Rovers! Post your pictures here!

[Admiral Fluffy]

Expect a rover from me in a bit!

Edited August 9, 2021 by Admiral Fluffy
oh hey llok new page

[Admiral Fluffy]

Here is my rover.

I named it "Junk Carrying Rover"

Its designation in the SPH is 1J-2.

Has Floodlights so you can see well in the dark.

Here you can see it picking up a peice of debris.

And here is that same peice in the Junk pile near my Minmus Base.

Using the Claw it can connect to the base.

And finally, here it is brilliantly landed on the flats.

List of all pictures involved.

Spoiler

https://imgur.com/a/OdMRBvq

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Admiral Fluffy
Added more stuff

[Kerminator K-100]

12 hours ago, Admiral Fluffy said:

I named it "Junk Carrying Rover"

Thats smart, to use a rover to pick up debris. Although I feel like the claw in the front might cause some driving issues. You could try a crane/robotic arm on top.

[Admiral Fluffy]

54 minutes ago, Kerminator K-100 said:

You could try a crane/robotic arm on top.

In hindsight, I should have done that, because it requires messing around with the Reaction Wheels to attach to the debris. Should try that on a planet with more gravity.

[dok_377]

18 hours ago, Kerminator K-100 said:

Did you make the Kerbal skin?

No. Found it somewhere. Don't remember where. 

[Zacspace]

I have returned to shamelessly post a rover that I've already posted elsewhere. Behold:

The Deployable Support Vehicle. A medium rover that can lift itself into/out of a Mk3 cargo bay. It's loaded with all the science experiments and surface scanners including the science jr, but NOT including the mobile processing lab which is almost as big as this rover is by itself. It's deploys it's drills and legs turning it into a little mining/refueling platform making it a pretty nifty companion for an interplanetary SSTO. Pictured below

Spoiler

 

On 8/8/2021 at 8:13 PM, Kerminator K-100 said:

I'm actually working on a huge one with a walkable interior.

You'd better post it here, that would have to be a truly massive vehicle. I'm curious to see how something like that stays together and drives with KSP's physics being as they are. I'm envisioning an aircraft carrier on wheels.

On 8/8/2021 at 8:13 PM, Kerminator K-100 said:

And the plane/rover bay is the greatest idea ever. I'd love to see more of this rover!

And you will!

Spoiler

Here's a more recent version of my Exoloper Mobile Colony carrying a lander on top instead of the plane it was pictured with before. Duna's the most challenging body my lander here can handle. The crane that holds it in place is designed to accommodate vehicles of varying size without involving too much janky KSP robotics. The main limitation right now is the landing leg footprint can't exceed 4m square. The little rover deploys fine now since 1.12's wheel changes and I changed around some things so that the ramp now extends properly.

With all the drills and radiators deployed. it even has a little yellow spinny light on top so you know it's doing serious work. The crane on back can be used to interface with a landed vehicle for refueling. I think I might add a dedicated arm with more degrees of freedom for that purpose since having the crane pull double duty here is kind of a pain.

Current-gen rover family photo

[Kerminator K-100]

13 hours ago, Zacspace said:

Current-gen rover family photo

That is great! I love these rovers!

[Souptime]

On 6/7/2021 at 5:10 PM, dok_377 said:

Those look amazing! what wheels are those from???

[dok_377]

1 hour ago, Souptime said:

Those look amazing! what wheels are those from???

Kerbal Foundries.

[Azimech]

I don't like rovers. I like cars.

All stock. Just painted.

 

My own car: Citroën BX 1985.

 

Older unpainted Dodge Charger R/T 1969, stock.

And some of these were made into capable of driving on other worlds.

https://gfycat.com/uncomfortablemadeuparrowworm

Edited August 26, 2021 by Azimech

[Pikah]

No Mods, Perseverance

Perseverance, With Real Speed!

 

[swjr-swis]

On 8/10/2021 at 4:18 AM, Zacspace said:

I'm envisioning an aircraft carrier on wheels.

Someone called?

 

(does it count as a rover?)

 

[Kerminator K-100]

19 hours ago, swjr-swis said:

(does it count as a rover?)

 

Wow

its beautiful!

[Zacspace]

On 9/4/2021 at 4:06 AM, swjr-swis said:

(does it count as a rover?)

From the looks it can count and do just about whatever else it wants to as a rover damn. I love how you slam it into the water at 40m/s then turn around and run it up the beach at full throttle and the whole boat just couldn't be less bothered by it.

[swjr-swis]

12 hours ago, Zacspace said:

I love how you slam it into the water at 40m/s then turn around and run it up the beach at full throttle and the whole boat just couldn't be less bothered by it.

To be honest, it was a lil bothered.

You'll notice if you look closely that the fore deck isn't entirely flat anymore once it's racing towards the KSC. On examination later, apparently it hit its toe front rudder on the way up the beach, and the part poofing triggered a restrutting of all the parts, with a slight misalignment as a result. Considering its a 2.5 kt 520-part full-sized carrier, and it was really not meant to be racing around like an amphibious dune-buggy, I still think consider its structural integrity pretty decent.

I have a slightly improved version in the works that prevents the toe rudder-bashing, which I still need to upload.

 

[king of nowhere]

Looks like I forgot to post the rover for my current exploration mission. To keep up with the tradition of calling my small landers after common object, I dubbet it Horseshoe (not a very inspired name, but couldn't come up with anything else U-shaped).

Specifications:

- must be able to reach orbit from the surface of Tylo (it lands using a dedicated stage)

- high redundancy, I'm using kerbalism and stuff breaks occasionally

- good IVA view

- good driving experience

this is the result

Wet mass: 16.2 tons

Empty mass: 7.1 tons

TWR 1.62 (Kerbin, vacuum)

DeltaV 2500 m/s (vacuum)

It's enough to orbit Tylo with some spare. Six Cub engines would be enough for that, but to keep the redundancy requirement I used 8, if one breaks I can shut off its opposite and this thing still reaches Tylo's orbit. To provide a good driving experience I used the lander pod with a lot of windows. The two strong reaction wheels in the back are very powerful, they are useful to turn the rover upright if it starts skidding. They add a lot of stability. They are also placed in a way that can easily be manipulated by EVA construction, if one breaks I have plenty of spares on its mothership.

Power generation is 2 advanced RTG from near future electrics, each is as powerful as 4 ordinary RTGs but only weigths half as much. Seems too convenient, but I made this concession to practicality. RTGs have no part failure chance, so I don't need backups there. Wheels also don't need backups, thought of course I carry some repair kits if they get damaged. There are two antennas, with additional backups on the mothership, and even a spare robotic arm.

The rover carries supplies for a crew of two for 50 days. Its only weakness is a single life support system; those things are very heavy, and without life support Horseshoe can still run for a couple of days before the crew is in danger, so it can still perform its basic mission.

Thanks to a careful maintenance schedule, so far Horseshoe broke a single part. Guess which one?

Horseshoe docked with the heavy descent stage for tylo landing

On thatmo

Plock

The final part of landing on Slate. for the first time, i managed a landing on a tylo-like body without having to reload the game a dozen times first

Gilly

 

Horseshoe is an excellent lander. It performs nicely as a rover on low gravity bodies, but above 0.3 g it has some serious problems with even mild slopes. as is the case with all my lander/rover designs, you either sacrifice deltaV, or you sacrifice number of wheels. having to put in enough rockets to make the craft tylo-rated has seriously impacted its performance as a rover

[king of nowhere]

My previous rover was very functional, but it wasn't fun to drive in high gravity. And yet, with the outer planets mod I came across a couple of worlds - Wal and Slate - that looked like really nice places to drive rovers on. If only I had a rover with more wheel power.

To get the urge out of my system, I quickly cobbled up a rover with no rockets. such a strange concept, a car that cannot fly... who would ever conceive such a thing?

well, without the need for huge fuel tanks and powerful rockets, I was able to put lots of wheels on a relatively light rover to take some scenic cruise. Without worrying about weight, I also replicated the armor that I first used on dancing porcupine (which I posted on the first page of this thread). As this rover is much lighter, the armor is even more effective, letting it routinely survive impacts at 50 m/s.

Slate is full of valleys and canyons, and they run dozens of kilometers, sometimes hundreds. Who needs dres anymore?

the rover exploring one such canyon

I used the in-line Mk1 cockpit because it gives, by far, the best unobstructed IVA view among crew pods. You normally only get a good view above you, but I fixed this by angling it downward, for better view of the terrain.

Too bad I can't use it on my regular rovers, kerbalism will consider any spaceship containing this part to be unpressurized, which will give plenty of issues

And here on Wal. That mountain cliff ahead is 10 km high and surrounds the whole equator. climbing it was difficult and rewarding

[Kerminator K-100]

@king of nowhere that first rover is incredible. Landing on Tylo in Kerbalism is really tough, even with a conventional lander

[Admiral Fluffy]

On 8/8/2021 at 6:13 PM, Kerminator K-100 said:

This is why I love huge rovers, they just exist and look awesome. I'm actually working on a huge one with a walkable interior.

Currently working on a large rover. It has about 200 parts, Can carry 12 Kerbals. Pictures coming soon!

 

[MythicalHeFF]

I’ve had a single rover design that I’ve been using reliably for a while now, and it was creatively dubbed the “Simple Science Rover.” I originally used it to drive 200-300 kilometers across the surface of tylo to great success, but it’s range before recharging was very limited as it did not have adequate power generation. I’ve since lost the screenshots of that mission, so here’s a recreation I made: 

I later improved the design, called it “Simple Science Rover Redux”, and am currently using it as a sort of “shuttle” for a mun base/resort I made:

(There is a closeable rover garage included)

Leaving the base to drive out of the rim of the East Crater and up to the Mun Arch, about 30 km away

Private habitat units for the especially wealthy guests

At the Mun Arch

On Minmus 

Helpful Tip: On low gravity bodies, set the Friction Control on the rover wheels to 5 or higher, this drastically reduces sliding and makes it easier to turn without flipping over. Also turn up the spring strength and traction control.

I’m also currently working on a much larger vehicle, the Odyssey, that I plan to use to circumnavigate Duna.

In the SPH

Exit ladder and science bay

Mining equipment 

Crew meeting room

Cargo ramp, which will contain an aforementioned Simple Science Rover Redux for climbing especially steep mountains 

More updates coming once I actually launch the mission!

[Keyboard Basher]

@Jack Joseph Kerman
I typically aim to build the smallest rovers possible which in turn allows me to keep my launch vehicles on the smaller side. Being polar opposite design wise, I find massive rovers very interesting.

How much mass does the Odyssey have?

On 10/10/2021 at 9:39 PM, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

More updates coming once I actually launch the mission!

Please keep us updated with that mission!

[MythicalHeFF]

9 hours ago, Keyboard Basher said:

@Jack Joseph Kerman
I typically aim to build the smallest rovers possible which in turn allows me to keep my launch vehicles on the smaller side. Being polar opposite design wise, I find massive rovers very interesting.

How much mass does the Odyssey have?

Please keep us updated with that mission!

I don’t actually know the exact mass of the Odyssey, but I made a new and improved version, the Odyssey 2, that I posted in the thread “What Did you do in KSP today?” a few days ago. The new version has a mass of exactly 70 tons, and features a larger interior.

(this screenshot was taken before I removed the starshot 32s)

Interior 

I also removed the mining equipment as this was unnecessary.

 

Edited October 18, 2021 by Jack Joseph Kerman

[Keyboard Basher]

2 minutes ago, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

The new version has a mass of exactly 70 tons, and features a larger interior.

Good lord! That’s some heavy stuff.

Do you have a single massive launch vehicle or is the Odyssey capable of being assembled in orbit or at destination? I find this so fascinating.

[MythicalHeFF]

29 minutes ago, Keyboard Basher said:

Good lord! That’s some heavy stuff.

Do you have a single massive launch vehicle or is the Odyssey capable of being assembled in orbit or at destination? I find this so fascinating.

The rover itself can be launched in one piece, but in order to actually land anywhere it needs a descent stage, which is launched separately and docked to the vehicle once its in orbit of the destination. Once attached, it can land on any celestial body apart from eve (I tested it on Tylo and it has just enough delta v)

Edited October 18, 2021 by Jack Joseph Kerman

[Keyboard Basher]

BEHOLD! The Shackleton Unmanned Rover.

The rover has a mass of 0.449t.

Equipped with the following science modules:
PresMat Barometer
2HOT Thermometer
CRSY Light Scanning Arm
Atmospheric Fluid Spectro-Variometer <- This is primarily for aesthetics as it gave my rover a bit of a power cell style appearance when accompanied by a battery.

It has a low center of mass which means it's easy to handle when turning sharply.

I find small rovers quite fun and a light challenge to build when I'm trying to include the most science modules while also keeping the weight below 1/2t.

Here are some more screenshots.

On descent to the moon.

The final descent stage.

I needed a platform which allowed the rover to drive off of it without risking damage to the wheels or frame so, I used a tapered adapter along with 5 stage separators. It's not ideal but, it proved to be a successful and easy to use design.

I hope you get a kick out of my design and photos.