The Cubesat/Probe Bulk Delivery Challenge!

[The Optimist]

You may be familiar with the concept of Cubesats, which are very small, low cost self-contained space vehicles designed and built by smaller organizations, such as by universities and certain video game forums. Now, you can (Read: will) experience the joy of deploying a massive cloud of miniature probes into orbit or onto other celestial bodies. Here's a scoring guide.

Probe Criteria:

YOU RECEIVE HALF POINTS (ROUNDED UP) FOR CRAFT IN ORBIT BUT NOT LANDED AROUND OTHER PLANETS

-If in orbit of Kerbin, receive 1 * # of probes as your score

-If landed on Mun, receive 3 * # of probes as your score

-If landed on Minmus, receive 2 * # of probes as your score

-If landed at Eve, receive 10 * # of probes as your score

-If landed at Gilly, receive 2 * # of probes 

-If landed at Moho, receive 6 * # of probes, plus (Mass of all probes) * 2, rounded down as your score

-If landed at Dres, receive [REDACTED] points as your score

-If landed at Duna, receive 8 * # of probes as your score

-If landed at Ike, receive 2.5 points as your score

Add 3 to all Joolian probes that can circularize around the planet without aerobraking

-If landed at Jool, receive 1337 * 0.01 points, rounded down as your score

-If landed at Laythe or Vall, receive 10 * # of probes as your score

-If landed at Tylo, receive 14 * # of probes as your score

-If landed at Bop, receive 8 * # of probes as your score

-If landed at Pol, receive 8 * # of probes as your score

-If landed at Eeloo, receive 18 * # of probes as your score

Vehicle Criteria

- Add 50 points if the craft is lighter than 35 tons

- Add 20 points if the craft is lighter than 50 tons

- Add 10 points if the craft is lighter than 60 tons

- Add 15 points if the craft is an SSTO

- Add 20 points if the craft is a interplanetary SSTO 

- Subtract 15 points if the craft is over 80 tons

- Subtract 200 points if the craft is over 80 tons and carries less than 16 cubesats

- Subtract 20 points for each 10 tons the craft weighs over 80 tons

- Ignore the above rule if your craft is over 300 tons and carries over 32 probes

Bonus Ducks Points

25 points if mini probes are capable of deploying even more mini probes (General)

50 points if mini probes are rovers in disguise (

5 points for each cubesat or probe capable of being deployed (Per probe)

10 points for cubesat having power generation (General)

20 points for probe having controllable propulsion (General)

X points for each cubesat safely landed on another body (Per probe)

25 points if each cubesat is lighter than 0.5 tons

23 points if Antennarange or RemoteTech is used. 5 extra points if the cubesats are arranged properly (Provide screenshots)

Extreme Bonus Points

10 points if you ignore Dres

25 * # of celestial bodies visited, if your MOTHERSHIP is capable of visiting those locations and leaving cubesats there

Notes:

For interplanetary missions, it is the mothership that must ferry your craft there. Cubesats are only allowed to make interplanetary transfers if they are ion-powered

Only mods allowed are Scatterer, EVE, KJR, Remotetech, and Mechjeb

Provide ample documentation of the mission (VAB (Weight, Delta-V, probe design), launchpad, middle atmosphere, space, orbit, during transfer (map view), circularization, deorbiting, landing, etc.)

Thanks, and have fun!

 

LEADERBOARDS:

-@CunjoCarl in the lead, at 143 points

-IT WILL BE YOU!

-IT COULD BE YOU!

-IT COULD BE YOU!

-IT COULD BE YOU!

Dres leaderboards

#1 babby

#2 babby

#3 babby

#4 babby

#5 babby

 

Badges: Take one! (WIP)

Moon of Jool (Dres I think it was called?) Award

  

1-50 points (You are only eligible if the launch vehicle is lighter than 20 tons and you have 4 or more probes or cubesats onboard)

 

51-100 points:

 

101-200 points:

201-300 points:

Legit Badge Owners:

1-50:

-

-

-

51-100

-

-

-

101-200

-@CunjoCarl (Congratulations) Entry 1

-

-

201-300

-

-

-

Edited June 29, 2016 by The Optimist

[Jetski]

Here is a mission where I put around 50 satellites in orbit in the Jool system, 4 equitorial and 4 polar plus an ore scanner on each of jool moons.  Also a bonus network around jool. 2 launches, around 400000 funds if I remember right. 

[max_creative]

Well, I had an awesome attachment for a cruiser that would totally get a ton of points and stuff, but... 

3 hours ago, The Optimist said:

-If landed at Dres, receive [REDACTED] points as your score

 

3 hours ago, The Optimist said:

10 points if you ignore Dres

Dres hater. Humph.  

For the people who like Dres (like me), continue liking Dres! For those who don't, just deal with it and don't hate on Dres! Please?

[The Optimist]

20 hours ago, max_creative said:

Well, I had an awesome attachment for a cruiser that would totally get a ton of points and stuff, but... 

 

Dres hater. Humph.  

For the people who like Dres (like me), continue liking Dres! For those who don't, just deal with it and don't hate on Dres! Please?

I made a special section for babies dres fans

23 hours ago, Jetski said:

Here is a mission where I put around 50 satellites in orbit in the Jool system, 4 equitorial and 4 polar plus an ore scanner on each of jool moons.  Also a bonus network around jool. 2 launches, around 400000 funds if I remember right. 

It would be nice if you could provide more figures, like the weight of the LV and the weight of each satellite. Thanks!

[SpaceplaneAddict]

56 minutes ago, The Optimist said:

I made a special section for babies dres fans

Oh don't be such a-  mmph!

*Hours later*

Anyways, sounds fun, I might give this a worl.

[macktruck6666]

I think you misunderstood the purpose of cubesats. The purpose of cubesats is not the size of cost of the satellite but the cost and size of the launch vehicle. There needs to be a negative affect on the score for using larger rockets.

Pluss, even cubsats whould need much larger rockets to be interplanetary an none of them are ever intended to land.

I think a better scenario would be what SpaceX is planning to do. I once heard they were planning to put 4000 satalites in orbit to provide internet to the entire world for free. This seems more like what you're trying to accomplish.

Edited June 23, 2016 by macktruck6666

[The Optimist]

16 hours ago, macktruck6666 said:

I think you misunderstood the purpose of cubesats. The purpose of cubesats is not the size of cost of the satellite but the cost and size of the launch vehicle. There needs to be a negative affect on the score for using larger rockets.

Pluss, even cubsats whould need much larger rockets to be interplanetary an none of them are ever intended to land.

I think a better scenario would be what SpaceX is planning to do. I once heard they were planning to put 4000 satalites in orbit to provide internet to the entire world for free. This seems more like what you're trying to accomplish.

Mate. You lose points the heavier the LV is.

[DoctorDavinci]

So correct me if I'm wrong but I thought a cubesat was supposed to be deployed in orbit, not landed

[stompy29]

are mods allowed

[The Optimist]

On 6/23/2016 at 7:43 PM, DoctorDavinci said:

So correct me if I'm wrong but I thought a cubesat was supposed to be deployed in orbit, not landed

"Cubesat/probe"

"/probe"

"/probe"

"/probe"

[The Optimist]

On 6/24/2016 at 7:35 AM, stompy29 said:

are mods allowed

And I quote, " Only mods allowed are Scatterer, EVE, KJR, Remotetech, and Mechjeb"

[DoctorDavinci]

So cube sats for kerbin orbit and landed probes for any other orbital body?

That's what I gather from the OP

Edited June 25, 2016 by DoctorDavinci

[The Optimist]

2 hours ago, DoctorDavinci said:

So cube sats for kerbin orbit and landed probes for any other orbital body?

That's what I gather from the OP

You can send cubesats to other bodies, you can send probes to other bodies

[Cunjo Carl]

Just a proof of concept. This is a clusterred cluster clusterrer ship! I'm not sure why I made it, but the time seemed right. It has 78 little cubesats clusterred on various rockets in turn clusterred on various rockets, with plenty of fuel to go and land.... just about everywhere!

The little cubesats are little rockets in themselves, each with about 1500deltaV to use at their destination. They each have all 5 reuseable experiments, an antenna, reaction wheels, and a RTG, so they're set for some serious sciencing! I figure KSC probably found a huge pile of radiothermal-goo lying around and thought "what a waste!" so they helped themselves, hence the unlikely 78 RTGs.

At launch the craft had 1200parts, and I'm suprised to say KSP held up beautifully! It clunked along at a couple fps, but it was very stable. After the seemingly hour long launch, I didn't quite have the heart to send them to all the corners of the galaxy, so I just turned on the engines and rapidly staged everything. Hey, now Kerbin has its own ring system!

Where to go next... I think I'll see what other people dream up first, and then maybe shoot for Eeloo! My little free block this evening is at its close, so I haven't quite had time to comment the album, but feel free to poke through!

Edited June 26, 2016 by Cunjo Carl

[The Optimist]

11 hours ago, Cunjo Carl said:

Just a proof of concept. This is a clusterred cluster clusterrer ship! I'm not sure why I made it, but the time seemed right. It has 78 little cubesats clusterred on various rockets in turn clusterred on various rockets, with plenty of fuel to go and land.... just about everywhere!

The little cubesats are little rockets in themselves, each with about 1500deltaV to use at their destination. They each have all 5 reuseable experiments, an antenna, reaction wheels, and a RTG, so they're set for some serious sciencing! I figure KSC probably found a huge pile of radiothermal-goo lying around and thought "what a waste!" so they helped themselves, hence the unlikely 78 RTGs.

At launch the craft had 1200parts, and I'm suprised to say KSP held up beautifully! It clunked along at a couple fps, but it was very stable. After the seemingly hour long launch, I didn't quite have the heart to send them to all the corners of the galaxy, so I just turned on the engines and rapidly staged everything. Hey, now Kerbin has its own ring system!

Where to go next... I think I'll see what other people dream up first, and then maybe shoot for Eeloo! My little free block this evening is at its close, so I haven't quite had time to comment the album, but feel free to poke through!

Thank you! Your submission will be processed soon.

[DoctorDavinci]

15 hours ago, The Optimist said:

You can send cubesats to other bodies, you can send probes to other bodies

Ok ... it just looked like Kerbin was the only place you would get points for putting sats in orbit according to the OP sice the rest of the orbital bodies in your list say 'landed'

[The Optimist]

2 hours ago, DoctorDavinci said:

Ok ... it just looked like Kerbin was the only place you would get points for putting sats in orbit according to the OP sice the rest of the orbital bodies in your list say 'landed'

You receive half points if your craft are in orbit.

[The Optimist]

SHINY NEW PRIZES! COME ONE COME ALL!

[DoctorDavinci]

So now that I have had clarification of the rules for this challenge, I have taken a CANUKWorks AIM-329 (Autonomous Interplanetary Monstrosity) and stuffed it with some probes

Made from 1889 of the finest parts in the Kerbal universe and weighing in at 2,027.371 tons, I now present for your approval the CANUKWorks CUBE-MA 1889's launch to a 500km orbit around Kerbin in preparation for a trip to Eve (No Mods ... Totally Stock)

 

[Aetharan]

I've begun work on a bit of a crazy mission, and while it's not yet complete, I wanted to show off my current progress (because this is going to be hours upon hours of gameplay, largely due to partcount-induced lag).

Ship Information

The Mecha-Burrito
1.4m x 0.8m x 0.8m
Mass: 0.495t
Mobility: 1x LV-1, with 1x Oscar-B Fuel Tank (Primary) / None (Secondary)
Experiments: Gravioli Detector, Thermometer (Primary) / Gravioli Detector, Thermometer (Secondary)
Power Plant: 1x OX-4W solar panel (Primary) / 1x OX-4L solar panel (Secondary)
Storage: 1x Z-400 (Primary) / 1x Z-400 (Secondary)
Comms: 1x Communotron 16 (Primary) / 1x Communotron 16 (Secondary)
Notes: The Mecha-Burrito is designed to split from its mothership, drop a live monitoring probe in a designated orbit, then move itself into a second orbit for stereoscopic monitoring of the body in question.

The Scarab Rover
1.6m x 1.3m x 1.4m
Mass: 0.456t
Mobility: 4x RoveMax Model S2 (Rover) / None (Station)
Experiments: Accelerometer, Atmospheric Fluid Spectro-Variometer, Barometer, Gravioli Detector, Surface Scanning Module, Thermometer (Rover) / Accelerometer, Barometer, Gravioli Detector, Thermometer (Station)
Power Plant: 2x OX-4L solar panel (Rover) / 1x OX-4L solar panel (Station)
Storage: 1x Z-400 (Rover) / 1x Z-400 (Station)
Comms: 1x Communotron 16 (Rover) / 1x Communotron 16 (Station)
Notes: The Scarab carries on its hind end a deployable monitoring station for keeping an eye on the weather and seismic data for its assigned area, while the rover itself wanders off to take measurements elsewhere.  They make wonderful scouts for colony planning.

The Probe-Scatterer (Mothership)
36.6m x 10.6m x 10.6m (Without launch vehicle) / 63.2m x 12.5m x 12.5m (With launch vehicle)
Mass: 176t (Without launch vehicle) / 1,279t(With launch vehicle)
Mobility: 8x LV-Ns
Payload: 1x Landing Unit carrying 12 Scarab Rovers; 24 Mecha-Burritos attached to transfer vehicle hull.

Scoring Information:

The Probe-Scatterer left Kerbin with a payload of 12 Scarabs and 24 Mecha-Burritos.  Given that both probe types are capable of deploying a secondary probe of their own, this could be counted as either 36 or 72 probes, for 180 or 360 points as my base.  The double-deployment is worth +25 points.  The fact that each probe (before deploying its secondary) weighs under 0.5 tons earns me another +25 points.  All probes have power generation, for +10 points.  Mecha-Burritos have controllable propulsion, for +20 points.  Scarabs are rovers, for +50 points.  At well over 80 tons, but deploying more than 16 probes, I get a -15 point adjustment.  As of when I designed and launched the ship, this gave it a value of either 295 or 475 at launch.  Unfortunately, I decided to sleep after getting it in orbit, and (although it may be my own exhaustion at the time of design having made me miss it), I believe that the cumulative rule penalizing large launches was added.  An additional -20 points per 10 tons over 80 is incredibly harsh for launches designed to be interplanetary and carrying payloads of dozens of probes.  In the Probe-Scatterer's case, it's costing me 2,400 points, so my starting position is either -2,105 or -1,925 points.

I left 2 probes in Kerbin orbit (+2 points), flew by the Mun and left 2 more probes orbiting there as well (+3, +25 for body visited and probed).  This is where I paused the mission to come post my progress, and noticed the cumulative penalty.

Planned was a similar flyby-deposit of a Mecha-Burrito at Minmus, netting +25 for the visit and +2 for the pair of probes left in its orbit. 

I would then at least try to land the Scarabs on Eve and deploy their ground stations before driving them around a bit, which would have been worth 240 points (+25 for leaving probes at the planet at all.)  Another Mecha-Burrito would have been left orbiting Gilly, netting +25 for the body visit and +2 for the twin probes orbiting it.  The visit to the Eve system would thus have netted me a total of +292 points.

After that, I was unsure of what I was going to do.  I would have had 20 Mecha-Burritos left on board the mothership, and had wanted to see how many bodies I could leave probes in orbit of after flybys, but in all honesty the realization that it's going to be nearly impossible to get a positive number of points from my build makes it hard for me to gather the motivation to open the game back up and continue the mission.

[DoctorDavinci]

On 2016-06-21 at 9:30 PM, The Optimist said:

-Subtract 20 points for each 10 tons the craft weighs over 80 tons

Seriously ... What is the point then ... Of all the rules this is the dumbest

I'm thinking you put that there because of my monstrosity that I created ... If I told you what I really think I would be violating the rules of the forum

Good luck with your challenge, I'm not even going to bother continuing

[The Optimist]

1 hour ago, DoctorDavinci said:

Seriously ... What is the point then ... Of all the rules this is the dumbest

I'm thinking you put that there because of my monstrosity that I created ... If I told you what I really think I would be violating the rules of the forum

Good luck with your challenge, I'm not even going to bother continuing

If that's what you please, get out. You obviously do not understand the concept of a CHEAP and LIGHTWEIGHT delivery system. And if the mothership is over 250 tons wet mass, ignore the stated rule. Sorry for not properly balancing it.

Your entry is actually pretty good, to be honest. It's just kinda too heavy.

14 hours ago, Aetharan said:

I've begun work on a bit of a crazy mission, and while it's not yet complete, I wanted to show off my current progress (because this is going to be hours upon hours of gameplay, largely due to partcount-induced lag).

Ship Information

The Mecha-Burrito
1.4m x 0.8m x 0.8m
Mass: 0.495t
Mobility: 1x LV-1, with 1x Oscar-B Fuel Tank (Primary) / None (Secondary)
Experiments: Gravioli Detector, Thermometer (Primary) / Gravioli Detector, Thermometer (Secondary)
Power Plant: 1x OX-4W solar panel (Primary) / 1x OX-4L solar panel (Secondary)
Storage: 1x Z-400 (Primary) / 1x Z-400 (Secondary)
Comms: 1x Communotron 16 (Primary) / 1x Communotron 16 (Secondary)
Notes: The Mecha-Burrito is designed to split from its mothership, drop a live monitoring probe in a designated orbit, then move itself into a second orbit for stereoscopic monitoring of the body in question.

The Scarab Rover
1.6m x 1.3m x 1.4m
Mass: 0.456t
Mobility: 4x RoveMax Model S2 (Rover) / None (Station)
Experiments: Accelerometer, Atmospheric Fluid Spectro-Variometer, Barometer, Gravioli Detector, Surface Scanning Module, Thermometer (Rover) / Accelerometer, Barometer, Gravioli Detector, Thermometer (Station)
Power Plant: 2x OX-4L solar panel (Rover) / 1x OX-4L solar panel (Station)
Storage: 1x Z-400 (Rover) / 1x Z-400 (Station)
Comms: 1x Communotron 16 (Rover) / 1x Communotron 16 (Station)
Notes: The Scarab carries on its hind end a deployable monitoring station for keeping an eye on the weather and seismic data for its assigned area, while the rover itself wanders off to take measurements elsewhere.  They make wonderful scouts for colony planning.

The Probe-Scatterer (Mothership)
36.6m x 10.6m x 10.6m (Without launch vehicle) / 63.2m x 12.5m x 12.5m (With launch vehicle)
Mass: 176t (Without launch vehicle) / 1,279t(With launch vehicle)
Mobility: 8x LV-Ns
Payload: 1x Landing Unit carrying 12 Scarab Rovers; 24 Mecha-Burritos attached to transfer vehicle hull.

Scoring Information:

The Probe-Scatterer left Kerbin with a payload of 12 Scarabs and 24 Mecha-Burritos.  Given that both probe types are capable of deploying a secondary probe of their own, this could be counted as either 36 or 72 probes, for 180 or 360 points as my base.  The double-deployment is worth +25 points.  The fact that each probe (before deploying its secondary) weighs under 0.5 tons earns me another +25 points.  All probes have power generation, for +10 points.  Mecha-Burritos have controllable propulsion, for +20 points.  Scarabs are rovers, for +50 points.  At well over 80 tons, but deploying more than 16 probes, I get a -15 point adjustment.  As of when I designed and launched the ship, this gave it a value of either 295 or 475 at launch.  Unfortunately, I decided to sleep after getting it in orbit, and (although it may be my own exhaustion at the time of design having made me miss it), I believe that the cumulative rule penalizing large launches was added.  An additional -20 points per 10 tons over 80 is incredibly harsh for launches designed to be interplanetary and carrying payloads of dozens of probes.  In the Probe-Scatterer's case, it's costing me 2,400 points, so my starting position is either -2,105 or -1,925 points.

I left 2 probes in Kerbin orbit (+2 points), flew by the Mun and left 2 more probes orbiting there as well (+3, +25 for body visited and probed).  This is where I paused the mission to come post my progress, and noticed the cumulative penalty.

Planned was a similar flyby-deposit of a Mecha-Burrito at Minmus, netting +25 for the visit and +2 for the pair of probes left in its orbit. 

I would then at least try to land the Scarabs on Eve and deploy their ground stations before driving them around a bit, which would have been worth 240 points (+25 for leaving probes at the planet at all.)  Another Mecha-Burrito would have been left orbiting Gilly, netting +25 for the body visit and +2 for the twin probes orbiting it.  The visit to the Eve system would thus have netted me a total of +292 points.

After that, I was unsure of what I was going to do.  I would have had 20 Mecha-Burritos left on board the mothership, and had wanted to see how many bodies I could leave probes in orbit of after flybys, but in all honesty the realization that it's going to be nearly impossible to get a positive number of points from my build makes it hard for me to gather the motivation to open the game back up and continue the mission.

I like it! Maybe I should make an additional category for those really heavy rockets which doesn't have as much of a downside. Good work.

Edited June 29, 2016 by The Optimist

[DoctorDavinci]

 

7 minutes ago, The Optimist said:

If that's what you please, get out. You obviously do not understand the concept of a CHEAP and LIGHTWEIGHT delivery system. Get out.

Your entry is actually pretty good, to be honest. It's just kinda too heavy.

I just think it's a shady move to change the rules just to thwart my attempt ... Not cool

[The Optimist]

4 minutes ago, DoctorDavinci said:

 

I just think it's a shady move to change the rules just to thwart my attempt ... Not cool

It wasn't targeted towards you in particular, no. You made me see the flaw in the original rules. I just didn't want city-block-sized rockets transporting massive amounts of cubesats, which would take most of the point out of the challenge.

[DoctorDavinci]

29 minutes ago, The Optimist said:

It wasn't targeted towards you in particular, no. You made me see the flaw in the original rules. I just didn't want city-block-sized rockets transporting massive amounts of cubesats, which would take most of the point out of the challenge.

 

So you say the rule change wasn't targeted at me in particular, however I am the reason for the rule change? ... Let alone my craft is about the same size as Cunjo Carl's, just has more parts

 

1889 parts with 12 probes each with 9 additional probes attached ... 120 probes stuffed inside her

 

ox·y·mo·ron

ˌäksəˈmôrˌän/

noun

noun: oxymoron; plural noun: oxymorons

1. a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

 

You didn't want to allow my solution to your challenge so you changed the rules

Whichever ... your challenge, rules subject to change

Edited June 29, 2016 by DoctorDavinci