Motorized Hinges with Sensors, aka Gimbals

[ಠ_ಠ]

Please add 1x1 "gimbal" hinges that have sensors built-in to them.

Competitive meta in Catch and Race is currently growing stale, we need a more flexible means of steering that strikes the middle ground between VTOL and fixed-wing models, that can better compete with both of them.

Effectively what this would look like is a VTOL that rotates the exterior around its sensor rather than an internal thruster. This would allow players to attach and build flexible pods that rotate independent of the rest of the drone. Some of the possible uses:

• Engine Pods for race drones. Currently these drones are limited because sensors are 2x2 pieces with a Mass of 2 and have to be placed in places that aren't easily compatible with maglaunchers, so the design caps out. Example of a current design below is Kingfisher, and the drone file is attached.

 

• Sumo/Brawl dodging drones that use thrusters that are oriented perpendicular to the enemy drone. These aren't possible with VTOLs, and add a new dimension to play.
• Catch drones that aren't VTOL balls.
• Weapon or grapple pods that rotate to track enemies. Current example using sensors below.

FAQ:

Wouldn't this be really powerful?

Yes, it would be powerful, but the design metas of competitive are becoming stale and dominated by hyper-optimized designs of a single type. Monocultures aren't fun.

Does it need a limit to how many parts can be attached or something?

From my experience developing hinged race drones, there is an upper limit to how many parts can safely rotate with an engine pod built around a motorized hinge. Once you start to go over 8+ parts, even if they aren't directly attached to the hinge, the pod becomes more and more unstable and will inevitably sheer itself to pieces. 

How cool does this look in practice?

Very. F'ing. Cool. When you use racing drones, the drone rotates its' core and other fixed components based on the center of mass, but the pods stay in the same positions. A hinged-based drone can even survive losing 2/3rds of its engine pods and continue flying, because this method of steering is so robust. The example below (full version on Youtube) used the wireless fuel glitch, so it no longer works, but demonstrates how this method is incredibly stylistic, even if it's not as fast as other racers.

Kingfisher.drn