Squishy hinge suspension craft catalogue

[RoninFrog]

I made a rover based on @Icky's configuration of hinges and landing gear, and got it working reliably up to 150m/s even on decently rough terrain.  Thought I'd share a video:

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by RoninFrog

[Vanamonde]

Val seems to be enjoying it. 

[Azimech]

I'm actually interested in this tech.

[RoninFrog]

2 hours ago, Azimech said:

I'm actually interested in this tech.

Thanks!  Here's a few KerbalX links if you want them:

Craft in video It's not exactly the same, the suspension hinges are slightly offset.

Amphibious version Don't miss the clipped elevon if you try going boating.

Non-atmospheric version

 

[RoninFrog]

Here's a video I recorded of the non-atmospheric version so ya don't have to go download it to see it in action.

 

[Azimech]

34 minutes ago, RoninFrog said:

Thanks!  Here's a few KerbalX links if you want them:

Craft in video It's not exactly the same, the suspension hinges are slightly offset.

Amphibious version Don't miss the clipped elevon if you try going boating.

Non-atmospheric version

 

Thanks! Will try them!

[RoninFrog]

Moar Suspension

 

[RoninFrog]

I used this dual-hinge suspension to create the bat-bike-mobile from Dark Knight.

 

[RoninFrog]

I know it's not a rover but it's a pretty cool little craft that demonstrates another use of the hinge flexibility.

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by RoninFrog
ugh youtube

[Icky]

ayyyy! thats awesome! i like the idea of strutting the wheels to a point separate from the main hinges. i assume thats helping to absorb the larger impacts. and i love that walker

[RoninFrog]

I got a version that can maintain a consistent 20m/s on Eeloo.  The RTG's only support about 2 minutes of maximum operation though.  The repositioned joints work significantly better.

KerbalX

[RoninFrog]

Not trying to spam posts in this thread but I got an even better version of the mech working.

 

It has four legs instead of two, all of them mechanically alternated to go "left-right-left-right" resulting in what is basically a displaced wheel of I-beam tips.  It's super-duper smooth but it feels more like a rover than a mech at this point.

[Vanamonde]

I wish I had the patience to make things like this work. 

[18Watt]

7 hours ago, RoninFrog said:

Not trying to spam posts in this thread but I got an even better version of the mech working.

It's definitely not spamming if you have cool stuff to add!  I'm enjoying your rovers, especially the walking ones!

I've spent a lot of time fiddling with rovers, trying to make them somewhat resistant to damage.  The stuff you and @Icky are coming up with is awesome.

I know you mentioned that you've seen the 'sliding' effects that happen to robotics parts, which can be frustrating.  However, I'd say y'all are more than making up for that with your use of hinges in the suspension.

[RoninFrog]

Here's another application of squishy hinge tech: Stock Orion Drives.

The design here is just a prototype.  I've been thinking up a new design involving spiraled struts around a single motor head instead of having an individual hinge for each strut.  This should reduce part count and complexity as well as largely eliminate the wiggling motion after a detonation.

The current design has 8 (reloadable) charges, and has been tested statically to have an estimated ISP of close to 30,000.  It doesn't require any cheats or mods to use, but the craft file is pretty heavily edited.

[RoninFrog]

Reworked the drive with the rotor technique I mentioned earlier to get 50,000 ISP (I think).

I got around 1300 m/s of dV from one canister.  I've got 12 more in the container modules for a total of nearly 17,000 dV for this craft.

[RoninFrog]

Here's the latest and greatest:

Completed stock Orion Drive:

Spoiler

This engine uses piston with struts suspended in a circular rotation against a rotor head to supply longitudinal forces.  In turn, the rotor head has struts suspnded in a counter-rotation against another rotor head to help balance the latitudinal forces.  The result is an INCREDIBLY strong yet stable spring, capable of absorbing tremendous forces without requiring any electric charge.

Fast mech (latest generation):

Spoiler

I used circular legs on this mech, so it may seem like they are making full rotations.  However, they are in fact fixed rotation-wise by the suspended hinge and only translate in approximate circles across the double-motor mechanism.  The same basic principle was used as in the other mechs here, but with a couple improvements:  This rover has a step speed approximately 50% faster than the previous designs, is much smaller, and the legs have perfect suspension symmetry.  The previous designs had their suspension symmetry off by 90° instead of a full 180°, meaning the legs were only stable in one position, rather than two.  Since the legs go through two stable positions on each cycle instead of one, this allows the mech to run much faster while also remaining more stable and controllable.  I did have to use craft editing to get exact positionings on the hinges (-0.3root3 on the Z axis), but everything else is made without cheats or edits.