Wheel of Death speed challenge

[Zek]

This challenge reminds me of the British Panjandrum; An experimental weapon used during WW2

[ultra86]

I don't see any reason to impose a width limit... As long as the ship functions as a wheel and meets the other criteria I say it's legit

For anyone who's curious http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panjandrum

[Deejayy2k]

my effort, had to slow down after that as it started to tilt, still working on it though

[-RanZ-]

does the kerbal have to survive the challenge?

[ultra86]

Nice work Deejay.. I'll go ahead and post this time to get you up there... It's funny when I was testing this out on my own I never though to use a wide 2 wheel base.... it's got me thinking of how to achieve a very high speed in a ship like this

@ Ranz.. yes your kerbal must survive!!! See this line in the original rules "Despite the name of the challenge, your Kerbal must live!"

[Deejay2000]

I had one submitted, but it was too ugly. Tryin' again.

EDIT: I finished! Forgot to take screenshots, didn't save the ship, I think I'll be givin' up on this one.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Deejay2000
Ragequit :)

[Darren9]

When does it stop being a wheel of death? I stuck four wheels of death onto a chassis with TT/DR free bearings and four wheel drive may be a winner - it's just more of a "car of not really death".

[ultra86]

That's an interesting question.. I think to remain a wheel of death the entire ship must rotate as a wheel does... it's fine if it's wide with 2, 3 or 4 wheels.. but they should all be on the same axle and the entire ship should spin via rocket power... I am however very curious to see what your "car of not really death" looks like

[Darren9]

The lander cans could be in the spoke hubs but I stopped development after a test run thinking it wasn't really a wheel of death any more. I think it'll go fast if I strut the engines on, they're too weak at the moment.

[ultra86]

That looks way too cool... If you reach a significant speed I'd be inclined to start a new category for dual axle wheels of death

[Darren9]

32 propeller engined twin axle quad death wheel. Went down to about 15FPS, I can't do much more. It got to about 70m/s on the flat before disaster, two of the lander can hubs disintegrated in the water but the one with Jeb in survived

[koshelenkovv]

32 propeller engined twin axle quad death wheel. Went down to about 15FPS, I can't do much more. It got to about 70m/s on the flat before disaster, two of the lander can hubs disintegrated in the water but the one with Jeb in survived

Wow!

How did you made rotating joints?

[Darren9]

Wow!

How did you made rotating joints?

TT's MultiWheels has a Damned Robotics free spinning rotatatron, you'll need the Infernal Robotics version to get it going in 0.20.1.

[ultra86]

Darren I'm impressed...!! That's quite a contraption.... Curious about the leaning though.. perhaps that's caused by the torque of the engines (shouldn't be)?.. maybe this is the same leaning others were talking about

Going to post your time and a link to your video in a few minutes.. Also have some unsuccessful attempts of my own that are worthy of sharing that I'll post later.... think "uneventful rolling pin of boredom" :/

[NavalLacrosse]

Went through a few test rings, and some abstract ones that used wings for stability. ultimantly this is the end result: All stock

Max ground speed : 33.1 km/h

[Mars90000000]

I made a giant wheel a few version back. I didn't record any speed or anything like that, but here's pictures of it just for the fun of it

[ultra86]

Nice work NavalLacrosse... Looks like Bob Kerman had a bumpy ride in true wheel of death fashion.. I posted your time!

Mars that's massive... I made a few wheeled versions but none using the tt/omniwheels etc plugin... Mine just spun in place at extreme speeds.. fun to watch but dangerous

Here are some less than exciting rolling pins of death I created... Turns out the round rocket parts aren't round at all. Most likely they're 16-32 sided.. The adapters that come with Novapunch (I *think*) were the roundest objects I could find in the game.. Even then these designs struggle to get up to speed because the small diameter of the wheel doesn't leave much room for proper thrusting

Edited July 17, 2013 by ultra86

[pantbash]

Fully stock, managed to get 41.5 m/s out of it.

I also hereby (cheekily)1 request some sort of bonus points as the wheel coasted to a stop leaving Alney Kerman vomit covered but unharmed!

VAB of wheel

Wheel at top speed

Wheel stopped of own accord!!!

[ultra86]

Pantbash...! Sorry man I just saw this post... I must have missed the update email... That's a pretty sweet contraption and the only one to survive in such good shape.. Posting your time!