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Taproot Infinite Drill

(Vanilla | Survival Ready | No Scripts | No DLC | 110 blocks | 3120 PCU)

(Are you on XBox? This creation is XBox ready on mod.io![spaceengineers.mod.io])

Dimensions (Vertical orientation): (Length/Width/Height) 3 (7.5m) x 3 (7.5m) x 16 (40m)
Dimensions (Horizontal orientation): (Length/Width/Height) 16 (40m) x 3 (7.5m) x 3 (7.5m)
Mass: 61t

United Workers Union knows that sometimes to get what you want, you have dig deep; when that time comes, it's best to have the appropriate equipment. We are excited to present the Taproot, a self-replicating drilling machine capable of boring straight through any of the eleven substances known to humankind. Thanks to Welder technology, it's even able to build its own plumbing and track, meaning none of those materials have to go to waste! When you need to get somewhere, and that place is deep inside something else, think Taproot!

Thanks to Infinite Drilling Technology™, the Taproot needs minimal input from the engineer to dig greedily and deep. A simple construction process means it's projectable in survival and it's entirely reusable - no need to rebuild it if you need to drill a wide hole. Just back it out, move it over, and start drilling again. Just remember: whether you need to go a meter or a kilometer, the Taproot can dig it.

With a minium hole size of 7.5m, the Taproot's movement mechanism is versatile enough dig a tiny mine shaft or a huge hangar fit for your finest capital ship. Use the provided drillhead or a custom shape of your own design - whatever works for the job you're at. Whether you hit paydirt or regular dirt, it can all safely end up back at base via the included conveyor system.

• The entire drill system is fully projectable with the exception of a single part, allowing seamless use in survival scenarios. Dig the hole of your dreams!
  
• All operations are sequenced using timer blocks and sensors, allowing fully scriptless operation. Safety sensors are included to try to make sure that the unit doesn't fall off of the track.
  
• Multi-orientation build sprue allows vertical or horizontal builds and a pre-built base segement means the only initial infrastructure required at the worksite is a merge block embedded in the ground.
  
• A built in reverse system means that the drill can be reused or moved to a new rail to dig new holes - no more wasted time (or materials in some scenarios) rebuilding the drill repeatedly just to dig a wider hole or dig in a different location!

Assembly is required, even in creative mode!

Please see the full construction guide for assembly and configuration instructions. It is vitally important that all timer blocks and sensors are checked and configured correctly.

At the job site, the minimum requirements are a merge block to attach the base post to and optionally a button panel to signal the drill to advance. Once the post is attached to the base, build conveyors to connect the drill post to a storage or ejection system to save or discard the mined material.


The included drill head: a 10m drill cycle will produce approximately 500t of stone. Ensure that you can handle that much! This means that you must construct 1 Large Cargo Container per 20 meters of drilled distance. 1 connector should be sufficient for ejection.

A custom drill head: it is strongly recommended that you test the drill head in Creative Mode first to ensure you are leaving appropriate clearance for the drill body and rail and to find the best drill speed possible. Also test to find out what capacity is needed to store or eject the removed material. Connectors can eject about 21t/second, so if your drill head produces more than that, more ejection connectors will be required.

When at the job site, construct a button panel in a convenient location and bind buttons of your choice to:

• Forward Step 1: Start
  
• Forward Step 1: Toggle Block On/Off
  
• Reverse Step 1: Start
  
• Reverse Step 1: Toggle Block On/Off

When built according to the construction guide, operation should be in a semi-manual mode in 10 meter increments. Each 4-step timer sequence is self-contained, and unless the operator has configured the step 4 block to start step 1, the sequence will pause after each 10 meter increment.

Each rail segment is 10 meters long and consists of 3 light armor blocks and a merge block, plus 3 Straight Conveyor Tubes, a Conveyor Junction, and a Connector. The total bill of materials for each rail segment is as follows:

• 237 Steel Plates
  
• 145 Construction Components
  
• 68 Small Steel Tubes
  
• 62 Interior Plates
  
• 34 Motors
  
• 22 Computers
  
• 6 Large Steel Tubes

Plan on having all components on hand at the job site - the drill works faster than one might expect, so don't expect that you can just refine stone and construct the parts as you go. However, some savings can be found since the connectors are reused. Plan on having 3 connectors worth of parts on hand, since that's how many can possibly be up at any one time. If doing this, then the rail segment's bill of materials (excluding connector) is:

• 105 Construction Components
  
• 87 Steel Plates
  
• 62 Interior Plates
  
• 56 Small Steel Tubes
  
• 26 Motors
  
• 6 Large Steel Tubes
  
• 2 Computers

The drill unit can be reversed. To do so safely:

• Ensure the drill is not going to hit the connectors on the way up and turn the drill off. With the provided drillhead, this means rotating the drill to about 360 or 180 degrees.
  
• Disable the Forward timer blocks
  
• Enable the Reverse timer blocks
  
• Start the Reverse step 1 block

The default configuration includes an accelerated reverse (1 m/s faster than your forward speed).