[WIP] KerbinRover Off-road vehicles

[TiktaalikDreaming]

8 hours ago, UnanimousCoward said:

Sorry for the thread necro, but just wanted to say this appears to work OK as-is in 1.4.1, except that the ability to change the paint job is missing.

This mod's such a boon for early-game science collection round KSP for Field Research contracts.

I imagine most part mods should still be fine.  The paint job switching requires a working firespitter core, which I believe is not yet updated.  Similarly, the Speedo and such won't function (they still appear) unless there's a working RPM core.  Neither of those are hard dependencies though.  Just extra features if they're installed.

I keep trying to write mm code to get KSP wheel to take over the wheels if it's installed, but as yet, I only have very squishy suspension or kraken suspension.  But again, I'll generally only add such things as mm patches that require the other mod exists.

And I haven't really got to looking at 1.4 yet. Maybe this weekend

[UnanimousCoward]

9 hours ago, TiktaalikDreaming said:

I imagine most part mods should still be fine.  The paint job switching requires a working firespitter core, which I believe is not yet updated.  Similarly, the Speedo and such won't function (they still appear) unless there's a working RPM core.  Neither of those are hard dependencies though.  Just extra features if they're installed.

I keep trying to write mm code to get KSP wheel to take over the wheels if it's installed, but as yet, I only have very squishy suspension or kraken suspension.  But again, I'll generally only add such things as mm patches that require the other mod exists.

And I haven't really got to looking at 1.4 yet. Maybe this weekend

Oh I'm not at all pushing you to update this. I'm just happy to find that it still works.

Although, if you do ever get round to updating it, perhaps you could consider renaming one of the wheels. It's a (very) minor niggle, but both roverWheelM05 and roverWheelM06 have the name "KerbinRover Offroad Defender Wheel". This means if I'm doing a "test KerbinRover Offroad Defender Wheel" contract, I would need to put both types of wheel on to be sure I can complete the contract. 

Currently I rename one of the wheels with an MM patch, and I'm quite happy to continue doing so.

[Wolf Baginski]

On 16/03/2018 at 4:01 PM, UnanimousCoward said:

Sorry for the thread necro, but just wanted to say this appears to work OK as-is in 1.4.1, except that the ability to change the paint job is missing.

This mod's such a boon for early-game science collection round KSP for Field Research contracts.

I have done a few longer-range expeditions, there seems to be a very small patch of another biome to the south of the KSC, but it can take a bit of finding.

In one of my crazier moments I fitted an RTG to one and used it on the Mun. It seemed eminently sensible to explore with a nuclear-powered Land Rover.

Either a trailer, or one of the larger 4wd vehicles would be better for long expeditions. There was the 1-tonne Land Rover, used by the British Army as a tractor for light artillery, which was also used in several real expeditions, but the Pinzgauer isn't very different, and it much more widely used.

It's good to hear that it's still working, and I think the Firespitter plugin has now been updated. 

[PariahDog119]

I've had this mod for one day and already it's my favorite rover.

I do have one question. Shouldn't the CoM be lower and further forward?

It would also help with the inevitable rollovers.

Something I'd like to see added to rovers in general is a tweakable steering limiter and perhaps a speed governor/cruise control. It'd make keyboard steering easier.

Edited April 29, 2018 by PariahDog119
Fixed img

[TiktaalikDreaming]

10 hours ago, PariahDog119 said:

I've had this mod for one day and already it's my favorite rover.

I do have one question. Shouldn't the CoM be lower and further forward?

Album diq19Qn will appear when post is submitted

 

It would also help with the inevitable rollovers.

Something I'd like to see added to rovers in general is a tweakable steering limiter and perhaps a speed governor/cruise control. It'd make keyboard steering easier.

I have a feeling there is a cruise control in one of the mods like mechjeb, but I don't know for sure. And yes, it would certainly lesson the load on that middle finger tendon that runs up the back of my forearm.

I'll check the CoM. I think I did that once before, and it may have ended up overwritten at some point.

[TiktaalikDreaming]

Only just got around to checking the CoM and unbutchering the imgur link (gotta love the way the imgur links vs forums interact).

So, yes, I'll probably drop the CoM a bit, but not a lot.  It should be possible to drive on a sideways slope about 45degrees, which this image makes it look like you almost could...

But due to suspension squishing around, you can't.

Your CoM joys come from the collection of big tanks of stuff on top though.  I wish I could do up a trailer to put those in, but I flat out have no idea how to make that happen.  But, if you glue a chunk of 6 propellant tanks to the top of a Defender, it's CoM will go upwards.

[PariahDog119]

1 hour ago, TiktaalikDreaming said:

 

Your CoM joys come from the collection of big tanks of stuff on top though.  I wish I could do up a trailer to put those in, but I flat out have no idea how to make that happen.  But, if you glue a chunk of 6 propellant tanks to the top of a Defender, it's CoM will go upwards.

Those are just Goo Canisters. I was collecting science from the KSC.

But the Defender has the same problems when nothing is on the roof at all. (I thought I'd stripped it before the screenshot and apparently I didn't.) I've got a workaround by reducing the front wheel traction, but now it slides down hills.

You might check out Feline Utility Rovers for trailers. They have a way of doing it, but the trailers bounce so much they don't work very well for me (I might be doing it wrong.)

Maybe one of these for attaching to the back?

 

Edited April 29, 2018 by PariahDog119
moar pictures

[TiktaalikDreaming]

On 4/29/2018 at 9:05 PM, PariahDog119 said:

Those are just Goo Canisters. I was collecting science from the KSC.

But the Defender has the same problems when nothing is on the roof at all. (I thought I'd stripped it before the screenshot and apparently I didn't.) I've got a workaround by reducing the front wheel traction, but now it slides down hills.

You might check out Feline Utility Rovers for trailers. They have a way of doing it, but the trailers bounce so much they don't work very well for me (I might be doing it wrong.)

Maybe one of these for attaching to the back?

 

I keep meaning to reply to this and keep getting distracted by stupid life. Does anyone have actual real data on a land rover defender centre of mass? All I can find are roll over angles which will include safety margins for all sorts of things.

[PariahDog119]

17 hours ago, TiktaalikDreaming said:

I keep meaning to reply to this and keep getting distracted by stupid life. Does anyone have actual real data on a land rover defender centre of mass? All I can find are roll over angles which will include safety margins for all sorts of things.

Quote

Approximate centre of gravity heights for these base vehicle specifications in the EEC kerb weight condition (ie unladen + full fuel + 75Kg driver; no options fitted) is as below:

Vehicle	Body type	Tyre size	C of G height above ground
110 standard	Cab	7.50 R16	665mm
110 heavy duty	Cab	7.50 R16	665mm
130	Cab	7.50 R16	665mm
130	Double Cab	7.50 R16	667mm

Quote

Based on the axle weights and 110 and 127 inch wheel base I calculate that:

for the 110 the CoG is approx 1060mm for the standard cab and 1067mm for the heavy duty cab, behind the center of the front axle.

for the 130 the CoG is approx 1311mm for the cab and 1386mm for the dual cab, behind the center of the front axle.

Source: This forum https://www.aulro.com/afvb/technical-chatter/163821-centre-gravity-balance-point.html

which links to this http://www.landrover-defender.eu/files/Land Rover Defender 130 and 110 TD5 CONVERSION_MANUAL.pdf

[TiktaalikDreaming]

29 minutes ago, PariahDog119 said:

Vehicle	Body type	Tyre size	C of G height above ground
110 standard	Cab	7.50 R16	665mm
110 heavy duty	Cab	7.50 R16	665mm
130	Cab	7.50 R16	665mm
130	Double Cab	7.50 R16	667mm

Source: This forum https://www.aulro.com/afvb/technical-chatter/163821-centre-gravity-balance-point.html

which links to this http://www.landrover-defender.eu/files/Land Rover Defender 130 and 110 TD5 CONVERSION_MANUAL.pdf

Awesome searching. Thanks.  665mm then, times 0.64 because Kerbals. I shall fix. Probably on the weekend.

[PariahDog119]

I've widened the wheelbase, which seems to be helping.

I've also added lots and lots of lights. Here's my current version.

https://imgur.com/a/Y6hiVkn

[TiktaalikDreaming]

I shifted the CoM to approximately where it should be.  I can't directly set it as the wheels are separate parts, and doing the maths for that would just hurt my brain.

Although the CoM adjustment was just done with config, I re-exported the main rover body from Unity as it's been bugging me that the material for the flag/logo wasn't marked with the right material type, so transparency didn't work.  Esp annoying on logos like the Kerbin Rover logo.

The updated 1.0.8 will work with older KSPs as well.

[Corovaneer]

The car's body fabulously cycles through red, blue and yellow hue on the launchpad for few seconds, and then wheels break from overstressing.

1.4.5, modded

[TiktaalikDreaming]

4 hours ago, Corovaneer said:

The car's body fabulously cycles through red, blue and yellow hue on the launchpad for few seconds, and then wheels break from overstressing.

1.4.5, modded

It's working fine in my install.  

Is there something generating heat attached?

[Corovaneer]

On 10/14/2018 at 9:58 PM, TiktaalikDreaming said:

It's working fine in my install.   

Is there something generating heat attached?

This time I just installed it from CKAN on top of everything and ran a body with 4 wheels and nothing else. Wheels did not break, but colors remain:

I haven't seen this with any other capsules so far, if it goes away somehow I'll let you know.

Edit: it was "critical temperature gauge" mod.

Edited October 15, 2018 by Corovaneer
found reason

[TiktaalikDreaming]

Oh. Weird I was going to ask you to check if there was a broken firespitter or something after seeing the gif.

[Beetlecat]

I've not been to this thread in a year (and neither has anyone else, apparently! ) -- but the chatter in KSPWheel turned toward the KerbinRover. Consider this an appreciation post, but also a word of encouragement if you ever decide to re-do these in KSP1 or 2!

[TiktaalikDreaming]

1 hour ago, Beetlecat said:

I've not been to this thread in a year (and neither has anyone else, apparently! ) -- but the chatter in KSPWheel turned toward the KerbinRover. Consider this an appreciation post, but also a word of encouragement if you ever decide to re-do these in KSP1 or 2!

Thanks. It's heading slowly towards the top of the pile of mods to get back to. At the least I'd like to add ksp Wheel patches. Trying to sort out ksp silliness with wheels for this mod was how I stumbled on to the KSP wheel threads initiall, aand I've never taken that back and fixed these wheels.

But also I want to look at whether I can make transparent windows and use the external command seat modules so the Kerbals are right there. And I want to make it modular. Because there's more defender body types than you can count.

[Drakenred65]

Modular......

 

you um don’t want to give me anything too “modular”.....I kind of go mad scientist as it is...

https://m.imgur.com/rJ3a7L1

I also used those  to make a literal triple wide transporter erector. The transporter was reusable after launching a mainsail powered ship from the squad monolith after moving it From the main launch pad. But to be honest I use the wheels on a lot of things.

 

 

 

[Azic Minar]

Yes, bringing that part of the conversation here, what variants were you thinking of? And I can help with Puns

[TiktaalikDreaming]

1 hour ago, Azic Minar said:

Yes, bringing that part of the conversation here, what variants were you thinking of? And I can help with Puns

Well, I was thinking of breaking the river up into engine and forward cab, different rear cabs, trays etc. Not sure yet, but I'd like to be at least able to do the 3 standard wheel bases.

[Azic Minar]

So slightly modular? I love this idea. You could make the engine part slightly longer the more powerful it is. Maybe do a v12? I saw one on a sports car before, impressively long front end. Though 3 standard wheel bases?

[Azic Minar]

After seeing a post on Reddit, and thanks to this mod, I am pondering the dev dive into creating an RV mod because Space Balls. I don't know if I will be able to attempt that before Christmas. 

[TiktaalikDreaming]

14 hours ago, Azic Minar said:

After seeing a post on Reddit, and thanks to this mod, I am pondering the dev dive into creating an RV mod because Space Balls. I don't know if I will be able to attempt that before Christmas. 

Ha!  Awesome idea.  Very Drewish of you. 

[tater]

Obviously it's a different vehicle, but Cybertruck would be pretty funny to see---both a terrestrial (whatever the kerbal word is--kerrestrial?) version, and one that is more off world---metal mesh tires or something. Least it's low-poly