KI Drivers and Stops at TM's

[egoime]

Hi everybody. I'm a newbie. (TRS04)

Trackmarks are fine, but my trains don't stop there. On my test-station (a basic 3-track-yard) i reserve track 1 for eastbound trains and track 2 for westbound trains. Track 3 is a virtual freight track with access from both directions. No Problem with signals, levers and spline-points. KI behaviour is excatly what i want.

The Problem: When i schedule a "drive to TM" the trains don't stop at the Trackmarks but half the track before the TM's. Some steam-locos locos overun the TM and stop with their rear at the TM. Sometimes, when i move the position of the TM towards the signal they stop with the rear at the TM passing a red signal. When i move the TM away from the signal they stop again way before the TM regardless if the signal shows Stop or Proceed.

Any idea how i can get them to stop exactly at the TM's?

 

[nwhitney]

You could try decreasing the radius of the trackmark by clicking on the advanced little green button in the bottom of the trackmark window, then the middle button on the last row, or do a search on AI Brake Fix which adds tremendous braking power to your consist.
Norm

 

[BidMod]

I find that trains stop more precisely when travelling at a lower speed - perhaps you could try setting a lower speed limit?

Also, if it's a passenger station, then why not use one of the active stations rather than trackmarks - trains always stop in the right place here unless there are issues with the braking force.

BidMod.

 

[egoime]

TM-radius, AI Brakes and Speed Limits give all better results.
Dont know much about active stations. I will search for it and try it out too.

Thank you both for this usefull tips!

George

 

[dzien50]

Hi
Where do I find this " AI Brake Fix " please ?
PJ

 

[egoime]

Ai Brakes

@dzien50

Hi, AI brakes are on DLS.
Search for username "whitepass" or
for the title "aifix"

George

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

What's a KI Driver? Never heard of these before.

 

[dzien50]

Hi George
Thanks very much now found them, all ok
PJ

 

[egoime]

@Dinorius_Redundicus

It's a mistake. KI is german for AI. I got mixed-up here. :mop:

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

@Dinorius_Redundicus

It's a mistake. KI is german for AI. I got mixed-up here. :mop:

Oh yeah..künstliche Intelligenz, or in the case of driver Alistair,
kleine Intelligenz!!
:hehe:

It's also the chemical formula of potassium iodide!

 

[Harry_James_Potter]

Hi
Where do I find this " AI Brake Fix " please ?
PJ

Or do what I do and edit the config files in the world directory to get the AI to brake harder...

regards

Harry

 

[WileeCoyote]

Oh yeah..künstliche Intelligenz, or in the case of driver Alistair,
kleine Intelligenz!!
:hehe:

It's also the chemical formula of potassium iodide!

Ahahaha no... KI when *properly* translated is Komputer Intelligenz, and yes it is what your thinking, I as well find it more flammable than an open can of grease by the blowtorch. Kuenstliche Intelligenz would be Artistic Intelligence, which is indeed possible in Trainz provided you work at it. As for Alastair, ask Harry_James_Potter, he knows him only too well:hehe:

WileeCoyote

 

[Pendolino]

Your problem could also be associated with the enginespec files of the loco you use, especially the "max-accel" and "max-decel" tags.
I tried attaching a 20-car, 1000 t train to a default OBB 1044 and issuing a simple "drive to" a trackmark 10 km away, with a 150 km/h speed limit.
The train started to brake 3 km before the trackmark and stopped just before it.
Then I altered the config, setting "max decel" at 1000 instead of 95000. It started to brake at the same point, then passed the trackmark at 80 km/h...

 

[Pendolino]

I carried out some more trials, and it seems that the AI starts braking (or better setting the DCC dial to zero) at a fixed distance from the destination trackmark, based on the speed limit for that section of track. I noted that with a 200 km/h limit both the default 1044 and my "experimental" version started to brake approximatively 4 km before the destination trackmark, no matter what train they were hauling (500 to 2000 tons). While the default one always stops 10 to 20 m before the trackmark, the "experimental" one always goes on some hundred meters beyond that same trackmark.

It seems that for each speed limit there is a fixed "braking distance" and when a train comes at that distance from its intended stopping point, it begins to brake. So, I think that the problem is not the AI, but the enginespec files of the locomotives you are using. I noticed that non-default locos generally have lower values for "max-accel" and "max-decel" with respect to the default ones.

Try some invisible speed limit, especially the invisible one (I don't remember its name now) which can be set so as to influence only trains taking a particular route at subsequent junction(s). I found it very useful, since I can set at 1 km before the station, configuring it so that trains taking the diverging way and going in the passing siding get a 30 km/h speed limit, while express trains continue straight at main line speed.

 

[laldfordo]

Interesting observations by Pendolino.

What happens with signals though? If you put three signals between your start point and the trackmark, does the train still start to slow 3 or 4km out or does it maintain full speed up to the third signal from the trackmark?

 

[Pendolino]

I placed signals at 1 km intervals (slightly less than the standard 1,2 km used by Italian Railways) and they don't seem to affect the behavior of the AI.

I noticed, looking in cab view that the deceleration starts at 4 km (with 200 km/h speed limit) and that the throttle is pulled back by the IA, but not to zero as I expected. The train, a 1.000 metric tons consist, was travelling at these speeds:
- 158 km/h - 4 km before the destination trackmark
- 140 km/h - 3 km before the destination trackmark
- 125 km/h - 2 km before the destination trackmark
- 75 km/h - 1 km before the destination trackmark
- 0 km/h - at destination.

I think that DCC deserves some study, not for use in driving (I love driving in Cab Mode), but as this could lead us to better understand the behaviour of the IA. Unfortunately, I have found no accurate reference to the effect of the DCC-related tags in the "motor" container.

I'm carrying out a long (and boring) series of tests to see if I manage to obtain some knowledge.
The only things I've been able to ascertain, until now, is that:
1 - Train mass does not affect maximum speed, only acceleration. I tried the "experimental" 1044 alone and with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15 and 20 50 ton cars. It took 37 seconds for the loco alone and in 4 minutes and 6 seconds with 20 cars, but it always reached 100 km/h.
2 - Acceleration for a given load is constant from zero speed to the maximum one. I recorded the elapsed time every 10 Km/h and put the data in Excel. The resulting graphics are almost straight lines, and I assume that my measurements may have been slightly inaccurate here and there.