Help! Rover won't move!

[maddog59]

I've got a rover on Minmus with six TR-2L wheels mounted on two G-11 hinges (so they'll fold away for flight and parking, since it's going to become part of a Base). One wheel is damaged, but I can't repair it because I didn't bring any repair kits with me (I know, I'm an idiot. Let's move on). After I landed it I was able to drive it around just fine. I parked it and folded the wheels away, then unfolded them again (that's a story for another time). When it finally settled down, one wheel was damaged, and there's still plenty of electricity available. But for some reason it just won't move. The wheels spin,  but it just won't go, other than a little bit of motion side to side (steering seems to work). When I unlock a hinge, it starts jumping around like a jack rabbit and won't stop. I've tried adjusting the Traction Control and Brake settings with no changes. It seems to me that one damaged wheel on such a low grav moon shouldn't be stopping this from going anywhere, but I'm at my wits end. And suggestions would be appreciated.

  

[king of nowhere]

57 minutes ago, maddog59 said:

I've got a rover on Minmus with six TR-2L wheels mounted on two G-11 hinges (so they'll fold away for flight and parking, since it's going to become part of a Base). One wheel is damaged, but I can't repair it because I didn't bring any repair kits with me (I know, I'm an idiot. Let's move on). After I landed it I was able to drive it around just fine. I parked it and folded the wheels away, then unfolded them again (that's a story for another time). When it finally settled down, one wheel was damaged, and there's still plenty of electricity available. But for some reason it just won't move. The wheels spin,  but it just won't go, other than a little bit of motion side to side (steering seems to work). When I unlock a hinge, it starts jumping around like a jack rabbit and won't stop. I've tried adjusting the Traction Control and Brake settings with no changes. It seems to me that one damaged wheel on such a low grav moon shouldn't be stopping this from going anywhere, but I'm at my wits end. And suggestions would be appreciated.

  

brakes are on. see that yellow symbol to the right of the altitude indicator? that means the brakes are activated. press b again to unlock them

[maddog59]

2 minutes ago, king of nowhere said:

brakes are on. see that yellow symbol to the right of the altitude indicator? that means the brakes are activated. press b again to unlock them

Oops, I should've mentioned that ... that was the first thing I checked. They're on for purposes of getting the screen shot. Brakes off, nothing happens. 

The wheels on the rover go 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round...

[king of nowhere]

ah damn. seems a kraken attack. it's definitely not something that should happen

have you tried saving/reloading the game? reloading a previous save?

i see you are going slightly uphill. if you remove the brakes, will the rover start downhill? you can try going downhill for a while and then see if anything changes.

you can also try to use the alt-f12 menu to move your rover around a bit.

[maddog59]

I think it really must have something to do with the damaged wheel. I was actually able to get it go in reverse for a while, but it wouldn't go forward. Then it wouldn't go at all. I've got several save points, and have finally gone back to one where I have to land it again and start all over. Really a pity, since I spent a long time rebuilding another station that I want to hook it up to, and all that work has gone to waste. Oh well, such is the life of a Kerbal. 

Thanks for your suggestions. Much obliged! 

[bewing]

1. Turn off Traction Control! It automatically applies brakes to "random" wheels, and makes your rover not move properly.

2. Switch "Friction" from auto to manual, and turn it way up. On low-G worlds, rovers need friction to go and to stop.

In the picture, was your rover actually heading north and downhill? Or was it heading south and uphill? If it was the second, then your probe core is backwards and that will always mess up your wheels.

If the hinges really have messed up the automatic drive algorithm, then click "remove from symmetry" on all of them, turn all of them off except for one at a time, and make sure that "forward", "left" and "right" all do the correct things for each wheel. If not, you can adjust it by hand.

[maddog59]

Thanks! I'll give those recommendations a try and see how they work out, once I've completed the mission of hooking the two beasts together. It's a great learning experience (experience is what you get when you don't get what you want).  

Yes, I had the probe core set properly, that wasn't an issue ... everything worked great right after I'd landed. The problems didn't start until I'd parked/stowed the wheels, then released them again. 

I'm also curious if you have any idea why the rover kept jumping around for so long after I deployed the wheels a second time. I set the traverse rate for the hinges as low as possible, but it jumped up like a jack rabbit and kept jumping and shuddering for several minutes as it bounced up and down on the surface. It took forever to settle down.   

Edited February 24, 2021 by maddog59
added last paragraph

[Stormpilot]

I have also had these problems. Have you tried turning off reaction wheels? Also make sure your crafts control point is facing forward. If this dose not work, maybe go to your tracking station (save before you do this just in case ) then switch back to your vessel. This worked for me when my mun rover would not move.

Edited March 6, 2021 by STORMPILOTkerbalkind