Future Orbital Assembly Dock

[Krackit]

I've been thinking about what would be my approach to building interplanetary craft when docking becomes available, and this is my (rough) idea on what to do.

Here is a beautifully drafted blueprint, including all the complex mechanisms and extremely fine details..

Basically, the frame is a giant hexagon with fuel tanks (just as anchor points) facing towards the centre. These inward faces all have docking clamps on them so that the arm can attach itself anywhere needed for access to the craft under construction. The pieces of the frame can be shipped up in chunks that have docking clamps at the end of each truss piece so that they can fit together. This allows it to be built as long as it is needed too, allowing for a bit of flexibility!

The arm itself is fairly straightforward, with lots of hinges for flexibility, hydraulics to extend its reach when needed, and rotating parts to manipulate orientation easier. It is mirrored so that when moving from one anchor to the other, it doesn't need the same end to be attached each time, making it easier to change location. The arm could simply attach to any newly delivered parts, pull them inside the frame and place it where necessary.

Here's a basic design of just one end of the arm.

That is basically it!

Edited August 9, 2012 by Krackit

[Serratus]

Hate to break Your party. Harv is against adding the option of manual assembly in orbit AFAIK He did say he would prefer to have VAB in orbit that works just like VAB on the planet. That was a good idea thou. Would love to see it in action

[Majiir]

Hate to break Your party. Harv is against adding the option of manual assembly in orbit AFAIK He did say he would prefer to have VAB in orbit that works just like VAB on the planet. That was a good idea thou. Would love to see it in action

Harv can suck it up and let us do it.

Regarding robotic arms, I think you get a lot more flexibility from using two rotatrons instead of a rotatron + hinge. For each end of the arm, three rotatrons will allow for full articulation.

I did some thinking about this as well. I didn't consider a ring structure, but I did think it would be important to have a few double-ended arms. Tools like claws could be attached separately. I think a long truss with plenty of attachment points and 2-3 arms would be all you'd really need for assembly, though; your part delivery ships would attach to the station hull and parts could be pulled off one-by-one to build the larger craft.

I suppose arms might not always be the best solution, though. Suppose you're trying to connect two very large ships by multiple attachment points simultaneously. Instead of using an arm, you might want something more specialized that pulls two ships together at a perfect angle.

The possibilities are endless and exciting. :-) You know, if we ever get docking nodes...

[sal_vager]

Harv can suck it up and let us do it.

Remember you are playing in HarvesteR's garden, but then again, if you can show that orbital construction is possible and fun, and if enough people want it, HarvesteR might change his mind

[Majiir]

Remember you are playing in HarvesteR's garden, but then again, if you can show that orbital construction is possible and fun, and if enough people want it, HarvesteR might change his mind

My statement was, of course, a little tongue-in-cheek. It's my hope that docking will come sometime and that the implementation will be flexible enough that it's no more effort to add in-orbit construction. Really, orbital construction and docking are the same thing; you're just attaching bits together by docking points. My only fear is that docking may be implemented in a narrow way that only connects controllable vessels, not a more flexible way which connects groups of parts. It's a minor distinction, really, which is why I'm optimistic.

[sal_vager]

I for one would like to see orbital construction as well, after all, how do we build the orbital VAB in the first place?

[Krackit]

Even if that method of construction isnt what HarvesteR has in mind, it doesnt necessarily mean we will be barred from doing it! It just might end up being more work or a little trickier. Unless docking limits the amount of parts that can connect with each other, there's a way to make this work

[sal_vager]

Remember it doesn't have to be an official part of the game if Add-ons can handle it