Mun Rover Design review!

[MrUberGr]

So, some time ago I started a mission to for the Mun. All went smoothly, until my two rovers hit the ground. I was using the "RoveMax M1" wheel, and six of them, on a relatively small and light rover. The result was a rover with barely any traction. So, now, I managed to get some time and built a new rover.

It's a weird design. It started out to be an 8 wheeler and a rather large one too, but, on the way I accidentaly hit "Launch" and saw that it was pretty decent as it is. So with a few improvements I believe it's mostly ready to be sent up to the Mun! I would like a "review" of a sort because I don't want all this and more effort to be wasted when I reach the surface of the Mun. Any suggestions for improvement are welcome!

Failed try:

So, here is the first idea:

The "Mistake":

The pimped up:

A look under the hood!

Edited March 13, 2014 by MrUberGr

[Taki117]

Really all you needed to do for more traction was add the ruggedized wheels and maybe increase weight. You don't need a base that wide, especially if you don't plan on doing a whole lot of speed turning.

[biohazard15]

1) Your rover is too short, and your wheelbase is too wide. That means HUGE problems with braking and turning, especially in low gravity environments.

2) As Taki117 said, your initial 6-wheeler is a good design. Just don't use M1 wheels (actually, you shouldn't use M1 wheels in low gravity at all).

[MrUberGr]

Really all you needed to do for more traction was add the ruggedized wheels and maybe increase weight. You don't need a base that wide, especially if you don't plan on doing a whole lot of speed turning.

How could I increase the weight of the first rover? It's already crammed up, pretty much no more space left on it.

1) Your rover is too short, and your wheelbase is too wide. That means HUGE problems with braking and turning, especially in low gravity environments.

2) As Taki117 said, your initial 6-wheeler is a good design. Just don't use M1 wheels (actually, you shouldn't use M1 wheels in low gravity at all).

1) Tbh, in turning, it's doing much better than plenty of my other designs. Exactly because it IS so wide, it's nearly impossible to flip. The problem that I did have is that it would go head-over-heels when braking, but, I solved that by disabling the breaks in the front wheels.

[Dwight_js]

1) Tbh, in turning, it's doing much better than plenty of my other designs. Exactly because it IS so wide, it's nearly impossible to flip. The problem that I did have is that it would go head-over-heels when braking, but, I solved that by disabling the breaks in the front wheels.

The same principles apply to braking as to turning - make your rover longer. I usually build rovers in multiple parts and join them together at the destination using docking ports. This way they pack nice on the rocket, but they can be as wide and long as I need for stability.

I would also recommend building in a way to flip yourself back upright if you to roll over. Things can get pretty wobbly at higher speeds on the Mun, and I almost always end up on my roof at some point on long drives.

[Geschosskopf]

I would like a "review" of a sort because I don't want all this and more effort to be wasted when I reach the surface of the Mun. Any suggestions for improvement are welcome!

Well, that's pretty cool-looking but I can't give you any constructive criticism unless I know what you want the rover to do.

Assuming you just want to move Kerbals around faster than they can walk and further than their jetpack fuel will take them, then you've got way more mass here than you need. A single 2m square panel with 1 of the smallest wheels on each corner, a probe core, 2 RTGs, a headlight, and 2 lawn chairs is all you need for that. You can even build this in the VAB if you put the wheels on 1 at a time, and the probe core will be rightside up for driving. A rover this small is easy to fit between the legs of a lander, sandwiched between the lander and the main rocket stages. The only finishing touches would be in action groups. Make it so only the rear wheels go on the brake command and rig up another key to toggle steering on and off for the rear wheels. Cruise with steering only in front, do slow, precision positioning with all 4 wheels steering.

In general, though, Mun is not good rover country. It's just too jagged so you have to do a lot of detouring around craters.

[MrUberGr]

The rover is meant to rove .

I got a space station orbiting Kerbin. Soon I will get one to orbit the Mun. Then, I want to build a small base on the Mun. In the mean time, I want to get a couple of rovers to run around on the Mun. And, basically, to be able to go through the craters and not around them!

[Voculus]

I like to build low gravity rovers that can roll any which way, and never get stuck.