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I've set myself a task, and I'm open to suggestions.


Lurkily

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I've done world-breakers before.  Autonomous drones whose sole purpose is to demolish every ounce of mass on a world.  And it used to be possible to mine at the same time too, but no longer.  So I have a goal now; a drone that will return to the hopper autonomously to drop autonomously mined material.

The problem is, I can't figure out how to find the hopper.  I had a working model, then I took it off my test planet and learned that the hopper is never at the same altitude twice; it has to be modified, tested, and re-modified for every planet, and being a percentage, a change of '10' means a different thing to the altimeter on each planet, too.

My only other idea is to disconnect the drone core and smush it up against the Nimbatus to use as a homing beacon - it's a cheat, in my opinion, but it's all I got.  Keep 100 altitude, cruise until the core enters the tolerance of a directional sensor, then cut altitude control to drop in.  Maybe set off some TNT to self-destruct once a directional sensor hits bottom.  Anybody got a better idea?

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Good ideas. I have no better idea than using the altitude sensor, but depending on the planet, unfortunately that won't work :/ 

We have to adjust and make the altimeter more useful, so that you can target the height of the container (I hope this comes soon :) ) This makes dropping resource easier (and with a "resource tank empty" signal, you could automatically remove those carriers). Ideally, we'd have a location above the container which you can detect with the Direction sensor, as well as allow the Distance sensor to detect resources.

I really want that it's possible to automate resource gathering (and eventually every mission we implement). :) 

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Eldrad, not really plausible.  I mean it's possible, but it would mean circumventing the planet multiple times at different altitudes, which would require a set of maybe 10-20 altimeters and logic for when to use each one

Markus, as long as we're talking sensors, directional sensors need the same thing.

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I think we need a directional sensor which "points" towards a target, and maybe a "target proximity" sensor, where you can also say, let's say "container", and if you're within certain set distance (you can choose yourself), a signal is sent. If you combine direction and proximity, you would be able to fly towards the container and stay in the area until your resource tanks are depleted.

@LurkilyWhat did you mean with the directional sensors needs the same thing?

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9 hours ago, Markus said:

I think we need a directional sensor which "points" towards a target, and maybe a "target proximity" sensor, where you can also say, let's say "container", and if you're within certain set distance (you can choose yourself), a signal is sent. If you combine direction and proximity, you would be able to fly towards the container and stay in the area until your resource tanks are depleted.

@LurkilyWhat did you mean with the directional sensors needs the same thing?

The directional sensors ALSO need to be able to use the hopper's location as a target.

And yes, yes yes yes.  Proximity sensor, absolutely.  Just replace the altimeter with a proxy sensor, that has the planet's core as a criterion.  Get rid of planet radius as a criterion, because then the same number doesn't mean the same distance on each world.  

I dearly, dearly want to be able to name or tag a part, and have directional and proximity sensors that will use the location of those parts as a criterion. (If there are duplicates, just detect the closest.)  This would cover homing beacons, this would cover formation flight, this would cover self-awareness beyond what linear detectors can provide for drones that have moving parts - it would do so much for the capabilities of the drones to have an awareness of a SPECIFIC part.

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Nice to see someone else having the same idea...I built a prototype so far...and I suppose it'S going well...well apart from the fact that I need 56 VU for the logic alone...

I have no idea how to split the logic, so that I can print multiple drones and send them back at the same time (once they delivered their payload they fly out of orbit and self-destruct - at least that's the plan - so I'd end up with a lot of interfering logic)

Is there any way to send a global signal to a drone with a logic splitter? I tried this, hoping that "1" would be cut off, but "2" would transfer through.

Le80ViYcRa22O3zCiJZiXQ.png

 

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22 hours ago, The_Dark_Jumper said:

Nice to see someone else having the same idea...I built a prototype so far...and I suppose it'S going well...well apart from the fact that I need 56 VU for the logic alone...

I have no idea how to split the logic, so that I can print multiple drones and send them back at the same time (once they delivered their payload they fly out of orbit and self-destruct - at least that's the plan - so I'd end up with a lot of interfering logic)

Is there any way to send a global signal to a drone with a logic splitter? I tried this, hoping that "1" would be cut off, but "2" would transfer through.

Le80ViYcRa22O3zCiJZiXQ.png

 

That buoy drone is an awesome idea. Also your signal splitter should work if the things are based the right way. 

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If you like, I still have my design for a functioning resource-courier.  I'd be willing to share it.  It does exactly what you wanted; returns to the hopper, drops resource containers, and with that imbalance, starts pulling upwards (happy accident) and self-destructs ten seconds later.  I managed to do it with 18 blocks total, including sensors and logic, on the courier sub-drone.

It thrusts up only, when under altitude, so it doesn't disrupt you too much when you build it.  It reaches altitude, and moves laterally until it finds the drone core (split off and thrust up to the nimbatus at the start) directly overhead, then drops into the hopper, and self-destructs.

Total requirements - four logic blocks, two directional sensors, one altimeter, then the usual.  Energy, fuel, thrusters.

Unfortunately, though I SWEAR I had this working, ore canisters spawned by a factory don't seem to be capable of collecting ore.  

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On 10/21/2018 at 6:22 PM, Lurkily said:

Unfortunately, though I SWEAR I had this working, ore canisters spawned by a factory don't seem to be capable of collecting ore.  

It would seem that you need to print a resource collector on the sub drone as well, and use it to fill the resource containers.

Nimbatus_GIF_201810222204386339.gif.346fdc6489cb63849def321a36e62760.gif

Seemingly it is not supposed to be this way (Markus' words).

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45 minutes ago, Ookami-sama said:

It would seem that you need to print a resource collector on the sub drone as well, and use it to fill the resource containers.

Nimbatus_GIF_201810222204386339.gif.346fdc6489cb63849def321a36e62760.gif

Seemingly it is not supposed to be this way (Markus' words).

That is my understanding - Micah said something about it, too, and I saw that workaround.  I'm going to experiment tonight,  but I had already intended to have additional disposable thrusters built with the factory,  which would rebalance lateral thrust. I'll just have to build my resource vacuum with it, as well. 

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My solution was to thrust the core up to the Nimbatus and just paste it there with a constant thruster. (Used to be, a magnet would work.)  Otherwise, snakes tend to target it.

I also had to have arms on it, holding resource vacuums because produced ore containers don't work yet, without vacuums on the subdrone.  They wrap around my drone, then fold up when they're done.  It self-destructs when it detects the hopper below.  

It's still flawed until factories are fixed; destroyed stuff right now, especially factory children, leave a mess of weightless debris behind, and debris reads as terrain, so they're detonating before they reach the position of the previous drone's detonation, not above the hopper.  I'll have to turn for that problem.  Maybe sideward hopper detection, and some helpful downward thrust.

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Well now, we can make it so that resource tanks eject themselves when full. Create a core beacon attached to the nimbatus, then make a satellite that circled the planet.it spawns resource harvesters that fall to the ground and just start sucking. Then when full they eject there resource tanks, which the satalite will eventually pick up. The sstalite returns to the nimbatus area and uses distance sensors to detect when the core is in range then it drops its tanks into the hopper. Please note this system will rarely work and will very rarely produce results

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I've rebuilt my previous system after the untimely demise of the last drone at my own clumsy hands.  I now also avoid parenting things to TNT, which helps.  :) Instead, I parent to fragile parts near TNT.  (I want to be sure remnants are treated as debris, in case remnant parts pile up in the hopper.)

The subdrone basically fills with resources as I harvest.  It thrusts only upward while below altitude, keeping it a little more stable while attached, and once up to altitude, orbits toward the drone core, and drops into the hopper when it's overhead.  I plan to add a little downward thrust to help.  That and a couple logic modules, it'll also work on a zero-g-world.

Here's a file.  This guy's a JOAT with no armor but multiple shields.  He can rebuild himself if destroyed, has coolers, shields, and a magnet for collection missions, the ore couriers, and a bomber factory.

The description will be helpful; it has a few particular behaviors.  Only tap P to print the main drone, don't press it; it self-destructs the original when you press it, so if you hold it through the build delay (1 second) you'll self-destruct the new drone, too.  I'll fix that eventually.

JOAT.drn

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