parts [1.2] 'Otter' Submersible (USI Submarine Parts) [0.2.0]

[hraban]

Hi RoverDude,

that was my fault. KSP is running in Win32 mode with OpenGL. The floats have - regardless of the number - no effect.
The submarine sinks like a stone. The control is a disaster. Even with full thrust, the dive can not be stopped.

Powered mods with plugins:
MechJeb
Kerbal Joint Reinforcement
Universal Storage
DMagic
all Plugins there comes with your Submarine

 

 

[RoverDude]

10 hours ago, Snarfster said:

My KSP install is turning into RoverDude Space Program.  

Funny thing, mine already is

3 hours ago, hraban said:

Hi RoverDude,

that was my fault. KSP is running in Win32 mode with OpenGL. The floats have - regardless of the number - no effect.
The submarine sinks like a stone. The control is a disaster. Even with full thrust, the dive can not be stopped.

Powered mods with plugins:
MechJeb
Kerbal Joint Reinforcement
Universal Storage
DMagic
all Plugins there comes with your Submarine

 

 

Remove the lead weights in the VAB.  They are there for initial calibration.

 

Oh... and be sure to turn on the reaction wheel and enable RCS (from the context menu) once you are in the water - they are disabled when not splashed down.

Edited December 27, 2015 by RoverDude

[harryyoung]

I've been giving the Otter a torough Exam. It is alive and healthy
Great Mod Roverdude, I watched you building that sub and i love playing with it.

That being said I have a few things that bug me...

1.: ThePod's  Center of Mass sits awefully weired: Right where the Kerbal has his/her place. If kerbals have that significant an influence in a 1t craft there would be no Space Program I think the CoM should be lowered to be inline with the aft attachment node and put a little back, hopefully stopping it from splashing and turning on it's back.

2.: I know the cutoff when no longer Splashed is intentional, however be aware that when you land your craft reasonably intact on the ocean floor you are no longer considered splashed but landed on ground as far as science sirtuation goes. I'm not sure how vessel.checkSplashed() handles things, however I have not had an auto cutoff, so it's plausible that function has a failsafe thingy built into it for just such cases (or just can't tell the difference here).

2a.: Also I flat out dislike that Cutoff when no longer being considered splashed; it's such fun to ride an oscilating sub breaking trough the surface and falling back just to come back up again  so instead of checking if the craft is splashed I'd rather have it check if the altitude above sea level is higher than 10 meters. If you go above 10 meters, chance is you'll break something and the trip ends regardless, so it seems a reasonable limit  It also adds a failsafe for the above.

3.: Whenever I hit Jettison the game sends a message that it also dumped the IntakeLqd, however that does not happen, either because that msg is not intended but technically not easily avoidable (in which case the button should be renamed to Jettison Lead) or because it does not reset the intake percentage to 0,

4.: Not sure if intended: The IntakeLqd for the RCS in the Pod does not get replenished. 

On a side note I went ahead and added a Readout for Altitude over Underwater Terrain to KER, pending Review and Approval by Cybutek: https://github.com/CYBUTEK/KerbalEngineer/pull/71

Edited December 28, 2015 by harryyoung

[stryth]

The kerbalstuff forum link doesn't work. it leads to the forum, but not any particular page

[vardicd]

I'm loving the new mod, but I have a question, how does one manage the core heat from the sub reactor? after a short time the core heat goes over 1000 and the power load produced drops massively, and the RCS and SAS modules lose power. Core heat doesn't seem to pass to the hull, to be bled off, so I'm trying to attach radiators, but I don't know if that will help. anyone else having these issues, or have I just missed something really obvious?

[RoverDude]

hmm... I will have to take a peek

 

[FungusForge]

22 hours ago, harryyoung said:

On a side note I went ahead and added a Readout for Altitude over Underwater Terrain to KER, pending Review and Approval by Cybutek: https://github.com/CYBUTEK/KerbalEngineer/pull/71

Heh, that would've avoided a bit of discomfort when I was exploring the Smiley Face. Hopefully that gets approved soon.

[Kenobi McCormick]

I'm loving these parts, too. Even built a helicopter using the pod and the crew cabin! Problems I have encountered:

 

* The hatch on the capsule is in a very awkward, nearly useless, position. It seems I cannot get kerbals out of that thing without either A: jettisoning the pod entirely, B: Putting it on side-mounted rails somehow, C: installing a mod that lets me shift kerbs around within a vessel. I feel being able to exit via hinged windscreen would be a good idea.

 

* The small radial impellors won't even start up. The big one works fine.

 

* The saddle ballast tanks are awkward to place.

 

* Nothing seems to be willing to surfattach.

 

* Most of the dashboard is just grey nothingness. I'm assuming it's spots for RPM, which I don't have fitted to this install of KSP, would be nice to see some placeholders there for non-RPM users though. Clipboards, snack boxes, stuff like that.

Edited December 29, 2015 by Kenobi McCormick

[FungusForge]

2 hours ago, Kenobi McCormick said:

* The hatch on the capsule is in a very awkward, nearly useless, position. It seems I cannot get kerbals out of that thing without either A: jettisoning the pod entirely, B: Putting it on side-mounted rails somehow, C: installing a mod that lets me shift kerbs around within a vessel. I feel being able to exit via hinged windscreen would be a good idea.

I would just like to point out that you don't need mods to move kerbals around a ship. Clicking on the hatch (which while difficult is possible) or merely right-clicking on the pod and selecting 'Transfer Crew' will allow you freely transfer kerbals in and out of the pod.

[inigma]

testing a contract to take a sub below 50m. still working on getting the contract to work right but here's at least visual proof of my attempt!

http://i.imgur.com/eBMWWxI.png

[vardicd]

I took screen shots showing my powerloss issues, with the menu open so you can see the thermal efficiency and temp of the reactor. Also, just showing you the ship I'm using so, maybe you'll see some silly mistake I've made.

[RoverDude]

I need to build in underwater radiators   Easy enough to code those up

[smjjames]

Wouldn't the heat just dissapate into the water? Water being an excellent coolant. Then again, I'm thinking of real world water, not KSP water.

Also, in the interest of keeping partcount down, maybe you could set up one or more of the parts to act like radiators and treat them as if the radiator is embedded into the skin or something?

[Kenobi McCormick]

17 hours ago, FungusForge said:

I would just like to point out that you don't need mods to move kerbals around a ship. Clicking on the hatch (which while difficult is possible) or merely right-clicking on the pod and selecting 'Transfer Crew' will allow you freely transfer kerbals in and out of the pod.

Works for my amphibian, but not the helo. I may or may not have used the hatch on the crew cabin as an alignment and mounting point for the main rotor. I also for means of  balance clipped the capsule in nice and tight. I can post screenies in the eve, at work right now.

Edited December 29, 2015 by Kenobi McCormick

[DStaal]

5 hours ago, smjjames said:

Wouldn't the heat just dissapate into the water? Water being an excellent coolant. Then again, I'm thinking of real world water, not KSP water.

Also, in the interest of keeping partcount down, maybe you could set up one or more of the parts to act like radiators and treat them as if the radiator is embedded into the skin or something?

Real-World, the radiator would likely be in a 'wet box' - Water would be ducted into an in-hull compartment, through the radiator (and possibly a few other systems - you try to have as few holes in the hull as possible, one of the reasons for wet boxes) then back out of the hull.  It causes less drag and is easier to maintain than hanging something on the outside of the hull.

[harryyoung]

15 hours ago, inigma said:

testing a contract to take a sub below 50m. still working on getting the contract to work right but here's at least visual proof of my attempt!

http://i.imgur.com/eBMWWxI.png

I'd rather have diferent flavour in contract. Simple Depth contracts are tracked trough the world first passive achievements

[RoverDude]

21 hours ago, Kenobi McCormick said:

* The hatch on the capsule is in a very awkward, nearly useless, position. It seems I cannot get kerbals out of that thing without either A: jettisoning the pod entirely, B: Putting it on side-mounted rails somehow, C: installing a mod that lets me shift kerbs around within a vessel. I feel being able to exit via hinged windscreen would be a good idea.

By design.  It's there when the capsule is used on it's own as a mini submersible.  Beyond that, attach something with a docking port (this is why the hull section has a port on top).  

[vardicd]

Adding a regular radiator panel seems to stabilize the thermal output of the reactor, allowing it to travel long distances without overheating and shutting down.

 

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Enjoying these parts, thanks!

[Raptor9]

Definitely need more of this

[Starwaster]

Ok, so the point of this is that it's supposed to be neutrally buoyant then at all times, no flooding or blowing tanks?

(also, has anyone tried this the tank treads mod?)

[RoverDude]

1 hour ago, Starwaster said:

Ok, so the point of this is that it's supposed to be neutrally buoyant then at all times, no flooding or blowing tanks?

(also, has anyone tried this the tank treads mod?)

Close, you should start neutrally buoyant and use the ballast tanks to flood/blow tanks as needed to go up/down

[Raptor9]

I've never tried this, but do airfoils work the same underwater? So say we put wing parts and control surfaces on the submersible, and you used them to "fly" underwater.  I imagine that if this worked, you wouldn't need to rely on ballast tanks if the craft were neutrally buoyant, but you would need to be moving forward to maintain control.  Forgive my rookie-ness at underwater stuff in KSP, just thinking out loud (and online).

[inigma]

Ok, I've developed two contracts for subs: one for testing your first sub, and the other for taking tourists on a tour of a sunken wreck:

 

I hope to release GAP 1.0 soon.

[FungusForge]

6 hours ago, Raptor9 said:

I've never tried this, but do airfoils work the same underwater? So say we put wing parts and control surfaces on the submersible, and you used them to "fly" underwater.  I imagine that if this worked, you wouldn't need to rely on ballast tanks if the craft were neutrally buoyant, but you would need to be moving forward to maintain control.  Forgive my rookie-ness at underwater stuff in KSP, just thinking out loud (and online).

I absolutely suck at achieving neutral buoyancy, and this is generally how I control my subs. Pointers, diving with positive buoyancy, or attempting to surface with negative, will be a pain in the caboose.