New block type for SE2: pin connector

Marcus Pixler shared this feedback 36 hours ago
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One of the first things that's taught in a dynamics course for engineers is the 2D pin connection restricting movement in the X and Y but allowing rotation around a fixed point. I was surprised not to find it in Space Engineers (SE1) and haven't seen it in the modding community, so I assumed it had something to do with grid sizes and collisions. Now that large/small grids are gone in SE2, I would love to see a simple pin connector block. One advantage would be the ability to use pistons (or any "spring" force application block) to apply the force at the other end of the lever arm for added torque. Connecting a series of these in different sizes is the basic design for large construction vehicles, like an excavator and backhoe.

An unpowered rotor block is what I would use in SE1, but it could still invoke Klang occasionally. Ideally, a pin block would be much smaller than the arm(s) for most uses, and when doing that in SE1 I would run into issues with collision.

I attached a picture of an excavator's armature and circled some of the pinned locations. There's a bunch of other uses for a simple pin connection block, but this is already much longer than I intended.

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