Great job Andrea, another unique exploration vehicle!
At first I thought it was using JSBSim, but it's actually a "land" vehicle!
Thank you very much Levi.
I spent weeks struggling with JSBSim to get a model of efficient flight for Rocket Man because it seemed more logical, for a flying model, use an environment that knew manage interactions aerodynamic ...
No way ... the balancing of the masses and especially the values of inertia in all axes, whether in a model fitted with wings can also be slightly approximated, in a model like this, a very precarious balance, must be set with absolute care.
And then the forces of the main engine and Jet RCS, everything is calculated with precision ...
After continuous crash and strange and inexplicable (to me) drifts in the air, I am discouraged and I started to work on the SUB SPHERE (and so I was forced to deepen the use of the Bullet Physics, running vehicles).
It was a revelation!
Bullet physics, which first considered as "less powerful" and "nearly approximate" because it must manage interactions "simpler" (while JSBSim appeared to me as a representative of the elite programs of simulation), proved to be a power and a loyalty that I did not expect!
So I started the project of Rocket Man and I tried, for curiosity, to set it to use the Bullet physics ....
It works !! It works very well !!!
Plus I got a huge advantage working exclusively within the script!
I am not an aeronautical engineer, I am a lover of matter, and when I set the values in my programs I choose data that seem right but which are not absolutely sure.
Then check on the operation and, if I find flaws, I begin to change the numerical values inserted at the beginning, until you find the values that work best from the point of view of the yield of "realism" that I want to achieve.
With the Bullet Physics can do so while remaining within Outerra: I change the script, I trigger the reload and see the result immediately.
With JSBSim is a tragedy .....
You have to get out of Outerra, load the XML file that describes the FDM model, change the numerical value (although only very slightly), save the file, return to Outerra, reload the model, start it and see the result (almost I never wanted to!).
I recommend with great enthusiasm to the study and use of the Bullet Physics to all creators of models that do not have the need to calculate the aerodynamic interactions with the atmosphere (for vehicles is pretty obvious but for those who want to build models for space might seem less obvious), his faithfulness to reality is high and its ease of use is priceless !!!
I regret only, of JSBSim, the ease with which we get the flight data (attitude, orientation, altitude, speed ... and a host of other useful data) that would otherwise be calculated by yourself, starting from the raw data of positioning and rotation of the ECEF model coordinate.
