LoadMFD 2011-09-19

Load MFD
 
A GraphMFD that measures any deviation of the focus vessel from a natural free-fall trajectory, otherwise known as G-force. It makes a measurement upto eight times a second, and records these in the graph trace. The trace is two minutes long. It will also keep a record of the peak G-force experienced, which can be reset with the 'R' key. I have set the highest recordable value to 99.99G, but only for aesthetic reasons.

The measurements can be displayed outside the GraphMFD, on the Orbiter screen. The individual accelerometer components are displayed, with the overall G being the length of this vector. They also change colour from green to orange as G levels increase, depending on the load limits defined. If a load limit is exceeded, the component will turn red, and an alarm will sound. The alarm is a .wav file found in "Sounds/LoadMFD/Alarm.wav". Change this file if you want a better sounding alarm. The alarm requires the installation of OrbiterSound.

Default load limits are defined in a configuration file, "Config/MFD/LoadMFD.cfg".

A recording of measured values can be made to a text file called "LoadMFD_REC.txt". If a recording is made, this file is to be found in the Orbiter root directory. Upto eight measurements are recorded every second, and requires about 13KB per minute. When a recording is made, any previous recording is overwritten. The format is: dT xG yG zG - where dT is the time since the last measurement, which is never less than 0.1250, and the xG, yG and zG are the accelerometer values transformed to local vessel coordinates.

To use, copy the "Load.dll" file into your Orbiter\Modules\Plugin directory, and activate it in
the Modules tab of the Orbiter launch pad. Activate the LoadMFD with the Shift+G keys.

I hope you find it useful.

Updates:
 
2011/09/05 - First release.

2011/09/06 - Added xyz components transformed to vessel coordinates to the display.

2011/09/20 - G measurements are now taken every >0.125s instead of every frame. This makes it easier bring into sync. with the graph trace. Recordings of measurements can now be made to a text file. Load limits can now also be defined.
           
Written using Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Express and so may require a download from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=5555
Bug Warning: This GraphMFD does not like large simulation time values, and will cause Orbiter to freeze should the MFD be activated during such a situation. Large SimT values can be created by long missions or by modifying an existing scenario's date in the scenario editor.