How do I put a rover inside a cargo bay for transport?

[maddog59]

I have a rover that I've saved as both a subassembly and a stand-alone ship, and I want to put it inside a Service Bay or a Cargo Bay before launch. But I don't seem to be able to get it positioned properly. Using the offset tool, once I get it to an attachment point, it won't get into position without clipping thru some part of the ship, and being stuck there. One option that I've tried is to put a stack separator on the ceiling of the Service Bay, and attach the rover to that. The only other option I've been able to do is to put the rover to one side of the runway, 'launch' the ship to the runway, open the ramp, and have a Kerbal drive it in. So what am I missing?

[Hotel26]

 

Coincidentally, I have just repeated this trick.  But instead of using a naked fairing (for the attachment points), I simply attached the hard point to some point in the craft, then gizmoed it out into the open, then attached the rover (a sub, in my case) to the hard point, then gizmoed the hard point back inside the cargo space, make sure the hard point is staged(!), then gizmoed the 'rover' to cover up the hard point with the rover such that the hard point is now internal to the rover...  Don't worry if none of this is obvious and do read the thread if you get stuck, or ask more questions.

When the hard point stages away, it and its encompassing rover will be released from the cargo bay.  The only downside here is that, peering into the cargo hold, your rover is going to appear to have no visible means of support, but this is the same as e.g. using attachment points on a fairing -- and it's also "payback" for my first two years in the VAB (see below).

You're also possibly just having problems telling the VAB guys where to join what you are doing.  You can't use the offset tool to connect to nodes, just shift ("offset") an already connected part.  Sometimes you need an angle in which you have line of sight to the dock you are moving toward and no other parts behind it.  (That's where the VAB guys get confused.)  Which is why my next comment:...

Cargo bays are hard to work inside, so it is always good to gizmo e.g. an internal dock, out into the open to work on it; then gizmo everything back.  I hated the VAB for two years and then I was shown Shift-gizmo...  it changed my life.

Edited December 24, 2020 by Hotel26

[maddog59]

On 12/23/2020 at 7:32 PM, Hotel26 said:

Cargo bays are hard to work inside, so it is always good to gizmo e.g. an internal dock, out into the open to work on it; then gizmo everything back.  I hated the VAB for two years and then I was shown Shift-gizmo...  it changed my life.

I assume that when you say 'gizmo' an item, you're talking about the Offset tool. I've tried just about everything I can think of to try implement your suggestions and nothing works; I'm clearly missing something, either knowledge or technique or both.  The best I seem to be able to get is a docking port jr at one end of the MK3 cargo bay; then attaching the corresponding docking port of the rover to that. It appears in 'mid-air' at the end of the cargo bay, so I tried using the offset tool to move it downward, but even with Toggle Snap set to 'smooth' (or whatever it's called), I can only move the docking port down about halfway, then it jumps to where the vehicle is clipping thru the bottom of the cargo bay. So I can launch the whole mess and disconnect and drive the rover out, but I'll never be able to reconnect the rover. It's quite disheartening, and I'm just about ready to give up, so if you have any suggestions I'd appreciate it. 

[Caerfinon]

17 minutes ago, maddog59 said:

but I'll never be able to reconnect the rover

One way of reconnecting the rover to the mk3 cargo bay is to drive it in, and then use EVA Construction or KIS/KAS to bolt it in place with struts.

Or use a mod like EVA Struts that are in place from the build in SPH/VAB but can be used to attach things while in EVA mode

[Hotel26]

7 hours ago, maddog59 said:

I assume that when you say 'gizmo' an item, you're talking about the Offset tool.

That's right.

If you like, place your craft file up on Google Drive or Dropbox and send me a link by PM (Personal Message).  I'll take a look at it, doctor it up and send it back to you with notes of what I did.

[maddog59]

32 minutes ago, Hotel26 said:

That's right.

If you like, place your craft file up on Google Drive or Dropbox and send me a link by PM (Personal Message).  I'll take a look at it, doctor it up and send it back to you with notes of what I did.

Thanks; I'll take you up on that, but it may be a day or two. The weekend is over and I have to get back to the grindstone! :-) 

 

[Superfluous J]

7 hours ago, maddog59 said:

I assume that when you say 'gizmo' an item, you're talking about the Offset tool

No need to assume, that's the official classification for both the Offset and Rotation tools.