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The Elcano Challenge: Ground-Based Circumnavigation (4th)


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  On 6/22/2022 at 5:45 AM, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

Eve complete!

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Leaderboard updated!  By the way, you've been added to two leaderboards with this entry- Eve and the Master Navigator leaderboards.  The Master Navigator is for folks who have circumnavigated both Kerbin and Eve.  It is a very short list, although I suspect I'll be adding another name to it soon.

Fantastic entry!  I enjoyed the video of the entertaining diversion you took at one of the poles.  Good luck at Gilly.

  On 6/22/2022 at 8:58 AM, Pouicpouic said:

How do you manage to be in warp x2 without breaking the propellers ?

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I'm sure @Jack Joseph Kerman will also reply on this question, but here's a few things I do:

  • I use the shortest propeller blades available.
  • I attach them with 'Rigid Attachment' on.  You might need to enable Advanced Tweakables to find this option.
  • I also attach them using auto struts.
  • Edit- just thought of another possibility, offsetting the blades inward.  In aerodynamic challenges this could be considered an exploit, as you can reduce your electricity usage to zero by offsetting prop blades.  For Elcano, it’s fine, and might help allow 2X or perhaps even higher physics warp..

Even doing that, I think the diameter of the rotor disc does expand slightly at 2X warp, but it was workable for me.  One other side-effect is that using physics warp with robotics parts (including the electric rotors and propeller blades) can cause them to shift their position on your vessel slightly.  

 

Edited by 18Watt
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  On 6/22/2022 at 8:58 AM, Pouicpouic said:

How do you manage to be in warp x2 without breaking the propellers ? --> with a rotation speed <240 rpm you still reach >60m/s ?

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I had the blades maxed out at only 210 RPM or so on the water, on land they could do around 230-240. Like @18Watt has said, I used the short ducted fan blades and auto struts to better hold them in place.

I did have a slight torque problem though, every couple minutes I’d have to correct the craft’s drifting attitude.

  On 6/22/2022 at 8:58 AM, Pouicpouic said:

Besides this memorable base-jumping moment, did you really do the rest without breaking anything and without reloading?

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Sadly no, there were a fair few fails during the land part of the circumnavigation, probably about 6 or so. None of them involved the complete destruction of the rover however, most of the time it would be just a nosecone or landing gear breaking. Considering the length of the trip, however, which I want to say was 11-12 hours in real time, there really weren’t too many accidents.

Edited by Jack Joseph Kerman
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  On 6/22/2022 at 5:51 PM, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

I did have a slight torque problem though, every couple minutes I’d have to correct the craft’s drifting attitude.

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I didn’t notice your props were identical until @Pouicpouic pointed it out.  Counter-rotating props solves the torque problem completely.  If you need to mount the props on the centerline forward and aft props can accomplish the same thing.  It’s a little awkward getting them set up properly, but worth the effort in my opinion.

Sorry we waited until after you completed Eve to point that out..

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  On 6/22/2022 at 8:58 AM, Pouicpouic said:

How do you manage to be in warp x2 without breaking the propellers ?

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Lower the RPM of your motors. You can go to great lengths with adjusting motor RPM and prop angles. The endurance prop planes I've built were running their motors as low as 60 RPM, generating good thrust through adjusting prop angles and flying comfortably at 3x phys time warp. And that's on Kerbin, mind you: with Eve's souposphere you might go even lower if you want to

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Tylo finished!

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step 1: climb a hill in a few minutes
step 2 : go down the trapping slopes as long as possible while keeping the inertia (be careful, this can last more than one hour at more than 80m/s)
step 3 : F9 or go back to step 1

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It was so exciting that I couldn't resist testing the limits from beginning to end :cool:

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6d2h48 IGT, nothing remarkable.

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Preparing for transfer toward Bop.

Edited by Pouicpouic
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Gilly complete! Definitely the easiest circumnavigation I've ever done; I want to say I did it from start to finish in about 45 minutes.

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The Eve Ascent:

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Getting to Gilly:

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Circumnavigation & Return to Kerbin:

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  On 6/23/2022 at 12:51 PM, Pouicpouic said:

No repair kits used here

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I was wrong... When docking with the transfer vessel, a wheel was broken. I preferred to fix it rather than try several times with potentially worse results.

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After the repeated destructions on Tylo, I really wanted to have a smooth trip on Bop. It took me a little while to get used to the new gravity, but in the end I managed to maintain a good 35m/s average without any fear.

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Bop circumnavigation no losses.

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Let's get out of this hell. reffuel, catch, gas! ;)

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  On 6/23/2022 at 12:51 PM, Pouicpouic said:

Tylo finished!

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Leaderboard updated!

  On 6/23/2022 at 12:51 PM, Pouicpouic said:

I warped twice to avoid driving at night

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I find rovering at night to be extremely risky.

  On 6/23/2022 at 2:36 PM, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

Gilly complete! Definitely the easiest circumnavigation I've ever done;

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Leaderboard updated!  Personally, I found using wheels on Gilly very frustrating.  So I gave up and did something different.

  On 6/23/2022 at 2:36 PM, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

Ran out of fuel about 100 m/s short of orbit. It's jetpack time!

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Reminds me of sometimes being offered contracts to take ore from Eve and deliver it somewhere.  Took me nearly 6 years to figure out how to get a Kerbal to Eve orbit.  Nice job getting 3 Kerbals into orbit with jetpacks!  I'm sure there was some frantic keyboard action to make that happen.

  On 6/23/2022 at 9:53 PM, Pouicpouic said:

fixing on Bop. With the 2 for this wheel, there are 6 left in the rover and 12 in the transfer ship (so for 9 repairs), but I'm slowly starting to worry about that anyway.

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I think you'll make it.  But if not, don't forget that it is absolutely fine to deliver spare parts, or even a replacement rover.  I know you want to do the whole thing with a single rover, but don't forget you can deliver more repair kits if needed..

  On 6/23/2022 at 9:53 PM, Pouicpouic said:

Bop circumnavigation no losses.

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Leaderboard updated!

@Jack Joseph Kerman, by my count Laythe is the only stock CB you have left?

Also, as always please double-check the leaderboards to make sure I'm getting all the entries added correctly.  You guys are doing these so quickly I'm worried I'll forget an entry somewhere.

 

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  On 6/23/2022 at 10:55 PM, 18Watt said:

 

@Jack Joseph Kerman, by my count Laythe is the only stock CB you have left?.

 

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Yeah, only one more to go. I really intended to get to Laythe much earlier, but sometimes that’s not how things work out. 

  On 6/24/2022 at 7:21 AM, Pouicpouic said:

I bet that the L.E.L.P under construction (with counter-rotative propellers), will go so well on Laythe that its wake will cause tsunamis! :)

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Since this is going to be my final circumnavigation, I may or may not have something “special” planned.

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Small review for the 2nd important milestone: 20 000 km covered with the rover.

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I don't know if it's my imagination but I have the impression that the parts are fatiguing :
- the outer wheels do not touch the ground anymore when stopped (in low gravity)
- it turns slightly to the right when accelerating
- it seems to me less resistant during shocks
- even the SAS seems less efficient
Well, maybe it's also because I have less fun than expected on Vall. hint: I can't make jumps as big as anticipated :D

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Less than 10 000 km to go  ! :cool:

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Even if the rover was below my expectations on Vall, it was a nice trip. Circumnavigation done. ;)

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Several sessions >10min at more than 80m/s on the large icy expanses.

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It's time to enjoy the colors of the joolian system one last time ! :0.0:

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Finally I wanted to try the Vall-Gilly link: I have a backup and it would be a good starting point to go to Moho.

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Gilly...

9m/s on average, with an incredible peak of 13.5m/s! If you don't accelerate time, it's impossible to stay awake... :huh:  for me, it's not a moon, if only one CB had to be destroyed : I vote for Gilly ! :D

?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Lett

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Let's see if I can reach Moho now.

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  On 6/26/2022 at 9:20 PM, Pouicpouic said:

Even if the rover was below my expectations on Vall, it was a nice trip. Circumnavigation done. ;)

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Leaderboard updated!  (both Vall and Gilly..)

  On 6/26/2022 at 9:20 PM, Pouicpouic said:

I'm far from being an expert of multiple gravity assists...but for once I was tempted!

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I have a much easier time hitting Tylo on arrival to Jool, I seem to mess up catching Tylo on the way out of Jool.  Nice assist!

  On 6/27/2022 at 10:27 AM, Pouicpouic said:

9m/s on average, with an incredible peak of 13.5m/s!

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That is blazing fast on Gilly.  Good thing Gilly is so small..

  On 6/27/2022 at 10:27 AM, Pouicpouic said:

Let's see if I can reach Moho now.

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Good luck!

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  On 6/25/2022 at 5:23 PM, damerell said:

In the past people have had trouble with parts shifting on rovers during long expeditions. It may not be your imagination.

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Not so much long expeditions but I've definitely bent planes and rovers before. Usually timewarp instafixes it.

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  On 6/25/2022 at 5:23 PM, damerell said:

In the past people have had trouble with parts shifting on rovers during long expeditions. It may not be your imagination.

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It definitely isn’t; by the end of my Tylo run my rover was shaped like a banana.

Before:

AiU5HZE.jpg

After:

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Edited by Jack Joseph Kerman
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Final minimalist rover: seats a pilot and an engineer, fits into a 3.75m engine plate (don't ask. The docking port is inside and the rover too, when docked. So it's unaffected by drag. And the shroud of the engine plate has no collision).

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It has another solar panel.

The lander also has some (very uneffective) mining equipment and might require prelaunched fuel reserves, but it can do without.

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(Here seen during a mining test. The engines are firing to remove fuel from the tanks.)

(Ah, and the shroud is off)

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Moho circumnavigation done !

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Transfer from Gilly

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Circu :

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Only one more to go! Let's hope I can land on the big purple one without burning everything... :cool:

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For the last time I grab the rover (the 14th) and here we go!

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I can't believe I made it this far. I'm going to enjoy Eve!

Edited by Pouicpouic
RPP in french = TWR
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I decided to take another crack at Eeloo. I was able find out how to reliably reproduce the bug I encountered and, crucially, how to not encounter it. I also learned some interesting things about the large rover wheels I was using as well as rover wheels in general

Here's the mission:

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And here's the TL;DR for those interested in weird overly specific KSP tech and glitches:

  1. The bug that caused my rover to stop working was related to traction control. specifically values below 1.1 seemed to cause it. I also experienced this bug on Dres during testing with traction control set to default value, so I suspect somehow local gravity factors into it or something else about the planet. I haven't reproduced the bug on any other planet so far.
  2. The RoveMax model 3 wheels, while steering with the throttle limiter turned off, seem to behave as perfect flywheels. Their RPM  increases seemingly without limit and the wheels have enough inertia that this can flip/launch you if they encounter the ground after "charging" up for a little while. I suspect this could be exploited to make a rover wheel powered thing-launcher/railgun.
  3. When expecting to travel at high speeds, high spring and damper settings are the strat.
  4. Traction control stops wheels from running when not in contact with the ground. Huge EC/fuel saving potential in leaving it enabled.
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The final obstacle, Laythe, has been circumnavigated! 

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This circumnavigation was very similar in a lot of ways to my Eve run, with the main difference being that it was (obviously) done entirely be sea. Thanks to this, I didn't need to include landing gear on the L.E.L.P, which helped save a little bit of mass. Another notable change is that the vehicle actually has counter-rotating propellers now, which were a big help in minimizing drift. In addition, since this was my final Elcano run, I wanted to make it a special one, and as such I included a few extra vehicles and goodies that I thought were fun. 

Map:

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New Vehicles and Getting to Laythe:

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Circumnavigation:

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Returning Home:

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Elcano Challenge Planets Tier List:

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Edited by Jack Joseph Kerman
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