OMG Multidock works! RING STATIONS Now possible! (?)

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

Testing multidock in the new build, while a quad-adapter port broke apart from the forces of docking, TWO of the ports did connect. Wait… if two ports can connect at once then…

 

RING STATIONS ARE POSSIBLE!!!!!!

Its just a test, but it seems stable. Anyone have ideas on how I can test it for stability?

[LordFerret]

That you even got that thing / those things into orbit boggles me. Kudos!

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

hyperedit  

(it was just a test) you would have to launch smaller pieces IR...G (in real game)

EDIT as I look at it must be a prison station, there's no way in and no way out!   

Edited May 21, 2016 by Brainlord Mesomorph

[Xyphos]

Also works with grapples, you can use grapples to build your own dynamic struts and/or support arms, in orbit.
I use multiple grapples when wrangling asteroids, it makes them wobble less, or not at all, depending on their size.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Xyphos

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

I had heard that about the klaw. but not docking ports. Previous builds would not had tolerated this kind of thing.

[pincushionman]

All of the multiport-exploding I've seen videos of has been from VAB-placed ports exploding on load-to-pad. Does this stay OK if you quit, reload, and come back to it?

If it does, does that mean that VAB aligns/offsets the ports (that is, at the nodes) differently than how they end up when docked in-situ?

[Pecan]

Multi-port docking and ring stations have always been possible as long as docking has.

You can't BUILD a ring in the VAB/SPH but as soon as physics cuts in ports that are close enough will connect.,

Edited May 21, 2016 by Pecan

[FungusForge]

Pecan has it nailed. The real issue is actually lining them up properly. The worst thing is when you're slightly off, but the force of the docking magnets pulls the other set of ports together. You won't notice it at first, but things can get weird because of this.

[Archgeek]

Sweet!  I wonder if this means I don't have to worry about this dumb thing falling apart in orbit now.

Spoiler

Note the twin juniors abaft of those decouplers -- I was wanting to guarantee proper alignment to avoid cosine losses, which would be pathetic to have on an ion ship.

Though as I recall, it wasn't an exploding issue, but moar an issue with the ports in a multidock that weren't in the primary pair having no darn strength, making ships flex and fail under power.

My main worry for the the thing above is the secondary ports' derpage causing the vehicle to pick up an oscillation on rotating, as those...for some reason don't attenuate.

[Vicomt]

I love it when people independantly find how to do things, it shows what a free thinking bunch of nutters we all are

this was mine, I forget what version, but probably  0.9 or something.

 

[Dr. Jet]

It worked since 0.23 if not earlier.

2-point docking is very easy.

3-point docking is HARD. Even MechJeb struggles with it. But it's positively possible.

[Pecan]

8 hours ago, Dr. Jet said:

It worked since 0.23 if not earlier.

Haven't seen those pics before.  Like the hexagon-cell station,

[LameLefty]

8 hours ago, Dr. Jet said:

It worked since 0.23 if not earlier.

That's not the point, I don't think. It used to work, was broken during the 1.1 transition, but has now been fixed again (either with 1.1.1 or 1.1.2, don't remember which.

[Archgeek]

11 hours ago, Dr. Jet said:

It worked since 0.23 if not earlier.

2-point docking is very easy.

3-point docking is HARD. Even MechJeb struggles with it. But it's positively possible.

Quite true, but I must note, due to the way in which it was broken in 1.1, it'd still work fine for stations.  The trouble is the non-primary pairs have/had no dang joint strength, and a propulsion module thus attached would wobble right out of control during a burn.

Also, point numbers don't matter as much as you might think, depending on orientation.  Someone on the 1.1 livestreams had an astoundingly beautiful interlocking module system with I think 8 clampotron jr.s -- two on the transverse connection, two on the sides, and I think two more each dorsal and ventral.  Though with the 1.1 problem, it would very much not work correctly.

Also, 'freaking love that tesselatable hexagon design.

Edited May 22, 2016 by Archgeek
Whoops, forgot to praise that cool station design.

[egoego]

Docking multiple ports at once (in space, not VAB) has worked for a long time. I build stations in 0.90 that where kind of a ring (or more like a wagon wheel) where I had to move parts in place with 3 docking ports in different directions that had to dock at the same time. A lot of fiddling around in the VAB to have them aligned properly and very carefull movement during the actuall docking in space was required, but it worked even back then.

[fourfa]

The original post wasn't clear.  Multi-port docking has been around a long time, yes.  Then starting in the pre-release 1.1.x builds, it broke.  Some kraken force would cause most of the docking ports to break off the vessel the instant they connected.  Didn't matter whether in space, on the launch pad, or on the runway.  Not every single time; it was somewhat unpredictable - but if you got them all to clamp it was by sheer luck, and odds were that as you flew, there would be a trail of broken ports behind you.

Now in 1.1.1-1.1.2, the crazy breaking of earlier 1.1 builds seems to be less.  I need more playtime to declare them fully fixed though.

[Stoney3K]

You can also mitigate the wobbling issue when moving under power a bit by adding a probe core to the propulsion module (on the ship's axis) and controlling the ship from there, as opposed to controlling the ship from the cockpit in the front.

SAS will use the cockpit as attitude and position reference, which is slightly offset when the propulsion module is pushing on all of the docking ports from the other end. It will vector thrust to compensate for that, pushing the ship in the other direction, causing more flex, and so on.

The tesselatable station thing looks awesome. Inspired by the Suliban cell ships from Star Trek: Enterprise by any chance?

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

I don't thing anything was ever inspired by Star Trek Enterprise.

[Snowstorm]

I have a large ring space station/fuel depot in LKO.  I just built a huge launcher and blasted off.