[.90] WIP : Stanford Toruses

[michaelhester07]

Quick refresher on the imgur album shows a virtual test flight. For actually deploying this I'd recommend the Extraplanetary Launchpads mod. It makes sense as you would have to build it in orbit anyway IRL.

[michaelhester07]

Now that the torus shell is done I can start making things to fill it with. Showing below: the habitat module

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[Daemoria]

Oh man, I really like the aesthetics of this mod so much. The kilometer++ station could probably use a bit of surface geometry to help the texture in 'selling' the scale, but that's my only critique I have.

[michaelhester07]

The 1200 meter shell is getting some more detail over the next few days.

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There will be new fuel modules for it too for refueling ships that dock at it.

[magnemoe]

How in all of Kerbin would one get that thing into space? This dwarfes anything I've seen in KSP, it doesn't fit on the launch pad, not even close. I assumed the structure would be split into parts which would be still big, but at least be possible to lift with a rocket which fits on the launchpad. But looking at that....even a slice of the ring would still be too big for the launch pad.

We now have something to scare Whackjob with, or at least set his new computer on fire.

even using extraterrestrial launchpads and build it in space has issues like mining over 13000 ton ore and transport to an construction facility who can build it in an reasonable time will be an huge project.

I thought the small torus was large,

[michaelhester07]

That's kind of the point. Building a Stanford Torus should take a fairly significant amount of resources. I actually probably underestimated what the weight of a 1200meter diameter spacestation like this would be like. It could be worse too...

The station in Elysium is easily 100km across considering the size of the land on the outer ring. That land looks at least 3km across, maybe 4. The station would be several million tons.

If you use progressive builds for EPL you can mine and deliver the parts while the build occurs and use a smaller core station to build it. Then recycle the builder station into metal once the torus is complete.

[magnemoe]

That's kind of the point. Building a Stanford Torus should take a fairly significant amount of resources. I actually probably underestimated what the weight of a 1200meter diameter spacestation like this would be like. It could be worse too...

The station in Elysium is easily 100km across considering the size of the land on the outer ring. That land looks at least 3km across, maybe 4. The station would be several million tons.

If you use progressive builds for EPL you can mine and deliver the parts while the build occurs and use a smaller core station to build it. Then recycle the builder station into metal once the torus is complete.

Yes, as I understand you will add an EPL module so you hardly need the core station anymore, that is unless you send it to Jool and repeat the process.

And yes building this station will be an epic mission.

An request, could you also make an baseplate module for placing other stuff on so you could mount in the station. makes it easy to add stuff like TAC life support, greenhouses and all other sort of stuff.

Think the villa but just an dumb plate

[michaelhester07]

I can do a surface mount plate for parts that don't have surface mounting capability. I'll have parts for stock resources that are stanford torus sized. I should get into TAC life support and support that too.

[magnemoe]

I can do a surface mount plate for parts that don't have surface mounting capability. I'll have parts for stock resources that are stanford torus sized. I should get into TAC life support and support that too.

Thought you used some other connection method than the large docking ports. With ports its no problem, just dump 50-100 around.

You are talking about adding parts after building the city (station is the wrong word) ? not build in VAB?

And yes, any large ship tend to grow over time like this tiny orbital construction facility.

[michaelhester07]

The way I have the Stanford torus designed at the moment is you go into the VAB or spaceplane hangar (I recommend the hangar) and you design what the city will have in there. It needs a mod which can extend the size of the hangar to build. You then build the whole thing at your deployment station. The way that facilities tend to grow I'll add a surface mount plate that has docking ports on it for you to attach expansion modules to.

[michaelhester07]

New update for tonight: The Torus Science module

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I used the tower at LAX as inspiration for the shape of the module. While you could technically fly this one I suggest just sticking it in a stanford torus.

[magnemoe]

Nice, also like that you could also use this modules for another base.

And understood that you use docking ports to add modules so we can add anything.

[Xentoe]

Hmm, still alive?

[Xentoe]

Hm to bad had real liked to test this stuff out, But seems the Topic is dead.

[magnemoe]

Hm to bad had real liked to test this stuff out, But seems the Topic is dead.

I'm also waiting in excitement, more activity in the release tread.

Author probably has some hangup in the mod or in real life.

And yes I hope its done soon, have the infrastructure to build the big torus ready. 1200 ton metal miner on Minmus, construction facility with 20 kerbals in orbit around it.

[michaelhester07]

I had some RL issues to work though (travel + getting sick after travel) but I think I can release this soon. The only last thing I wanted to do with it (even despite the other thread) was to make sure the torus is actually buildable in a career. Now that I've worked out the infrastructure to support it I can release it.

I'll go ahead and release this.

Release is done. In my future update list I left out something I actually want to see:

A stanford torus could make an excellent location to build a particle accelerator.

Edited June 25, 2014 by michaelhester07

[TheAlmightyOS]

Your mod is awesome and I look foreward to your updates.

A suggestion: Join this thread and 1) get exposure for your mod and 2) let all your fans know when you update!

[michaelhester07]

I've started work on this again after getting back into KSP. What's coming down the pipe:

Progressive Science

New science projects will accompany new parts to the stanford torus mod which must be run over time to complete. Some of these may consume resources too (like kethane or ore). I almost have the plugin to support it done.

Here's the timed goo canister experiment

The way a progressive experiment works is this:

Once you're in the biome where you want to conduct the research you activate the experiment (here "open goo canister"). The experiment then runs for a while. Once the data fills to capacity you can then view the results ("observe mystery goo" here). Be careful not to reset the results as data is consumed permanently. IF you reset you'll have to run the experiment again.

Plans for this experiment type:

Copies of existing experiments

Garden experiment (see what happens to plants exposed to space)

Psychology experiment (see what happens to kerbals spending years in a tin can)

Orbital particle accelerator (will be nearly the size of a stanford torus)

Contracts for these experiments

Edited October 4, 2014 by michaelhester07
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[michaelhester07]

I finally got the animation control sorted out. Now I can start building experiments. So far.. the biology lab

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This is a 1.25m unit that you can stick on a probe and run experiments on plants with.

[megatiger78]

nice mod (10chartime)

[jordanjay29]

Subscribing to see what else comes out. That 1.2km torus looks amazing, I'd love to use it but I'm not inclined to add EPL quite yet. Maybe once I do.

[michaelhester07]

Just released the additions today. I'm already brainstorming ideas for the next expansion for it.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/84106-0-24-2-Stanford-Torus-0-2

There's the release thread.

New ideas I'm brainstorming:

Progressive Experiments

- Ore analyzer: Once you've stored ore you can process it in the analyzer to see what the composition of it is. You might find signs of life or other things!

- Karbonite analyzer: Kind of the same thing as the ore processor but lets you discover what may have caused the formation of the element.

- Seismograph: You've already seen the seismic experiment. Now record results over time.

Launch systems

- Electromagnetic accelerator: Comes in 2 parts: the launcher and accelerator rings. Chain a line of accelerator rings with the main launcher to launch a payload off a surface. The payload can be expected to experience upwards of 40 Gs so it's not recommended to launch live passengers with it. The launcher picks up the payload and then arms the system. Rings charge capacitors inside them with your base's power (through induction for rings not attached). They launch a single payload that enters them. I may even do feedback where if you launch something too heavy you might destroy the launcher.

This would be akin to a launch system NASA might actually employ on the moon to fire payloads into space without the use of chemical rockets.

The launch system paves the way for making the "gravity" on a stanford torus actually work.

Torus sized solar panels

I'm talking huge panels, at least 30 meters on a side, that generate power for a torus or base (to avoid having many solar panels that slow down framerates).

Processing plants

I'll use my own generator code to make processing plants for the torus for most resources. These would be large structures (the farm biodome would actually be useful for once) that process resources.

- Karbonite refinery: A 3 meter size machine that processes karbonite faster than the basic converters

- Laser smelter: Smelt ore into metal with less energy cost than basic smelters.

- Laser drill: Extract ore from a surface with less energy cost than a normal drill (I'll research how to do a drill mod).

Edited October 6, 2014 by michaelhester07

[michaelhester07]

Introducing the laser smelter!

And turned on!

This is a stock-alike (3 meter size) smelter unit to go on your base or station. Converts ore at a reduced energy cost from normal smelters (cause it doesn't take much to power up a laser!) There will be a version of this for Karbonite too

Next up on the list: the solar panels.

They come in moderately normal sized

And stanford torus sized

Yes my smelter ship is under that.

Edited October 7, 2014 by michaelhester07

[michaelhester07]

Shameless bump to announce a new launch system!

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The mass accelerator is a really large electromagnet which can be used to accelerate a payload off the surface of a planet or moon without the use of rockets. This idea is something akin to how NASA would actually launch materials off the moon. You'll have to build a mechanism to align the payload before launch. When armed it picks up the first payload it detects which is below it (red is up, black is down for the rings on it). You can then set a countdown or immediately fire. A second version of the accelerator ring allows a chain of accelerator rings to be setup to increase acceleration time. Be wary of Newton's third law. The rings have acceleration feedback.

[michaelhester07]

I've been brainstorming what to do next for this mod. What i'm looking at now is planetary pipelines. The basic idea is similar to natural gas pipelines. The idea for this implementation:

Land ships no more than 10km apart with a pipe hub part. When you deploy the pipeline on both ships their resources are linked together. Chain more pipelines together and you can span an entire planet's worth of resources together in a single spot. The pipelines are assumed buried underground. It will take time to build the pipeline based on how far apart the ships are (it may also take resources (metal,etc)). The pipeline will have limited "bandwidth".

I'll hopefully be able to use generators on those parts too (so they can generate resources). I've already laid the groundwork for this with the network capability on the mass accelerator.