The Spidercar Challenge!

[mushroomman]

After watching that wonderful Constellation Mission video, I was messing around with rover grappling hooks with KAS and with this fancy new space centre FULL of nice, flat walls, I couldn't help myself! I just had to stick these rovers onto walls.

The rules here are quite simple:

• Build a rover that can climb walls somehow
• KAS is probably required, though if you could do this with stock parts I would be amazed
• This is a challenge of building skill, so any parts and mods are allowed
• Flying the rover up a wall is not climbing

You're rover will be scored on the completion of these categories:

• Your rover can effectively aim the hook
• Your rover can easily descend walls
• Your rover drives well off walls
• Your rover can climb a variate of surfaces (including odd, uneven surfaces such as the astronaut complex)
• Your rover can move from walls onto roofs
• Your rover can rappel from roofs down
• Your rover can fire multiple lines and (or by some other means) climb extra high
• Your rover can climb on top of overhangs (such as onto the top of the control tower)
• Your rover is easy to transport
• Your rover can climb to the top of the Mun arch

climbing the mun arch should be considered as "pix or it didn't happen"

Entries should be submitted like this:

• Image of rover
• Series of images and/or description of how it works
• What scoring items are completed
• total score

Here's my terrible submission as an example:

It works by firing the hook into the air, they stick to walls and the rover is pulled up after them

• Your rover can effectively aim the hook
• Your rover can easily descend walls
• Your rover drives well off walls
• Your rover can climb a variate of surfaces (including odd, uneven surfaces suck as the astronaut complex)
• Your rover can move from walls onto roofs
• Your rover can rappel from roofs down
• Your rover can fire multiple lines and (or by some other means) climb extra high
• Your rover can climb on top of overhangs (such as onto the top of the control tower)
• Your rover is easy to transport
• Your rover can climb to the top of the Mun arch

Total: 2

Leaderboard:

1.

2.

3.

Honourable Mentions:

Edited July 25, 2013 by mushroomman

[koshelenkovv]

Can we use RCS or liquid engines on a rover?

[mushroomman]

Can we use RCS or liquid engines on a rover?

If you wish to use it to push the rover up the wall without any means of holding it, then I would say no (maybe I should specify that in the rules) but otherwise it's fine.

Edited July 25, 2013 by mushroomman

[koshelenkovv]

Here the the rover.

Engine used to press it against the wall.

After half-hour of trying I gave away passing the overhang. If I go slow, it stucks, If I go fast, solar panels shatters.

Wheels definitely must be placed in other way, but finding right way is too time-consuming, and rover tends to break off his rear easilly - SAS modules just don't want to stay be bounded together.

-----------------------

- rover can easily descend walls - by trimming wheels back

- rover drives well off walls - it's controllable and brakes works. It can drive diagonally or stand still on the wall.

- rover is easy to transport

- rover can climb a variate of surfaces (including odd, uneven surfaces suck as the astronaut complex)

not tried, but it roll over a window in tower easilly

Edited July 25, 2013 by koshelenkovv

[mrrpamplemousse]

Like the gravity engine idea to climb the wall

[Kazmeister]

If you make it manned, you won't need solar panels.

[lucidLemon]

I did it! This was something I had tried in the past, but never had much success. This time around though, everything worked brilliantly.

My favorite screenshot from the mission.

Here's the full album.

I'm going to give this another shot later, I think I can improve the design a lot.

Your rover can effectively aim the hook

Yes! By walking with the Kerbal on the roof, I have full control over where the hook goes

Your rover drives well off walls

I guess so. It's not nimble but it isn't prone to tipping, and can travel at speed.

Your rover can move from walls onto roofs

Your rover can climb on top of overhangs (such as onto the top of the control tower)

Yup, even though this demonstration was on a flat wall, the other grappling hook keeps it away from overhangs.

Your rover is easy to transport

I didn't have any difficulty moving it around.