Weird Rocking Behaviour in Auto Hover & Auto Slave

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

After the 22 Feb update, while in Auto Hover and Auto Slave mode, it will be stable mostly but every now and then the Gazelle goes into this weird pitching and rolling back and forth. You can see the autopilot channels of pitch and roll going 'crazy'. See attached track, near end. Look at it rocking from the external view. But the Gazelle manages to stay in position and not fall out of the sky. Can someone explain what's happening? Or is this simply autopilot WIP? Thanks  

Update: I think in trying to maintain the auto hover, the Gazelle over compensates and self-induces oscillation. You can see the CVS and ALV lights go funky between green and amber. It eventually oscillates itself out of hover criteria. When coupled with auto slave which is also WIP, it gets even worse. Manual hover and pedal to align is far more reliable than using these modes at the moment.   

SA342M Weird Behaviour.trk

Edited March 4, 2024 by GrEaSeLiTeNiN

[jef32]

I don't understand myself. No, I can have a good auto-hoover from the pilot place. I press the auto-hoover key, a yellow light appears near the clock at the left, the I press the camera slaving and a second light appears and all the lights become green. The auto-hoover is established and the helicopter is stable. No need to maintain the rudder. But after, the things are going bad. I jump on co-pilot seat. From this place, there is no possibility to bind a auto-hoover key. I must specify that I don't use a separate stick to control the camera to launch hot missiles.

Before, a long time ago, that's how I did: I jumped on copilot seat after having enabled the auto-hoover and hidden the Gazelle behind a building leaving just the camera protruding from the top of the building, I used the stick for targeting and using telemetry after having switched the camera mode selector on manual. From this time, the joystick didn't act on the helicopter but on the camera. If I saw a missile coming or shilka bullets, I pressed the autohoover key from the copilot place to hide totally the helicopter, because when autohoover was OFF, the joystick switched automaticly in flight commands use., then after I lifted it again to targeting again and shooting after having switched the AH ON again. Sometime I needed to press a key to yaw the helicopter in the good angle.

The issue today is that we can't use the autohoover key from copilot place and that we can't use the stick for targeting  with auto hoover switched ON.

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

6 hours ago, jef32 said:

The issue today is that we can't use the autohoover key from copilot place and that we can't use the stick for targeting  with auto hoover switched ON.

When you map to your hotas the auto hover and auto slave commands available only in the pilot bindings page, those buttons mapped will also work when you are copilot in solo play. Just leave those same buttons unmapped in the copilot page. For control of TV/periscope, I mapped it to a 4-way hat on the stick.     

[jef32]

7 hours ago, GrEaSeLiTeNiN said:

For control of TV/periscope, I mapped it to a 4-way hat on the stick.     

Ok, I'll try this manner. Thanks !

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

After the 22 Feb update, while in Auto Hover and Auto Slave mode, it will be stable mostly but every now and then the Gazelle goes into this weird pitching and rolling back and forth. You can see the autopilot channels of pitch and roll going 'crazy'. See attached track, near end. Look at it rocking from the external view. But the Gazelle manages to stay in position and not fall out of the sky. Can someone explain what's happening? Or is this simply autopilot WIP? Thanks  

Update: I think in trying to maintain the auto hover, the Gazelle over compensates and self-induces oscillation. You can see the CVS and ALV lights go funky between green and amber. It eventually oscillates itself out of hover criteria. When coupled with auto slave which is also WIP, it gets even worse. Manual hover and pedal to align is far more reliable than using these modes at the moment.   

SA342M Weird Behaviour.trk

Anyone know if this issue been resolved? Haven’t flown the Gazelle in a while.

[-orlok-]

I'm current fighting this issue.

I get near stable, the auto hover kicks in and the AP dials go crazy.

 

if I correct I fallout of AP, if I'm hands off, I fall out of AP.

There's a definite "jerk" as it kicks in and the airframe soon drifts out of AP.

 

I'm assuming it's pilot error but I'd like to be sure!

 

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

On 7/25/2024 at 4:09 AM, -orlok- said:

I'm current fighting this issue.
I get near stable, the auto hover kicks in and the AP dials go crazy.
 
if I correct I fallout of AP, if I'm hands off, I fall out of AP.
There's a definite "jerk" as it kicks in and the airframe soon drifts out of AP.
 
I'm assuming it's pilot error but I'd like to be sure!
 

No that means they haven’t fixed it. I don’t know why they are taking so long. It’s unfortunate since it’s a nice module otherwise.

Edited August 8, 2024 by GrEaSeLiTeNiN

[-orlok-]

ah, ok, so it's not just me and my incompetence!

I can throw the aircraft around and land on a penny, so I found it odd that I can't engage the AP without weird inputs.

DCS and it's peculiarities!

[Ramsay]

17 hours ago, -orlok- said:

I get near stable, the auto hover kicks in and the AP dials go crazy.
if I correct I fallout of AP, if I'm hands off, I fall out of AP.

You shouldn't engage auto hover until you are in a stable/trimmed hover and in parameters.

4 hours ago, -orlok- said:

... I found it odd that I can't engage the AP without weird inputs.

Check out this tutorial video to see if there's anything you've missed

 

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

On 7/25/2024 at 9:56 PM, Ramsay said:

You shouldn't engage auto hover until you are in a stable/trimmed hover and in parameters.

Check out this tutorial video to see if there's anything you've missed

 

Well actually, at the 8:08 mark, his AP "goes completely mad". This AP problem has not been fixed for more than 6 months already. 

Edited August 8, 2024 by GrEaSeLiTeNiN

[Ramsay]

On 7/26/2024 at 4:18 PM, GrEaSeLiTeNiN said:

... at the 8:08 mark, his AP "goes completely mad". This AP problem has not been fixed for more than 6 months already.

My "impression" is that when the DCS Gazelle's AP is out of parameters, it correctly disconnects but likely shouldn't re-engage (when back within parameters) without positive input from the pilot (perhaps depression of the cyclic AP button?) - however I haven't checked what the French SA-342 Manual says on the behaviour of the real as the DCS AP is known to be WIP.

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

Did some auto pilot (CVS/ALV) testing today after being away from the Gazelle for some time. Seems to me...

• Auto hover (CVS green) is working but collective inputs can cause some jerking. Need to trim into a stable hover first. The ADI needles in doppler mode and the tablet's GS help provide the visual cues for hovering.
• Auto slave (ALV green) heading align is working (CVS must be on and green). But when turning on ALV from an off state, the yaw to align with the TV crosshairs is sudden and jerky. Once ALV is on, the yaw to follow the crosshairs is smoother. A stable hover with little to no initial yaw helps.

Is the jerking in both cases realistic? Maybe PC could smoothen it out a little.   

Edited August 9, 2024 by GrEaSeLiTeNiN

[kotor633]

I really hope PC can solve their personnel problem quickly and we'll get updates for the SA-342 again. It's a great module...

[Brigg]

Yeah absolutely+1. I've only just discovered the Gaz and it's very quickly becoming my favourite bluefor chopper. Love the more analogue feel to it and hope Poly get their issues sorted swiftly and keep maintaining this excellent module