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Trying to build a re-usable rover system, but everything explodes?


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An alternative approach if you're using KAS/KIS is to bolt the rover down rather than use docking ports.  I put a lander on Duna with the science rover mounted on the roof.  Each Kerbal can lift a tonne with KAS/KIS so it needed an engineer with a spanner and a second kerbal standing nearby.  You can only move it within a short distance of the kerbals though, but it was enough to get it from the roof to the ground, and then bolt it back on the roof when they were done with it.  It was a bit of a faff though so my second iteration had the rover hanging from a docking port under the lander, and to redock I just retracted the landers legs to drop it on to the rovers docking ring.  I've also used KAS/KIS to remove/move a landers wheels before to stop them dragging in the airflow, then then just refit the wheels before dropping the rover, however you do lose the ability to control symmetry this way and have to line them up by eye.

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@RizzoTheRat  If we're bringing in KAS/KIS (probably one of my few or only must-have mods) the KAS winch adds a whole nother realm of possibilities.  I even include KAS Winch mounts in most of my designs for this.  Again, working from an overhead attachement concept, the winch eliminates the need for lift jacks.  It was particularly cool for redocking a submersible that I have on one of my transport craft that gets raised/lowered right through the deck floor.  The winch also has an attachment setting specifically for this sort of thing.  You can attach the winch to a winch port without actually docking with the target vessel!  This lets you draw the vessel up into the transport craft, to dock with a dedicated port and then detach (or not) the docking cable.

Edit:  If lowering the craft to the ground, it works too!   Just reattach the KAS winch cable to a cable port (in non-docking mode) and then undock your craft and it will hang there from the winch cable ready to be lowered to the surface or water.  Also, since it's non-docked, there's no reason why you can't just leave the winch cable attached to the craft once docked and basically have it ready to lower back down.

 

Edited by XLjedi
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Doing some testing under hacked gravity, to get the levelling right:

 

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Gotta use the ramps as jacks to lower the nose when it's empty, but on flat terrain, anyway, it's close to working. The science rover rides a little high though.

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