Space Engineers - Drill Wheel Of Death (Fail)

[@thesilentavenger]

I think one of your problems was unequal weight distribution. If you noticed that you had a metal beam with all of the reactors and stuff on it but nothing else inside. So it's like spinning a ring on your finger. That's why it wouldn't dig straight. Now, an alternative would be to build a frame around it with pistons that could push it down and have the whole drill wheel mounted on wheels and axles. Then you could make the frame portable and as you drove the frame, you could engage the drills and pistons to slowly kinda churn up the land

[@lazycollinator]

Exactly what I was thinking while watching

[@tommygunengineer9184]

Literally the first thing that I noticed!

[@MyFatezero]

@@tommygunengineer9184 yup, plus the design is kinda dumb.

[@axelfoley5265]

This thing reminds me of the "Hailfire-class droid tank"

[@RoxyGotMoxy.]

I kinda like the idea of this not being fixed as a tube but just rolled up - you'd roll it down a hill and it would unfurl into a big flat drilling zone and just start boring a whole big section of rock out - maximising surface area of effect. Thoughts?

[@gohunt001-5]

Unconquered Sun my thought: ridiculous. so ridiculous, it just might work rather awesomely

[@Tomartyr]

Now I want to make drill nets to drop on things.

[@RoxyGotMoxy.]

Yes my fellow astronauts, upvote this until the Space Engineers Corps give Aaron the necessary funding!!

[@y.decimal]

Gyroscopes set to override? Or maybe thrusters on only one edge it might work because they physically count as seperate grids?

[@marekpastyrik1888]

exactly what my idea was overridet gyros should work symilat system but on a wery smaller scale was on some scout antena thingamabobs in workshop way back when

[@TheSilvernuke]

I was thinking something along those lines. Basically one of the problems I saw about this design was that it was too unstable like he said. SO one thing that he could do is use merge blocks to connect one end of the circle to the other on the large one. Several center shafts that would increase the amount of strain this thing can take. Just an idea as well but since this thing has a whole bunch of different grids he could put a thruster on override in a single direction so that it looks sorta asymmetrical and is purposefully imbalanced. He can get the spinning function he desires that way. If he wants to stop he could just have thrusters facing in all directions to stop like normal. If he picks up speed too much the thing falls apart so maybe fitting some tires in there to take the impact might help.

[@kyleacampbell]

perhaps counter-syncing the drills. alternating reverse and forward on drill rotation. not sure if the rotation of the drill actually impacts ship rotation. If it does u would need an even number of drills per ring, and an odd number of rings.

[@jamesr.waters6848]

Okay so what you do is you put a rotor inside it at max torque and you make a RELY heavy thing in the center on the rotor. As you spin the heavy thing in the center it will begin to roll.

[@Danny-su9dr]

agreed

[@r3dp9]

In the words of Jebediah Kerman... what you need is "Moar Boosters!"

[@SpartanK4102]

Super satisfying to watch those roll down hills and become unraveled lol

[@hollowvoices1268]

Put a gyroscope on there and set it to rotate in the forward motion. You can set another one with backward motion, and set up hotkeys to switch between them

[@CaptainJack]

Wheel of Fortune!

[@alexanderwithnell811]

Captain Jack yes just yes

[@adam88721]

More like wheel of misfortune.

[@minecraftrp250]

Captain Jack

[@jafjay6024]

Hii

[@butterham7]

Thruster

[@jefaus06]

Timed Mass Blocks maybe? Turning the ones in the direction you want to travel in on while they are in the first half of the movement cycle, then turn them off as they go past contact with the ground.

[@Cloudy105N]

From what i saw, it always dug faster on the part where the cockpit is (or where all the parts are) so weight distribution may be the problem with the original design. Just a thought. :)

[@joeyprice301]

you might have said it, i wad to busy watchimg that thing, but did you try Q and E for rolling the big one

[@majesticgamingandrelaxing8871]

"oooh gosh everythings falling apart its like snow falling" , .. Has to be on of the best lines in that video. Great Work pal.

[@vertexpoland5729]

"space engineers have an advanced physics engine" yeah, fying san shi*...

[@ryanwallace4990]

@LasStandGaming, what about how farmers till the land like you said to drag something behind it . and if you go in circles you could create a massive quary

[@zachw2906]

Did you try putting a wheeled vehicle inside it and driving that forward?

[@r3dp9]

Cyberdogs.

[@Loona_imp]

The tail whip reminds me of the Shredder drones from the movie Battleship

[@DaSquareful]

Maybe a rake like design might work better and attach it to a heavy vehicle to drag it behind.

[@r3dp9]

Space engineers could totally use a hoe... jk. But seriously, a hinge on the rear of a rover or low flying craft that lets a long "board" of drills drag behind it could be an interesting surface miner.

[@uhmuhwha]

ye Imagine all the gravel you would get to drop on people

[@theturianguy4542]

you guys deserve way more subs for how good your videos are

[@StarForgers]

Last stand as a way to keep it rolling you can have a heavy block in the center with strong gyroscopes attached to some type of rotating block that it is docked to and have the gyroscopes keep it even to the ground as a individual ship desperate from the main drilling body and use that to keep the ship rotating as well as even.

[@Nanorasmus]

Make the ring 100% solid, and put thrusters in it

[@Шпрот-в7и]

Since new physics overhaul update came out, rotor's physics have changed. I think you should retry doing this..

[@aaaaaxc]

weigth distribution, 3 more metal bar in the center ring to solidify the slinky miner.

[@jamesknaphus5583]

This looks like a great way to annoy an enemy engineer. Launch a few small ones at their base or in a passageway, drilling random potholes all over to disable rovers and create mayhem

[@l.merbecks8144]

Well I've got an idea if you are having problems with the aligning of the ring. You may put 2 or 3 larger drill rings between the normal drill rings to make something like a trench in which the thing rolls.

[@PinkBroBlueRope]

i think if you had four or more beams along the interior of the shape with thrusters along each of them, it could power it forward like that. Having thrusters on each side of the beams could mean that it could travel both forwards and backwards, if it gets too close to a cliff or something. Also, a construct in the centre of the mining wheels that accommodates retrieval would add more functionality and longevity to the whole thing. For example, a "slot" that a ship could swoop down and use to carry it up to orbit for repairs and material collection.

[@Redjard]

Two ideas: 1.: Add a cross shape through the middle, a bit like spokes on the tire of a bicycle, and then add gyroscopes to that middle bit. 2.: Make it into a sphere and then drop it. Adding a timer that switches the drills on and off so it doesn't drop too fast would probably help. You could even fit some containers in the middle. Imagine you fly with a ship carrying this ball to an ore deposit then dropping it where it mines straight through the ground and the deposit and in the end it stops either manually or after a set delay so the carrier-ship can pick it back up and take it to the base.

[@owo1744]

"It doesn't wanna come down straight" OFC IT DOESNT WHEN IT AINT BALANCED!!"#!#!"

[@darthdeboplays]

You take a column going through the middle of the wheel. On each opening of the wheel you make some sort of drive/ wheel system. Then you connect the wheel to that column with some rotors and Pistons so it can turn freely and flex. It wouldn't be a free wheel as much as it would be a rotating drill

[@jamesblackburn6717]

use a centrifugal counterbalance to make it turn. It's a concept used to keep space stations spinning. place artificial mass blocks on 4 arms attached to a rotor; then attach rotors with smaller arms (2 or 4) and Artificial mass blocks at the ends. spin the main arms clockwise, small arms counterclockwise, and slowly raise the mass. The outer arms attempt to keep the inner arms from spinning, and the base of the rotor turns instead (ccw).

[@TimbavatiLion]

Have you tried a gravity drive? Since its computed as separate grids, the thrust from the mass blocks should make it spin and roll forward.

[@sigspearthumb3904]

Here's a few ideas I came up with while watching it. @4:52 Perhaps make it less mobile and more into a platform and use a sort of "guide rail" attached to it to somehow glide it across the landscape like strip mining. The downside would be depth unless you added another semi-complex system for that. @5:59 Another idea is to drop it, but turn it on as you drop it. So that when its rolling down a slope the drills will counter the speed by drilling it down into the landscape causing yet another strip-mining effect (In theory). Another thought for propulsion is to add a series of thrusters angled around the outer edges. So that it spins like a fidget spinner propelled by rockets. Lastly for integrity I think you need to add 3 more straight bars to keep the drills stable the same way you did to hold the cockpit in the center. Hope this helps! :)

[@xendordawnburst9969]

If you added a separate piece that suspended the wheel/cylinder on its side, as you showed at the beginning, then you could set it up to start off with the new machine lowering it into the ground until the drill is completely submerged! Maybe you could even add some wheels on top of the drill that reach out to the drill's reach limit, keeping the drill upright! Just an idea...

[@bubbles69138]

for drilling... gyroscopes? ... for rolling... how bout wheels in between the drills so the can occasionally hit ground and push the ship to continue the roll? or maybe some tiny thrusters timed to go off when on top of circle?

[@sicklygem]

It breakers more because you only have a single beam helping support the drills, if you could build a wheel system that works and fits then make sure there is space to make a wall on the sides to stop the system of falling out as it's rolling. The wheel system has to be a different vehicle

[@Jack_Wolfe]

3:29 why dont you have guide wheels in the centre on the column?

[@JoshTGW]

In the center of all the drills, I'd say place 6 thrusters, all facing 6 different directions, a few gyroscopes, and a generator in the direct center. I'm not exactly sure, but it may help with your stability issues and control.

[@Jack_Wolfe]

4:13 okay so i had an idea for it to only activate the drills on the front/bottom using a gravity balanced central control rod. the rod would come into range of a sensor on the ring, and set of the linked drills. SO: control rod/axel pendulum Sensor cylinder/ring then drill ring. you could use the same sensor system to activate thrusters around the pivot axel

[@CryingCowGaming]

Very interesting concept. It kinda reminds me of that big Transformer at the beginning of the second film. Just needs a big wheel in the middle to rotate it.

[@VodkaHellstorm]

Well driving it with wheels was my only idea, but the way it stops rolling when you start drilling... could an argument be made for "drill brakes" being effective for land vehicles? Something that you can drop into the ground to stop quickly like a back break on a roller skate or a landshark skateboard? The idea being that you hit a button to drop a functioning drill into the ground when you're moving at high speed.

[@johnathanvillanueva1007]

i have a solution i know this is late but i still got to say that i have noticed that the reason why its like this is because it has no actuall frame that supports its shape so i believe putting in lines of metal in the wheel like u did for the cockpit put put more just for support of the frame so that way its not so much like heated up jello then have some of them connected to each other so support one another and the perseves it as an actuall frame

[@adrianbaker9446]

Hey Arron, what if you made a vehicle sort of like an overhead crane with a bed of drills, say 10 x 10, connected to a big piston system in the centre of the vehicle. You could drive over a deposit location, stop the vehicle, engage the drills and piston/s which would just drill straight down drilling through anything below it. You can adjust the speed of the piston/s so it doesn't lift the vehicle or use some downward thrusters to prevent the vehicle being lifted up, this would give you stability from above ground and allow you to reach ore deposits underground. You could of course make it as big/small as you like. What do you think??

[@hollowvoices1268]

You could also try using conveyor hinges as a rotor replacement and see if that does anything to help

[@drittsekkene]

In the center of the ring, place a rotor, make an arm on that rotor going out to the ring, and make the end of the arm really really heavy. When you then start the rotor, the weight will move, and the wheel will start rolling (maybe). Also you can try to safety lock override the hinges so it doesn't flex when rolling. And try building it in large ship grids, I personally feel rotors and hinges are stronger in large grids.

[@solarnexuss3201]

Add spokes across the diameter, add more strips inside and to make it move use thrusters. Also a function for this design could be like a bouncing bomb if your trying to get in someones base.

[@Lesminster]

Rotor inside positioned in a manner that you could place engines on it thatwould point front and back. Then you place a GPS coordinate behind a machinery and set script to control rotor's rotation so it will always point the engines front and back. This gives you also possibility to calculate your moving speed related to gps coordinate so you could control engine thrust to move with desired speed.

[@ellishewins1931]

It looks to me like the reason it didn't drill down straight is the balance of it, with the cockpit & other modules on one side like that. Try putting on multiple reactors, gyros and cockpits at different points around the ring to try and balance it out.

[@WolfNinja474]

I believe the problem is that you used multiple "belts" that weren't connected together causing all sorts of instablilites. perhaps making a wheel design in the center of the wheel and putting the drills on that wide rigid wheel instead of the belts?

[@tylerpeterson3281]

what about using it as an attachment? say as a modular mass drilling system that a compact but powerful ship can hook on to? say drills on all sides like right now, put some on the bottom as well, then a cross beam with a connector block that you attach and detach at will. you'd gain a little stability by using the ship to controll the drop and movement while removing the inate loss of controll that this current model has. it could also help if (however unlikely) if you were to build it in survival, being modular. 1 or 2 mulit task ships with attatchments vs. many more single use ships, thoughts?

[@flamingarchitect4658]

It doesn't have rotational symmetry. The row of armor that the cockpit is mounted on is different from the rest of the wheel, and there is a row of what looks like merge blocks that makes one gap wider than the rest. As for propulsion, possibly a gravity based drive with artificial mass and GravGens? I do a lot of my experiments on the moon or in space, so I don't really know much in the way of land propulsion. Great concept, will have to try recreating it myself, I like the durability.

[@dancpaz]

The full ring may not work very well, but I wonder how well a short arc would work at the head of either a more conventional ship. it could potentially provide better clearance around the sides of the ship, reducing damage from collisions. Of course, such a contraption is so complicated that it might have the opposite effect. Too bad you can't create the same general shapes without rotors and sub-grids.

[@Mallory-]

take the big wheel add 2 rings and one row of drills and you could add spokes to the whole thing connecting one side to the other moving up one drill per ring use rotors in the middle to connect each spoke and put gyro's on the sides of the spokes near the center that should give it a more stable ring form with gyro's for propultion put the pilot seat on the end of the central connection with a counter rotating rotor for first person controll you could than add the same structure on the other side of the cockpit and reduce overide on the giro's on one side to give it steering

[@VirusOfCyrus]

I havent played the game yet, but, for an idea to get that first creation spinning could you not just place a thruster or several on the inside or along the outside pointing in one direction? That was as the machine starts to spin/roll the thruster would obviously be moving with it. For instance if you had thrusters on the outside placed on the side and pointing in the direction that the circle is going. I also dont see why wheels & weights wouldnt work?

[@washingmachine5198]

It's heavy on one side. If you push a drill more than another drill, it tends to work better than the one you are not applying pressure to.

[@johngrund2567]

Looks like it dips down on the side where you have the cockpit. Maybe the extra weight there is causing it to fall unevenly.

[@JorneDeSmedt]

Try adding more of those beams to strengthen it against falling apart. Also, maybe you can use rotors to turn it into a monowheel kind of vehicle, with the cockpit hanging in the middle in such a way that it always stays upright and the rotors cause the wheel to turn around it. The cockpit part would probably have to be pretty heavy, though.

[@AsthmaQueen]

How you could keep it rolling you'd have to build something inside that has suspension, like a rotating cart, with guide rails etc, and make it weighted so it doesn't spin with it, and maintains a orientation to the horizon with gravity. Could likely be achieved with some sort of merge block/piston. And then have thrusters on the cart that will apply a forward force, causing the outside to keep up. Think of it like Circularized Tracks that are using Jet propulsion, instead of mechanic drive. Using this it might even be possible to turn it while it moves using brakes on the wheels to increase friction etc on the one side or the other.

[@Jadener1]

Drills back on the menu, guys!

[@TheKillerChime]

Is there a way to program Gravity blocks to go in 1 direction in coordination with the gyroscope...like set a point as which gravity turns on and off at a specific point on the wheel so that gravity propels forward motion.

[@eisvisage1459]

The first version needs to be remote controlled. And has to be perfectly symmetrical as well. Then it should work. The remote control blocks have to be on each of the drill pieces so it's perfect. Then you'll have the guidance point in the middle and it will dig down straight (relative to how the ring was aligned when you started drilling).

[@fallen_paladin]

Frame work to reinforce the wheel have the frame attached to a rotary then on a large rover. Having it rotate would eat through the ground at a faster rate while the rover behind would clean up any resourses left behind.

[@Jack_Wolfe]

9:10 if you want it to work more vertically you could try attaching each alternating ring on to two axels that spin the opposite ways.

[@davidpaul8500]

what if you made row of drills attached together like the bad you cockpit sits on and the took and mad a cross section in the middle like a spoke of a wheel?

[@Bipolar5150]

old video i know .. but have you tryied buildin a frame to house all those drills ? also try adding some conveyors and at least one cargo container .. maybe then it will work... add frame to stabilize it

[@jnbaker7422]

Have you thought of creating a turret missile? Basically a thick rod of heavy armour with gatling and rocket turrets attached to it. You could have them attached to a ship in little escape pod style pods, and then deploy them in the middle of battle, say if this was a Civilian or Cargo ship then you wouldn't have to have many turrets on the sides, instead just deploy these.

[@cheesychaza]

This could be cool if you just have them in a belt like cut it in half and drag the long belt along the ground with another ship

[@lattitude01]

maybe make some kind of mining mat? comes as a big rigid square and you flop it across the landscape, disable the hinges and then turn on the drills?

[@darklordboehm428]

I could see it as a seige weapon on bases to crack down on getting them pinned so you can move in on them. not only would it scare them but could kill and damage buildings. it also could be better for drilling if you added more support on the inside and might even be good at making silos for hangers or what ever else.

[@Triaxx2]

Rotary drive. Shaft across the center with several spokes coming off of it, each one with a couple blocks of heavy armor on the ends. Should get the thing rolling and keep it going as the weight shifts forward. Mount the whole thing on a single rotor set to rotate continuously.

[@patrickhector]

Or, two of them so he can rotate them in opposite directions to turn left and right

[@antoneeee9284]

have you tried adding more beams or support for your drills because it's quite clear why your drill is like a Slinky.

[@andrewbobbe3779]

a possible solution may be too detach a row of the hinges and use it as a sort of carpet drill where as the ring is like a stored position

[@patrickhector]

First, as other people said, you should fix your weight distribution. Second, you should add a structure in the middle attached to rotary blocks, so you can turn it and force the wheel to turn the opposite way (basically, just a giant gyro). If you use regular gyros they may put too much pressure on one point. Also, you could try two seperate gyros in the middle, so you could turn them in opposite directions to turn left and right.

[@THEK0TU]

I have an Idea, Using a Rotor, a gravity Gen, hanging from the center like pendulum Cockpit on the top-- keeping the gen close to the outer radius(and weighted to keep cockpit top and level), using wheels to support the frame work and keep the platform stable (to a point) and struts to keep the system attached and centered could illustrate this but not at home

[@bobosims1848]

I really wanted to see the drills work BEFORE the machine reached the bottom of the hill.

[@Meanslicer43]

Pole set in the middle with regular blocks, with gyroscopes on all four sides, all the way down, gyros set to overdrive

[@MythicFrost]

Thrusters maybe or perhaps mass blocks maybe? Switching them on and off ?

[@TimelessSingularity]

Mass blocks with a separate gravity generator pointed in the direction you want to go, and remote control the grav. gen. when you want to stop or change direction.

[@12jojimbo]

You could break the circle and just have a big, flexible sheet of drills you could have hanging down from a large ship that just kind of skims along the surface

[@JommerMan]

"One of my projects that didn't go well" When do they go well?

[@Ice-vx7ov]

The smaller version fell sideways due to the one side being heavier with the cockpit on it. And maybe thrusters in the larger one that push the forward part down then they turn off and the next set turn on pushing it down.

[@flenndog8177]

you attach it to the bottom of a lifter put some rods in the wheel and use roters to turn it as it goes downward. Or you can drag it across areas to mine the surface with the lifter.

[@unitedgamers361]

try a drill sphere

[@zavdan7682]

....try attaching it to a crane like thing attached to a ship a there you go specialized ore miner

[@r3dp9]

That's no moon, that's a drill sphere.

[@zavdan7682]

I LOVE it! its such wonderful idea lets take a moon and make it into a drill sphere! I mean what could go wrong!

[@bluej360]

**sarcasm level intensifies**

[@DarkerSavant]

Unite

[@zavdan7682]

Try taking a look at tunnel boring machines and do a space engineers version like a half spear of mining drills or you know just a plate of drills attract to a crane like thing on a ship or something so you can go to the ore site mine it and move on. So give it a try maybe?

[@onlymediocre7476]

When you were talking about the big one I instantly thought of a gyroscope or maybe just a fuckload of them in the center of it

[@hammars8013]

Maybe try adding one more row of drills making 24 rows instead of 23. [ I suggest trying it on small scale first ] in the center of every 3rd drill place a beam of small light armor plating extending out by 7 with a gyroscope at the top. [this creates a stabilization effect that is approximately 1/3 away from the exact center of the wheel which in-theory should create the desired stabilization effect.

[@LuciusFaith]

i know this is a bit old but i like your concept. i tink you could solve the "propulsion" problem with gravity balls or artmass. this is where you put 4 rods (like the armour holding the steering cabin. at each 4 sides of the ring. then a program to turn them on and off! so that when they are above a certain point compaired to the others it would move forward on its own.. did a few tests it seems to Work!

[@stormweaver82]

Looks like it just needs more support beams like the one the pilot seat is attached too, not connected to all but merely for more structure support.

[@GideonXsantos]

only thing I can think of will compromise the flex in it. add more ribs down the sides like you have for the cockpit to sit on.

[@jasonm2477]

Try a gyro and a thruster on a rotor in the center, with the axis locked on the gyro to keep the thurster level?

[@wiredwrong760]

You need thrusters in stand by to keep the mass floating down so to speak at times maybe programmed to adjust the balance and you can mostly add a bit of stronger frame or abit of stronger frame. You could always try to make it so the drills spin some how on some kind of land river boat style build such that it acts strange, or like a crane arm but such that the it is balanced and stable to a degree well it can spin or rotate or some such.

[@patrickdonovan5049]

I have an idea, what if you made a ship that had the outside deformed but the ship is gray and you can hide it on moon planets so people would think that it's just part of the moon. You made a video a while ago about a ship that would have a gravity field and pull in rocks so it was camouflaged but this version wouldn't have the rocks and it would be more smooth

[@MazeFrame]

Maybe if you had a flexible drill aray to drag along behind some heavy mining/refining vehicle. In this form, you could aswell launch rocks.

[@jeremieleroux4812]

I don't know if that would work... but try gravity generators and gravity blocks, if it works you could even control it left and right maybe backwards too

[@levilukeskytrekker]

Maybe if you redesign it so it has spokes like a cart wheel, you can then essentially treat the entire thing as the wheel of a larger vehicle.

[@grozzarkazoku8757]

Do you have any thrusters with no exhast because if you had like impulse thrusters or something you could use 8 four forward and 4 reverse to roll it from the sinside.

[@hdog9046]

I think you need to reinforce the sections that are parallel so the hinges all take the impact at the same time.

[@painmax2804]

Maybe you can use Hoverassist script to keep your ship horizontal while drilling down?

[@ChevronTango]

differential mass would be perfect drive for this. either shift the mass forward and backward as it roles to create a force downwards at the front, the drives wheel with torque proportional to the mass. would be reltively easy to program a block and piston to do that.

[@jameshansen1148]

You should give the cylinder a larger circumference and then build a short wheel-base vehicle with large tires to drive inside of it using the weight of the ship's tires to "push" the cylinder across the terrain as it climbs the inside circumference of the "Dryllinder" (TM)

[@MotoCP]

What if you did this same kind of thing except for a sphere? wouldnt have to worry about it tipping over or anything. (no idea if it would be possible but was just a thought I had while watching your video lol

[@aaronzylla4932]

Had an idea for a crazy weapon.... Not sure how effective it would be. A ship that has a Merge block on it, and a projector with another merge block. The goal would be to weaponize this by putting it on a missile and shooting it at an enemy station. Once attached, it could use the projector to add a merge block to the station and then connect to it.