Mecanum Wheels in KSP

[Jollyfellow]

So I had a thought today, "Would mecanum wheels work in KSP?" The answer is:

       Yes. They do, in fact, work.

For those wondering what mecanum wheels are, they are wheels that allow lateral (sideways) movement. They are wheels that are made with smaller wheels/rollers around their circumference of them, canted at a 45 degree angle from their center axis.

I made a short video demonstrating a drivetrain in KSP using them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbCuh1aUn1o&

I'm not entirely sure what applications you could use this for in KSP, but it is interesting that they work in the game, and I thought I would share that.

Have fun!

[MR L A]

Excellent work!

Any practical uses for this in mind (in KSP I mean)?

If not, its still a great demonstration!

[Blaarkies]

5 minutes ago, MR L A said:

Any practical uses for this in mind (in KSP I mean)?

Same as real life, not much unless you want to strafe sideways while maintaining orientation. I know Rocket Lab uses them in their warehouse, so that they can move long rockets around without rotating them them around all the time.

For KSP, I bet forklifts can easily use this to dock with ground bases (instead of backing up 15m every time you miss the alignment by more than 5' )

[Guest]

Genius. I love it and I’m sure practical applications will emerge.

[FleshJeb]

6 hours ago, Blaarkies said:

For KSP, I bet forklifts can easily use this to dock with ground bases (instead of backing up 15m every time you miss the alignment by more than 5' )

Not to take away from the really cool OP, but you  can reverse the steering on the rear wheels to allow your vehicles to move laterally. I use it all the time for the final alignment in ground-docking.