ISRU drills crossing biomes

[suicidejunkie]

I came across this in my 1.0.5 game, and can't load 1.2 without serious graphical issues (I'm pretty sure I need a new video card for my potato), so if someone could confirm if this still happens, that would be appreciated.

 

Basically, I've got a Minmus base that spreads across 3 biomes (Midlands, Slopes & Greater Flats in this case) thanks to KAS hoses.  I was stretching it towards the higher ore values for improved mining.

A kerbal on EVA can stand next to the first drill and see that it is definitely located in the Midlands via soil samples, then walk a ways to the other drills on the flats and verify their location as well.

Given that the ore values at the drills range from 1%-4% based on the report of the surface scanning module, I was hoping to have noticeably better rates on the new drilling complex.  However I have to undock the drilling complex to get the better rate, and it drops again as soon as I reconnect to the main base.

I suspect things are being based on the root part's or maybe center of mass' location rather than the location of the drills.

 

Presumably nobody has noticed because vehicles don't usually get very large or straddle biomes.

[ExplorerKlatt]

All drills pull from the craft's center of mass. So drill will only ever pull from one biome. 

[Superfluous J]

24 minutes ago, ExplorerKlatt said:

All drills pull from the craft's center of mass.

...which can have interesting results as your ore tanks that you set way off to the side start filling up.

[Gordon Fecyk]

Would using EVA Transfer instead of Kerbal Attachment System work around this?

I haven't yet attempted a transfer across biomes, but my reading of EVA Transfer's docs suggests it doesn't actually join two crafts into one. Instead it enables a transfer interface between two crafts while keeping them separate. This way you'd have your drill craft in its separate biome from the ore tank craft.

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