Procedural probe bodies

[makkz]

I've been thinking about a mod for a while, partly inspired by the Juno and New Horizons space craft.

What I would like is a procedural probe body/main bus mod. You decide which shape your probe is to have (square, hexagonal, piano-shaped, you name it), and you decide how wide and tall it should be from the context menu. The top and bottom panel would then be usable for surface attatchment for science parts, fuel/RCS tanks, etc.

This is a quick mockup of what I have in mind:

1. You choose the shape (in this mockup, hexagonal) and size (width)

2. You choose how far apart the top and bottom should be (and optionally the contents of the tube, RCS or fuel)

3. You choose if you want to cover the sides with "thermal blankets". In the drawing I only covered three sides for clarity.

Edited July 14, 2015 by makkz

[Mysterion]

That sounds like a good idea. I wish I could mod so that I could make this. Would the inside of the probe be hollow, as is shown in the picture?

[makkz]

Yeah, that is the idea (and really the entire point), as it would be a way to fill it with propellant and experiments. Take a look at this drawing of Juno, for example:

Edited July 14, 2015 by makkz
Formatting

[hab136]

(square, hexagonal, piano-shaped, you name it),

Now I want a piano probe.

Yeah, that is the idea (and really the entire point), as it would be a way to fill it with propellant and experiments.

So, we would turn on/off the sides to edit the contents?

[MoeKitsune]

I want this.

[Kibble]

Seconded! <3

[makkz]

Now I want a piano probe.

New Horizons replica, anyone?

So, we would turn on/off the sides to edit the contents?

Yeah, that is the idea. Science experiments can be "clipped through" or activated with action groups.

[Yemo]

Yeah, that is the idea (and really the entire point), as it would be a way to fill it with propellant and experiments. Take a look at this drawing of Juno, for example:

http://i.imgur.com/bAHHSk5m.jpg

That looks like a box sat with a hexagonal shaped, compartmentalized cargo bay beneath it. And the "doors" unfold to be solar panels.

Which is a really nice design. I m not sure that it would work as a procedural part.

The boxsat is already possible using the BoxSat mod. Procedural Probe cores are available in SETIctt, if ProceduralParts are installed.

UniversalStorage offers a hexacore + wedges which comes very close to the design, if you put a box sat on top.

Unfortunately no Solar Panels without adding them manually.

But I quite like the hexagonal cargo bay with the solar panels.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Yemo

[makkz]

That looks like a box sat with a hexagonal shaped, compartmentalized cargo bay beneath it. And the "doors" unfold to be solar panels.

Which is a really nice design. I m not sure that it would work as a procedural part.

Oh, I think you misunderstood - I'm not looking for that specific design, I linked it as an example of a hollow cargo bay.

[Yemo]

For the general modular "wedge" design, UniversalStorage comes pretty close, though it is not procedural, more like steps, and the shape is given.

I m not quite sure your proposal is doable with current restrictions (especially concerning the selectable shapes), though it looks very interesting and does provide inspiration for partial implementations.

For example Universal Storage could use a solar panel wedge or a cover (at least for the hexacore). Maybe even a probe core wedge.

I also really liked the schematic, even though you only provided it as an example of what would be possible if the full proposal could be implemented.

So until someone comes up with a way to do that, I recommended the design idea as an addition to Dr. Jet's Chop Shop.

[Mysterion]

I think that the probes should have built-in cargo doors of sorts, depending on their size. Thus, you can do things like carry the fuel within the probe core, but also do things like place batteries, possibly seats, etc. inside of it. A hollow probe opens up plenty of possiblities, honestly.

[hab136]

FYI: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/131155-1-0-4-ProceduralProbes

No piano-shaped probes, though.