totm june 2019 Breaking ground - Test Zone

[sgt_flyer]

Still WIP but it's stable under kerbin gravity (even after decoupling) (need to change a bit the supports, they collide with eachother during unfolding ^^) - maybe good 'ol separatron magic for that to roll the supports away from the crawler :p currently at 1103 parts, 247 tons

and it bears it's name of crawler well - makes the game itself crawl :p

 

Edited June 16, 2019 by sgt_flyer

[Klapaucius]

@sgt_flyer

 

That is fantastic.  Are you a Homeworld Deserts of Kharak fan perchance?

[sgt_flyer]

1 minute ago, Klapaucius said:

@sgt_flyer

 

That is fantastic.  Are you a Homeworld Deserts of Kharak fan perchance?

I like the game  but doing Deserts of Kharak vehicles would maybe be a bit too high partcount (just this crawler transporter is already making the game crawl - and it's not finished ! :p )

[_Rade]

Here is my take on the tracked propulsion.

By using the decouplers to make the track links I was able to cut down the number of hinges by more than a half, each track is 38 hinges and decouplers. Hinges are in the middle of the track and along with the double wheels they serve as guide for the track. Front idler wheels are mounted on a pistons which can be used to adjust the tension of the track.

Whole thing works reasonably well as long don't apply to much torque to the engines, max. speed is about 5 m/s. Main problem I've had with it is that all these hinges really slow down the game. The other problem are the KSP's stretchy joints, which make it really hard to properly tension the tracks, this can cause the track to either stretch or skip on the sprocket wheel and in turn this can de-track or break the tracks.

Here is the link to the craft file https://kerbalx.com/Rade/Tank

and a link to the Reddit post where I have posted a video of this thing in action

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by _Rade

[Guest]

On 6/15/2019 at 10:34 PM, sgt_flyer said:

Not really the forum post for that, but here's your answer

The required delta-V, ejection angles etc varies with the relative position in their orbit of the planet you come from and the planet you want to go to.

 depending on when you launch, both planets can be in the ideal position (least amount of delta-V needed for the transfer) that's the same reason why in real life space agencies have to wait for specific times to launch interplanetary missions.

check transfer window planner / or   

http://ksp.olex.biz/ (there's other transfer guides too, less old than this one, bit the why is still valid) for help calculating the right date for your transfer windows

Thanks for the information I didn't know angles made a difference I will bring the results later

[sgt_flyer]

Stress testing with 288 tons weight attached

unfortunately i still needed to hide two LY-60 landing gears in the middle of the track to bear the load (else the track unit collapses and destroys itself)

still, with this configuration, the track can manage a whooping 0.9 m/s of speed with that kind of weight on it

 

[sturmhauke]

19 minutes ago, sgt_flyer said:

Stress testing with 288 tons weight attached

unfortunately i still needed to hide two LY-60 landing gears in the middle of the track to bear the load (else the track unit collapses and destroys itself)

still, with this configuration, the track can manage a whooping 0.9 m/s of speed with that kind of weight on it

 

Soon you'll be launching Grand Tour rockets from it.

[sgt_flyer]

22 minutes ago, sturmhauke said:

Soon you'll be launching Grand Tour rockets from it.

mmh :p with the strain on my computer, i think the computer might go on a grand tour by itself if i tried to add a grand tour rocket on top of that ^^ - the game runs at 25fps with the full crawler - while still in editor !

Edited June 18, 2019 by sgt_flyer

[sgt_flyer]

Crawler First run - at around 1 FPS ^^

1217 parts (without the scaffold and struts which holds the crawler tracks prior to decoupling)

289 tons (of which, 'only' 29 tons of tracks ^^)

18 fuel cell arrays to keep all the systems powered ^^

Features :

8 independant tracks (2 on each tracked pod)

the pods can have independant inclination, be steered, and can elevate the rotation point to level the platform when moving on inclines

Torque of the pods sprocket wheels is controlled by the main throttle,

RPM limits of the sprocket wheels is controlled by the translate F/B axis

Play position of the KAL managing the steering is controlled by the translate L/R axis

Play position of the KAL managing the levelling is controlled by the translate U/D axis

Middle point of the KAL's is the neutral position for the platform / steering.

 

still, those tracks are crushing the FPS ^^

Edited June 18, 2019 by sgt_flyer
Updated infos

[Zosma Procyon]

8 rotors each the 8 D-type wing connector blades, in 4 counterrotating pairs. Rather than being connected with in foremost rotors free spinning, the rear most are offset rearward and both are connected to the pylons. It isn't fast, in fact its annoyingly slow. I think I'll go back to using flaps in my experiments.

EDIT: Further experimentation has demonstrated that not only should rotor blades not be rigidly connected, but they produce more thrust if they're offset away from the rotor.The physics of this game are weird.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Zosma Procyon

[sgt_flyer]

rebuit a bit the articulation point and levelling system (was not strong enough, the pods tended to bend inwards under weight load)

testing out the top speed of the rebuilt system 11.6 m/s (tough the game runs at 1 FPS ^^)

 

the Crawler destruction sequence once 1 of the track hinges exploded (directed by Michael Bay)

the aftermath of the breakup (going to be fined for littering :p)

 

[_Rade]

@sgt_flyer

That thing looks amazing, real shame about the in game performance. Did you try to replace every second hinge with some other part, it wont reduce the part count but it would cut the number of hinges in half and that might help.

 

Anyways here's my new tracked rover

Only 20 hinges for each thread in order to keep impact of the hinges on the performance to the minimum. Also I've redesigned the sprocket wheels, now they are similar to the sprockets on the t-34. This have considerably improved how the threads interact with the sprocket wheels. The max speed increased to ~7 m/s and it's now mostly limited by the impact tolerance of the decouplers I used for the track links.

Here's the link to the craft file https://kerbalx.com/Rade/Crawler

and a link to the video on Reddit

Edited June 20, 2019 by _Rade

[sgt_flyer]

Just now, _Rade said:

@sgt_flyer

That thing looks amazing, real shame about the in game performance. Did you try to replace every second hinge some other part, it wont reduce the part count but it would cut the number of hinges in half and that might help.

 

Anyways here's my new tracked rover

Only 20 hinges for each thread in order to keep impact of the hinges on the performance to the minimum. Also I've redesigned the sprocket wheels, now they are similar to the sprockets on the t-34. This have considerably improved how the threads interact with the sprocket wheels. The max speed increased to ~7 m/s and it's now mostly limited by the impact tolerance of the decouplers I used for the track links.

Here's the link to the craft file https://kerbalx.com/Rade/Crawler

and a link to the video on Reddit

I can't reduce the number of hinges - anymore width between the hinges pivots and i would need larger sprocket wheels. If i use small hinges, i would end up with the same number of hinges, but more parts

i might release a separate version with the same steering and levelling system, but with rovemax XL3's instead of the tracks  

 

As a sidenote, an idea for you - the edge radiator panel (the flat one) has higher impact tolerance than the decouplers (12m/s)  (that, or if you have Making history, the SP06 panel has a 80m/s impact speed ;))

[_Rade]

I'll try those panels, only problem is they are wider than the decouplers so they might not work so well.

[Noir]

So I'm not sure what kind of applications this might be useful for, but I found you can make a "ball-turret" like structure by clipping together 2 unpowered rotor/servo motors, a reaction wheel, and a probe core. Place one servo to allow left and right movement, and the other for up and down. This allows for a complete (although awkward) 360 degree rotation, as if it was a free floating object. Using the target SAS lock, you can track other vehicles, such as flying ones.

It might be useful for ground based telescopes. Last time I used a telescope mod, planets like Jool would leave the telescopes view before getting any decent photos. Or with BDArmory.

I'm using the Restock mod, for anyone curious.

[fulgur]

Testing in a 0.1g simulation:

Working title: the Kenlinstar Awesum. Named after Martystu's famous ship, the Kenlinstar Awesum.

There is a bug in the side nacelles (?), I want them to rotate to VTOL mode but they do not, even with Infinite EC on.

[sturmhauke]

24 minutes ago, fulgur said:

Testing in a 0.1g simulation:

Working title: the Kenlinstar Awesum. Named after Martystu's famous ship, the Kenlinstar Awesum.

There is a bug in the side nacelles (?), I want them to rotate to VTOL mode but they do not, even with Infinite EC on.

Where are those struts connected? If they're crossing the two sides of a servo, that's probably your problem. You should also check your motor settings.

[Shadow dream]

30 minutes ago, fulgur said:

There is a bug in the side nacelles (?), I want them to rotate to VTOL mode but they do not, even with Infinite EC on.

Autostrut does the same, you should not have it active on parts that are beyond one of these motoric parts.

 

6 hours ago, Noir said:

So I'm not sure what kind of applications this might be useful for, but I found you can make a "ball-turret" like structure by clipping together 2 unpowered rotor/servo motors, a reaction wheel, and a probe core. Place one servo to allow left and right movement, and the other for up and down. This allows for a complete (although awkward) 360 degree rotation, as if it was a free floating object. Using the target SAS lock, you can track other vehicles, such as flying ones.

Can't you motorize the part? I have not tried this specific configuration (aim at target), but you can map the servos to pitch/yaw, which should allow you to accieve the same thing without weired looking mechanics.

[fulgur]

The struts are because they flopped around before. They are connected to I/K (that is, up/down). Tomorrow I will try without struts. (The doors work though, as do the solar 'sails'.

[sturmhauke]

19 minutes ago, fulgur said:

The struts are because they flopped around before. They are connected to I/K (that is, up/down). Tomorrow I will try without struts. (The doors work though, as do the solar 'sails'.

Try turning on rigid attachment for the nacelle parts. You can also strut one nacelle to its mirror twin, if you're careful not to strut to the main craft and assuming they move in tandem.

[Noir]

6 hours ago, Shadow dream said:

Can't you motorize the part? I have not tried this specific configuration (aim at target), but you can map the servos to pitch/yaw, which should allow you to accieve the same thing without weired looking mechanics.

Yes, but the idea was to allow the craft to track something, such as another craft or a planet, without any user input. If you wanted to create a ground based telescope to look at Jool, which I've done before, you'd constantly have to readjust your aim due to Kerbin's rotation.

[Zosma Procyon]

I built an experimental amhouos base that might eventually be developed into something sent to Eve. It would use a duel counterrotating rotor system for propulsion at sea, and inside its flotation pontoons are 28 pairs of powered wheels for driving on land. If deployed it would be equipped with both Mechjeb and BonVoyage modules for automatic guidance on land.

As you can see the majority of the pontoons are cargo bays, and the wheels are mounted on the new pistons. This design still has early problems. I don't know how to synchronize the pistons or the rotors, and then at sea it would be very slow; top speed around 15 m/s.

Here it is at sea.

And  here it is at sea from underneath with the gear deployed.

[Shadow dream]

5 hours ago, Noir said:

Yes, but the idea was to allow the craft to track something, such as another craft or a planet, without any user input. If you wanted to create a ground based telescope to look at Jool, which I've done before, you'd constantly have to readjust your aim due to Kerbin's rotation.

I just tested it and it seems like a bug (?) that probe inputs don't work on axis groups. When I manualy input directions it works, but probe's input, which are clearly visible on the bottom left, do nothing. :-/

[fulgur]

Thanks @sturmhauke and @Shadow dream, I used your advice and the Kenlinstar Awesum works now. Now I just need something to put in it...

[Pds314]

A helicopter using a swashplate system to control cyclic pitch. The first successful one I've ever made. It has 19 different joints.

Edited June 23, 2019 by Pds314