Steering Mechanism for a flying object

[elpablo]

I've been experimenting with a few methods of controlling a flying/hovering vehicle.

I've tried variations of a tilt switch combined with stabilizing rockets on the sides of the object - basically having a moving object in the centre of the vehicle that triggered a magnetic switch to either side as it rolled left or right, depending on the pitch of the vehicle (Diagram attached).

I've also tired a gyro setup with a magnetic switch attached to a cog in the center of the device, which seems to work better, but even with a fair amount of tweaking both setups tended to over- or under-compensate, sending the vehicle into an uncontrollable spin or wobble.

Has anyone has any more success with this sort of device?

[Conall-Star]

have you finished the story mode? there is a FANTASTIC flying machine in the 6th world (i believe 6-2) which you can get in a prize bubble, or at least take inspiration from. they use 4 rockets in this orientation...

/ | | \

... and 3 baloons to stabilize it. up thrust fires the 2 center rockets, left fires the 2nd and 4th rocket and right fires the 1st and 3rd rocket.

[elpablo]

Yeah I have got that airship - it's a little cumbersome to steer though - my current design uses the weight of Sackboy to steer.

It's the self-righting mechanism that I want to perfect though.

[Conall-Star]

ah well i haven't tried a flying machine myself. be curious to hear how things go with your efforts. sorry i can't be of more help.

[muttjones]

is there a three way switch? if not concart must have figured it out. you could probably gt it off him and put it inside your ship with your sackboy controlling and moving around with it.

[Gilgamesh]

I've made something similar to the design in your picture to make a hovering vehicle.

In my experience, the stabilizing rockets work best when they are placed in opposition to the upward-pushing rocket. I had both stabilizing rockets aimed down at both edges of the vehicle, and also used a very small amount of thrust.

I've also noticed that not all materials behave properly in a tilted environment, as they are more affected by the velocity of the object than by gravity. I ended up using a circle made of orange floaty material because its own boyancy seems to ignore the movement of the object it is encased in.

Hope this helps :)

[elpablo]

In my experience, the stabilizing rockets work best when they are placed in opposition to the upward-pushing rocket.

So you have the stabilizing rockets thrusting downwards? That sounds good... I'll give that a try. I found the same thing with the floaty material. A bolted wheel with a weigh attached works pretty well too.

Have you published a level containing your design yet?

If anyone's interested, this is ultimately aimed for use in a DeLorean, which switches from Drive to fly at the press of a button :). So far, I've got working gull-wing doors and a boost that kicks in after a delay.

No idea how I'm going to implement fire-trails or time travel yet! :p

[Gilgamesh]

So you have the stabilizing rockets thrusting downwards? That sounds good... I'll give that a try. I found the same thing with the floaty material. A bolted wheel with a weigh attached works pretty well too.

Have you published a level containing your design yet?

If anyone's interested, this is ultimately aimed for use in a DeLorean, which switches from Drive to fly at the press of a button :). So far, I've got working gull-wing doors and a boost that kicks in after a delay.

No idea how I'm going to implement fire-trails or time travel yet! :p

That sounds awesome, can't wait to see it :)

And no, unfortunately my device never made it past the prototype phase as I was running out of time with the beta and wanted to publish at least one level before the time was up. I opted for making a level with working gears and complex monsters.