The Kerbal Dakar 2017 entry vehicles thread

[Mikki]

A picture of my "Service Truck" driving the other way around the mountains to stage four, took me about 57 minutes, but i wasn`t going full throttle all the time. Now i can fully testride the rally with refueling the "Scrap Sled" as intended... 
If this works out well i consider making a truck entry aswell, clearly, that time the right way around...

[DrunkenKerbalnaut]

20 minutes ago, Mikki said:

"Service Truck"

I seriously overthink this stuff. So simple, so cool. 

[0111narwhalz]

I've been lurking in this thread and its associate for a few days now. I think I have some plans.

1: The Racetank
A few weeks/months ago (I think during the 1.2 prerelease), I designed a glorious vehicle I affectionately call the Racetank. It can take down every building without a scratch via ramming, but it's pretty small. I think the chassis is about two 2x2 structural plates wide and 3 long. Four Juno's, a ridiculous spoiler, and about a dozen wheels each side (minor hyperbole). All I have to do is find it in my save files. Hopefully I still have it.

2: The Conventional
I'm kinda decent at building rovers. It's pretty much all I've been doing for the past few months. So, I'll just slap together a robust electric article and take a nice road trip.

3: The Exotic
With the advent of the KSPWheel collider and the rebirth of Kerbal Foundries (at least in part), I'm tempted to enter a hovertank. Recently, I created my best specimen (the HT-03). It's tiny, stays close to the ground, and is controllable at full throttle and over bumpy terrain. However, I'm pretty sure it goes against the spirit of the competition.

4: The Warmonger
I don't know why I decided to build this...thing, but I did. Perhaps I was in a Strange Mood. Be that as it may, the Land Cruiser is glorious. It's carried by four of the big Mole tracks from the old Rubber Band Industries that KF picked up (praise lo-fi and Shadowmage). The thing bristles with missiles and rockets and has more howitzers than you could shake a stick at. It also carries a trio of HT-03 (see above) in its belly. I kinda want to do it just because I can.

5: The Experiment
Inspired by you bunch complaining about "not enough travel," the Dakar Magnus will have several meters of travel. It's powered by the KSPWheel collider (PRAISE LO-FI AND SHADOWMAGE) and Infernal Robotics. Currently, it's just a proof-of-concept chassis, but I feel the concept has been proved. The culmination of my misguided attempts to make a viable suspension, the Magnus allows for weakjoint swaybars, damping, looooong travel, and progressive spring rates. Once I implement some more features and put some more weight on it, it'll be a glorious thing to see. It should be able to bound through the hills and take a leap from the tallest cliff. Will I put jets on it? Probably.

Sorry for lack of pics. We'll see about getting some of them tomorrow evening.

[liveinaboxkerbal]

11 hours ago, Triop said:

Edit : Koffie ? het is 03:40 hier in Nederland...

Jij staat vroeg op.

p.s. Je sculpturen zijn echt geweldig.

God I wish I could speak dutch. My grandma always speaks in dutch whenever she does not want us to know something.

On another note, does anyone know how I can increase traction on my buggy no matter what I try it always spins around like its on ice even with full traction control.

[Mikki]

32 minutes ago, liveinaboxkerbal said:

God I wish I could speak dutch. My grandma always speaks in dutch whenever she does not want us to know something.

On another note, does anyone know how I can increase traction on my buggy no matter what I try it always spins around like its on ice even with full traction control.

4-wheel drive: try front 0.7 rear 1.0, for a fairly light vehicle, might apply for heavy too

Lot of traction control increases your EC use...

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

48 minutes ago, liveinaboxkerbal said:

God I wish I could speak dutch. My grandma always speaks in dutch whenever she does not want us to know something.

On another note, does anyone know how I can increase traction on my buggy no matter what I try it always spins around like its on ice even with full traction control.

Hi, you are changing the wrong thing, traction control is the codes way of trying to maintain drive it is not like a real vehicles TC, what you need to do is slightly up the friction on the rear wheels, select override and adjust, don't go mad as excessive friction can cause serious handling problems and result in lots of flaming death.  I usually run 1.2 on the rear and 0.8 on the front, this allows for a little under steer but that's a small price to pay for increased stability I feel

[liveinaboxkerbal]

1 minute ago, SpannerMonkey(smce) said:

Hi, you are changing the wrong thing, traction control is the codes way of trying to maintain drive it is not like a real vehicles TC, what you need to do is slightly up the friction on the rear wheels, select override and adjust, don't go mad as excessive friction can cause serious handling problems and result in lots of flaming death.  I usually run 1.2 on the rear and 0.8 on the front, this allows for a little under steer but that's a small price to pay for increased stability I feel

Will try when I get home thank you guys.

[Majorjim!]

I have just had an amazing idea for a second rover, alas I am in preparations to leave London for Christmas.. I will make it when I return in a few days. I missed the opportunity to upload my completed one too.. I just love to over sleep.

 If I don't post again before the day have a great holiday everyone!

[Azimech]

Tried something different. Got the '59 Cadillac Eldorado out of the garage. Oops, that was slow ... took me 38 minutes just to get to the first flag. On the mountain road to the second I damaged the bumper and twisted the chassis a bit, the whole nose and the doors were at an angle as a result.  By the time I got to the mountain road next to the valley, halfway second and third flag, I had lost most of my bumper. Took a left turn where I left the road sign and there it was game over ... I was a little too fast and the grille hit the mountain, disassembling the antennae I used for it. Those things have a nasty habit to give kraken-like forces, lifting the whole car up and slamming it down, destroying the jet engines. Well ... I learned to drive in a different manner up till then.

The sound effect I made of the two-stroke diesel is perfect for such a boat. I've never driven a '59 Caddy but I have driven a '72 Thunderbird. What do guys think of the suspension?

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by Azimech

[GDJ]

Suspension is great.....I fear that the poor girl will start shedding body parts tho'.....but if it crosses the finish line on four wheels that'll do.

[DrunkenKerbalnaut]

I don't recall anybody sharing any RC/Drone rovers. Figured that would be interesting, so I slapped a fast little number together. M1 wheels, .625m cross-section, Juno, and spoiler/diffuser combo. It's damned fast, and hardly needs a boost flap. The downforce makes it crest all the hilltops on stage 1 at 60-70 m/s without leaving the ground. 

Anyways, I was gonna share a pic, but this happened. 

Thanks Obama. 

[mrmcp1]

12 minutes ago, DrunkenKerbalnaut said:

I don't recall anybody sharing any RC/Drone rovers. Figured that would be interesting, so I slapped a fast little number together. M1 wheels, .625m cross-section, Juno, and spoiler/diffuser combo. It's damned fast, and hardly needs a boost flap. The downforce makes it crest all the hilltops on stage 1 at 60-70 m/s without leaving the ground. 

Anyways, I was gonna share a pic, but this happened. 

At least you have 4 wheels

[Slam_Jones]

4 hours ago, liveinaboxkerbal said:

God I wish I could speak dutch. My grandma always speaks in dutch whenever she does not want us to know something.

On another note, does anyone know how I can increase traction on my buggy no matter what I try it always spins around like its on ice even with full traction control.

I personally have my settings as such:

Front Wheels:
Springs: 0.1 // Dampers: 0.15
Friction Control: 1.9

Rear Wheels:
Spring 0.15 // Dampers: 0.20
Friction Control: 4.2

Basically, I usually keep Dampers one click above springs, while keeping them as low as possible (since I have light vehicles).  Friction control helps it turn without spinning out (oversteer) or 'skipping' (understeer), and I usually have the Friction Control of the rear wheels set to about double the value of the Friction Control of the front wheels.  If I want the back end to slide a little extra, I'll bump the Friction Control down a few pegs (but if you bump it down too much, or below the value of the front wheels, it will want to slide way too much).  If I want it to stay in line better, I'll bump it up a little bit (but if you bump it up too much, the wheels will grip too much and will 'skip' over the terrain when turning).  Right in the middle, which will be different with each rover, is the sweet spot.  If you have Reaction Wheels onboard, you will need to set it a bit higher than if you didn't.

Like SpannerMonkey said, Friction Control makes a much bigger difference than Traction Control.  At least, that has been my experience.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Slam_Jones

[Majorjim!]

1 hour ago, Majorjim! said:

I have just had an amazing idea for a second rover, alas I am in preparations to leave London for Christmas.. I will make it when I return in a few days. I missed the opportunity to upload my completed one too.. I just love to over sleep.

 If I don't post again before the day have a great holiday everyone!

LOL just as a wrote that my plans changed.. Going to try to upload that rover in a sec. I still hope you all have a merry Christmas though.

[Slam_Jones]

17 hours ago, Triop said:

RUMOuR CONTROL !

Group means having more various vehicles, but you still have to drive them yourself.

I will scrap it since it will only lead to more confusion.

 

 

 

Yeah, having attempted to complete Stage 1 in "group" format... very difficult!  I can only imagine trying to do the entire thing that way.

 

Edit: Post moved from Challenge thread to help keep it less cluttered

Edited December 23, 2016 by Slam_Jones

[mrmcp1]

Thought I would have another attempt at redesigning my jet powered entry

Slightly copied @Azimech design

It has better weight distribution than my old version and no ore converter to save weight

[DrunkenKerbalnaut]

1 hour ago, Majorjim! said:

Plans changed.. 

Hopefully for the better

2 minutes ago, mrmcp1 said:

Thought I would have another attempt at redesigning my jet powered entry

Slightly copied @Azimech design

It has better weight distribution than my old version and no ore converter to save weight

What's the logic behind using Vernors for the chassis?

[Azimech]

1 minute ago, DrunkenKerbalnaut said:

Hopefully for the better

What's the logic behind using Vernors for the chassis?

They have a pretty high impact rating, are smaller than I beams and easy to attach to each other.

[mrmcp1]

3 minutes ago, DrunkenKerbalnaut said:

Hopefully for the better

What's the logic behind using Vernors for the chassis?

That was copied of @Azimech design

They have a high crash tolerance and are quite light, also they are easier to make into curves

EDIT: see @Azimech above

Edited December 23, 2016 by mrmcp1

[katateochi]

So just derping around with an idea I had and made this (not actually going to run the Dakar in this though); 

The wheels are attached without using symmetry (well, built with sym on, then copied the wheel frame from either side and re-attached them without symmetry) so it has independent left/right braking which is how it steers. It works, but it's a real pig to drive because of the steering (and using SAS to turn it isn't great either). Plus side; it climbs things pretty well;

It might make an ok contenter if the steering wasn't such a pain. It's not just that it's awkward to steer, keeping it going in a straight line is a mission. might be better if I up the friction a bit.

Anyway, I have a problem. I've got my stock-jet design ready and I'm happy with it. but I'm also going to do a stock-electric run and I'd made a rover for that which was based on the same frame as the jet one (which looks pretty cool). But then I was messing around and made another version which is very minimal. It's ugly, completely lacking in fare (doesn't even have lights), but it's much faster and so light it can basically survive anything. So do I use the functionally superior one which I don't particularly like (aesthetically) or go with the slower one that looks cool? 

oh and btw, a while back I saw mention that the newer decal mod (forget which one) had the downside of adding drag to the craft.  I'm using the quite old (but still functional) NEBULA decal mod and those decals don't appear to add any drag. little bit of weight but I've put a bunch on my rover and only reduced it's top speed by about 0.4m/s so I can live with that!
 

[Azimech]

1 minute ago, katateochi said:

So just derping around with an idea I had and made this (not actually going to run the Dakar in this though); 

The wheels are attached without using symmetry (well, built with sym on, then copied the wheel frame from either side and re-attached them without symmetry) so it has independent left/right braking which is how it steers. It works, but it's a real pig to drive because of the steering (and using SAS to turn it isn't great either). Plus side; it climbs things pretty well;

It might make an ok contenter if the steering wasn't such a pain. It's not just that it's awkward to steer, keeping it going in a straight line is a mission. might be better if I up the friction a bit.

Anyway, I have a problem. I've got my stock-jet design ready and I'm happy with it. but I'm also going to do a stock-electric run and I'd made a rover for that which was based on the same frame as the jet one (which looks pretty cool). But then I was messing around and made another version which is very minimal. It's ugly, completely lacking in fare (doesn't even have lights), but it's much faster and so light it can basically survive anything. So do I use the functionally superior one which I don't particularly like (aesthetically) or go with the slower one that looks cool? 

oh and btw, a while back I saw mention that the newer decal mod (forget which one) had the downside of adding drag to the craft.  I'm using the quite old (but still functional) NEBULA decal mod and those decals don't appear to add any drag. little bit of weight but I've put a bunch on my rover and only reduced it's top speed by about 0.4m/s so I can live with that!
 

Genius!

May I test it? I might know a way to improve the steering.

[katateochi]

10 minutes ago, Azimech said:

May I test it? I might know a way to improve the steering.

Sure! I just uploaded it https://kerbalx.com/katateochi/Tank-Concept

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

One thing this event has done is renewed my interest in the science of the ksp wheel, I was a bit disillusioned after losing 12 sets to the 1.0.5 to 1.1 wheel disasters,  Competition as they say does breed innovation.  So wheels generally could be better and while the KSP Wheel API is marvelous it doesn't find out how good a stock configured wheel can be if set up differently, i will say this though that the differences in setting are wildly different between u4 and u5 which explains the sogginess of the type 8's kindly poked with a stick by Azimech .

So here's a little race truck thing with new boots and a wheel test, i left the nav ball up to show speed and angle of ascent

note

terrain not available in all or stock games

[Thor Wotansen]

Work is just wrapping up on the latest race rover from the KSC Badger Works.  This beauty runs on a combination of solar and fuel cell power and tops out at just over 40m/s.  This is a well nigh indestructible, one kerbal speed machine.  I call it the Greyhound.

Seriously, I've cartwheeled this thing down some of the biggest hills on stage 2 and the most it looses is a solar panel or two.  But mostly it just spins out instead of cartwheeling.

[Draconiator]

Well I took another longish break for RL, back to the garage.