Adaptable landing legs, for landing on slopes and/or uneven surfaces

[SSgt Baloo]

There was a bit of excitement when this was announced a few months ago. I believe I even saw someone's KSP part pack with slope-adapting gear, but I haven't seen any sign of that for a while. Maybe it went away?

http://breakingdefense.com/2015/10/darpas-adaptive-landing-gear-is-cool-but/

[magnemoe]

For helicopters its of a bit limited news, helicopters can hover pretty well so they don't need too really land to load or unload in uneven terrain, an famous picture from Afghanistan was an huge helicopter hovered with just the back part on an small shack far smaller than it. Having room for the rotor is more of an constrain and this was why it used the shack for loading or unloading. 
For probes it might be more useful especially in setting where you ned to stand pretty upright like if you want to unload an rover, it could also be build far simpler just using the suspension in the landing legs. first legs just flex, then 2-3 hit the ground they lock and the rest of the legs continue to move downward. 

[SSgt Baloo]

Landing probes in uneven or steeply sloped terrain would be easier if we had landing legs that weren't all the same length when deployed, but adjusted as they made contact with the ground, so as to maintain an upright stance. ISTR someone had made such a mod for landing legs, but I can't find it anymore. Even the lunar landers had some provision for uneven terrain, although it just amounted to shock absorbers and springs in the L/G. For winged aircraft, even rotary-winged ones, it's less of a concern.

Edited February 28, 2016 by SSgt Baloo

[sevenperforce]

The whole jointed-leg thing seems unnecessarily complicated. Why not just use conventional skids, but mount them on telescoping struts instead of fixed ones?

[fredinno]

5 hours ago, SSgt Baloo said:

There was a bit of excitement when this was announced a few months ago. I believe I even saw someone's KSP part pack with slope-adapting gear, but I haven't seen any sign of that for a while. Maybe it went away?

http://breakingdefense.com/2015/10/darpas-adaptive-landing-gear-is-cool-but/

Hmm,looks useful for 100% automatic landings, along with getting IRL science from the slope biomes. 

Would slope landings actually ever be useful?

[SSgt Baloo]

1 hour ago, fredinno said:

Hmm,looks useful for 100% automatic landings, along with getting IRL science from the slope biomes. 

Would slope landings actually ever be useful?

Depending on where you're landing, there may not be any convenient alternatives. That smooth-looking patch on the Mun looks a lot steeper when your lander is falling over than when you picked that spot from orbit. "That looks pretty smooth."