How to prevent your rovers from rolling over

[Xyphos]

http://www.facebook.com/streetfx/videos/10155185181900112/

take note of the shape, and simulate it with I-Beams.

[magnemoe]

Pretty genial then you think of it. just an half circle roll-over protection, and even if rover end up upside down it would be easy to get upright with a probe reaction wheel. the rollover protection also protect the payload.

Is it any way to make this with stock parts? Yes the small struts can be used but thinking of keeping part count down.

[waterlubber]

Personally, I use jet engines and have compact rovers that can operate upside down. Some emergency seperatons help too.

[Xyphos]

Is it any way to make this with stock parts? Yes the small struts can be used but thinking of keeping part count down.

I-Beams and Size3 batteries, maybe? radially attached, ofc.

[Azimech]

I keep cornering speeds low, together with a wide body. And no driving on foreign bodies too.

Oh dear, it's the video from my fellow citizens again. Yeah, the crazy Dutch with their crazy ideas.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Azimech

[lajoswinkler]

IRL, it's a pretty stupid idea. In KSP, quite a neat one.

[Cairol]

My Mun- and Minmus rovers have enough SAS power to roll themselves sideways back on their wheels.

I'ne not build high-g rovers yet. But I probably would use the large landing gear as a flip-device.

[problemecium]

I just make my rovers so ridiculously light that a Kerbal can just kick them right-side-up again xD

[Agost]

Just put some negative camber on wheels, disable SAS torque and don't drive too fast.

Rolling over means you can destroy science stuff etc

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

Let it tip over

[Slam_Jones]

Okay, but what's your plan when it falls on it's side?

Because if there's one thing I've learned making rovers, it's that no matter what, there will be an angle it will get stuck at. (My tests usually involve very high speeds, long jumps, and violent crashes... just to make sure they can survive as much as possible. The best ones can usually hit just about anything at 50m/s, and simply pirouette through the air for a bit before landing and rolling out again.)

Edited September 16, 2015 by Slam_Jones

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

Okay, but what's your plan when it falls on it's side?

Because if there's one thing I've learned making rovers, it's that no matter what, there will be an angle it will get stuck at. (My tests usually involve very high speeds, long jumps, and violent crashes... just to make sure they can survive as much as possible)

Those wheels are actually quite stirdy and can take a lot of impact force. Also they only break when the force is applied from below.

[Slam_Jones]

Right on, I just mean, what happens when it's on its side, so only the sides of the wheels are touching the ground, where they are unable to produce any movement. Usually I put an Infernal Robotics cylinder or piston to extend and push it back upright, but I'm sure there's other ideas.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

Right on, I just mean, what happens when it's on its side, so only the sides of the wheels are touching the ground, where they are unable to produce any movement. Usually I put an Infernal Robotics cylinder or piston to extend and push it back upright, but I'm sure there's other ideas.

It is easy to righten yourself again with one or two reactionwheels

[Slam_Jones]

It is easy to righten yourself again with one or two reactionwheels

You must build yours a lot lighter than mine... I usually need 4+ reaction wheels lol... even on my old cirumnav vehicle, which was usually less than 1.8 tons.

Although with 4 of them, I could catch air off of a dune (or hill, or whatever) and do some "tricks" before landing... backflip, front flip, 360, etc. Made it rather entertaining

Oh, and I discovered at one point that it could do a "facestand" with surprisingly good balance...

Edited September 16, 2015 by Slam_Jones

[klesh]

You guys really have problems with your rovers flipping? I just use a low center of mass and don't drive like you stole it. No problems.

[Kerbart]

You're not preventing it from rolling over. You're simply mitigating the problem.

Nothing wrong with mitigation of course. It's usually simpler than preventing the problem from happening.

[Brofessional]

I'm reminded of this

[Fearless Son]

I am less concerned with the rover rolling over than I am with it damaging potentially delicate equipment that might be mounted on it.

The need to slow down to turn would also be less of an issue for me if the brakes on the wheels worked as they were advertised to. I need to go fast to traverse land at a reasonable rate, but even a little hillock can crush me if it forces me into a turn I cannot slow down fast enough to make.

[Kerano]

I used to go with flat and wide, or wheels on both top and bottom. Then I discovered the joy of reaction wheels on rovers. Now my favourite design is low to the ground, long and sleek with plenty of roll torque. Here's one example:

[Xyphos]

Usually I put an Infernal Robotics cylinder or piston to extend and push it back upright, but I'm sure there's other ideas.

you can also use stock AIRBRAKES

[Aloriel]

My solution to this ever present problem was to simply put non-wheel landing gear on the top of it. Then, in the case of a tip over, I could engage that gear and it would push it upright, or at least close enough that a kerbal could do the rest.

I wish I had a screenshot, but I've been out of the loop for a while due to an injured wrist.

[Aragosnat]

You guys really have problems with your rovers flipping? I just use a low center of mass and don't drive like you stole it. No problems.

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

Had a good laugh at "don't drive like you stole it." Wonder if Kerbals have games similar to GTA?

But, yeah. Wide can help. But, low center of mass with the bulk of the mass over each wheel helps. Even with reaction wheels cannot stop the flipping when hitting a phantom immoveable roadbloack on one side... Seems to be on the left for me. Even though I do build long and narrow. I do try my best to keep the speed under 10 m/s (36km/h) for the just in case I hit the invisable object called the Mün (or insert large orbital object with gravity) or less if it is a really really heavy rover. As slowing down is not easy when going down hill/mountain.

[Feradose]

Use Turboramjet to move CoM below wheels because #lolphysics.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

I found some more old Pictures and put them into a GIF.

Hope i got them all in order.