The Ultimate Stock Rover Challenge!

[TheBrisbyMouse]

Hello, and I'm here to bring you The Ultimate Stock Rover Challenge! This is where you post your greatest rovers in terms of speed, weight, Kerbal capacity, durability, and modularity! It also includes a Mini Challenge, that puts you rover through the ultimate test of durability and stability.

DA RULEZ

1. No mods are allowed to interfere with your rover's functionality, part count, durability, etc.
   
2. Craft in question must be a rover(see below).
   
3. Debug console must be up at all times to show that no cheats are being used.
   
4. Resources tab must be expanded at all times to show that no fuel is being used.
   
5. Only rover wheels are allowed to move the craft along the ground. Anything else that moves the rover(engines, RCS ports, SAS) must be toggled off while testing.
   
6. Any part loss achieved while testing renders that round of testing invalid.(you can fix wheels with on board kerbals)
   

A rover is/has:

• At least 1 wheel in contact with the ground at all times(except while airborne).
  
• Some kind of power generation equipment(RTG, solar panel)
  
• Some way to control it(pit, Torture Chair, probe core)
  
• If manned, kerbals must be able to board the craft.
  

Testing:

1. Go into the spaceplane hanger. Look under your saved vessels and find your rover. Score part count.
   
2. Get your rover on the runway, if not already. Drive forward towards the other end of the runway. Record maximum speed.
   
3. Drive over to the flat area with the monolith just north of the runway. Drive your rover at maximum speed in a circle. Score the stability and record the time taken to do the circle.
   
4. Score modularity by looking at it.
   
5. If applicable, test righting mechanism. Flip the rover onto its back(hack gravity and turn on reaction wheels if needed, but turn them off when the rover is upside down). Test the righting mechanism.
   
6. Go into map mode. Score weight.
   

Mini Challenge

1. There is a road between the Vehicle Assembly Building and the launchpad. Get your rover directly north of the road on the runway.
   
2. Face the road and accelerate.
   
3. Attempt to pass over the road at maximum speed. If you go below half your maximum speed, your rover breaks, you flip over, or a tire pops, the attempt is invalid.
   
4. If the Mini Challenge is failed, omit all scores based on it from your subtotal calculation. For example if your rover does the circle without drifting or tilting, and you fail the Mini Challenge, you still get a 2.
   

For lazy people:

Scoring

Durability:

Unacceptable(a part of the rover breaks while testing or a tire pops on an unmanned rover): 0

Acceptable(flat tire on manned rover): 1

Excellent(can complete Mini Challenge without losing any parts or a tire popping): 5

Stability:

Unacceptable(flips over without means to right itself): 0

Poor(flips over, but can right itself): .5

Fair(Drifts/tilts, but doesn't flip): 1

Good(Doesn't drift or tilt): 2

Excellent(Completes mini challenge without flipping): 5

Modularity(all of these your rover has added together is your modularity score):

Usable docking port(not on the bottom or at a weird angle): 2

Kerbal capacity: 1 per kerbal

Interior space for all kerbals aboard(command pods, lander cans): 5

Ability to right itself if it flips onto its back: 10

100 energy storage per kerbal: 5, 10 if 1000 or more each

Lights, front: 3

Lights, rear: 2

Lights, bottom: 1

Science: 1 per unique instrument, mobile lab is 5.

Ease of attachment(attachment point that runs through the center of mass vertically):5, 10 if docking port, double score if on top and bottom.

Antenna: 3 per unique part.

Other marks:

Is a rover:

Yes: 1

No: 0

Part count(not everyone who wants to use your rover has a half decent computer!):

Horrific(100+): .1

Bad(60-99): .5

Okay(59-20): 1

Good(19-3):5

Weight in tons(smaller rover=smaller launch vehicle to get it somewhere=fewer parts=less lag):

Bad(20+): .1

Okay(19-2): 1

Good(1.9-0): 5

Maximum speed on runway: (max speed)x2

To calculate your subscore, multiply all the scores you received except the ones mentioned below together.

So if you get 5 durability, 5 stability, 10 modularity, 1 for being a rover, 5 for part count, 5 for weight, and your speed score was 18, you get 5x5x10x5x5x18=112500 as a subscore.

Divide the 360 turn time by 5 and then divide your subscore by it. If your turn time was 20 seconds, you divide it by 5 and get 4. Now you divide your subscore by it, so the above example would get a total score of 28125.

Multiply the resulting number by whatever phys-warp you ran the tests on. This is your final score. The example was done at 1x physwarp, so 1x28125=28125.

Small Scoreboard(1.9-0 tons):

• TheBrisbyMouse with the Gustavus, 56,000 points.
  
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Medium Mausoleum(19-2 tons):

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Large Leaderboard(50+ tons):

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Ensuring Legitimacy

Every important step must be documented. Videos are preferable. All screenshots and videos must have the debug menu and resources tab open. Imgur albums are preferred. The important steps are:

1. Spaceplane hanger w/ Center of Mass shown and the load ship tab displaying part count.
   
2. Rover on the runway.
   
3. Rover at maximum speed.
   
4. Rover at start of circle
   
5. Rover approx. halfway through circle
   
6. Rover at end of circle
   
7. Righting mechanism test, flipped over, half righted, fully righted.
   
8. Map open with weight shown
   
9. If done, Mini Challenge facing road, maximum speed towards road, crossing first hump, crossing second hump, minimum speed over road, fully crossed.
   

Or you could do a video, youtube preferred. A craft file is also required, can be a hosted on Dropbox or any sharing site.

After that massive text skyscraper, go see what your rovers can do! If I can think of anything else, I'll be sure to post it.

Edited July 4, 2014 by TheBrisbyMouse

[Koolkei]

i dont get the mini challenge

any pics to help?

[KotDemopan]

Technically...

This coud count as a rover (and no, it isn't the real entry)

EDIT: does RCS propellant count as Fuel in this challenge?

Also, how does one flip a rover if it can't flip?

Edited July 4, 2014 by KotDemopan

[TheBrisbyMouse]

@Koolkai Pic added. It's not that hard to figure out.

@KotDemoPan

(engines, RCS ports) must be toggled off while testing.

You can have it on board, but you can't use it.

(hack gravity and turn on reaction wheels if needed, but turn them off when the rover is upside down

No rover is un-flippable.

Edited July 4, 2014 by TheBrisbyMouse

[KotDemopan]

That doesn't really answer the 2nd question...

And i need to see a Rover design that can do the Mini-challenge without popping atleast one of its tires while going at full speed or above.

[elloopa]

Javascript is disabled. View full album

First time trying to post an imgur album, feel like I did it wrong. Anyway this is my submission.

Not sure if this will effect my submission, but so I could drive the thing I had to map H and N to forward and reverse.

Durability 5

Stability 5

Modularity 10

Is a rover 1

Part Count 5

Weight 5

Max Speed 18

360 turn time 20 (slow) ~0.6 (fast/spinning)

Subscore calculation is a bit confusing since it isn't clear (to me anyway) on what is and isn't to be multiplied. However, my best guess at the subscore is 28125 for big circle. The spinning time would make it ~187500.

Edited July 4, 2014 by elloopa

[TheBrisbyMouse]

Very well done elloopa! You did your math right, did the Mini Challenge right, supplied a Imgur album, and even added a little spinning score that wasn't part of the challenge. But there are a few problems with it. 1, it requires reaction wheels to stay upright, which needs to be toggled off(I originally said this in the rules, but I didn't realize I overwrote it with RCS). 2, I didn't specify a spinning score anywhere. Other than those discrepancies, your attempt is golden. Fix 'em and you're good to go!

@Demo ^ There's your Mini Challenge done right.

[Koolkei]

@Koolkai Pic added. It's not that hard to figure out.

@KotDemoPan

You can have it on board, but you can't use it.

No rover is un-flippable.

another request.

what EXACTLY do you mean by half a decent computer?

i mean any computer that couldn't get 150 parts to be at least have playable fps rate when flying, just dont cut it to play KSP. besides, i dont think there are that many computer that are THAT bad.

i'm running on a low clock speed(bad!) quad core(worse! KSP unity engine only can take advantaget of 2) AMD APU laptop(just plain stupid combination), and can only run on the IGP (world. eat me already!)

and i can still at least fly a plane with around 175 parts with almost decent fps, and around 150 parts to get it fully decent fps.

so to make a rover of your standard (and beyond that) with only 40 parts is outrageously hard.

so my request is, double the part count rules please?

[TheBrisbyMouse]

How is your computer BAD? My computer starts going into yellow speed at around 80 parts on lowest graphics settings. I consider my computer to be half decent.

A 40 part rover is NOT outrageously hard. The guy 2 posts above you built a working rover with 3 parts. Having such a low part count is something that contributes to the challenge. I called this The Ultimate Stock Rover CHALLENGE for a reason. This was not meant to be easy.

But I'll appease you. Sort of. I'm adding another rating for part count, 100+ and moving the .1 score multiplier with it.

[Koolkei]

How is your computer BAD? My computer starts going into yellow speed at around 80 parts on lowest graphics settings. I consider my computer to be half decent.

A 40 part rover is NOT outrageously hard. The guy 2 posts above you built a working rover with 3 parts. Having such a low part count is something that contributes to the challenge. I called this The Ultimate Stock Rover CHALLENGE for a reason. This was not meant to be easy.

But I'll appease you. Sort of. I'm adding another rating for part count, 100+ and moving the .1 score multiplier with it.

thx for that.

but i said playable, not yellow. i go into yellow like 30 part when on the ground, 50-60 in space. but yellow only means the the physics calculation time delta is going slower from what it was supposed to, it doesn't translate directly into fps, although it does have a strong connnection

[r_rolo1]

Hum, not wanting to diss, but the mini challenge is heavily biased for veicules with a certain set of wheels, namely the RoveMax Model S2 or the RoveMax Model XL3 ( namely the smallest and the biggest wheels ), since they have a max speed of respectively 10 and 12 m/s , while the other two have far higher top speeds ( 20 and 23 m/s ), and I don't need to explain that a bump at 10 m/s is far less prone to making damages to a rover than one at 23m/s ....

[TheBrisbyMouse]

I thought since I started this, I might as well show off mine.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Durability: 5

Stabilty: 5

Modularity: 32 (Docking port, kerbal, 1k power/kerbal, front and rear lights, barometer, thermometer, seismometer, gravioli detector, old avionics package, 3 antennas)

Is Rover: 1

Part count(59):1

Weight:5

Speed: 21x2=42

Physwarp: 1

Circle Time: 12/4=3

5x5x32x1x1x5x42x1/3=56,000 points. Download will be up as soon a Dropbox decides to stop being stupid.

@rolo I actually find it much harder to do with the smallest wheels, the unicycle one is the only I've seen that can do it. And here I do it with the medium wheels. I don't think I need to point out that the 2 middle wheels are more durable than the little one. And if the big wheels are used, the weight and part count of the craft in question will dock some serious points.

[r_rolo1]

@TheBrisbyMouse:

I was not talking of the wheels in terms of impact, but of the other parts connections. A impact at 20m/s can easily make solar panels snap out or disconnect command pods from the rest of the rover if you happen to tackle it in a not perfect angle, things that will not happen at 10 m/s as easily as that ...

I might try the chalenge, since I'm getting a heavy train while rovering a Sci lab in the Mun ...

OFC this one ( that is stock BTW and has around 30 parts ) for the challenge would be too heavy, but I'm 100% sure it would pass the mini challenge with flying colors. I just need to strip it from all non-essentials for the chalenge , though

Edited July 4, 2014 by r_rolo1

[elloopa]

it requires reaction wheels to stay upright, which needs to be toggled off(I originally said this in the rules, but I didn't realize I overwrote it with RCS). 2, I didn't specify a spinning score anywhere.

The SAS issue, sadly will require a full redesign. As for the spinning thing, if I had thought to set it to docking mode, you would see that I was actually holding forward and right. I just recorded it as separate because frankly less then a second is a bit unfair. But I shall give it another go.