[v0.19] Damned Robotics Version 1.3

[White Owl]

If you\'re interested in suggestions, I have a few ideas.

Earlier I asked for a freely rotating, unpowered hinge. Let\'s expand on that idea.

Imagine this mod, if all moving parts could be toggled between powered, freely rotating, and resistant/springy. You could build any machine you can imagine.

Take a page from Sodaconstructor (Google it) and give an option to program parts and groups of parts to perform a sequence of coordinated actions. Either as a one time action, like unfolding a satellite, or repetitive coordinated actions, like a walking machine. Imagine the possibilities.

This is potentially the most important, game changing mod yet seen in KSP. I wonder if even r4m0n and Japan realize the significance of this.

[Tim_Barrett]

Uch? Senkan Yamato? 8)

Oh yes. 8)

In fact, with the new anti-gravity mod, it should be easy to get any boat-like thing into the water. Fire the Wave Motion Gun!

[kellven]

@White Owl-The thing I would be worried about with unlocked joints is that we\'ve all seen just how well Unity deals with joint axis locking. If Squad couldn\'t get the connections to lock down properly, it\'s going to be a massive undertaking for a modder to do.

-I STILL haven\'t managed to try this pack out, but I was thinking about the walker configs. I think what might work in code is to have a simple key/script interpreter. You\'d have a folder for scripts txt files, which you\'d have to write yourself. Then a simple C# interpreter could read these and apply keypresses to scripts that specify them. The scripts themselves would have to handle the logic of how to translate key input->list of part commands, as every config is completely different. It would however make possible a walker that will actually walk around with wasd.

[kalapixie]

For some reason, when I split parts into different groups and try to launch the ship, the groups won\'t save.

For example if I had two groups:

Group 1, Which contains

Part 1

Part 2

And then I had Group 2, Which contains

Part 3

Part 4

When I hit launch, it will merge group 1 & 2 together and I\'ll end up with one group containing all 4 parts. I also tried using a fresh install of KSP .14.4 and used the version of mechjeb included, and I\'m still having this problem. Any idea what could be causing this?

Xiren, are the groups named the same? This mod doesn\'t like that very much.

- K

[kellven]

Wanted to put this here rather than the plane thread, as it\'s about the rotators not engine stuff.

I was having problems with the tiltrotors jump jive and wobble when there\'s significant thrust/gravity/kraken tentacles being applied to the distal ends.

->Did a little reading on configurable joints, could I just ask r4m0n to make sure the joints are being locked rather than limited with linear motion?

I couldn\'t quite make sense of that part of the code, but from this part about Movement/Rotation Restriction, there\'s different locks for rot/lin motion. I didn\'t look at the code version of that stuff, so maybe you locked both. Just thought locked rotation, but spring limited linear motion would explain what I was seeing.

Edit: Forgot this, I was also noticing the joints didn\'t seem to lock when at their rest, and possibly max rotations. Not sure about max, but the rest position gives me jiggle right from flight start. The slightest rotation however, seems to lock it down.

[TaTaRinBsB]

we need small parts for canadarm

[Nibb31]

Finally! These are great!

A couple of small requests though:

Can we set the initial state in the configuration box? (it\'s usually better to launch with everything neatly folded up inside a fairing)

Can we have smaller hinges (so that they fit in a 2m fairing when folded up?)

Can the hinges be set to a full 90° angle? (so that when folded, the arms are parallel to the rocket and don\'t stick out at a 70° angle)

[Manhattan]

I love you soo much

[Mr_Orion]

@White Owl-The thing I would be worried about with unlocked joints is that we\'ve all seen just how well Unity deals with joint axis locking. If Squad couldn\'t get the connections to lock down properly, it\'s going to be a massive undertaking for a modder to do.

You know, the wobblyness is intentional... Squad could easily have 'locked' parts, it\'s pretty much as simple as parenting the parts together.

[FourTee2]

Why have the connections wobbly? I don\'t see the advantage. I see it in both KSP and Gmod, so there must be something good about it, but to me it\'s just an annoyance.

[Zephram Kerman]

Oh... wow... just, wow... This is the dawning of so many possibilities.

[Jouzu]

Because of physics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elasticity_(physics)

[cardgame]

Combine this with the gravitsapa and railguns to create a recoil-powered spaceship.

[Cthulufaic]

With the Cart plugin, and some other parts, I have created the first GLIDE-O-CAR!:

It can take off at speeds around 40 m/s! While in the air, it is unadviseable to steer using WASD, for you would skew the landing, roll,

crash, and die.

[Ronox]

Kerbal Osprey? Hell yes.

[ultrasquid]

Initial Impressions: Awesome mod, this brings up all kinds of possibilities!

I present, my walker X1:

It works, just hold W and you\'ll walk forever

(I\'ll post a video over the weekend)

Suggestions:

-Ability to set rotation speeds

-Parts that stay loose and are affected by gravity (if you attach a beam to a rotation node, it should naturally turn until it falls due to torque)

I\'ve got to wonder how deadshot462 did that. I built a walker with a similar crank-leg configuration and the rotor servos go out of sync almost immediately.

[Tim_Barrett]

I\'ve got to wonder how deadshot462 did that. I built a walker with a similar crank-leg configuration and the rotor servos go out of sync almost immediately.

The inside rotatatrons have the opposite key bindings of the outside ones. Thats it.

[r4m0n]

Wanted to put this here rather than the plane thread, as it\'s about the rotators not engine stuff.

I was having problems with the tiltrotors jump jive and wobble when there\'s significant thrust/gravity/kraken tentacles being applied to the distal ends.

->Did a little reading on configurable joints, could I just ask r4m0n to make sure the joints are being locked rather than limited with linear motion?

I couldn\'t quite make sense of that part of the code, but from this part about Movement/Rotation Restriction, there\'s different locks for rot/lin motion. I didn\'t look at the code version of that stuff, so maybe you locked both. Just thought locked rotation, but spring limited linear motion would explain what I was seeing.

Edit: Forgot this, I was also noticing the joints didn\'t seem to lock when at their rest, and possibly max rotations. Not sure about max, but the rest position gives me jiggle right from flight start. The slightest rotation however, seems to lock it down.

There is no 'locking' with ConfigurableJoint, you can only use limits (which with linear joints you only get one, that limits from -X to X, and so is useless for my purposes) or a motor to set the position somewhere. For rotation I set an upper and lower limit to the same spot, which effectively locks it (with a VERY stiff spring trying to move it into position), but for translation I\'m left with the motor, which works rather poorly.

Also, 95% of the possible configurations of the ConfigurableJoint do absolutely nothing without any explanation, which consumed several of my hours until I\'ve managed to get them to behave (and they still misbehave when I\'m not looking).

[TaTaRinBsB]

we need more robotics part!!! ;D

[DYJ]

I\'ll try to finish a set of smaller robotics parts today, suggestions are as always welcome.

[SpaceBlunt]

Love the parts!! They look a lot of fun...

I did maybe have a suggestion? I was thinking about how the decouplers work when used with say a satellite probe you want to leave in an orbit. 90% of the time you will need a decoupler to detach the probe/sat from the main vessel, but then the probe/sat has got a decoupler still attached to it whilst it floats about being a satellite. > this makes me angry...

I was thinking maybe a decoupler which is more like a claw that grasps the probe/sat from the top like a hand, so when it comes to decoupling the claw/hand opens letting go of the probe/sat.

The same claw decoupler could then also be used to pick up small items like Mun rock and even landed pods!

This could all be not possible, but I\'ll leave that for you guys to decide, as your the Aerospace engineers ;P and I\'m just a back yard rocketeer.

[deadshot462]

Smaller parts would be great.

Suggestions:

-Smaller node part to match those new part sizes

-Springs where you can define the elasticity/stiffness

-Ability to set the rotational speed of rotors

-Ability to reverse the rotation of rotors in VAB (so less groups are required)

[Kreuzung]

And ability to set the limits in VAB, as I wanted tilt rotors that tilt from -45° to 45° yesterday...

[sanderlebau]

Initial Impressions: Awesome mod, this brings up all kinds of possibilities!

I present, my walker X1:

It works, just hold W and you\'ll walk forever

(I\'ll post a video over the weekend)

Suggestions:

-Ability to set rotation speeds

-Parts that stay loose and are affected by gravity (if you attach a beam to a rotation node, it should naturally turn until it falls due to torque)

What are those boxes that let you change directions?

[Yorik]

I believe the boxes are from the new BACE mod

I think a shorter extension piece would be very nice, if we needed longer we could just tack several together.

I also think that the direction keys on the parts should be switched, it\'s weird to use the left arrow to extend for example and the rotation keys are opposite of the direction it\'s turning as well.