Difference between revisions of "Double-C Seismic Accelerometer"

Latest revision as of 00:13, 19 September 2023

Double-C Seismic Accelerometer
Environmental sensor by Probodobodyne Inc
Radial size		Radial mounted
Cost	(total)	6 000.00
Mass	(total)	0.005 t [1]
Drag		0.2 [1]
Max. Temp.		1200 K
Impact Tolerance		8 m/s
Research		Electronics
Unlock cost		8 200
Since version		0.18
Part configuration		sensorAccelerometer.cfg
Experiment		Seismic Scan
Collectable		Yes
Rerunnable		Yes
Resettable		Yes
Electricity required		0.0075 ⚡/s
Packed volume		5 l
↑ 1.0 1.1 The mass and drag are from the part config, but the game handles it as physicsless.

The Double-C Seismic Accelerometer is a scientific instrument and environmental sensor that measures a craft's acceleration. It displays the g-force on the craft.

In career mode, it is available with Electronics, at level 7 of the technology tree.

Product description

Usage

The Double-C Seismic Accelerometer can be radially mounted to a vessel. It is a physicsless part, and its mass and drag are instead added to its parent part.

Science experiment

→ Main article: Science#Modules

Right-clicking the Double-C Seismic Accelerometer (from the vessel or from a scientist on EVA) reveals an option to "Log Seismic Data", that causes the Double-C to perform a Seismic Scan, yielding Science.

Unlike other experiments, Seismic Scans can only be performed while landed on a celestial body (not splashed in the ocean, flying in the atmosphere, in space, etc.). A unique Seismic Scan can be done in each biome.

To perform a Seismic Scan from water biomes (e.g. Kerbin's Oceans), a craft with the Double-C can be sunk into the water, coming to rest on the ocean floor.

Like other scientific instruments, the Double-C Seismic Accelerometer can only hold one experiment at a time. Attempting to perform a Seismic Scan while the Double-C already contains one will result in the original scan being overwritten. To avoid this, the scan should be transferred out of the Double-C Seismic Accelerometer. This can be done by a Kerbal on EVA, or by an Experiment Storage Unit (or probe core with built-in storage functionality).

Once the Seismic Scan has been removed from the Double-C Seismic Accelerometer, it can be reused to perform another Seismic Scan.

Environmental sensor

Attached to the side of an ascent stage, this environmental sensor displays G forces to 4 significant figures, offering much higher precision than the g-meter on the navball. Players may use this data to manually control acceleration during launch to provide a smoother ascent, using less fuel for the same orbit. On upper and cruise stages the Double-C Accelerometer can be used to estimate the time needed to accelerate to a certain speed.

Additionally it can be used to measure the spacecraft's current mass indirectly using Newton's second law. To estimate the mass, activate the accelerometer and fire the engines so that the craft isn't rotating.

${\displaystyle m={\frac {F}{a}}}$ Given the force F by adding all engines forces together and the acceleration a by the accelerometer the current mass is the division of both. But as the craft is losing mass by this the acceleration is increasing over time. Thus it's only accurate at a low fuel burn rate over a short period of time. This will also change the craft's orbit, so maybe a retroburn afterwards is necessary.

Since version 0.20 this method serves little purpose, because the exact mass of a vehicle can be seen in the map view and tracking station.

While active, the accelerometer drains 0.0075 Electric Charge per second (27 E/h).

Trivia

• Apart from the two scenarios in the product description, there exists another easter egg situation that can void the Double-C Seismic Accelerometer's warranty.

Changes

0.23.5

• "PhysicsSignificance = 1" added. The part now has 0 mass and drag, despite the listed values.

0.22

• Renamed from Double-C Accelerometer to Double-C Seismic Accelerometer
• Added functionality

0.18

• Initial release