copy pasted the same NUP values in their properties. You can then make a dummy object named ~CS_LG_? set it's rotation to the same as the parachute segments. Then add a landing gear in RF and add ~CS_LG_? as the component. Now all the animation happens that easy. You just need to make sure that the gear and the parachute segs are parented to a dummy named ~CS_LMW_? Otherwise nothing will happen. Youcan also parent them to a fuselage named object but i assume that's not possible.
Click to expand...

I thought about this last night and have been thinking about this throughout the morning. I wish I was at home to test certain things out, but I'm at the office.

The parachute does need to have the additional pivot point locations to get the chute out of the tube and above the fuselage and I'm not sure if dummy objects can be used in a landing gear/gear door setup. They could be and someone could have already done this in the past, but if not, then a flat plane could also be used and the alpha channel could make that part invisible on the .tga. I think we have a number of options to play around with to work around any limitations in the sim. We can at least try.

I still think using the ~BREAKAPART designation would be quite useful, however, all detachable items have been treated as broken items from the vehicle in the past. Wouldn't detaching the launch pad cause the chute to immediately become visible? This is why I think the fold-up parachute is the best way to go. The landing gear/gear door designation is definitely promising.
 
Like I said it's the same setup for the 15 flaps on the cowl of the Corsair I working on. I made a dummy object and named it ~CS_LG_CFC. All of the flaps are dependent on it for their animation. The catch was I had to parent them to the fuse as landing gear can only be added to the fuselage, wings, or floats. It wasn't much of a catch though everything operates great.
 
Working parachute and attached string. I'm waiting to hear back from wilsonman to see what he thinks of the EA. I also haven't tried anything with the gear door objects to automatically eject the chute and string. I've worked 16 hours this weekend on other models, so I have a sore mouse hand and need to get off my PC.
 

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Pretty cool man. Way to think outside of the box. Unlike my grandson's, you don't have to chase after this one, I like that!
 
I only had a brief moment to test the latest version this morning. I would like to take a once-over one last time before release. One thing that is a known bug for this type of thing is the rewind feature... its kind of a bust. Rewind does not rewind the amount of fuel you have. The burn on the motor will actually continue through the rewind. This is a KE thing so its out of our hands. Also this effects the parachute release mechanism. Its on a servo modifier and as such also does not rewind. It causes premature ejection of the parachute and can be kind of funny when the rewind feature is used.

This kind of "outside the box" work takes some "fooling the system" when it comes to physics setup so the idea is to replicate the sequence of events in real time. Any time you deviate outside of those condidtions you get very non-real results. Like... resetting the launch switch before the rocket is back on the ground causes the rocket to fall in a non-real manner. I have an idea to fix that but it will be reserved when when more time can be given to address it. Basically it involves a precise complex pod arrangement with offsets used in a rather dramatic way. The Parachute will occupy the same physical space at the fins on the rocket until deployed. Those who know how to set this sort of thing will follow my thinking here. It just takes time to get it all aligned right... timing right... aerodynamics adjustment... etc etc. It will be a "neato" thing when finished.
 
I've been thinking about a Saturn V rocket with launch pad for a long time now as a static AP object. I imagined placing smoke emitters at various locations to simulate the frost build up and water vapor trails from fueling up.

Now that I'm doing these rockets, I would like to make a Saturn V rocket that launches with several engines which work simultaneously and mabe each engine is tilted on the axis to cause a slow rotation of the rocket on ascent. I will eventually do this at some point, but for now, I need to get back to other projects which I started first--including a secret project which I started on last week. Only one other person knows about it at this time. :p
 
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