bigger drone

[darkfluffy]

it's pretty hard to do big drone and there are too much flexible / shaky .

(example , if you go up and the thruster are in both side of the drone , it will split . :-\)

 

so i was wondering if you could make a part or something like that please?

[Lurkily]

The devs have mentioned that they are considering solutions to rigidity.  I favor the idea of a 'chassis' layer that is fully rigid but introduces some challenges and weaknesses of its own to protect.  Others favor adding a 'strut' part. (I think that might be better handled by just permitting an extra connection or two per part, rather than adding new parts - we already have struts, after all.)

 

One thing you can do right now is to interleave connections.  Instead of connecting in a straight line back to the brain, zigzag connections.  Thus the panels at the top are resisted by the panels on the top when they try to split.

 

I am attaching a drone that is nothing more than a collection of parts.  Drag the solar panels closest to the brain around to see how I connected them.  That pattern may or may not be fully optimal, but it will resist pulling into separate parts as you maneuver.

 

UPDATE: I added engines and fuel so that you can manuever it off the bat (A and D, rotation only)  to see how it holds together.

Example.nimbatusdrone

[Force of Nature]

Instead of connecting in a straight line back to the brain, zigzag connections.

 

I found connecting each one to the nearest one makes much shorter "connecting beams".  It comes out a little wavy, but not glitchy and fall-apart-ie.  But once you go 2 dimensional, a couple zig zag in specific areas deal with sway pretty well.

 

[Lurkily]

Connecting to the nearest piece creates a bundle of strings that flops all over the place.  I usually try to connect as close to the brain as I can, if I can't connect directly to the brain.  Then when I can't, I try to bracket high-mass structures connected close to center with the new connections, so that the sway from long connections dampens out - they're always pressed against something that resists wobble and sway, and anything between them is kind of 'contained'.  They still look like a bag of legos, but they hold together, mostly.