[0.22] Shock absorbing landing legs V1.2 (21-11-2013)

[Blinkin]

Testing a crazy design

Seems like success! xD

[zitronen]

This look great. Let mechjeb auto-land at 10 m/s on Kerbin and they worked great.

When you said there tuned for 15t 20t lander is that based on 4 legs? (5t per leg?) Don't have time to test right now, going to work.

Couple of comments:

They look a little dinky. (Which is great for small landers)

But could we get 2x and 3x sixe as a standard part of the mod?

And a small request to add to the pop-up menu:

A fully retract button,

And a fully extended button.

Yeah 5t per leg should be ok. But obviously the heavier your lander is the slower you will need to land on the same number of legs.

I am working on a larger model, but I am currently moving house, and will need to go to a conference for a week afterwards. I can't do much till August.

Zitronen, could this mod be made to apply to anything that conforms to the standard wheel requirements?

Interesting question. I think it should work, you can try this with the stock wheels by adding the module to the cfg file.

Testing a crazy design

Seems like success! xD

Nice they also work great as VTOL landing gears!

[Mekan1k]

This is one of my favorite, (and from my point of veiw, most useful) mods ever. Will it be updated for 0.21.1? Or is it good for now?

[_Zee]

This looks like a great mod, and very useful. I can envision putting these on a rover with wheels and using them to raise the rover to dock with the underside/belly of a base above it.

One request though. Most of my landers average around 20 to 100 tons. Any chance you could make another set of these that look beefier? These look perfect for simple landers like something you might land on the Mun, but I imagine they probably look like chicken legs when attached to a heavy lander with several engines.

[zitronen]

Sorry guys I have been away at a conference. I have just tested this in 0.21.1, it still works perfectly.

I will be making a larger landing strut in a week or so when I have some free time.

[zitronen]

Here is the new landing strut design, what do you guys think? Big enough?

[gary.townsend]

taller? like a landing strut that can land the stock nuclear engine or the b9 nuclear engine?

[scottholio]

Here is the new landing strut design, what do you guys think? Big enough?

That looks awesome, can't wait to see those in action

[zitronen]

taller? like a landing strut that can land the stock nuclear engine or the b9 nuclear engine?

Remember that is the fully retracted position, it's a lot taller when extended. I can't make it too tall or it will look weird for shorter landers/planes.

[capbutters]

looks cool can you make it taller

[zitronen]

Updated with new heavy landing leg, see first post.

[ngianoplus]

The devs need to take a look at this. They can learn so much from their wonderful modding community.

[littlebattler]

make one that swivels to the back when retracted, that should allow for even cooler VTOL plane designs!

Or even better, make one that folds like the stock landing gear!

[Neutrinovore]

make one that swivels to the back when retracted, that should allow for even cooler VTOL plane designs!

Or even better, make one that folds like the stock landing gear!

I'll second this request, although I'll add in a 'please'. The only thing I don't like about this mod is that the legs have to be sticking down all the time, even when retracted. Well, that and the bright yellow of the original part, lol.

So, if you would be so kind, would you please consider creating or modifying these parts to fold up or otherwise retract more closely to the hull? I would greatly appreciate it.

This is a great idea as it is, and with perhaps a little more tweaking it could be even better! Thanks for your time.

Neutrinovore out.

[Alskari]

Would you mind sharing a picture of your Unity workspace for these parts? I'm curious if there's anything additional required for their construction.

[zitronen]

There's nothing special about these, exactly the same as wheels without any actual mesh for the wheel, just with a simple plug-in that turns the brakes on all the time.

Guys, I would love to make one with retract animation, but I don't know how!

[Alskari]

If everyone can keep their knickers out of a twist for a week or so, I'll probably be making a few animated lander legs and will post the Unity details.

Also zitronen, would you be open to the idea of me including your plugin in my mod? Credit given of course.

[zitronen]

If everyone can keep their knickers out of a twist for a week or so, I'll probably be making a few animated lander legs and will post the Unity details.

Also zitronen, would you be open to the idea of me including your plugin in my mod? Credit given of course.

Cool!

Sure thing, give me a PM if you need help with it!

[scottholio]

These seem to work just fine in 0.22, just add your own Tech Tree integration. I still use them all the time, being able to manually level out your craft that has landed on a slope is awesome.

Thanks zitronen

[zitronen]

Cool, glad it still works for you! Since the devs added shocks to stock landing legs, these are less useful now, but they are still better in some ways:

1. Adjustable height

2. Better friction model -> can be used as landing skids without tipping over

3. Better tuned spring and damper values, although these could be personal preference

[Nostromo]

Honestly, I like the choices in aesthetics. Sure as zitronen said that the stocks can do it just fine now but who cares. I love being able to design the look & function of my craft exactly how I want, sometimes the stock part isn't to my liking. Keep up the nice work.

[Ninja_Thomek]

Awesome work

If I may ask for something similar as a request.. A general shock absorber. I've been building some rovers now with the robotics pack.. My problem is that they become way too springy! No shock absorbers means the rover easily jumps all over the place and retains its own wacky energy that gets ricocheted around in it.

A simple cube with 2, 4 or 6 shock absorbing sides with attachement points would be amazing!

[Olsson]

So if I were to land on a slope a little too quickly, what happends compared to stock landing gear? Are there shock absorbers in stock? Are these shock absorbant? Do they adjust to the ground underneath you, like if you're on a slope the ones highest will compress to keep the craft leveled?

[KvickFlygarn87]

These seem to work just fine in 0.22, just add your own Tech Tree integration. I still use them all the time, being able to manually level out your craft that has landed on a slope is awesome. Thanks zitronen!

Dude, this thread is 2 months old. Drop it.

[zitronen]

So if I were to land on a slope a little too quickly, what happends compared to stock landing gear? Are there shock absorbers in stock? Are these shock absorbant? Do they adjust to the ground underneath you, like if you're on a slope the ones highest will compress to keep the craft leveled?

These are shock absorbing, and you ALSO have the ability to adjust the height of each strut individually manually to level your lander.