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Chassis Kinematics Version 9.2.0
© 2019–2025, Nanite Systems Consumer Products

User Manual


NanAO is a compact Animation Overrider (AO) replacement HUD. It loads AO notecards designed for the ZHAO-II, Vista, and Oracul (Kuso) systems, and caches them in a compact LinksetData storage format for instant switching. NanAO can store dozens of AOs this way, all from a single HUD attachment with a tiny script footprint. Additionally, NanAO supports integrations with OpenCollar (and derivatives), and with other Nanite Systems products like the Companion and ARES robot operating systems.


Basic Usage

To install a new AO:

1. Rez NanAO on the ground.
2. Make a new folder in your SL inventory named after the AO.
3. Copy the notecard and animations from your old AO HUD into this folder. Some AOs (especially Oracul) will have multiple notecards; you probably only want one.
4. Rename the notecard to something terse. It must begin with "ao_" and should have no spaces in it. For example, if you have an AO named "VISTA ANIMATIONS *HUD 5.32*MIRIAM BENTO AO-V.3", then you should just rename the notecard to "ao_miriam".
5. Select all of the animations and the notecard in your inventory, then (while holding the Ctrl key) drag them into NanAO. You may need to do this in chunks; SL will have difficulties if you move more than 40 or so items at once.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 as many times as necessary. If your NanAO has many files inside it already, you should Edit it and switch to the "Contents" tab so you can see when SL is done refreshing its inventory after each copy operation.
7. Pick your NanAO HUD back up. It will appear in your inventory as a new copy, probably without Modify or Transfer permissions. (This is to be expected.)
8. If you are using Firestorm, you can right-click on your old AO HUDs and choose "Replace Links" to update your outfits.

To switch AOs:

Click the HUD, then the "select AO" button.


Poses and Dances

New in version 9.1.0: NanAO allows the user to specify a list of "auxiliary" or "special" animations that may be activated manually. These are ideal for representing static activities such as posing or dancing.

NanAO will replace the standing animation with the selected auxiliary. Only one auxiliary animation may be played at a time. This is similar to how OpenCollar's pose menu works. If you want to force your unit to remain in a pose without moving, try our Horns and Handles products instead.

To load auxiliary animations:

1. Rez NanAO on the ground.
2. Select the animation(s) you want to add to NanAO in your inventory, and drag them into NanAO. Hold the Ctrl key (Mac: Command) while doing this. As with AO setup, SL may struggle to move more than 40 or so items this way at a time, so do it in batches if you have a large list.
3. Right-click on NanAO and choose "Edit", then switch to the "Content" tab.
4. Double-click on "_special" to open it.
5. Enter the names of the animations you dragged into NanAO, one per line.
6. Click 'Save'
7. Repeat steps 7-8 from the Basic Usage installation instructions (pick up NanAO and replace links)

To use an auxiliary animation, click NanAO and choose "special" from the main menu.

To remove the current auxiliary animation, click NanAO and choose "stop special" from the main menu.


Advanced Usage (Requires an NS robot controller)

 - Try the command '@kinematics ' (without the 'ao_' prefix) to switch profiles on the fly. You could even put kinematics commands (without the @) in persona and action scripts for your users' convenience!
 - The command '@kinematics pose ' will start any animation file in NanAO, even those not listed in _special. This counts as activating an auxiliary animation and will interrupt any current auxiliary animation.
 - The command '@kinematics unpose' will cancel @kinematics pose. It fails silently.
 - The command '@kinematics uncache ao_' can be used to forget about a deleted AO and free up memory.
 - The command '@kinematics uncache all' will forget all cached AOs.
 - The command '@kinematics list' will list which AOs have been cached.
 - The command '@kinematics' will list all available AOs.
 - The command '@kinematics cycle' will switch to a new, randomly-selected animation for the current locomotion pattern.
 - The command '@kinematics cycle ' will set automatic animation cycling to occur every  seconds (0 = off)
 - The command '@kinematics cleanup all' will delete any animations that aren't referenced by a cached notecard. This takes a LONG time to complete. (Do this if a manufacturer may have shared animations between multiple AOs that you've loaded, or accidentally included unused animations.) Make sure you've activated each of your AOs at least once, first, or their animations will be pruned.


Notes

 - If you are authoring a custom AO, NanAO will attempt to re-load the file when it detects that the UUID has changed.
 - When removing files, you may see a few script errors about missing animations or notecards (either things you've just deleted or things with no names.) Don't Panic! These are harmless and won't occur during normal usage.
 - The AO HUD will use the quaternary color (aka color #4 or color D) if available, to match the default ARES look and feel.


Update History

2025-02-22 - 9.2.0:
 - Removed AO overrides introduced in 9.1.0. As other AO vendors have discovered repeatedly, it sucks. (Firestorm's AO hitches because it uses this exclusively.)
 - Fixed turning animations! While an avatar is turning it doesn't actually *stay* turning; it constantly flickers between turning and standing. New solution forces turning when turning keys are pressed + avatar is standing.
 - Added support for a new, simple "puppeeter" protocol that allows seats to dictate the current locomotion state. This is useful for things like the magnetic boots - pseudo-vehicles that would otherwise require their own AO code.

2025-02-21 - 9.1.1:
 - Fixed a bug that would cause an error message whenever sitting on a charger with sits disabled.
 - Fixed a bug where manually cycling animations could cause a brief gap in animation playback.

2025-02-21 - 9.1.0:
 - Now applies AO overrides using llSetAnimationOverride() as you use them, providing partial resilience to regions where script events aren't firing.
 - Fixed flying up and flying down animations (actually called Hovering Up and Hovering Down) not playing.
 - Added support for auxiliary animations (poses and dances). See "Poses and Dances", above.
 - Fixed a corner case where the start of typing occurring simultaneously with another animation state change (e.g. stopping walking to type) could cause the other change to fail.
 
2024-05-10 - 9.0.5:
 - Fixed a bug where animations wouldn't start immediately when the AO was unfrozen or swapped.
 - Added DPARC (device firmware loading over ARES) support.

2024-03-12 - 9.0.4:
 - Implemented llGetNotecardLineSync(). Now AOs are cached in less than a second.
 - Also added support for HW-CAPS device discovery protocol.

2023-11-09 - 9.0.2: Fixed error messages when cycling is enabled but sits aren't.

2023-11-09 - 9.0.1:
 - Added basic controls for triggering animation cycling.
 - NanAO will also default to assuming you are powered on when attached, so it won't be useless if you attach it to a non-robot avatar after it's been worn with a robot avatar.

2023-11-01 - 9.0: initial release.