Stock Tank Track (belt drive) development

[Redshift OTF]

45 minutes ago, Majorjim said:

Thanks man, I would love to see what you came up with! Care to share a pic or two?

No problem.

Each link is made of 5 parts, a structural fuselage, 2 small dustbin lids, (that's what I call them anyway lol), and 2 small box girders. They are all connected to the 1 blue decoupler and moved piece by piece into the correct position. two pairs of tracks with 20 links comes under 200 parts.

The tracks work quite well, as long as you decouple them as soon as the craft is loaded. The thing I am having trouble with is some form of drive wheel as you can't push the tank along using jets or rockets out the back. Sadly I have flu at the moment and don't really have the energy to continue it right now. The WIP below is about 310 parts so I think tracks are possible.

[Majorjim!]

21 minutes ago, Redshift OTF said:

No problem.

Each link is made of 5 parts, a structural fuselage, 2 small dustbin lids, (that's what I call them anyway lol), and 2 small box girders. They are all connected to the 1 blue decoupler and moved piece by piece into the correct position. two pairs of tracks with 20 links comes under 200 parts.

The tracks work quite well, as long as you decouple them as soon as the craft is loaded. The thing I am having trouble with is some form of drive wheel as you can't push the tank along using jets or rockets out the back. Sadly I have flu at the moment and don't really have the energy to continue it right now. The WIP below is about 310 parts so I think tracks are possible.

That looks very interesting! I will reserve full judgment until I see it moving though. Have you seen it moving yet?

 

[Redshift OTF]

I've only managed to push it from the back using a vector for thrust. There's a little play in the links but x20 it's enough for the upper middle links to sag quite a bit and so it doesn't really move for more than a few metres. If the front sprockets were powered I think it would take up the slack and work but it's a bit of a pain right now. The links seem to hold together well though.

Edited January 16, 2016 by Redshift OTF

[Majorjim!]

43 minutes ago, Redshift OTF said:

I've only managed to push it from the back using a vector for thrust. There's a little play in the links but x20 it's enough for the upper middle links to sag quite a bit and so it doesn't really move for more than a few metres. If the front sprockets were powered I think it would take up the slack and work but it's a bit of a pain right now. The links seem to hold together well though.

Awesome! Keep at it and keep us informed of any progress. I am very interested to see it working.

[selfish_meme]

How about those revolving antenna above and below the links just before the front wheel, if the 'paddles' interact with a link at the same time they should push the link along, you also might need some other thrust so that the antenna are not doing it all on their own.

[Majorjim!]

On 01/16/2016 at 6:44 PM, Rune said:

By all means, tinker away to your heart's content.

 

I shall, your Blessing or not..

On 01/16/2016 at 6:44 PM, Rune said:

Rune. Right now the lag spike is at around 100 for me...

Time to invest more in your hobby?

23 hours ago, selfish_meme said:

How about those revolving antenna above and below the links just before the front wheel, if the 'paddles' interact with a link at the same time they should push the link along, you also might need some other thrust so that the antenna are not doing it all on their own.

Yeah some kind of Antenna drive would probably do it. They are a bit fickle though.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2016 by Majorjim

[Redshift OTF]

I have had some success:

397 parts. The drive sprockets slip a lot but it was far too unreliable when they didn't slip. Something broke in this video but it seemed to keep going. Steering can be done by switching the right engines on and off but the track tends to slip off as there are no inside guard rails yet. It's probably too big to be useful and the thing self destructs unless it is staged as soon as it has loaded. Once it has staged it is about 45 separate pieces so I can't use vessel mover or hyper edit to move it any where else.

Hopefully MajorJim, you have luck with your design because I think it would be more practical than mine. Let me know if you want the craft file.

[Majorjim!]

1 minute ago, Redshift OTF said:

I have had some success:

397 parts. The drive sprockets slip a lot but it was far too unreliable when they didn't slip. Something broke in this video but it seemed to keep going. Steering can be done by switching the right engines on and off but the track tends to slip off as there are no inside guard rails yet. It's probably too big to be useful and the thing self destructs unless it is staged as soon as it has loaded. Once it has staged it is about 45 separate pieces so I can't use vessel mover or hyper edit to move it any where else.

Hopefully MajorJim, you have luck with your design because I think it would be more practical than mine. Let me know if you want the craft file.

 

Good to see it moving man! I can see the issues you have, I see it skipping. The issue of it exploding on loading happened to me too. It is due to the offset parts. A few well placed struts stopped mine from shaking itself apart on loading.

 I will be working on mine for a while so don't hold your breath. I still have to add some finishing touches to my two Apollo craft and a shuttle I am working on.

 

[selfish_meme]

9 hours ago, Redshift OTF said:

I have had some success:

397 parts. The drive sprockets slip a lot but it was far too unreliable when they didn't slip. Something broke in this video but it seemed to keep going. Steering can be done by switching the right engines on and off but the track tends to slip off as there are no inside guard rails yet. It's probably too big to be useful and the thing self destructs unless it is staged as soon as it has loaded. Once it has staged it is about 45 separate pieces so I can't use vessel mover or hyper edit to move it any where else.

Hopefully MajorJim, you have luck with your design because I think it would be more practical than mine. Let me know if you want the craft file.

Amazing

[Azimech]

I'm very occupied with releasing the next version of my mod, I just wanted to say I'm very impressed with this topic and the talented works I see here. I'll be back later.

[Castille7]

Your some success looks like total success to me! Just because it moves slowly and not carrying a body or a load of some kind shouldn't determine if the tracks are working or not. Nicely done and good job Redshift OTF!

[Gaalidas]

Indeed.  The tracks work.  Usefulness is not the goal here, just functionality.  If we were worried about usefulness, we'd never have made it off the ground in the first place.

 

More of us would still be alive too... but those are pretty pointless details for Kerbals.

[Redshift OTF]

Thanks for the comments! I would have noticed earlier but I'm not as active on these forums as I used to be. I have experimented with a new drive system which seems to work better and I may have a better type of track setup which should reduce the number of parts. When I get the time to put both concepts together I will let you know!

Each link of track in the tank above uses 5 parts but I have got it down to 3.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Redshift OTF

[Majorjim!]

Just now, Redshift OTF said:

Thanks for the comments! I would have noticed earlier but I'm not as active on these forums as I used to be. I have experimented with a new drive system which seems to work better and I may have a better type of track setup which should reduce the number of parts. When I get the time to put both concepts together I will let you know!

Each link of track in the tank above uses 5 parts but I have got it down to 3.

I look forward to seeing it man. I am sticking to my thermo hinge tracks. It took so much work to get it to work plus its much smaller than your tracks which fits my original plan better. I think the multi-craft performance improvements in 1.1 will really help. Part count is always my last thought.

[Heckspress]

On 1/16/2016 at 1:53 PM, Majorjim said:

 "KPS"

I know it was a typo, but I can't help but think....

Kerbal Punting Sim?

Kerbal Punching Society

Kilometers per second?

 

[Majorjim!]

OK I need to take another look at this now I have a new improved micro hinge and Unity 5 mega performance!

 I will work on it again in the next few days and post an update on my progress. I hope to drive a rover with this very soon!

[YoeriCookie]

9 hours ago, Majorjim said:

OK I need to take another look at this now I have a new improved micro hinge and Unity 5 mega performance!

 I will work on it again in the next few days and post an update on my progress. I hope to drive a rover with this very soon!

noice

[Castille7]

17 hours ago, Majorjim said:

OK I need to take another look at this now I have a new improved micro hinge and Unity 5 mega performance!

 I will work on it again in the next few days and post an update on my progress. I hope to drive a rover with this very soon!

MJ,

You have sparked my interest in this again, I started on an idea when I first visited this Thread and it wasn't working for me, I've also noticed options on building a Track are very limited if you plan for it to be a small craft. The idea I am working with right now is similar to the Steamboat design using reaction wheels and the fuselage and it's very sturdy and runs great but the track is going to take a while. You are also showing an enclosure for the tank that looks very tempting use on my craft, not sure yet. I will post a picture soon of my progress.

Edited July 11, 2016 by castille7

[Ultimate Steve]

Awesome! Not many people can say they've done something the first in KSP. Congrats to both of you!

Just one question, though. How would steering work?

[Majorjim!]

Just now, Ultimate Steve said:

Awesome! Not many people can say they've done something the first in KSP. Congrats to both of you!

Just one question, though. How would steering work?

That wont be an issue, there are a few ways it could work but I have to get a reliable drive mechanism first then see about steering.

[Castille7]

I am using wheels for testing until I get some tracks complete (IF I get some tracks complete) 

 

 

 

[Majorjim!]

Just now, castille7 said:

I am using wheels for testing until I get some tracks complete (IF I get some tracks complete) 

Good start man, I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

[Redshift OTF]

Interesting. Also those spherical probe cores make good bearings as they fit almost exactly inside the hollow structural fuselage.

[Majorjim!]

Just now, Redshift OTF said:

Interesting. Also those spherical probe cores make good bearings as they fit almost exactly inside the hollow structural fuselage.

Yup, I saw someone posted a tutorial for those on Reddit a while back. I haven't made one myself but it seemed to work well.