Does the clamp-o-tron actually work?

[Derivative]

I'm trying to dock two rovers together with the Clamp-o-tron Sr. Docking Port but it just doesn't connect at all. I've approached the other port multiple times, at 0.1m/s and they just repeatedly bounce off of each other. I'm right on top of the other port but nothing happens:

I don't see any right click menu on the docking ports to connect, nor do I see any "magnetic" pull from either port. I've bumped into the other port several times, at both very slow and somewhat fast speeds. I've also driven into the other port and continued to drive into it, pushing the other rover and it still doesn't connect. At this point it feels like its a bug.

[RexKramer]

I'm having trouble seeing your ports clearly. However, I believe the most common problem with the clamp-o-tron sr.'s is inadvertently mounting one or possibly both 'upside down'. Try looking at the construction, and 'flip' one or both to be oriented the other way. I've mounted several clamp sr.'s upside down myself.

[Derivative]

What is considered the correct orientation? Its not apparent. This is the current orientation of the docking port on my rover:

I can put another port on it in the Hanger and disconnect it after I launch the rover, but can't reconnect anything after that.

[Taki117]

Check the state of your ports (Quicksave and then open the file and find your ships and ports) they should both be set to Ready with the other two values zero. If they are not make them so and try again.

[Tex_NL]

Rotation does absolutely NOT matter! What does matter is which side is on the outside.

The flat side should be facing your structure, the side with the beveled edge and the hatch should be facing out. You have the clamp-o-tron mounted correctly.

Why they won't connect is beyond me.

[M4ck]

Judging from your second picture, I'd say it may be as simple as the fact that they are not in line with each other, but angled. One of the rovers would have to be pulled up for the docks to connect and the clamps' magnets are not strong enough for that(your rovers probably weigh close to 8, 10t, right?). I've had similar problems happen simply because both crafts I wanted to dock in orbit had SAS on, which kept them from rotating properly.

Try getting them to touch like in the pictures, then hit alt+F12 and click "hack gravity". If they connect, this was the problem here.

[FenrirWolf]

What is considered the correct orientation? Its not apparent. This is the current orientation of the docking port on my rover:

http://i.imgur.com/yUWaslU.png

I can put another port on it in the Hanger and disconnect it after I launch the rover, but can't reconnect anything after that.

I haven't used the large docking ports in a good while, but I'm pretty sure that one is on backwards. Right-click on it and hit undock. If it pops off the rover then there's your answer.

[M4ck]

I haven't used the large docking ports in a good while, but I'm pretty sure that one is on backwards. Right-click on it and hit undock. If it pops off the rover then there's your answer.

Nope, this is the correct orientation of the Sr. port. The other, wrong side is flat, with a white circle and a tiny "+" mark in the middle.

[magnemoe]

Rotation does absolutely NOT matter! What does matter is which side is on the outside.

The flat side should be facing your structure, the side with the beveled edge and the hatch should be facing out. You have the clamp-o-tron mounted correctly.

Why they won't connect is beyond me.

Problem with ground docking is that you have to line up perfectly unless you use very lightweight stuff. In orbit the parts will wobble a bit and adjust this don't work well on ground.

To make things worse gravity affect suspension so something who is lined up perfectly in WAB might not be lined up in the game as one rover is heavier than the other or just one side like here.

And yes this is different on Mun as gravity is weaker.

Pretty much the only way to make it reliable is to have landing legs to lift one part, a downward facing docking port and the other rover port points up, place this rover accurately and lower the legs.

Has done mun rovers who drives under and lander to dock to it and then moved.

[zzguy]

Try setting the other docking port as target.

[Javster]

Both have to have the SAME SIDE FACING EACH OTHER

[Smorfty]

If these two crafts were in zero-G, they would dock just fine.

The problem is that they need to align. That is, they need to align themselves parallel to each other.

And on the ground they can't do that because they're too heavy and the magnetic force is too low to make them slide around on the ground.

Beast practice is to not dabble in surface docking at all. It's not supported and it's completely unreliable.

Just connect all the base modules with KAS or don't do it at all.

Edited April 6, 2014 by Smorfty

[Stormweaver]

Yeah, those docking ports can have a bit of trouble realising they're meant to snap to each other. I've been doing it a fair bit (BTSM's end game involves a lot of surface docking of very heavy rovers) and have found that 'docking' at 1-2 m/s tends to work a lot easier, as the rovers will joggle around as one pushes the other. Using the RCS translation controls to fractionally adjust the height of the docking ports (since the suspension takes most of the weight) can help too.

[vetrox]

With the advent of tweakables it may be a bit easier now. I found that it was due to the suspension sagging. The heavier carts will sit lower therfor causing the docking ports to be miss aligned. Try locking the suspension in the SPH/VAB or do your best to get the weight balanced across all your rovers. Another trick i used was to find a slight incline/decline and use it to angle the docking ports. it is possible (as you can see) but it is quite fiddely

Make sure you turn the brakes on. Sometimes you can force it by reversing and ramming.

Edited April 6, 2014 by vetrox

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

I know this Problem and it is very common when trying to dock rovers to each other.

The Problem is, that both ports are not coming together like this " II " but more like this " \ I ".

This happens because of the Suspension of the roverwheels and Center of Mass issues that are almost impossible to compensate.

One solution would be to use the new Claw i think but I havent tried that yet.

[BudgetHedgehog]

I can't remember where I read it here, but surface docking, unless in low-G situations with light vehicles, is basically impossible. The ports obviously have to be lined up, and even if you're a tiny bit off, the magnetic pull is not enough to shift your massive trucks, not by a long shot. Try it - hack gravity and try again. Then try it with smaller rovers. Then get frustrated because it's still not working. Point is, the trucks are so massive and have so much sideways friction that in the time you spent trying to line them up, you could just download KAS and link them together that way.

Also, if you bump it once but don't connect, the pull will be deactivated and you need to move 20m away or so before you can attempt again.

So yeah - you've done everything correctly (correct side facing out etc), but you'll likely never get them connected. I had so much trouble on the Mun with a lighter rover.. AND that had variable ground clearance thanks to Infernal Robotics.

[r4pt0r]

I'm trying to dock two rovers together with the Clamp-o-tron Sr. Docking Port but it just doesn't connect at all. I've approached the other port multiple times, at 0.1m/s and they just repeatedly bounce off of each other. I'm right on top of the other port but nothing happens:

http://i.imgur.com/ginOPnh.png

http://i.imgur.com/VtxAF1j.png

I don't see any right click menu on the docking ports to connect, nor do I see any "magnetic" pull from either port. I've bumped into the other port several times, at both very slow and somewhat fast speeds. I've also driven into the other port and continued to drive into it, pushing the other rover and it still doesn't connect. At this point it feels like its a bug.

if they were facing eachother, wouldnt the yellow hashes be opposite?

[MarvinKitFox]

I've have very good success with using the Sr. docking port on heavy rovers, but to detach, not connect. Not face-to-face vertically, that is. Your tolerances are just too little.

Try this approach.

Now all the magnetism has to fight is some gravity, not your whole structure/tire grip.

And the magnetism is quite strong enough to lift the bottom/ drop the top rover, even if they mass several tons each. Double especially if the ports are mounted on semi-flexible means, such as the illustrated structural members.

if they were facing eachother, wouldnt the yellow hashes be opposite?

Nope, sorry.

The docking port Sr. has three sets of yellow+black hashes. 2 in one direction, 1 in another. They give virtually zero info.

Edited April 6, 2014 by MarvinKitFox

[Derivative]

Thanks everyone, I had managed to get some to finally dock. The problem was this:

The problem was both with the suspension of the wheels causing a height difference and the very acute angles at which I was coming in on. Even when I was using two of the same rover (so they'd be the same height) it still was a pain to get them to dock due to the ever so slight difference in angle. So yes the docking ports do work, they're just extremely sensitive to the alignment.