KSP Loading... Preview: Grip Pads

[razark]

10 minutes ago, Majorjim! said:

LOL, what robotic grabbers?

Ones that people build.

What walkers are you on about?

 

[Klapaucius]

6 hours ago, Majorjim! said:

 I'm just curious as to why squad chose to release all these different shape parts for what is clearly a single Issue, the slippery walkers. 

That's a bit like asking why their are different size and shape wing parts for something that has a single use: to generate lift.

 

I think the use will go much further than that just walkers anyway, (which are fast becoming a big thing). KSP folk are very good at finding out of the box uses for parts.  I also reckon the long rectangular ones will be adopted for tank treads rather quickly.

[fulgur]

On the one hand, rovers are about 20x quicker than walkers. On the other hand, walkers will be much quicker with improved friction. On the third hand, walkers are kerbal.

[Guest]

Walkers are cool.

Robotic frogs are even cooler though. Right @Klapaucius?

https://kerbalx.com/Klapaucius/Aristophanes-the-Frog

 

[Jimmidii]

10 hours ago, Maxsimal said:

They were considered for both uses, as you'll see when you get to read the part descriptions.

Now that I think about it, this would definitely make claw grabbers more feasible...

Or extending feet to stabilise a crane...

Or clamps that can hold a payload in a cargo bay, release it, and then secure it again...

Hmmm...

Ok, now I'm starting to get ideas

[Shadowmage]

Q:  Did you fix the fact that > half of the objects in the game don't have physics materials applied?

(I had tried to fix this problem, and other similar issues, but the lack of physics materials on most terrain objects made it into a giant painful hack)

[lajoswinkler]

I'm having difficulties with understanding the purpose of these. If we want more stability, why not making already existing stuff more stable? Can anyone explain?

[klgraham1013]

26 minutes ago, lajoswinkler said:

I'm having difficulties with understanding the purpose of these. If we want more stability, why not making already existing stuff more stable? Can anyone explain?

Your logic isn't wanted here.

[Klapaucius]

55 minutes ago, lajoswinkler said:

I'm having difficulties with understanding the purpose of these. If we want more stability, why not making already existing stuff more stable? Can anyone explain?

They allow you to add traction to legs. For example, with the new robotic parts, folks are starting to build walkers. If you look at video of these machines, you will noticed they all slip a lot. It was suggested that something akin to a tread or sole of shoe would be good to use for these feet to give them traction. Currently, the only parts with that kind of traction control are wheels, which cannot be easily adapted for this purpose.  Check out the entries in Walker Challenge to see better what I am talking about.

 

 

 

Secondly, this would also allow for base building on uneven terrain.  Currently just about anything that is not sitting on wheels will slide downhill. Creators can (I assume) set  a high friction rate for the feet of their base, thus allowing them to move off the plains on to sloped terrain.

Finally, it seems Squad have also taken that to mean we can in future employ them to make gripping items as well so we can create robotic clamps to lift items.

The reason to have these as a separate part, is you don't always want traction. I imagine as well that applying this to all parts would be a big undertaking.

Edited June 28, 2019 by Klapaucius

[Wallygator]

On 6/25/2019 at 10:37 PM, nestor said:

They are new parts that you can place for extra friction. 

Hmmm... was going to respond with some snappy comment and then realised...

on a serious note... is this a “comb over” to a deeper unfixable issue in unity?

[klgraham1013]

8 hours ago, Wallygator said:

Hmmm... was going to respond with some snappy comment and then realised...

on a serious note... is this a “comb over” to a deeper unfixable issue in unity?

If these parts fix it, it's not really unfixable.  

[KerbMav]

14 hours ago, lajoswinkler said:

 If we want more stability, why not making already existing stuff more stable?

To refine this question:

While we might need more grip(pish parts as foundations) for a base, does anything speak against giving landing legs more grip themselves?

[Kerbart]

33 minutes ago, KerbMav said:

While we might need more grip(pish parts as foundations) for a base, does anything speak against giving landing legs more grip themselves?

“Ha! That’s what they expect us to do!”

[VoidCosmos]

Can't wait to play with these things!!!!

[Wallygator]

5 hours ago, klgraham1013 said:

If these parts fix it, it's not really unfixable.  

As long as they can be attached to anything then I tend to agree. 

[nwillard]

Soooooooo... update ETA?

[goldenpeach]

Welcome to the forums @nwillard!
Unfortunately, Squad doesn’t announce update release dates so your question is likely to remain unanswered.

[Serenity]

I am gonna try picking up a module and see if i can move it around.Would be nice to avoid the whole docking/undocking part.What do you think? Will it actually work?

Something like this  

Edited June 29, 2019 by Boyster

[Klapaucius]

On 6/28/2019 at 12:43 PM, klgraham1013 said:

Your logic isn't wanted here.

Not sure what this comment is about. The poster asked a legitimate question.

[Superfluous J]

52 minutes ago, Klapaucius said:

Not sure what this comment is about. The poster asked a legitimate question.

He's agreeing with the idea behind the question.

[klgraham1013]

1 hour ago, Klapaucius said:

Not sure what this comment is about. The poster asked a legitimate question.

The comment is sarcasm.

[Enceos]

On 6/27/2019 at 6:16 PM, lajoswinkler said:

I'm having difficulties with understanding the purpose of these. If we want more stability, why not making already existing stuff more stable? Can anyone explain?

All the colliders in the game are smooth like a mirror, that's why they slide against each other so well. The new parts are covered in digital glue which adds maximum friction locally. I believe devs can't just bump up the global friction because 1: imitating spikes on boots requires more than average friction, 2: because it will affect current wheel colliders.

[lajoswinkler]

19 minutes ago, Enceos said:

All the colliders in the game are smooth like a mirror, that's why they slide against each other so well. The new parts are covered in digital glue which adds maximum friction locally. I believe devs can't just bump up the global friction because 1: imitating spikes on boots requires more than average friction, 2: because it will affect current wheel colliders.

That's it. I'm making a custom built wheel now. 

[Jognt]

It looks nice. But I have to admit I’m skeptical about whether or not it will play nice. Anything new at this point sounds like ‘another thing I’ll need to fix myself/with a mod’. 

Please.. give me a good reason to believe in you guys again.  

Edit: there are several mentions of people being excited about using these for landing legs/bases, yet on the first page there’s already a post that says these aren’t going to help (much) with that. Is this really just another disappointment waiting to be released?

Edited June 29, 2019 by Jognt

[sh1pman]

37 minutes ago, Jognt said:

Edit: there are several mentions of people being excited about using these for landing legs/bases, yet on the first page there’s already a post that says these aren’t going to help (much) with that. Is this really just another disappointment waiting to be released?

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to nail bases/landers to the ground?