Fully automated welding drones.

[Ribera]

Is it possible to create fully automated welding drones that follow blueprints or construct buildings with integrity less than 100% without using C#?

Grinding drones are barely functional. Theoretically, they can be sent to enemy blocks at point-blank range to scrap materials, but they often get stuck.

[Dan2D3D]

Hi, I don't think it's possible but I can tell there is always one Clever player finding solutions on concepts that are not supposed to work, like this clever player found the solution on how to make Ai mining ships for example :

UPDATED SCRIPTLESS AUTO MINER - Space Engineers Automatons (AI) Update (Workshop)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLNE8Yzt4Qo

_____

You may try this Mod, it adds helper Drones :
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2596208372

[ShadedMJ]

Originally posted by Ribera:

Is it possible to create fully automated welding drones that follow blueprints or construct buildings with integrity less than 100% without using C#?

Grinding drones are barely functional. Theoretically, they can be sent to enemy blocks at point-blank range to scrap materials, but they often get stuck.

But why do it that way at all?
For a welding drone, the closest thing that can be done is a welder drone positioned like the welders on a ship printer. Then you might as well just forget the drone part and use a ship printer.

If its a drone, you'll have to get the projected block position from something, transfer that block position to the drone. drone figures out if it has those components, drone goes back to get more components if needed, return, weld up that block, rinse and repeat.

There are also some blueprints that just have a shape that does not work well with the best ship printers.

I use Nanobot Build and Repair.

[Dan2D3D]

+ Not much are able to create "Perfect" blueprints, I mean there is always a few blocks that are not completed when using "Blieprint Printer".

Why I now use a new "Building Station" with moving welder arm that I control with CTC blocks, this way I can take tme to complete all blocks.

Works a bit like old "Turntable" where the Bp slowly rotates from projector placed on rotor head :
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3225395401
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3225368216
EDIT
No need to move the welder arm much, just have position close to center where the Projector is and move it back slowly when needed, well when more blocks gets completed and become bigger.

[Ronin Planetary Industries]

Welding from a blueprint isn't always straight forward. It's almost an art to build a ship that is 100% buildable from a ship printer (wall of welders). There's always some area that is impossible to reach, except by hand. Putting resources into building a 100% autonomous drone is never going to yield satisfactory results. The best option is the nano-bot solution. The mod even uses a specific paint color for deconstruction.

[Capt Fuzzy]

Originally posted by Ronin Planetary Industries (RPI):

Welding from a blueprint isn't always straight forward. It's almost an art to build a ship that is 100% buildable from a ship printer (wall of welders). There's always some area that is impossible to reach, except by hand. Putting resources into building a 100% autonomous drone is never going to yield satisfactory results. The best option is the nano-bot solution. The mod even uses a specific paint color for deconstruction.

Quite true, you can not only weld with Build and Repair System, you can grind with it too.
I too use it, it's about as autonomous as you can get while maintaining your sanity in the process. It will also repair your base/ship if damaged, automatically.
"Damage control team to deck 5 hull breach". lol

[Dan2D3D]

Originally posted by REALRACE:

i am curious ;) can someone give/show me an example, which "config" would create problems?

It's just not possible to create a AI Drone able to fly to the Blueprint and build all blocks, well maybe a Clever player will find a solution without Mods/Scripts.

[Dan2D3D]

May be doable with AI recorder having a specifc Path made with waypoints around a specific Blueprint.
=
Surely need a lot of Engineer testing ;)


EDIT
+
The AI Drone must refill its Cargo, so that adds more work to the challenge.

[Dan2D3D]

IMO

= Best to find a good solution on a "Building Station" having a welder arm connected to Refinery, Assembler and Cargos placed on the station.

[Ribera]

IMO nanites are anti-climatic, i like when my every options are set to "realistic", and in some point building drones seems for me like progression, and i generally like any kind of automation.

Range of welding can be set by mod to reach some "distant" blocks, i am generally aware of that issue.

[ShadedMJ]

Originally posted by REALRACE:

i am curious ;) can someone give/show me an example, which (blueprint) "config" would create problems?

Most of the issue is choosing a bad starting point for welding. If you have a printer but the ship has the shape of a "U", it works from bottom to top or side to side, but starting at top left/right going down will mean welding a one side first and the other side isn't projected and now you are at the bottom and can't go back up. Other letter type shapes are M, W, Z ....

[Ronin Planetary Industries]

Originally posted by REALRACE:

i am curious ;) can someone give/show me an example, which (blueprint) "config" would create problems?

Imagine a wall of welders on the left of your screen pointing to the right. You're pulling a blueprint through the wall from left to right. Now imagine a gyroscope placed or the right side of an armor block. The gyroscope can't be welded until the armor block exists. But when the armor block is in position to be welded, the gyroscope is out of range of the welders.

A drone that is welding may encounter that problem as well.

[Arock]

I imagine if you're clever enough with GPS markers you might be able to send a drone with welders on a path around a grid. I also imagine pulling a lot of hair out doing it.

Another very slow option is placing blocks down and then having the welding bot from the AIEnabled mod finish them for you. But they hold a very tiny amount of plates so... Very slow.

[ShadedMJ]

Originally posted by Arock:

I imagine if you're clever enough with GPS markers you might be able to send a drone with welders on a path around a grid. ...

Remember that Ribera stated no C# so no player made scripting.

Just as a process : You'd have to know or guess where a blueprint block is ready to be welded, send that to a drone, have drone go to that location with a welder, figure out if the route is blocked and find an alternate path, know the block is completely welded, tell the drone to back away, rinse and repeat a million times. I write scripts and the amount of effort required to write a script is going to be immense, then multiply that by 100+ to not use scripts....

[ShadedMJ]

Originally posted by REALRACE:

what is the downside...

I think the theme from Keen was the welder was looking at 57+ (guessing) different small blocks for welding and that was a performance hit on servers so its been reduced over time. Maybe the theme was to no longer weld/kill players going down a corridor that is ringed with welders.

In older versions, I had a ship with welders and I had to constantly remember to enter the cockpit from a certain angle to not get the engineer welded on entry. I tried now and I cannot get my engineer welded. Yes a sensor could have fixed the issue.

[Ribera]

I have checked a few recommended solutions here, and none of them worked.

For example, the mod from the first page with assisting drones - the concept is great, but the pathfinding doesn't work, and the drones get stuck on obstacles.

Building ships from blueprints can sometimes be problematic, but it is manageable if you experiment a bit. However, constructing the base itself, especially underground, is tedious because even the maneuverability of small ships in narrow corridors is insufficient.