Eve Rover

[O Nerd]

Well, well, there I am, designing some cool rovers. Yeah, i were thinking a lot about them and now i have enough tech to do them. So, i've made an Eve rover, and i'm going to launch it soon.

I want you guys, to help me to know if the rover need of anything to do a cool landing. I've already tested this design in 0.21.1 (look at my signature!), and it worked surprisingly well.

This will be a unmanned mission. There's a pic right below. Tell me what you guys think. Oh, i'm on career mode. Just to advise.

There's a Goo Container on the back, and the RCS thrusters are to balance the Goo.

I'll add a parachute.

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Edited October 28, 2013 by O Nerd
"I'll add a parachute."

[Godot]

No Science jr?

[O Nerd]

No, it would weigh too much on Eve, and would look extremely weird. But thanks for the suggestion, maybe i shall edit it later.

[-RanZ-]

going to have to drive it pretty slow as that short wheel base will make it very unstable

[Brotoro]

Are those RCS quads a righting mechanism? They might be ineffective in Eve's gravity.

[Godot]

No, it would weigh too much on Eve, and would look extremely weird. But thanks for the suggestion, maybe i shall edit it later.

Well, it depends on your size/setup ...

that´s, for example, my Eve/Duna Rover that is currently undergoing testing on Kerbin and has all instruments available to me:

In a first test it already successfully landed in the mountains of the island that houses the Kerbin airfield and was able to drive down slopes with >= 45° and able to navigate with 2 flat tires (photo is of the 2nd test however ... Highlands north of KSP)

[Barklight]

Yeah, not bad looking but with the wheel mounts being so low on the side of the rover base it's going to be a little top heavy, and prone to going squirly and tipping over if you want to get anywhere in even a slight hurry. I'd kill the RCS thrusters completely since the rover doesn't need them and instead mount batteries on the backend as your weight balancer, with the Center of Gravity marker on to know when you've got enough. That would free up the sides and you could attach a radial parachute on each side lined up with the CoM for a balanced descent.

Good setup overall for a small rover. It's too small to justify putting a science can on it though. Goo container fits but the big brother to that would be better served on a 6-8 wheeler with a larger base.

[paleorob]

No antennae?

[O Nerd]

No, they're just to balance the Goo's weight. Everything weighs a lot on Eve.

[Godot]

No antennae?

If you mean OP ... he has a single Communotron 16 ...

if you mean my rover ... he has a Comms DTS-M1 at his backside (hard to see in the screenshot)

[O Nerd]

No antennae?

On the back.

Edited October 28, 2013 by O Nerd

[O Nerd]

Well, it depends on your size/setup ...

that´s, for example, my Eve/Duna Rover that is currently undergoing testing on Kerbin and has all instruments available to me:

In a first test it already successfully landed in the mountains of the island that houses the Kerbin airfield and was able to drive down slopes with >= 45° and able to navigate with 2 flat tires (photo is of the 2nd test however ... Highlands north of KSP)

Grat design, i'll test the 6-wheeled rover.

Edited October 28, 2013 by O Nerd

[O Nerd]

If you mean OP ... he has a single Communotron 16 ...

if you mean my rover ... he has a Comms DTS-M1 at his backside (hard to see in the screenshot)

Yea, i didn't unlocked the Communotron 88 yet. ;-;

[SpaceSphereOfDeath]

I'd make it a bit longer, it may flip over

[O Nerd]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! Now i've made my 2nd edit, with your opinions included:

-Lifted (i don't know any better word) the wheels

-Removed the Goo container (It was not extremely necessary)

-Removed the RCS thrusters (At real, they were useless)

So, i didn't made it longer, but i will make some tests with stability.

Not any other science "thing", i don't think it can be very useful.

But there's the pic album:

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Keep sending suggestions!

EDIT

Now i've tested it. very hardcore-like. I made a 2x timewarp and derped around the KSC. Not even one flipover! Wow! It's really more stable.

Edited October 28, 2013 by O Nerd
Added a description of the tests.

[O Nerd]

Now i'm going to try to land that. Wish me luck!

[Psycix]

I suggest taking the two batteries out, putting the probe core directly on the body, and attaching a pair of Z-400 batteries to the side instead. This will further lower CoM which will help with stability.

[O Nerd]

Okay, testing it...