How do I make RCS thrusters work on keeping a rover on the ground?

[Benie]

Ok. There's a picture of a rover I saw, and the guy said that he used RCS Thrusters to keep the rover on the ground.

So I tried a test and put some RCS Fuel on. Turned on RCS and tried, and the thrusters refused to fire. Where's the key to get them to? I've pressed every key on my keyboard, and I can't get the thrusters to fire.

Even when the rover is flying through the air, I can't get the RCS Thrusters to fire.

Edited June 28, 2013 by Benie
This has been answered, but I can't figure out how to set it as such

[Khrissetti]

Three checks to consider:

First, have you included any monoprop fuel on your rover? If not, it can't fire.

Secondly, have you pressed 'r' to turn on the RCS system?

If the answer to both is 'yes' then pressing 'h' or 'n' will make them fire forwards or backwards, the 'jkli' buttons control the rest of the RCS directions

[NoMrBond]

You need to turn on RCS (usually the R key), you'll get a lit up green 'RCS' on the topleft of your Navball

Then hit the key for the direction you want the RCS to fire (it'd probably be N or H for a rover, from the RCS translation keys)

[Benie]

Thanks. I had the fuel needed and had RCS on, I just didn't know the key. I finally discovered it was the H key. Don't understand why it isn't bound to directional controls.

Anyway, thanks again.

[ASnogarD]

The controls for RCS are set up for directional control - WASD and translation control IJKL with H and N for forward and backwards translation. Directional controls spin your craft to head in a new direction, whereas translation controls will shift your craft without changing its heading.

(default keys in default mode - docking mode changes things a bit, hitting space changes WASD from direction to translation and back again)

You could try adding small rockets to your rover that fire at a low thrust to provide continuous down force as you ride... I'll leave the issue of fuel consumption and balance for you to work out... its fun to play around with ideas like that.