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Post by lorentz99 on Sept 25, 2017 17:15:15 GMT
On small bodies with very weak gravity wheeled, tracked or legged vehicles encounter problems. Every single bump in the terrain (or step in the case of walkers) sends them flying on a big, spectacular parabola. And the dusty, unstable terrain of many asteroids, and their stupid shapes (like Eros) does not help it either. Therefore your task is to design an armored vehicle which has a high-Isp thruster pointed downwards, and thus it can levitate itself in a static way, some meters above ground, without having to bother with ground contact, terrain dusting away, melting or flowing, or tipping over, nor maimed by the predictability and inflexibility of orbits.
Specifications:
- Vehicle needs to have at least 0.065 m/s2 of 'vertical acceleration', being able to levitate on Mimas.
- Vehicle needs to have adequate armor.
- Vehicle is to posses powerful armament, allowing it to take out targets (surface and subsurface habitats, unarmored spacecrafts, other 'tanks', personnel in powersuits and standard spacesuits... etc) at ranges 10m- 10000m, without endangering nearby friendlies.
Parameters to optimise for:
- Cost (minimalize)
- Floating time on Mimas (maximize)
- radiation hazard to nearby personnel (minimalize)
- 'horizontal' acceleration and dV (maximize)
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Post by jtyotjotjipaefvj on Sept 25, 2017 17:19:48 GMT
To clarify, do we want to maximize or minimize the radiation hazard? You wouldn't need guns if the reactors can melt everyone within a hundred meters in seconds.
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Post by thorneel on Sept 25, 2017 18:05:23 GMT
To clarify, do we want to maximize or minimize the radiation hazard? You wouldn't need guns if the reactors can melt everyone within a hundred meters in seconds. If you go against protomolecule monsters, I strongly recommend minimizing it. And the use of pocket nukes. |
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Post by lorentz99 on Sept 25, 2017 18:22:50 GMT
To clarify, do we want to maximize or minimize the radiation hazard? You wouldn't need guns if the reactors can melt everyone within a hundred meters in seconds. If you go against protomolecule monsters, I strongly recommend minimizing it. And the use of pocket nukes. Of course, you are to minimize radhazard (as well as cost). Protomolecule monsters were only a bad joke I could not resist after having lately seen the Expanse. |
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Post by jtyotjotjipaefvj on Sept 25, 2017 21:28:58 GMT
I managed to create a fairly efficient design. It has a good acceleration, enough dv to hover for 2 hours 30 minutes (assuming you can pulse the NTRs quickly enough, otherwise it would be closer to bouncing rather than hovering) and a decent armament. It also has two tons of armor, with a layered design of two hard layers with spall liners and a good deal of space between them. This allows it to ignore small arms and maybe resist a few hits from a lighter warship railgun as well. Against lasers it might survive a few moments, but that wasn't a main concern. Designs for tank and missile: It has 2 10mm machine guns with HE ammo to take down infantry and unarmored targets, a 42mm autocannon that packs a decent punch with 600 rpm, 100 grams per round and a 2 km/s muzzle velocity. Finally, it has a rack of 25 micromissiles with a dv of 2.5 km/s and a 4 kg shrapnel warhead for taking down groups of infantry or even warships when enough of them are fired at once. With a bit over 50 kc a pop, they're not too expensive, and they pack a formidable punch. Here's a video of a tank battalion (20 tanks) taking down a gunship, while losing only 4 tanks. 280 Mc for 200 kc is a pretty decent tradeoff. If that's not a good demonstration of their power, I don't know what is. Stats: Mass: 2.86 t Cost: 53.9 kc dv: 937 m/s acceleration: 1.18 g radiation hazard: ~10 mW floating time: 2h 30m Edit: I managed to improve my design and as a result I was able to destroy a gunship with just two tank platoons, or six tanks. The price went up a bit since I added some diamond everywhere to make the weapons, missiles and the tank itself more resistant to lasers. 61.6 kc isn't too bad if just six can destroy a Gunship though. Here's the updated design:  |
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Post by Fgdfgfthgr on Sept 25, 2017 23:53:05 GMT
Stats:
Mass: 996kg
Cost: 26.8 kc
dv: 4.49km/s
Acceleration: 13.2mg(0.0132m/s2)(Doesn't move fast.)
radiation hazard: ~7 mW
(Ractor output is 17mW, but think about armors.)
floating time: About 1 day.
Nevermind.PropellantTankModule 100 kg Neon Tank
UsesCustomName false
Propellant Neon
StructureComposition Diamond
ReactionMass_kg 100
HeightToRadiusRatio 1.3
AdditionalArmorThickness_m 0
ThermoelectricFissionReactorModule 5.7 MW Thermoelectric Fission Reactor Flux
UsesCustomName true
ReactorCoreDimensions_m 0.065 0.062
NuclearReactor
Coolant Ethane
Moderator Boron Nitride
ModeratorMass_kg 0
Fuel U-233 Dioxide
FuelMass_kg 0.1
FuelEnrichment_Percent 0.62
ControlRodComposition Titanium Diboride
ControlRodMass_kg 0.3
NeutronReflector Diamond
ReflectorThickness_m 0.32
AverageNeutronFlux__m2_s 1.7e+020
InnerTurbopump
Composition Diamond
PumpRadius_m 0.21
RotationalSpeed_RPM 350
ThermocoupleInnerDimensions_m 0.33 0.65
Thermocouple
PTypeComposition Osmium
NTypeComposition Tungsten
Length_m 0.001
ThermocoupleExitTemperature_K 2450
OuterCoolant Sodium
OuterTurbopump
Composition Diamond
PumpRadius_m 0.11
RotationalSpeed_RPM 350
RadiatorModule 1x2 Diamond Radiator 2
UsesCustomName false
Composition Diamond
PanelWidth_m 0.37
Height_m 1.5
Thickness_m 0.001
ArmorThickness_m 0.0045
Panels 4
FrontTaper_radians 1.017
BackTaper_radians 0.474
SurfaceFinish Tantalum Carbide
MagnetoplasmadynamicThrusterModule 37.0 km/s 2.55 MW Neon Gimballed Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster
UsesCustomName false
CathodeRadius_m 0.001
ChamberThickness_m 0.15
AnodeThickness_m 0.001
ThrusterLength_m 0.01
CathodeComposition Potassium
AnodeComposition Potassium
InsulatorComposition Lithium
Propellant Neon
Current_A 14600
Injector
Composition Magnesium
PumpRadius_m 0.01
RotationalSpeed_RPM 30
Gimbal
InnerRadius_m 0.016
ArmorComposition Amorphous Carbon
ArmorThickness_m 0.0001
ElectricActuators
PermanentMagnet Samarium Cobalt
PowerConsumption_W 1
GimbalAngle_degrees 90
RemoteControlModule Small missile
UsesCustomName true
AspectRatio 0.5
HomingBehavior
PropellantForBoostPhase_Percent 0.4
BoostPhase
GuidanceLaw Pure Pursuit
Accelerate true
DampingEngineMultiplier 0.01
MidcoursePhase
GuidanceLaw Augmented Proportional Navigation
Accelerate false
DampingEngineMultiplier 1.82
TerminalPhase
GuidanceLaw Deviated Pursuit
Accelerate true
DampingEngineMultiplier 1
IrradianceCutoff_Percent 0.5
CoilgunModule 640 kW 1mm Turreted Capacitor Coilgun
UsesCustomName false
PowerConsumption_W 6.4e+005
Capacitor
DielectricComposition Hafnia
Dimensions_m 0.15 0.016
Separation_m 1e-007
Coil
Composition Maraging Steel
WireRadius_m 0.002
NumberOfTurns 44
NumberOfLayers 2
NumberOfStages 1
BarrelArmor
Composition Amorphous Carbon
Thickness_m 0.01
Armature
Composition Magnetic Metal Glass
BoreRadius_m 0.00085
Mass_kg 0.001
Tracer Aluminum
Payload null
Loader
PowerConsumption_W 10
ExternalMount false
InternalMount false
Turret
InnerRadius_m 0.028
Extruded true
ArmorComposition Amorphous Carbon
ArmorThickness_m 0.02
ElectricActuators
PermanentMagnet Samarium Cobalt
PowerConsumption_W 20
AttachedAmmoBay
Capacity 3000
Stacks 1
TargetsShips true
TargetsShots false
PropellantTankModule 14.0 kg Neon Tank
UsesCustomName false
Propellant Neon
StructureComposition Diamond
ReactionMass_kg 14
HeightToRadiusRatio 3
AdditionalArmorThickness_m 0
CraftBlueprint Powered Tank
Modules
100 kg Neon Tank 1 0.69852 null 0
5.7 MW Thermoelectric Fission Reactor Flux 1 -0.11168 null 0
1x2 Diamond Radiator 2 2 0.90976 5.7 MW Thermoelectric Fission Reactor Flux 0
37.0 km/s 2.55 MW Neon Gimballed Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster 1 0.22898 null 1.57
37.0 km/s 2.55 MW Neon Gimballed Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster 1 2.8804 null 1.57
Small missile 1 -0.92188 null 0
640 kW 1mm Turreted Capacitor Coilgun 1 2.8133 null 4.72
50.0 cm x 0 m Spacer 1 2.4415 null 0
14.0 kg Neon Tank 1 1.6985 null 0
Armor
ArmorLayers
Aramid Fiber 0.001 0 0 1 1
Diamond 0.005 0 0 1 1
Titanium Diboride 0.005 0 0 1 1
Vanadium Chromium Steel 0.001 0 0 1 1
Heavy armoured at any parts. Even the radiator and turret. |
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