How to make my Laythe Rover deal with slopes better

[Ultimate Steve]

This is my Laythe rover, designed to ferry crew and supplies (on trailers) between various nearby points on Laythe. Originally, the intent was to power it with batteries for local trips, charging it up with solar panels between journeys, with fuel cells and tanks to provide constant power on long distance trips. However, despite testing on Kerbin, on Laythe, this rover sucks.

I can deal with the fact that the rover is slow, burns through electricity fast, and needs to stop frequently even with the fuel cells running. What I an't deal with is the fact that the rover cannot go up slopes more than four degrees while carrying the trailer. That number is not much better without the trailer.

The rover's wheel settings were originally calibrated so that the rover would be stable at 4x warp. However, with the trailer, I need to make a really long journey (the ascent vehicle landed waaay far away and needs refueling) so if you can suggest changes to the settings to make it so I can go up steeper slopes, I will gladly sacrifice the 4x warp capability, as the trailer will not be stable in 4x warp anyways.

I also have KAS capability, but a very limited number of spare parts. Launching a new rover or more parts isn't really an option unfortunately.

[Gargamel]

Are you having power (horsepower) issues, or traction issues on the slopes?

This was my monster rover in 1.3.1:

 It had major issues transitioning from one slope angle to another, and would get stuck on the top of hills. 

With BG, I should be able to redesign it so that the previously fixed undercarriage would be attached via a series of rotors/axles to allow the wheels to always be in contact with the surface.    Perhaps you are having similar issues where the wheels are losing contact with the ground when you are trying to climb slopes.

Arg... just saw the mission constraints part.... Hmmm..... Is the trailer powered too?

Edited June 25, 2020 by Gargamel

[Ultimate Steve]

1 hour ago, Gargamel said:

Arg... just saw the mission constraints part.... Hmmm..... Is the trailer powered too?

Unfortunately no, the hitch part doesn't physically link the vessels. I can, however, modify it so that there is a physical connection. It would also help a lot with the trailer's flipping problem...

[bewing]

All I can say is "turn off Traction Control, and crank up the friction."

 

[James M]

6 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

so if you can suggest changes to the settings to make it so I can go up steeper slopes

This tells me you're ascending, meaning you have traction at least in the rear. The sheer weight of the vehicle and the mass of the planet are keeping you glued down, so your problem here is one of two things. Either 1) You're lacking on horsepower. Or 2) Your heavy back end is dragging on the slope adding excess friction as you try to accelerate up. Generally the fixes would go along the lines of increasing the rear suspension a bit or adding more powered wheels depending on the actual problem. Obviously you can't edit the vehicle so... Try raising the rear suspension or reducing friction of back half of wheels or both lol? If it's digging in too much, it might start accelerating better after the change. If not, whelp I tried. 

Edited June 25, 2020 by James M

[AHHans]

I noticed that you have the spring strength set very low. Is the suspension bottoming out?

I recently noticed that my craft often seem "jittery" when they should be standing still. It turned out that their suspension wasn't set right and they keep jumping a tiny bit into the air all the time. This meant that the wheels didn't actually touch the ground most of the time. My craft were mostly planes, so they "only" became really hard to control on the ground, but I assume for a rover that would mean that you have very little traction on the ground because for most of the time the wheels are in the air (if only a few mm) and cannot actually propel the rover.

[FleshJeb]

Agreed with @bewing, traction control is a menace.

Another thing to do is set up friction profiles on a KAL-1000. One end for high-speed running in the flats (I usually make them impossible to tip, and with lower friction on the front wheels), and maxxed out at the other, for hill-climbing.

The real secret sauce for atmo rovers is ducted fans. They're MUCH more efficient and faster than wheel power.