How do you handle mountainous terrain on Kerbin & elsewhere

[Rus-Evo]

Hi all,

I often have trouble with rovers, planes and steep terrain. The main issue is running out of control on the downhill and flipping the rover (or flipping it as I brake).

Is the solution just having longer rovers? I keep wondering if I am missing something.

What has brought the issue to a head is several attempts to rescue some Kerbals from behind the large mountain range west of KSC with VTOLs and STOLs....... I just kept failing and leaving kerbals and debris fields everywhere!

Do you guys avoid mountains at all costs?

PS in the end the solution was to chute in a VTOL Jet & chute in a rover into the nearest valley floor. Not an elegant solution.

[RidingTheFlow]

Well, usually you don't land planes on steep mountain side and you don't drive cars over 60 degree incline...

You can to extent improve balance on the incline by making sure center of mass is as low as possible (and ground contact as wide as possible) - but you still will be limited by certain angle over which you will just slide down, and at certain speed start tumbling, so you still can't just go everywhere.

I guess best choice for getting past really steep slope would be VTOL craft.

Edited June 19, 2014 by RidingTheFlow

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I build long and wide with a low center of mass. I've driven rovers to the tops of mountains on Kerbin and elsewhere (including Eve). On downhills its just critical to keep your speed low and find gradual slopes if possible.

[Rus-Evo]

You speak common sense. I do feel like I need options for when I need to rescue Kerbs from.........ANYWHERE!

Im glad Im not the only one finding it a bit tricky.

[FenrirWolf]

Disable torque on any command pods/probes that are part of your rovers. Try messing with different brake and steering configurations too, e.g. disable brakes on the front wheels and disable steering on the back wheels.

[Rowsdower]

By giving into temptation and ramming full speed into it. Works. Every. Time.

[RidingTheFlow]

Disable torque on any command pods/probes that are part of your rovers. Try messing with different brake and steering configurations too, e.g. disable brakes on the front wheels and disable steering on the back wheels.

Actually I found it works the best (especially in lower gravity) when you keep torque on, but switch to docking(translation) mode, and enable SAS.

This way when you use standard turn keys, it will just turn the wheels, without turning via SAS. But SAS will keep the direction set by wheels, effectively acting as good stability control - helps a lot when you rover jumps in the air by preventing it from tumbling or turning in the air and landing sideways (leading to tyre blowout and rapid unplanned disassembly )

[Rocket Farmer]

I usually disable the front breaks.

However I wonder at everybody disabling SAS. I always turn my probe body so its top faces the direction of the rover travel. That way it stabilizes the unit while driving and can be quickly used to counteract spin while airborne. Any times I have been up on 2 wheels and used SAS to right myself.

On Duna I regularly cruise around at 45m/s+ and without SAS after every hill I would be landing sideways as you fly so far any minuscule imperfection at takeoff would be the end.

[Claw]

There was another thread on this very topic.

I leave SAS on. The only thing is that you must use different keys to drive your rover from the keys that rotate your SAS. You can either drive in docking mode (as has been suggested) or map the keys separate. When I drove a rover from KSP to Kerbin's north pole, I got pretty good at using both steering AND torque at the same time to keep the vehicle under control (especially when sliding down a mountain...).

Also, (I think this was all mentioned but I will second the statements) disable the front brakes and disable rear wheel steering. Keep the CoM as low as is practical.

[Laie]

You speak common sense. I do feel like I need options for when I need to rescue Kerbs from.........ANYWHERE!

And the Kerbals in question can't be bothered to walk a bit? The next evac point can't be THAT far away.

[Fendleton]

For rovers, I change my key mapping so that instead of WASD, it uses IJKL for control. Then I add a single reaction wheel, tied to an action group. When I'm driving around, I have SAS turned on, but the reaction wheel turned off. When the rover starts to bounce or flip, I turn on the reaction wheel via action group, and it stabilises and I can correct the problem.

Not so useful for planes, but works a treat on mun rovers.

[Tw1]

When braking, I tend to tap the B button to slow down, rather than holding it. This works fine as long as rover is well balanced.

Remember the basics- low center of gravity, wide enough base, etc. Though this must be balanced so you have sufficient clearance to handle the changes in terrain angle.

[Claw]

Here's my polar challenge rover. It's pretty rugged and can survive spills downhill. I built it as a rescue vehicle. It has space for a driver, medic, and two passengers. It's capable of flipping itself over after a crash, and can survive crashes at up to 4x time warp.

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[weezl]

By giving into temptation and ramming full speed into it. Works. Every. Time.

LOL.. fantastic post.

[Rus-Evo]

Some great suggestions for me to try. Especially disabling front brakes and rear steering and use of sas.

Thanks guys.

[Parallax]

this is how I plan to do hills from now on:

Edited June 21, 2014 by Parallax

[Rus-Evo]

But what happens when you spot an Ewok?

[Kerba Fett]

Something else I've had good luck with is to put an RCS quad block fairly high on the rover and drive it in docking mode set for linear translation.

If its being controlled by a command seat or a capsule that's oriented horizontally rather than verticaly, and you use the reverse key to brake it will fire the forward facing RCS thruster slowing you while resisting pitching forward. Turning in either direction fires the RCS on the opposite side providing roll resistance.

You should still use the other tricks mentioned here, but this system helps a lot.

Edited June 24, 2014 by Kerba Fett

[Tortoise]

I just slide down the hill while tapping the brakes or reversing my wheels.

[O-Doc]

I just kept failing and leaving kerbals and debris fields everywhere!

I have to admit, I laughed out loud. I can see that debris field now. I have a similar situation on Mun owing to a momentary lapse in concentration.

Your best(safest) rescue craft on Kerbin is a V/STOL with an engine underneath and an engine out the back with landing gears and if you want, some rover wheels. You should be able to cruise the high atmosphere and glide with vertical engine on, slowly increasing throttle until you make a soft landing. Obviously a backup chute is good too.

Now I need to make the craft I just described...

Anyway, spend more time practising your landings(on mountains and the top of the VAB), soon you will be a master at pinpoint touch-downs. You should do it to get mountain science in career mode all the same.

Rules to prevent flipping:

• Reaction wheels are like porridge
  
• Number of drive wheels are like porridge
  
• Steering on the front wheels
  
• Brakes on the rear wheels
  
• Low center of gravity
  
• Min wheel base twice as long as width(2 x Width / Gravity)
  

The last one I find a very reliable stability equation for providing your CoM is not too high on your rover. This was found out using a lot of experimentation with construction and transport rovers in low gravity environments. My moon rovers look more like trains than buggies and they can get high speeds without requiring reaction wheels.