Dancing porcupine, the indestructible rocket car

[king of nowhere]

once, long ago, there was a rover. it was a simple rover, if a big one, designed for one purpose: to ferry fuel from a fuel production facility on the ground to another craft that would bring the fuel to orbit.

the rover didn't need to go fast or far, but it still was at risk of capsizing. and it was too big to be upturned by a robotic hinge. So I added to it an engine, pointing on a side to generate torque. and the rover did what it was made to do.

then i had to send another similar rover to another planet. I was studying various concepts to make it land, when i suddenly realized: i already have an engine, i only need to add another engine, and this rover can fly itself. no need for transfer modules or sky cranes.

the original plan called for two rovers, one for mining, one for science. but science instruments are so small and light, the big mining rover will barely feel the extra weight if i just give them to it.

And so this rover could support mining and science, and it could upturn itself when it fell. well, except when it exploded. which, being a fuel tank strapped with delicate science instruments, it did often. and so it was not so fun to drive.

I tried to make it more resistant by applying some landing struts on its top, so it could bounce off the ground and keep going.

And thus dancing porcupine was born.

And i kept adding new functionalities to it as long as i could keep them light enough to fly

Dancing Porcupine can
- cruise around planets at over 30 m/s
- routinely survive crashes at over 30 m/s
- land and take off from any planetary body no bigger than Duna
- refuel itself
- fun to drive from cockpit view
- go up cliffs
- collect science everywhere
- drive by night
- fall down cliffs and survive (which will surely come in handy if you drive by night at full speed)
- dock with anything
- carry fuel and ore
- complete with launcher
- launcher does not need manuevering

here are its major functionalities

A complete highlight of the porcupine armor^TM. It is virtually indestructible below 30 m/s (i only took damage once, when a ground feature managed to hit a battery), and it is fairly reliable up to 40 m/s. Above that it's practically guaranteed to break something, though even at 60 m/s there is a fair chance that the pilots will survive, together with enough pieces of the rover to retain at least some functionality.

Warning:

- when driving, you go forward. when deploying your rockets, you go upwards. you can fly with your rockets folded, in which case you go downward. remember to always set your control point accordingly. the manufacturer is not responsible if you crash on a hillside because you tried to fly by pointing the cupola upwards

- the porcupine armor can resist normal accidents in all conditions, barring extreme speed or extreme bad luck. It cannot resist the driver incidentally trying to destroy it, or doing something bloody stupid

- driving this rover will give you a sense of invulnerability that will push you to do something bloody stupid. Like throwing yourself down a crater just because you can.

- remember to fold your rockets back after using them; while extended, they are vulnerable

- flight is a bit shaky, with the hinges causing vibrations and the center of mass moving as fuel depletes. If you think this is a flaw, perhaps you are not fully appreciating that this thing actually flies in the first place.

 

DOWNLOAD LINK

https://kerbalx.com/king_of_nowhere/dancing-porcupine-the-indestructible-rocket-car