Bond Aerotech and Sundries [v0.4.3.1 31st March 2014]

[NoMrBond]

A collection of probes, cargo/automation bays which allowed reasonable internal stowage for automation (using the MSI package) or just interesting layouts which aren't possible with regular solid/convex collider parts, as well as structural parts and other sundry items which I found interesting.

Items available so far

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All internal spaces usable/attachable with top/bottom nodes inside spaces if applicable, as well as the regular stack nodes

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Parts in the alpha test package;

Probes;

0.625m Probe core [updated to v3, P0625]

1.25m Probe [P125]

Conic 2.5m probe/nosecone (H25)

Command Items;

AB0625 - 0.625m Automation bay

AB125 - 1.25m Automation bay

AB250 - 2.5m Automation bays

AB375 - 3.75m Automation bays

AB500 - 5m Automation bays

Variously open spoked bays, capped, open, empty variants with separate caps and doors

Shimmys command throne (External command seat with drink or joystick)

Engine;

The M.A.C.E. dual-mode engine in .0625 and 1.25m formats

Structural;

Shock-spike air intakes in 0.625m and 1.25m

Structural;

1.25m Hexagonal corridor walkway; Stub, X junction and elbow and 1.25-to-2.5 adapter

2.5m Structural inserts (with 4x/3x/2x) and matching extension girder.

2.5m Structural station hub

0.625m hex and square core stubs

> Alpha parts download for the adventurous <

Please remember to additionally unzip the command.zip of legacy bays if you have any ships or stations using them!

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Changes & Updates;

0.4.3.1 > Fixes and upgraded meshes for the SI25 structual inserts, RRAM and SADDLE materials bay parts (not finished, but should give an idea on their direction).

0.4.3 > Fix for 0.625 M.A.C.E. smoke trail direction, more specular and texture fixes for WW125H parts, Added SSRCS 0.625m fuel+thruster block

0.4.2 > Fix for 1.25m M.A.C.E. smoke trail direction, added specular and texture fixes for structural inserts and WW125H X and Y sections

0.4.1 > Fixes for 1.25M M.A.C.E. Engine Texture/Model

0.4 > Added MACE engines for 0.625m and 1.25m / 2.5m Station Hub and 0.625 PASS (ASAS) module

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Pending/In-progress/Requests;

Fixing UV/unwraps to allow texture resource sharing then textures [Partial]

Emissive for the MACE engine

Walkways and structural extensions [Partial]

Open for requests

Legacy and depreciated parts (included as archives within the download, will not be present by default)

Basic SRV test body

Hex Legs

2.5m 1-to-3 Delta adapter

1.25m Square corridor walkway elbow and X junction

v1 automation bays B0625, B125, B25, B375

Edited March 31, 2014 by NoMrBond

[Captain Sierra]

<insert awesome robotic probe picture here>

So now we have probe size cargo bays and other frameworks for our mechanized monstrosities?

YAAAAAAAAY!

[Mekan1k]

Are they ready? Can we play with them?

[NoMrBond]

That's the idea, these two are proof-of-concept ones that survived the cull, others didn't seem very useful but I'll keep iterating, I have an idea for the hex-probe which might work

There are bay doors for the 1.25m stack bay (not shown) which either fit into the openings or can be mounted on a hinge for powered doors

Not sure if the 0.625m stowage area is big enough to be useful (0.8m)

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I really should make the doors for that

[Edit] Added test part download link for the curious

Edited September 8, 2013 by NoMrBond

[NoMrBond]

2.5m bay idea, all surface mountable/usable again

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Hard to place the actuator or decoupler on the internal spindle though, might reorganize this one a bit

[Edit] Added open style in-line bay

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Should make a dedicated 0.625 bay as there's just the probe core at the moment

Edited September 9, 2013 by NoMrBond

[NoMrBond]

0.625m bay

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Updated alpha download

[Alskari]

Great work! Let me know if you need any help, I have a mod that deals with some of the same things and I'd be glad to offer some guidance.

[sirkut]

I'll have to keep an eye out on this project.

[jrandom]

Would it be possible to get a 3.75-meter one? Or... oh! Something procedural, similar to Procedural Fairings!

[NoMrBond]

3.75m I can do conventionally (any preferences for layout? stack, spoke, open, cage?), procedural ones require me learning C# to make the addon/.dll, I am working on that but getting to the level of programming required might take a while, we'll see.

I should make a conventional 2.5m type bay as well since the spoked/open ones seemed cool when I was putting them together, but it might not really fit with certain projects. Want to avoid clutter though, hrm.

I want a suitable surface-probe/rover-body too, I mean I guess you can turn one of the bays sideways and have the wheels on the outside (might look a bit lame though), more to think about.

[Edit] Thanks for the offer Alskari, I'm sure I'll crash my brain into something along the way

Edited September 11, 2013 by NoMrBond

[jrandom]

I'm looking for things I can use to deploy the unfolding rovers I'm starting to build. For the one shown in that link I'm working on building the deployment cage by hand, but having an actual thing I can stuff it (and the extension arm that moves it out laterally) into would be a big help in the future.

[NoMrBond]

3.75m automation bay

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Went for three (of six arcs) on the panels, let me know if that makes it hard to work inside though, two just looked a bit odd. Doors not quite ready yet.

[Edit] OK, doors behaving now

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[Edit2] Updated download with 3.75m bay

Unless anyone is particularly keen on the 2.5m spoked bay, I'll probably change it to this layout (or make a 2.5m equivalent of this style as well)

[Edit3]

Fixed P4 door attachment,

Fixed P4 door P5 cap "name=" clash

Other node fixes

Edited September 12, 2013 by NoMrBond

[Jahulath]

Sweet, these will look awesome filled with bleepy SCIENCE things as drop pod outposts and staging points

[NoMrBond]

Thanks Jahulath, hopefully people will get some good fun/projects/builds/missions out of them

Some toying with a 1.25m format probe

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Fits together correctly, now just needs polishing, unwrapping, textures etc.

Still don't have any workable ideas about rover/surface bodies

Edited September 12, 2013 by NoMrBond

[NoMrBond]

Very rough Surface RV layout

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The upper roof beams and lower body aren't lining up vertically to the wall edges for some reason. Those roof beams look really thin too, I wanted space in the middle to work with, but that's maybe a bit much

Edited September 12, 2013 by NoMrBond

[NoMrBond]

Basic panels and everything now the right size and lining up properly

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Jeb does knock knock jokes Kerbal style

[NoMrBond]

Conic probe with 2.5m base

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Not sure if I should make doors for it

[NoMrBond]

Fixed the non-manifold errors with, and made some doors for, the 2.5m Conic probe

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For Science!

[Edit] Fixed shading for the doors

I always forget to do that before importing to Unity Tools

Edited September 15, 2013 by NoMrBond

[Tommygun]

I can see a lot of uses for this. That spoked one might be useful for lunching multiple small satellites on one rocket.

[NoMrBond]

I made a triple probe launch container with it as one of the first things to try, the 0.625m format stuff fits in the bays nicely. I wasn't too sure what uses there would be for that spoke bay, it seemed like a neat idea at the time. Should probably make a shelf split or completely open version of it since having that central pillar must cut down on what people can do with it

Updated the alpha parts pack with the SRV testbed and conic probe now that they're aligned properly and non-m error free.

[Edit] Really need to go back and fix/improve all the UV's, textures and shading etc on existent models before making any more

Edited September 15, 2013 by NoMrBond

[Jahulath]

I made a triple probe launch container with it as one of the first things to try, the 0.625m format stuff fits in the bays nicely. I wasn't too sure what uses there would be for that spoke bay, it seemed like a neat idea at the time. Should probably make a shelf split or completely open version of it since having that central pillar must cut down on what people can do with it

Updated the alpha parts pack with the SRV testbed and conic probe now that they're aligned properly and non-m error free.

[Edit] Really need to go back and fix/improve all the UV's, textures and shading etc on existent models before making any more

Ok well I made a lander from the larger 2 stack and we got some science going on! There is a lot more elevator so stacking 2 becomes no problem either - what do you think? If I'm honest it would do with being 4+ meters but hey

In the album you can see my lander and also a crew platform I've been tinkering with as well;

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[NoMrBond]

Nice, let me know if you have any suggestions for the layout (or new layouts), no idea if the sizes/sides etc are decent sizes for what people want to do with them. There should be a 5m version coming up, so maybe that'll be better sized for what you're doing, not sure about making it 5 by 5 with a single shelf or 5d by 6h with 2 shelves (so three x 2m high internal spaces).

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Retired the P1, replaced with P0625 for consistency

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Updated models, unwrap and textures, fixed the weird shading from the original P1, still the same sizes (internal/external), just better looking

[Edit 2] Going to do the renaming/consistency pass, sorry if that breaks anyones stuff (P1 through P6 getting more descriptive ay, [P]robe or [H]ull names), either keep the old files or change the 'name=' argument in the part.cfg, I'll update later when I've uploaded the new parts pack (probably late/r tonight after I finish the 5m bay and make some other fixes)

Edited September 16, 2013 by NoMrBond

[NoMrBond]

Put the for-hexapod legs I made for TinyPirate's walker in the regular package too, YMMV

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Didn't work out for that project but they're just kind of interesting and might provide some opportunities for unfolding structures, dishes, boats or giant airbrakes etc or something

[Edit] Updated the P4 to B125 and re-added the command/probe functionality so you don't need a probe core for your probe (which seemed silly)

Edited September 16, 2013 by NoMrBond

[jrandom]

How stable is this package? Am I good to use it on my Eve mission I just started designing, or should I wait a few iterations?

[NoMrBond]

I am keeping that in mind which is why I was concerned about making the consistency name changes for the P1-P6 parts, that change should be the only one I need to make, anything further would be a new part

The only changes from here should be improving the UV unwraps and textures for existing models which shouldn't summon the krakken, I'm going to upload an updated stable pack a bit later tonight with the finalized names and meshes (ETA ~4 hours)