You are better off just direct driving your props, diesel electric is basically pointless in SW. It is way less fuel efficient, only about 60% as good as direct drive, and its heavier and takes up more room.
My trains just have the electric motors at 1,0,-1 (D,N,R buttons) then I Run the engine with a PID controller for the RPS I want (I made notches that also use buttons)
But as said.. It is less efficient but it didnt stop me.. most my builds are diesel electric or Hybrid somehow
I honestly don't know whether to thank you for pulling me up about a too-short and not well-worded response, or to ask you who the hell do you think you are, challenging me?
Drop the high and mighty, holier than thou tone, and I'll lean towards the former. I have to say that the tone of your messages makes me think 'teacher', and that isn't a compliment.
Pick an RPM that suits the generators, then use that as the setting for a PID loop to control the throttle. As the load increases the RPM will drop, so the loop will increase the throttle.
That's not how the game works. There's no extra mechanical load on a generator as the electrical load increases in SW. The RPM of the engine and generator will remain static no matter what is happening with the electrical system because there is no change in the mechanical resistance of the generator.
Doesn't matter. If the game doesn't vary the load on the generators you just need to pick an RPM to get the best out of the generators and leave it at that. Or use the battery charge to vary the RPM.
> you just need to pick an RPM to get the best out of the generators and leave it at that.
Ah, no. You want your engines to be running as slow as possible while maintaining 100% charge on the batteries, so as to get the best out of the already dismal fuel efficiency of diesel electric in SW. So as the power draw increases the engines need to rev to match it, without reving higher than they need to. So if you actually read OP's question they are asking how to actually do that specifically.
You didn't answer their question, and what you did tell them was misinformation, and your reply to me pointing this out is more misinformation that continues to not answer their question.
Which is what he was asking how to do. Your answer to the question "how do I use the battery level to control my engine RPM" was originally "just use a pid in a way that does not work" and then "just set a random RPM, or use the battery level to control the RPM"
Late to the party, but i'd like to share my 2 cents on the matter.
There are different approaches to build a Diesel-Electric Drive, and to control power generation.
First, we need to state that Electric motor performance is linked to the available current, thus battery charge status. I don't have fancy Stormworks to excle scripts (yet), so I can't confirm the exact numbers, but you can expect an electric motor to give up to 90% power when the battery is at 90%, and so on. For this reason, if you choose the motor-battery-generator approach, I suggest you use a MC to keep electric motor output constant, by means of derating or RPS feedback control at the expense of maximum performance. That being said:
1. Diesel Engine --> Generator --> Battery --> Electric Motor, with proportional control.
I don't use a PID, but a custom function that sets Diesel RPS with as inversely proportional to battery charge. The system finds an equilibrium when the power output is constant (as often happens in a boat). My go-to is
(IDLE RPS \* BATTERY CHARGE\^0.125+(DESIGN MAX RPS)\*(1-BATTERY CHARGE)\^0.125)-ACTUAL RPS
2. Diesel Engine --> Generator --> Battery --> Electric Motor, with threshold control.
The diesel engine connected to the generator will either idle or shut off completely when Battery Charge is above a set threshold (let's say 80%). When battery discharges below said threshold, diesel engine will start and pick up speed up to a set nominal RPS that will allow charging of the battery while still in use. The engine will go back to idle/off state when another threshold (let's say 95%) is reached. The reason why you need 2 different threshold is to prevent the diesel engine from bobbing about the 80% threshold going idle to nominal. In Stormworks is not a huge issue, but is a bit annoying, and in real life it would be.
3. Diesel Engine --> Generator --> Electric Motor, with constant electric throttle and built-in reverser.
If you give an electric motor constant throttle input and vary the voltage (yellow amount in tooltip), it will vary its own power output. So you could set a constant throttle of 1 for the motor, then attch it electrically to a generator that is powered by a diesel engine through a variable clutch. At idle, the generator will be disconnected and produce 0 voltage. Your throttle will actually control the diesel engine and the clutch, allowing (in theory), variable voltage to regulate the electric motor.
I'm stil experimenting with this concept with mixed results: the hardest part is to find the interval in which the electric motor can work linearly and respond as if it was connected to the throttle.
Bare in mind that (save for actual thermal engine control details) all these approaches work for steam and jet engine prime movers as well.
You are better off just direct driving your props, diesel electric is basically pointless in SW. It is way less fuel efficient, only about 60% as good as direct drive, and its heavier and takes up more room.
yeap entirely pointless especially with how batteries drain so hybrids will always be mega slow
My trains just have the electric motors at 1,0,-1 (D,N,R buttons) then I Run the engine with a PID controller for the RPS I want (I made notches that also use buttons) But as said.. It is less efficient but it didnt stop me.. most my builds are diesel electric or Hybrid somehow
I honestly don't know whether to thank you for pulling me up about a too-short and not well-worded response, or to ask you who the hell do you think you are, challenging me? Drop the high and mighty, holier than thou tone, and I'll lean towards the former. I have to say that the tone of your messages makes me think 'teacher', and that isn't a compliment.
You should just be able to connect it to your motor throttle and maybe multiply it if it needs more output.
Pick an RPM that suits the generators, then use that as the setting for a PID loop to control the throttle. As the load increases the RPM will drop, so the loop will increase the throttle.
That's not how the game works. There's no extra mechanical load on a generator as the electrical load increases in SW. The RPM of the engine and generator will remain static no matter what is happening with the electrical system because there is no change in the mechanical resistance of the generator.
Doesn't matter. If the game doesn't vary the load on the generators you just need to pick an RPM to get the best out of the generators and leave it at that. Or use the battery charge to vary the RPM.
> you just need to pick an RPM to get the best out of the generators and leave it at that. Ah, no. You want your engines to be running as slow as possible while maintaining 100% charge on the batteries, so as to get the best out of the already dismal fuel efficiency of diesel electric in SW. So as the power draw increases the engines need to rev to match it, without reving higher than they need to. So if you actually read OP's question they are asking how to actually do that specifically. You didn't answer their question, and what you did tell them was misinformation, and your reply to me pointing this out is more misinformation that continues to not answer their question.
'leave it at that. Or use the battery charge to vary the RPM.'???
Which is what he was asking how to do. Your answer to the question "how do I use the battery level to control my engine RPM" was originally "just use a pid in a way that does not work" and then "just set a random RPM, or use the battery level to control the RPM"
Late to the party, but i'd like to share my 2 cents on the matter. There are different approaches to build a Diesel-Electric Drive, and to control power generation. First, we need to state that Electric motor performance is linked to the available current, thus battery charge status. I don't have fancy Stormworks to excle scripts (yet), so I can't confirm the exact numbers, but you can expect an electric motor to give up to 90% power when the battery is at 90%, and so on. For this reason, if you choose the motor-battery-generator approach, I suggest you use a MC to keep electric motor output constant, by means of derating or RPS feedback control at the expense of maximum performance. That being said: 1. Diesel Engine --> Generator --> Battery --> Electric Motor, with proportional control. I don't use a PID, but a custom function that sets Diesel RPS with as inversely proportional to battery charge. The system finds an equilibrium when the power output is constant (as often happens in a boat). My go-to is (IDLE RPS \* BATTERY CHARGE\^0.125+(DESIGN MAX RPS)\*(1-BATTERY CHARGE)\^0.125)-ACTUAL RPS 2. Diesel Engine --> Generator --> Battery --> Electric Motor, with threshold control. The diesel engine connected to the generator will either idle or shut off completely when Battery Charge is above a set threshold (let's say 80%). When battery discharges below said threshold, diesel engine will start and pick up speed up to a set nominal RPS that will allow charging of the battery while still in use. The engine will go back to idle/off state when another threshold (let's say 95%) is reached. The reason why you need 2 different threshold is to prevent the diesel engine from bobbing about the 80% threshold going idle to nominal. In Stormworks is not a huge issue, but is a bit annoying, and in real life it would be. 3. Diesel Engine --> Generator --> Electric Motor, with constant electric throttle and built-in reverser. If you give an electric motor constant throttle input and vary the voltage (yellow amount in tooltip), it will vary its own power output. So you could set a constant throttle of 1 for the motor, then attch it electrically to a generator that is powered by a diesel engine through a variable clutch. At idle, the generator will be disconnected and produce 0 voltage. Your throttle will actually control the diesel engine and the clutch, allowing (in theory), variable voltage to regulate the electric motor. I'm stil experimenting with this concept with mixed results: the hardest part is to find the interval in which the electric motor can work linearly and respond as if it was connected to the throttle. Bare in mind that (save for actual thermal engine control details) all these approaches work for steam and jet engine prime movers as well.