Maverick_aus

Final Planning Plenty of past Elcano mission reports highlight the long time the actual expedition takes. Jeb understands this. What he doesn't get is the proverbial scale of the (unnecessary he would say) testing, planning and research that has taken up the past weeks, prior to putting mud on tires. The time is at hand, with the following outcomes, testing etc complete. Read on for the latest (and final update) on pre-mission preparation. After a week breathing in the clear mountain air of the Blue Mountain ranges IRL, the events sponsor and development team has completed the last of the preparations, as follows: With reference to the Preparation Checklist that needed to be made prior to mission launch. we're proud to announce the following conclusions: 1. Solar Exposure OUTCOME: The number and shaping of solar panels are sufficient to power the engines right up til sunset. As long as the entire sun is visible above the horizon, enough usable energy is received by the craft to power two electric props. (Tested at equator, on an E-W heading). This means effective driving/sailing right up until sunset at this latitude and bearing. Diminished duration of solar exposure expected at higher lats. 2. Power storage? OUTCOME: Even with the excellent solar utilisation above, around 10 minutes worth of electricity will be stored in two large batteries. This is for use in the cases when the craft is in the shadow of a mountain, or several last minutes of travel are necessary into the night, eg to reach the shore. (Capacitors tested, but not suitable given wastage owing to their very quick discharge). 3. Replacement Vehicle OUTCOME: A design and proof-of-concept air-drop has passed testing and can be further developed for field use in that eventuality. DTs propellers definitely do not bust off. 4. Juno Usage? OUTCOME: Carrying a large load of fuel, whilst powering the craft only with Junos results in a very poor power to weight ratio. Thus option two is the winner with the Junos used for extra thrust up steep hills, if required. The expedition team could still rely on the Junos as primary power plant in the event of an emergency, but many refuels would be required. 5. Which Route? OUTCOME: The planning team has decided on the longer land route, closer to the equator (orange on the map) with some variation, whilst keep it a majority maritime venture. To decide between the potential routes, a campaign of aerial surveying was undertaken, seeing which bit of land to cross. This was a challenging, time-consuming but fun mini-expedition in itself. The Yellow Route Verdict: I would like to explore the tundra and the great inland sea, however this more northerly route means crossing corrugated terrain. A lot of it too. Additionally, a landed sun test ('ooh hot!') of sorts proved that there's a very limited amount of usable day light up here. Only around 2 1/2 hours of daylight. Not good news for a solar-powered vehicle. The second, more southerly option involved skipping through the lakes, which appeals. However a similar solar power limitation applies here too. The Red Route Verdict: Very easy water-land transitions, some interesting geographic features, short land route. The Orange (New and Improved!) Route Verdict: The aerial survey enables a specific route to be chosen based on passing a rocky, mountainous region. Pros: Interesting terrain features to appreciate and navigate through, a more direct equatorial path, longer Sun exposure. Cons: longer time on land but as I've previously discovered the Dolomedes Triton is a car-boat in boat-car disguise. If the successful land trials are anything to go by, then this should be a very doable route, and make a welcome change from the abundant water-crossing. The team is proud to announce this Orange Path as the winner and chosen route for the land crossing in the upcoming Dolomedes Triton Elcano challenge! 6. Solar Panel? OUTCOME: The team have decided to use the curved Near Future Electric solar panels to maximise exposure through the day. These are heavier but more efficient than the XL Ox stat, for example. 7. Vertical Stabiliser. OUTCOME: Turns out a boat doesn't need a vertical aerofoil. Who knew? I replaced it with a rudder. Yep, boats need rudders apparently. This gives a MUCH better turning circle for near-shore, low speed manoeuvering, and more importantly, whilst on the high seas, superior stability of the craft at warp speeds ("Engage!"). 8. Replenishment OUTCOME: I really don't want to have to rely on LF powered Junos to complete this challenge. But if it does come to that I have fooled around with some idiotic and completely unworkable refueling tankers. Perfect for KSP! No. No pics. No way. Well, that about wraps up the brief and ill-considered parts of Phase I of the planning. Now on to... Nah, just kidding. Up next:...Mission Launch!

Had a ball with my first Juno-powered micro-jet - the Firefly. With some jerry cans o' LF strapped on, it eventually got to 14,000m+, even made it the next continent for a challenge (and a bit of recon for the upcoming Elcano challenge) and glided to a landing near the Lakes DistrictTM .

@Just JimThanks mate. Yep. It's interesting isn't it. The body and mind are linked and seem to work together like that. @damerell Hmm. Intriguing. I've yet to take the plunge with trying life support. I think at this point, I've already got such a long to do list, that I'll never get started if I add LS to this. But certianly intruiged to try down the track. RE: Kethane. Yeah - I'll give it a go at some point. Have already decided for this mission no ISRU. @Geschosskopf Yes, this. Big-time. Especially in vehicle development for this challenge. If you let scope creep run it's rampant course you end up with every sort of engine, fuel and gadget on the vehicle and it doesn't move, or perhaps it's breaks horribly when tried etc etc. RE: 'Yellow alert' - Where are you? In South America somewhere right? (I recall from your 'Kerberos' post...) PS: RE: forum stuff: I'm using the 'at[yourname]' to get your attention. But is this redundant? Does the quoting function bring this to your attention already?

Real Adventuring Technically this week I'm on holidays with my family. So I'll be happily prioritising time with my kids and wife bushwalking, playing board games, generally exploring the life-changing Blue Mountains - a place I feel is my 'spiritual' home. If it weren't for that I may well be beginning the actual driving of the challenge! I will be spending some time thinking and planning however, this week, so as always, your thoughts and questions, and chatting generally are so welcome.

Hi @Geschosskopf Thanks for the thoughts. Re: night driving. I was thinking of the sea primarily, but your points sound valid. Re:solar Hmm. The solar angle is an interesting one. Up til now I had thought simply of adding many more panels than I needed at the equator and hoped it would be sufficient elsewhere. But given your concerns I'm thinking maybe I'll do a high latitude air drop and field test of the electrics. @Just Jim Well done! Enjoy your break for a bit.

Preparation Checklist Compiling a list of things to do and decisions to make before setting off: Determine how much of the daylight I can usefully use for driving. So far I've found I can run dual propellers up until around two sun's diameters' above the horizon. I know, I know. This is not very scientific. But it's a start. At that point, I drop back to one prop and continue on. But how long? Decide whether to include large batteries reserves to enable travel right up to sunset (and even into darkness?). Weight tradeoff here. Considering Near Electric capacitors as an alternative - better storage density. Design and test air drop-able replacement vehicle, including transporter. (No, not the Star Trek type Think C-130). Orbital drop could be fun. Juno utilisation. How much will we use these? 4.1 Emergency powerplant only (very little to no fuel carried). Here the thinking is, if the props are damaged, I can refuel, complete the expedition on jet power alone. Many refuels. 4.2. Occasional thrust boost for steep inclines (little-moderate fuel carried) no refuel required. 4.3. Night travel. 100% solar-powered electric props during the days, 100% LF-fuelled Juno-powered travel at night. (full fuel load day 1) several to many refuels required 4.4 Juno + electric props full time. Don't really need this level of speed, so only expecting to use this if I get unexpectedly bored and frustrated with how long the open sea stretches take. Like 3, entails many refuels. Finalise 'macro' path. Micro path to be determined on the way. 5.1 Which land bridge to cross? See map. 5.2 Aerial survey to be performed. 5.3 Check ScanSat altimetry and slope maps. 5.4 Anomalies. How many of these do I want to visit on the way? 5.5 Land stops? Where and how many. Juno utilisation affects this. Night travel = less stops, day only = more 5.6 I'd prefer to go "the path less traveled". Check past routes on mission reports and with the veteran Elcano explorers. How many solar panels. How many do I really want. ATM the part count is a little high (100+) resulting in a small but noticeable (and detested) lag. Obviously this impacts the battery question above. Check craft vertical stabiliser. Is such a large one really necessary. Two smaller ones perhaps, on the end of the pontoons would be better? Design and test air drop-able replenishment vehicle. Think LF tank-with-dockingport. Aerial or orbital. What have I missed? Please feel free to add your comments or questions regarding these or anything else pertinent. UPDATE: Solutions to these conundrums in the Final Planning post!

Nice sig badge, mate.

@Just Jim Hi! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. It's satisfying being able to give back a little to this community having gotten so much out of others people's posts, mission reports etc in the past. I believe you've done some Elcano adventuring yourself? - to the Mun was it? I'll look forward to catching up on how yours went.

And that's why I love the KSP community.

Yes - the lines on the map are rough - I'll be planning on beaching each night. And that's a helpful tip re: saving on water - thanks. I'll check it.

Cool! How did you know you'd got the 1000th page when you posted (and not been appended to 999)? I've been watching the page 999 on and off today waiting for it to tick over...

Path Research Decisions, decisions. Paths to consider. ScanSat's terrain and slope maps are very helpful too. Checking out the ice (either way) appeals @Geschosskopf Did you consider the southerly way in your prep phase (red on my map)? Update I'm now also considering seriously the orange route (see updated map above). Several reasons for this: 1. Diminishing solar energy available at higher latitudes. 2. My boat-car's excellent impression of a car-boat (ie it seems to be able to rove really well on land, for a boat). So much land crossing is a big ask, but I suspect the craft is up to it. 3. It's more a direct equatorial circumnav. Not only potentially quicker, but I feel closer to the spirit of the challenge. 4. It will give the pilots and engineers of KSC a good taste of both land and sea travel, as experience for future expeditions. This longer land experience would be invaluable for planning the famed (and infamed) polar circumnav of Kerbin, (in case this challenge is not enough, and I've still got the itch for more Elcano Kerbin-side). Update Route decision made! See on the Final Planning post for the winner!

Put together firespitter's Sopwith Camel-alike. What a ball.

@damerell thanks! Yeah, I hope to get the most out of the adventure by discovering and naming features etc, but yeah - there are some long blue stretches... @Geschosskopf thanks. It was quite a surprise to find my rookie Mission Report on the TOTM! I have been putting some effort into it, trying to share a sense of the fun I've had testing so far. But I've got a lot to learn in writing interesting and quality threads. So hopefully other people get some pleasure out of this too (and can cope with my first attempts at writing). There are some incredible threads out there.

Wow! Thanks @sal_vager & and the other choosers! There are some fun threads there!

Oh no! Broke your save-game? Did you have a recent backup?

Latest testing and development report is in here. Dolomedes Triton is now dual-propulsion! As a bonus: ...I sort, of accidentally climbed a mountain-island. With my boat. Well, boat-car. So a mountain-climbing boat-car. Yes! It even survived the descent

In the development and testing phase, in preparation for the Elcano Challenge (ground based circumnavigation). I sort, of accidently climbed a mountain-island. With a boat. Well, a boat-car. So a mountain climbing boat-car. Yes! And it even survived the descent too! The full story is here if you'd like to see more. @Overland Long-time noticer and admirer of you work (well, as it's come up on What Did You Do Today). Well done with your latest train! I love that you keep pursing your niche interest, and get so much out it. Good on you. Yes I hear you about the lack of soul in electric engines. There's something *alive* about the thumping and rumbling of an internal combustion engine. Hence we humans sometime give our cars names IRL, hey? Also, cool digital camo!

Days 3 & 4 Moar Solar _______________________________________ Design Direction Change Solar endurance has always fascinated me. The Solar Impulse aircraft recently piqued my interest. And so inspired by that I began work on a solar endurance plane. Val managed to fly it to the peninsula due east of KSC, proving the basic concept. (However I never developed it to a global (circumnav-by-air) scale.) Now I've got the perfect chance to apply that same philosophy to land and sea travel. Chatting with Geschosskopf recently, and seeing his Mission Log reminded me of firespitter's capability. I had intended to stick to stock for this challenge, but the more I thought about it, and the more I played with solar, the more attractive it became. I checked firespitter's compatabiltiy with 1.1+ and no worries there. And so I got going with design modifications and new testing. The Dolomedes Triton's chassis has already been tested on land and sea, and is a stable platform. I just had to work on powerplant, power supply and thrust direction issues. So without further ado, I present to you:... Dolomedes Triton ("Now with electrickery!") Ok so she's not the prettiest anymore, but boy can she hill-climb! Check out the following mini-story after the design notes Design Notes Content that DT can cross sea at 31 m/s with a sizeable fuel load on two Juno's power alone, can speed across plains, and climbs small mountains (well, ok hills), and having spent serious time and effort proving these capabilities, I wanted to add electric propulsion without compromising any of those conclusions and having to retest. So first off, I added firespitter's basic electric propeller to the rear central hull. Conveniently this propeller is rated at 40kN, which is precisely the same thrust output as the two Junos. Additionally, it weighs a negligible amount - 0.17 t. next, the propeller would need a power source. It has a healthy thirst for E, needing 24 per sec. So some solar panels.... This resulted in... (This is a shorter version of the pontoons I was trying) and However... A quick sanity-check of the handling of the craft at sea told a sad story: instability with bouncing, poor top speed. Suspecting that it was a CoT far above the CoM and not appropriately angled, experiments confirmed what Geschosskopf had been trying to tell me a few days go. Once the direction of thrust issue was addressed, it was much better. Thrust For level sea-cruising the craft need is happy on 40kN to sit on 31 m/s (at 17.6 tonnes). But based on land trials, I wanted 80kN for steep incline ascents if needed. (That's why you can see auxilliary Juno engines in the pics above). Thus the design was settling down to a dual-propulsion concept: infinite electrical daytime sea-cruising possible at 40kN, and a limited liquid-fuel powered Juno boost if needed up-land. An additional benefit is in powerplant redundancy - in the event of electric failure (like breaking it off!), I could change plans and fill up on LF and continue with jet only. Power However, in testing to determine how many solar panels I'd need, I noticed it was trivial to power the 24 e/s electric motor. I wondered how much of the sun those solar panels could catch. Ie could I get my boost from the sun's rays instead of the limited LF. What about 2x electric props? This could enable unlimited (electric) boosts, or alternatively a higher cruising speed the entire time! I could leave the Junos onboard with a little LF for an emergency super-boost or as backup powerplants. Yes: 120kN! That's results in a pretty sweet TWR for this little craft. Read on to see how sweet. (The only downside was turning my sleek beauty into a sola-panel-covered turtle.) So the current stage of design looks like this: _________________ Hill Climb A testing story... Jeb: C'mon Bill, enough fiddling with those panels! Let's take it for a SPIN! After a bit of messing about in the bay, the boys bump into this island. I don't know what you call it in your KSP universe, but it had never been given much attention before here. This led to a funny thought, and an unplanned experiment. Bill: Jeb...no. NO! There's no way we can get up there! Jeb: Oh c'mon! Let's give it a try! Funnily enough Bill was right. But the DT has enough thrust to plant both feet on land. Jeb, Val and Merkin had flown around and over these uninhabited islands, and occasionally deposited drop-tanks on them, but had never thought to set foot (or tyre) on them. Until now. Seeing the sandy beach around the corner, Jeb pressed on. Getting a run up, he floored it, 120 kN of POWERRRRR! Ok...I wonder how far we can get up before we stop and slip down?... Slowing down now...Yep, maybe half way. That's pretty good!...wait.... Uh... That's halfway! Bill: JEEEEEEB! View from above Decelerating the whole way, Jeb's wondering if they'll make it to the top. Bill's just wondering if they'll make it alive! Suddenly... ...air! Were flying! Oh we've MADE IT! Jeb: Yeeeeeeee-haaaaa! Bill: AHHHHHHHH! Safely at the top. The. top. of. the. mountain/island. wow. With the only damage being a couple of nose cones broken from a rough broaching of the hill. Jeb: Look at that. You can see all the way home from here. Bill: Yeah. Look at that. You...broke...my...NOSE-CONES! Look at that. .... Having enjoyed the view (or stressed over the slightly broken craft, accordingly) the two testers set off down the slope, homeward. Hmm. Doesn't look too steep from here... But ahead... Wait... Over the edge... Jeb's view (look at the angle of the prograde marker on the artificial horizon!) Utilising the reverse thrust on the dual 40kN elec props, plus brakes, Jeb could control the descent. Just don't roll! Safe splashdown! Jeb entered the water happily under 10 m/s. Map of the proceedings. What a rover. I think this craft is nearly ready for the Elcano challenge!

Hi @IvanSanchez That's really helpful. I thought the BTDT was supposed to do that - display the progress as a line on the ap as well as update the percentage. But alas mine does not. Other than having done an orbital survey, and then turning on the BTDT on your rover, was there anything else you did to achieve this? EDIT: Also, regarding your zooming qn, I believe you can zoom the map. Have you gone to the large map, then clicked on a part of the map to open a (second) small map? The small map is similar to the preview map above, but with a window has a zoom function. Also, I'll have to try the MJ Autopilot for route tracking.

@DMagic thanks for the reply. Ok - so that confirms that the route plotting is not actually an intended working function built in. I'll look into other avenues. EDIT: Update: further discussion with @IvanSanchez and other Elcano guys reveals the discussed map plotting is the BTDT doing this: Thanks @kcs123. I'll look into it.

Thanks for the thoughts G. That's really interesting about pitching up the vessel etc. I love your Mackerel. It's hilarious. Yep - I hear you re: rovers on land at phys warp. I haven't been able to pull it off once at anything like a proper speed. That's out. 1:1 timing the whole way over land it is. Quick qn on the formatting of your posts - how did you respond inline with multiple segments of my post quoted? After all this talk of electric engines, I've decided to think a bit more about propulsion. I'm testing dual power plants at the moment. Firespitters electric prop + 2 Juno. It's working very well. I've always loved the idea of a solar powered explorer. I just wanted to check though, with you - my design and plan is starting to get closer to your mission: I may take a similar route, similar power system (solar electric) etc, sea borne...I'm conscious of trying to do this my own way, but it's starting to overlap a little with yours...just thought I'd check with you before pursuing the electric route more...

Pre-Mission Craft Testing: Day Two Testing Report is up: Part 1 Part 2 If you get a chance, have a read. This is my first blogging of KSP, so please any feedback welcome. I'm trying to narrativise it a little. And I'd like to make something that is fun for people to read.

Day 2 - Part 2 _______________________________________ Here's the map of testing: Test 1 - Basic Incline Ascent Location: What better place to test, than the conveniently located hills nearby. Off we go. Ascent began well... Ah. We might have a problem there. Even Jeb looks a bit afraid there! Funny how all that's left after these crashes is the wheels. *Bill egresses to initiate crash investigation procedures. Bill: Jeb, I think we may need to rethink the incline testing velocity. Jeb? Jeb: Weee! Flames! Boom! Let's go again! Bill: Jeb! *Jeb hops out to inspect the damage Jeb: Hmmm. Bill, you're really a glass half-empty, kind of guy. You know that right? Jeb: We can work with this... So after a few more of these... and these The testing got Serious, Rigorous & ScientificTM ... Test 2 - Medium Wheels The Dolomedes Triton ("Now with medium wheels!") passed all the required tests: Incline ascent, Stop start, etc... We quickly sanity-checked medium wheel water drag was not excessively high (point 2 on map). A brisk beach landing at speed (point 3) confirmed the craft's amphibious transition ability. No problems. Spotting a flattish plain, Jeb decided to open the taps. Sprint was successful at upwards of (from memory 100 m/s) without spinning out or crashing.These medium gear are strong! With the new-found geo-confidence, Jeb thought he may as well push the limits and ascend a small mountain! Success! (in the distance is KSC) My son decided to name the mountain Mt Pass. Sensible boy. On the way down, we tested stability, grip and handling on the steep decline. Success! Verdict thus far: The testing was to prove that, given the DT can swim ok, could it walk on land acceptably. That is a boat which pretends to be a car sometimes. But given the results above, at this point I'm wondering if it's actually a car dressed up to look like a boat which pretends to be a car sometimes. It only goes a moderate, sustainable 30 m/s on water, yet on land.... 1. Jumps off hills at high m/s, landing hard and surviving. 2. Stop halfway up a moderate incline, then accelerates upwards. 3. Scales a small mountain. 4. Survives the decline from the mountain. At the end of a hard day's testing and development, the boys look quietly confident as they contemplate the journey ahead in the Dolomedes Triton ("Now with medium wheels!") Up Next: Day 3 Testing - Power plant decisions:

This bloke has done most of the work, I think. But with graphical output. https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/4d8qee/knowing_persistent_trails_probabaly_wont_make_it/ Just need to figure out how to use the command you referenced to output the long. and lat. data to a file, at points in time.