[1.0.x] [V1.9f] Kerbal Foundries wheels, anti-grav repulsors and tracks

[lo-fi]

It doesn't stop there... I'll have a demo thrashed out shortly if it all works out.

[UAL002]

Any plans to place your tech in the community tech tree? I think your repulsars would be a great late game reward tech. Id love to see the future of late game KSP moders posting screens of repulsor fitted heavy duty warp capable ships. Like a star wars/star trek/kerbal hybrid. Have big clunky experimental early repulsors and sleek radial animated late game repulsors.

[lo-fi]

Actually, this is the first time I heard of it. It seems like a cool idea, I'll have to find out how to go about getting included.

[UAL002]

Go here and see if you can get a dialog going. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/98409-Planning-Community-Tech-Tree

Cheers.

[Madrias]

It is a cool idea, the steering part. Hmm... Any chance of a part that can fold semi-flat back over itself? Like two IR hinges stuck together, but with set points at 0, 90, and 180 degrees? Would make my pocket gliders easier to deploy on worlds like Eve if all I had to do was push a button to unfold my 6 segment wings... and not have them flapping in the breeze. Alternately, a set of retracting wings that slide shut and contain their own control surfaces would work... Actually, I think I want the retracting wings more, come to think of it. I know what size they ought to be, though: designed to match the 0.625m cockpit.

I know, another of Mad's crazy ideas... I know the retracting wouldn't affect the lift rating in KSP standard, but I'd love to have wings that can fit in a 2m round cargo bay (like Firespitter's epic little bomb bay) without sticking out of the sides. Add to that a high vis. cockpit and I'd be able to fly nearly anywhere.

What I'm up to now? Flying a DSR2 hull to the North Pole of Kerbin. Using KSP Interstellar Thermal Turbojets.

[Trollkowski]

I'm having a problem with this. I've decided to build a (sort of) replica of anakin skywalkers podracer from the phantom menace, but the repulsors aren't quite working the way they should.

As soon as i release the pod, it instantly flips over while the two engines hover. any ideas?

The build

Placement of repulsors:

what happens after i release the pod:

[Madrias]

You have sufficient power to hold the pod up? Also, center of balance on the pod is critical. Repulsors simply push up on a vehicle, they don't take into account the position they're in.

[Darren9]

^ Possibly the repulsors are interacting with the launch clamps, can you launch it with just the two two that hold the upper blue wing-ish bits, I'm not sure though it's hard to tell.

[lo-fi]

It is a cool idea, the steering part. Hmm... Any chance of a part that can fold semi-flat back over itself? Like two IR hinges stuck together, but with set points at 0, 90, and 180 degrees? Would make my pocket gliders easier to deploy on worlds like Eve if all I had to do was push a button to unfold my 6 segment wings... and not have them flapping in the breeze. Alternately, a set of retracting wings that slide shut and contain their own control surfaces would work... Actually, I think I want the retracting wings more, come to think of it. I know what size they ought to be, though: designed to match the 0.625m cockpit.

I know, another of Mad's crazy ideas... I know the retracting wouldn't affect the lift rating in KSP standard, but I'd love to have wings that can fit in a 2m round cargo bay (like Firespitter's epic little bomb bay) without sticking out of the sides. Add to that a high vis. cockpit and I'd be able to fly nearly anywhere.

What I'm up to now? Flying a DSR2 hull to the North Pole of Kerbin. Using KSP Interstellar Thermal Turbojets.

Here we go again Wings this time! Haha. Swing wings? I don't really see why the deflectionLiftCoeff and AoA drag in ModuleLiftingSurface couldn't be changed on the fly by a little plugin which also triggers the animation, though I may be missing something.

You mean like a sort of Z joint? Sketchup doodle?

[lo-fi]

^ Possibly the repulsors are interacting with the launch clamps, can you launch it with just the two two that hold the upper blue wing-ish bits, I'm not sure though it's hard to tell.

I think this may be your answer, Trollkowski

Also, try setting the hover height on the repulsors low for launch, then crank up via action group once it's all going nicely. I've got some fixes in the next version which will make it all a bit easier and smoother.

Looks cool, though! Any plans for a video?

[Trollkowski]

You have sufficient power to hold the pod up? Also, center of balance on the pod is critical. Repulsors simply push up on a vehicle, they don't take into account the position they're in.

I'm pretty sure i have enough power, and center of balance isn't the problem, it rolls to the side as if the repulsors on the right side weren't enabled/functioning, even though the pod is completely symmetrical.

[Trollkowski]

I think this may be your answer, Trollkowski

Also, try setting the hover height on the repulsors low for launch, then crank up via action group once it's all going nicely. I've got some fixes in the next version which will make it all a bit easier and smoother.

Looks cool, though! Any plans for a video?

Will definitely make a thread, not sure about a video though, as it's pretty heavy in parts so the framerate isn't very high

[Madrias]

Here we go again Wings this time! Haha. Swing wings? I don't really see why the deflectionLiftCoeff and AoA drag in ModuleLiftingSurface couldn't be changed on the fly by a little plugin which also triggers the animation, though I may be missing something.

You mean like a sort of Z joint? Sketchup doodle?

I'm thinking, either like segments that fit within each other, like a telescopic piston, or perhaps multi-fold wings. Either would be cool.

[lo-fi]

I'm pretty sure i have enough power, and center of balance isn't the problem, it rolls to the side as if the repulsors on the right side weren't enabled/functioning, even though the pod is completely symmetrical.

Best guess is definitely repulsors hitting those launch clamps, particularly those at the rear. If power is an issue you'd get an entry in the F2 log saying retracting do to low power. This does happen of a joint breaks in the craft sometimes, so worth double checking

Will definitely make a thread, not sure about a video though, as it's pretty heavy in parts so the framerate isn't very high

Cool, please post us a link when you've got the gremlins ironed out

I'm thinking, either like segments that fit within each other, like a telescopic piston, or perhaps multi-fold wings. Either would be cool.

Hmmm, I see...

[Trollkowski]

Best guess is definitely repulsors hitting those launch clamps, particularly those at the rear. If power is an issue you'd get an entry in the F2 log saying retracting do to low power. This does happen of a joint breaks in the craft sometimes, so worth double checking

Cool, please post us a link when you've got the gremlins ironed out

Hmmm, I see...

What you'll also notice in the gif is why i used alot of clamps

Not the clamps... will check the log for any warning of low power, but i dont think that's the problem either since i have 5 repulsor engines inside the pod.

[Darren9]

^ What happens if you set all of them to 0 in the hanger and raise them on the runway? I've had quite a few weird things happen with that combination of KAS, Quantum struts and Repulsors.

Edited November 3, 2014 by Darren9

[Trollkowski]

^ What happens if you set all of them to 0 in the hanger and raise them on the runway? I've had quite a few weird things happen with that combination of KAS, Quantum struts and Repulsors.

nothing at all, the pod wont rise at all :/ Should i just give up on this?

[Trollkowski]

Also in the log, it says: mass is 0.000000000, should be positive!. Does this have something to do with the pod being unbalanced?

[Darren9]

What worked for me was have all the weight on the front bits, just two of the electric generator things, one each side and then only three replusors on the pod, two at the front and one in the middle at the back. I used half size repulsors on the back, the drag from the rear air brakes ( at least 3 on the pod) and tension in the ropes is enough to hold the pod up and straight once you get up to speed.

I have noticed that if the repulsor is sitting touching the ground it sometimes wont lift up, it needs to be slightly above the ground to take hold sometimes, I've had to have a bit of the craft sticking down below them in the past. You should be able to get it going though.

[Gaalidas]

The repulsors are definitely a bit twitchy on launch. Quantum struts are known for their oddities, such as being able to stabilize a platform in mid-air without anything to hold it up when the struts are turned on while in flight. (I think that one was fixed, but I haven't tried it myself.) Those KAS winches are a little buggy sometimes... you've got yourself quite a pickle there with all those different things adding up. Not to mention the fact that launch clamps create a tiny bit of force when they decouple which could cause problems, especially when they are facing each other in close proximity and at that strange angle. I wouldn't give up on it now, but i might take it in bursts with long breaks in between so you don't go nutty.

[Madrias]

I'd say, simplest thing to do would be to get the pod hovering stable on its own. Then add to it the engines. Then you know the pod is stable, and you can work on stabilizing the engines and the pod together.

[Trollkowski]

What worked for me was have all the weight on the front bits, just two of the electric generator things, one each side and then only three replusors on the pod, two at the front and one in the middle at the back. I used half size repulsors on the back, the drag from the rear air brakes ( at least 3 on the pod) and tension in the ropes is enough to hold the pod up and straight once you get up to speed.

I have noticed that if the repulsor is sitting touching the ground it sometimes wont lift up, it needs to be slightly above the ground to take hold sometimes, I've had to have a bit of the craft sticking down below them in the past. You should be able to get it going though.

Tried everything, still not working :/

[Trollkowski]

Kinda got it working now though, replaced the small repulsors with the bigger ones and the pod is stable now, but during ''flight'', the whole thing yaws to the right, and is totally uncontrollable even with control surfaces and gimballed engines... After i fix one problem another one appears, just great

[Gaalidas]

That's how it goes. The least buggy creation is always the first iteration. After that it's all about squashing bugs and replacing them when twice as many. It's a wonder the kerbal race ever made it out of the primordial snack bag in the first place.

On a happier note, I gave the water repulsor functionality a go earlier this evening and everything seems to be in order.

[Madrias]

Water Repulsors are a lot of fun. Repulsor-Conversion Wheels combined with a jet are fun ways to get across water, or to avoid death-by-bump.