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How are you landing your rovers?

GalaxyGryphon

By GalaxyGryphon
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The Right Trousers

The Right Trousers

Posted
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This is only my second rover, so... not an expert. It's joined together by docking ports so the joints can flex and absorb force, so it can easily move over weird terrain and doesn't flip when braking. Anyway, I kludged together this launcher:

k5T0M6V.jpg

The rockets are held on ultimately by docking ports (the mouse pointer is over one). It lands using four thrust-vectoring engines. I unclamp the ports and drive it away.

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OUScooby

OUScooby

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I dont have any pics but I put my rover on the bottom of my lander stage attached with a stack separator. The landing engines are mounted on around the sides and when the legs are down and the craft has landed the wheels of the rover are only a few inches of the ground and the stack separator releases dropping it those last few inches. Then the rover simply driver out from under the lander between the leg and is off to rove the planet. I've got a similar setup for atmospheric landing up with no side engines, just a parachute on top. I'll see if I can get some pics of it.

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doggie015

doggie015

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I'm trialling a skycrane style system.

Cruise stage in Mun orbit:

screenshot5_zps6f805219.png

It was able to deliver the rover well enough... but some tweaks are needed... such as RCS on the final stage!

screenshot7_zps4ba03d66.png

In case you are wondering: The rover can carry six kerbals and once I have the bugs ironed out a .craft file will be released of the whole system including launcher

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John FX

John FX

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I found that on my lander if I put three engines it wipes out, if I put four or two it is stable as a rock (engines below COM directly attached to fuel tank). If you are using Mechjeb it does not like odd numbers of engines and seems to prefer bilateral symmetry that doesn`t require half an engine to be on both sides.

Shame because I like the style of triple rockets.

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Echostatic

Echostatic

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I put sections of my Munbase in a large frame on wheels to move into position... I think that technically counts as a rover >.> Just land the thing on the wheels, drive to position, lower legs, disconnect via radial decoupler, drive the frame a safe distance and fly the frame away with the command drone stuck somewhere on top.

2013-04-03_00012_zps0e2c6efd.jpg

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Flixxbeatz

Flixxbeatz

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Separate Lander Assembly - Rover under, works just like a skycrane, but it lands. Landing legs are designed wide to prevent tipping off at landing. Perfect for small to medium-sized rovers.

For large rovers/trucks/mobile bases, it's best to land them on their own power (unless, you want to build a massive lander assembly or a giant skycrane to do the job). You have to make the thing perfectly balanced, though...

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Twistedpear

Twistedpear

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This is Munbus 3 - designed to round up all the Kerbals I've stranded on the Mun. It'll carry 17 (incl. driver) Kerbals in total.

Landed with detachable engines on decouplers:

8CCt2cH.jpg

Launched on top of a largish launcher (in progress - Dawn Launches FTW!) which was decoupled before reaching Munar orbit

dSpGUaW.png

And after successfully gathering up all the stranded Kerbalnaughts they decided to take a sight-seeing tour while waiting for pickup :)

x8DJOuH.png

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angusmcbeth

angusmcbeth

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Nasa style...7 minutes of terror

8lrgnfe.png

There goes the heatshield. Fairing made with Fairing Factory tool

12fNjR0.png

The rover in a folded state. Wheels lowered using Damned Robotics mod

bhD9lHa.png

Using Mechjeb to fly the skycrane...

F75swL1.jpg

...while I lower the rover using Kerbal Attachment System mod

b77OPkV.png

Safely on Duna exploring with the Romfarer Camera mod

My take on the best real rover delivery ever.

Uses Mechjeb, Damned Robotics, KSPX, Fairing Factory, Romfarer Cam, KAS, stock parts and a few bits I had to make myself. It worked really well in 0.19, untested in 0.20. Sorry if I have left any mods used out.

( and sorry about all the images, its a complicated model to show - I would make a video if my PC wasn't coal fired and could handle it.)

Edited by angusmcbeth
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rodion_herrera

rodion_herrera

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Nasa style...7 minutes of terror

My take on the best real rover delivery ever.

Uses Mechjeb, Damned Robotics, KSPX, Fairing Factory, Romfarer Cam, KAS, stock parts and a few bits I had to make myself. It worked really well in 0.19, untested in 0.20. Sorry if I have left any mods used out.)

That is fantastic! :D I can use this to demonstrate the MSL landing for the kids (I teach kids basic astronomy), and they can actually participate in the process with a bit of fun involved (there's a more realistic way to do this in Orbiter, but with your setup, it feels more "kid-friendly"). Thanks for sharing that!

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MR4Y

MR4Y

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Posted
Nasa style...7 minutes of terror

8lrgnfe.png

There goes the heatshield. Fairing made with Fairing Factory tool

12fNjR0.png

The rover in a folded state. Wheels lowered using Damned Robotics mod

bhD9lHa.png

Using Mechjeb to fly the skycrane...

F75swL1.jpg

...while I lower the rover using Kerbal Attachment System mod

b77OPkV.png

Safely on Duna exploring with the Romfarer Camera mod

My take on the best real rover delivery ever.

Uses Mechjeb, Damned Robotics, KSPX, Fairing Factory, Romfarer Cam, KAS, stock parts and a few bits I had to make myself. It worked really well in 0.19, untested in 0.20. Sorry if I have left any mods used out.

( and sorry about all the images, its a complicated model to show - I would make a video if my PC wasn't coal fired and could handle it.)

Why separatrons and rockets on the same skycrane?

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angusmcbeth

angusmcbeth

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That is fantastic! :D I can use this to demonstrate the MSL landing for the kids (I teach kids basic astronomy), and they can actually participate in the process with a bit of fun involved (there's a more realistic way to do this in Orbiter, but with your setup, it feels more "kid-friendly"). Thanks for sharing that!

Thank You!

I'm not sure about kid friendly though...its a bit fiddly doing all these things and took many rehearsals. If you are going to make something like this, Build the skycrane as your primary structure. Building the rover first causes some mechjeb problems (the rover will not drive properly).

Good Luck! (and always here to help if you get stuck)

Best Regards

Angus

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rodion_herrera

rodion_herrera

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Thank You!

I'm not sure about kid friendly though...its a bit fiddly doing all these things and took many rehearsals. If you are going to make something like this, Build the skycrane as your primary structure. Building the rover first causes some mechjeb problems (the rover will not drive properly).

Good Luck! (and always here to help if you get stuck)

Best Regards

Angus

Thanks for the advice! Well maybe if I tie specific events with action groups, all the kids have to do really is press buttons. I've even thought about modifying gaming devices and creating "control boxes" like the ones they have available for train simulators:

rd.desktop.home.jpg

So a complex event like a rover landing would be more "hands-on" for kids/young adults...we got to get these kids interested in astronomy! It's the hope of humanity! hahaha Sorry I think I had too much caffeine again this morning. But yeah your post really inspired me, thanks again Angus.

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