Freshmeat

Playing around with the station arm, I have found that it overheats on reentry when stoved in a MK3 cargo bay. Digging a bit around, I found out that it probably is caused by the COM being placed as if the arm is upright and fully extended. Thus, it is outside the cargo bay while the entire model is inside the bay. I suspect that it is this placement that also gives problems if you try to use KIS to replace it, as the kerbal is more than 3 meters away from the COM if they are at the root of the arm. Thus, I would suggest that you move the COM to the base of the arm. I know that this will make the entire arm flail around that end upon the ever-so-present explosions in KSP, and it might be troublesome for small vessels equipped with arms, but it seems like the gains will outweigh the problems. In all cases, the possibilities of the arm easily outweigh the 30000 funds repair tag whenever I have done i mission with my cargo SSTO.

My own exploits for yesterday was launching was hopefully is going to be expanded to a space station:

That is a most interesting needle you have there. Is it stable during acceleration?

Coming of my Eve Elcano and upgrading to 1.4.3, my original sights where set on a clean career start in the Galilean system. It seemed that I had done most of the things around Kerbol I wanted to. However, I had been following the developments in Wild Blue Industries closely. It seemed that @Angel-125 had come up with a fully working robotic arm that would not come apart like Infernal Robotics might do, and on testing the performance was far superior to the cranes from Konstruction that I had experimented with earlier. Advanced testing was successful and quite intriguing. The robotic arm have a fixed magnet of considerable strength in one end that enables it to carry heavy loads, but also extremely prone to phantom forces if it pushes upon a fixed part. Also, having the magnet active upon load is quite the konfetti-maker, making judicious use of multiple quicksaves a necessity. I am quite certain that Kraken drives would be very possible, but I prefer thingss to react as if physics is a law, not a suggestion. In light of these developments, I took a long, loving look at Gael, and decided that the grind to get to a station from a fresh start was more than I could stomach at the moment. Back to Kerbin and the exploits of Asgaard Aeronautics with their heavy purse and fleet of able craft. Mind, most of these where now inoperative due to some shifting of mods (most notably KAS -> KAS 1.0), but the Grey Goose SSTO was at the ready. So the plan is simple: Assemble a station of as many modules as I care, each flown up in the MK3 cargo hold of the Grey Goose and assembled using Konstruction weldable ports, and some light work with KIS. I will lean somewhat on the ISS for inspiration, but in no way feel particularly bound to make a replica. The initial mission is below: Lessons learned: The EVA rails on various space station parts are not necessarily well thought out, especially if on a part that is assembled in a different way than it was designed to. The modules of CxAerospace station parts are an old standby of mine due to their stunning looks, but the handrails are not designed to cope with and added module above. Konstruction ports are far more finicky than I remember. The instructions are quite buried in the USI wiki and does not mention the slight bug that once docked, two ports will not allow themselves to be redocked. Further, the Compress (Rotate) function is so violent that it led to RUD, not matter how precise the original arrangement of docking was. Stick to angle snap. The Station Arm from MOLE does not play well with KIS, due to its moving parts KIS cannot properly tell whether a Kerbal is in range or not. This means I am going to use the Potted Arm method for rearranging station arms. Hopefully this will be a very occasional affair. Always release the arm magnet and let the ports glide to their position. Goes double for rearranging arms. Next up will be a mission to add a long piece of truss to the station, as well as an arm unit. Once that is in place, a solar cell segment, making everything ready for a crewed module.

Thanks a lot. /a fuzzy nice Alot lumbers up to MOARdV

I filed a bug at the MAS thread that might belong here, pertaining to OpenGL. Happens when I use the glass cockpit. In addition, in ksp.log I have following error both when using -force-glcore and without. [LOG 18:47:33.564] PartLoader: Compiling Internal Space 'UltimateShuttleIVA/Spaces/Modern_Shuttle_IVA/Modern_Shuttle_IVA' [LOG 18:47:33.583] Cannot find InternalProp 'MAS_pb_EngineState' I do not know if it means anything, but I thought I would let you know.

I seem to experience problems with MAS under OpenGL. I tried G'ths Ultimate Shuttle glass cockpit, but with -force-glcore the Navball does not show up on the MFD: No problem at all without -force-glcore. Was able to reproduce on a clean 1.4.3 with just Ultimate Shuttle and required mods (ASET, MAS, RPM, NF props and MM). Is there other mods that use MAS so I can test whether it is this particular IVA or a common issue? Dug up MRK by CobaltWolf, same result. Windows 10 Home 64-bit, GTX1060 6GB, driver v 388.13 Zip with KSP.log and output.txt

@Gilph You need to rename the textures in the \GameData\PoodsSkyboxes\CalmNebula\ . Rename CalmNebulaXN.dds to CalmNebula_NegativeX.dds and so on.

Doh! Just found out that you can save by pressing the floppy disk icon. I am an idiot, but you already knew that.

@Ruedii I found a config somewhere in the thread that works. Cannot find it right now.

Two station arms moving one another: It is possible, but the tolerances are very low, and RUD is the norm also, you need to be very careful about quicksaves, if the arms hold one another you get explosions. That being said, I imagine that you only will need to move your arms every once in a while, and the process is fascinating. The arms are a lot more forgiving than RoverDudes konstruction mod, and I think it will be feasible to actually use them for assembling a station. Three suggestions: First, it might be beneficial to be able to save snapshots independently of the individual arm and save. I do not know whether it would be to much of a hassle to code, then don't bother. But as it stands, I need to write down presets on a piece of paper so I can encode them. Second, if the arm was less than 1t, a single kerbal could move it with KIS and reattach it where needed. This is of course a balance issue, but might be worth considering. Third: I have already suggested this, but the ability of the Konstruction cranes to boost KIS lifting capacity is a quite nifty abstraction you might want to consider including. However, given that your arm is so much more efficient, it might not be worth the hassle of incorporating. A small bug that I guess cannot be helped: If the arm is being held and you activate the actuators, they still move relative to the joint. From the posts in this thread I understand why, but there might be some way of disabling the actuators? I however can see the problem of determining when to disable them. Again, I really think this is a game changing addition, getting the things I want from Infernal Robotics without having to deal with the problems of disjointing. This addition alone is reason to upgrade to 1.4.x series.

Who cares what anybody else think. Do it, overdo it, and send us the screenshots

Learn orbital mechanics. Do any of the challenges in the challenges forum.

I finally came home from Eve. Next up is installing an SSD, so my entire rig is down for a couple of days (new windows install). Then I can finally upgrade to whatever version of 1.4 is up when I get my computer back from service.

I can finally apply for an Elcano prize, as I today returned from a circumnavigation of Eve: The full writeup is here. It took quite a while as the heavy gravity and big rover made physical warp impossible, so around 60 hours for the drive alone. I have invested my play time on this project since February, and have skipped updating to get it done. But it happened, and I am pretty proud of the achievement.

This mission report chronicles the capstone of my current career save, an Elcano mission to Eve. Why Eve, then? I have played Kerbal Space Program for quite a while, but never managed to return from the purple deathtrap. And I wanted to do an Elcano of a descent size. My last attempt was a Mun Elcano back in 2015, but that got cut short in an update and missing mods. Also, the logistics of making an Eve return mission with life support are quite demanding anyway, so dropping a rover along the rest of the gear would be a relatively small addition. Launches started back in February: The descent/ascent vehicle: Not the most original. Features an aspargus of six dual vectors and stability and drag fins to keep it retrograde during descent. Parachute spam lowers speed in the final leg. It has a lower stage for carrying it to Eve, and the service module has supplies for a month, as well as sufficient RCS for docking. ' It took two launches to refuel the D/AV, then it was good to go. Comms array: Three high altitude equatorial and one low altitude polar with scansat abilities. If I had to do this mission properly, it would have launched on a previous window, but here I have savegames A recon craft for a DMOS contract. Little did I know that the Little Brother surveillance camera needed servicing for each use, something that will be of consequence later on. The interplanetary transport (IPT) is heavily influenced by NASAs Deep Space Habitat. I did not want the crew to be cramped inside the D/AV for the entire trip, which carries no recyclers. In this craft, I use the recyclers of KPBS for their reliability under warp and easy tuning. At that time I had gotten interested in SSTO's, and the Grey Goose II made my successful entry to the K-Prize for refueling the Interplanetary transport. Crew was supplied in an earlier attempt. The Habitation unit with KPBS life support systems and a Pathfinder expandable habitat. I think that the expandable life support of Pathfinder is stretching credibility, but the aesthetics of the pack is incredible. Drill for ISRU operations. Unfortuantely, I do not seem to have screenshots of the rover. As I was not entirely certain that I had enough fuel, so I launched a craft for orbital refuelling from Gilly as well. Gilly has a horrible inclination and low Eve orbit makes it rather inefficient, but in the end I was very glad I had it. Take off for Eve. Note that I have attached the Longboat to the tip of the IPT, completing the likeliness of the Deep Space Habitats Orion. It is used for ferrying between the IPT and D/AV. The nuclear engine is precisely identical to for nukes in performance. As a rule, I keep to stock engines, as I have a hard time telling whether a modded engine is unbalanced. Here we go Here we arrive. This was at this time I realized that I would be unable to refuel monoprop i orbit. I had very little on the longboat, but a great deal of it in the D/AV service module, so I had to plan rendezvous and docking operations accordingly. If I where to redo the mission, the Longboat would definitely have been better equipped. Entry of the hab. The smaller units could fit low above an inflatable heatshield. The rover was sandwiched between two heatshields for a tumbling ride down. Took quite some reloads not to overheat. If you look carefully, you can see Universal Storage life support units on the back of the rover. It turned out that they did not balance their recycling properly, so I had to replace them with the KPBS life support system of the base during the trip. Power is supplied by a NF small fission reactor not entirely like the kilopower reactor. Speed is throttle controlled with my controller, which makes driving a lot easier. Freja vase and crew. The drill and rover is yet to arrive. Refitting the rover. I was originally 500 km south when I found out the LS was inadequate and had to make a serious revert. And off we go. Among the strange sights where the occasional glitched floating rock. I have around a million screenshots from the trip. SVT, EVE and KS3P make for very pretty scenes. Valentina in the crew cab. I chose KPBS base units for the rover to get adequate sleeping compartments for a crew of four. This made for a rather heavy rover, but eight MK2 wheels gives a solid traction. Above spoiler contains anormaly. I have three aquatic propellers from Feline Utility Rovers for sea travel, a must on Eve. Finally back. The trip took from mid april to mid may real time, and around 20 days in game. I did not drive during the night, so around 60 hours of play. Eve is a rather simple place to drive with only relatively few steep hills, most of the time I could just drive directly over them with 8° climbing ability. So for the most time driving I re-read the classic "Dune", which I had not done in almost twenty years. Last one to leave, Lealyn removes the girders that originally held the heat shield, and later the KAS connectors from the drill. Due to the jumping bug I had fairly long winch lines between the craft, and relied on World Stabilizer to avoid explosions. No screenshots from the actual launch, I was pretty busy guiding a compromise between drag and gravity losses. In the end I made it out with a few hundred dV left. This was when I realised I needed to service my recon craft in order to finish the DMOS contract, and neither the sat nor the D/AV serve module had enough fuel for rendezvous. I managed to get the recon to a coplanar orbit, but still then needed both rendezvous with the recon and the IPT. Gilly refuel craft to the rescue. It had enough fuel for both the recon (pictured), the IPT and the D/AV service module, if it was left in orbit. Going home. Grey Goose picks up the crew from LKO and returns to base. Approach as Kerbol sets. Touchdown. I brought quite a number of experiments to quite a number of biomes during the Elcano. The route around Eve the screenshot of the map is taken after the mission, but since the nuclear plant of the rover was used on the hab, electricity is long gone and I cannot show the BTDT scan showing the route. I placed a flag everytime I started a play session, a few of which are visible in the map, and a lot of custom waypoints for setting a course around obstacles. In retrospect, I am quite happy to be done with the mission. It is an exercise in planning and patience rather than actual ingenuity, and not every ones cup of tea. The actual problem solving was very interesting, and the fact that I had to improvise kept my interest when it happened, but the trip itself was a bit to uneventful. Enjoy the scenery, fix a broken tire, read another chapter, make tea, make a course correction. I guess the Mun is probably a better choice as the terrain is a lot harsher, and you don't have to sink so much play time into it.

I have been holding off upgrading while I finished my last mission in my current career game, and really hoped that I could use KAS 1 instead of 0.6 from the set out. Thank you for getting this up.

My God, that was a glorious piece of work, thank you for dropping the link.

Quite some people around here use Arduinos. Never gotten a Raspberry, to expensive.

Progress is good, and potential for expansion is really nice. I recall just wanting to be over with the thing and start flying again as well, and it sort of inhibits my ideas for making improvements to my rig now.

Problem is that if you go for KSP, you should get the Intel CPU with the fastest core you can afford once you figured at least 16 GB ram in the project. You might even be able to pull it off on your GTX 960 if the budget is tight. But since you go for a more generalist build, I'd balance the CPU against a GTX1060. I have a 6 GB myself, but suspect the 3 GB will net slightly better value for money.

@Kev1n8088 A very uncertain guess is that the arduino experiences timeout. How long does it take for your vessels to load? If this is the culprit, there is a Delay setting in the plugin ini file that you can try to increase to see if it helps. At work now, cannot direct more specifically. If that does not solve it, you might want to upload your code somewhere we can see it, and check KSP.log for suspicious messages. I am unfamiliar with the work you cite.

Gratulations on your build. I use a keyboard circuit as part of my controller as well, and being able to solder those 1.27 mm pads is a serious challenge. I like the aesthetics of your controller, it looks very much to the point. You are not the only one who flipped his design, one controller maker even managed to get inverted lines on his custom made PCB's. Should you decide to go serious on the Arduino route, I can say I knew nothing of microcontrollers when I first started out, but people around here are extremely helpful. Just ask around, and you will get an answer (granted, sometimes the answer is "I have no idea", but you still get an answer ). While good things can be said about native HID, make sure you get a 5 V board instead of a 3.3V, as most peripherals are 5 V. There are several plugins that allows communication through serial, going from quite straightforward to really advanced. Good luck on your endeavor.

@stephen95s Try using a winch for a link instead. It seems to lessen the problem for me.

I'd go for #3, but seriously consider whether whatever it is warrant high danger stripes. Still, no matter what it looks like, I'll love it.