| Remote Control | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category: | Functional Block |
| Status: | Functional |
| Function: | |
| Used to control ships remotely. | |
| Fits small ship | |
| Mass: | 35.2 kg |
| Power: | -10 kW |
| Fits large ship and station | |
| Mass: | 137 kg |
| Power: | -10 kW |
| Data Controls: | [edit] [purge] (?) |
The Remote Control (RC) block allows players to control a drone or shuttle from a distance. You either steer the ship manually using Remote Access, or use the Autopilot.
The remote steering capabilities require a camera and an antenna. The effective range for manual steering is limited by the lowest antenna broadcast range of either side. The Autopilot function, in contrast, does not rely on antenna range.
Construction[]
The RC block exists for small grid and large grid and is cheap to build even in early game. It is 1x1x1 blocks in size and attaches to other blocks on all sides.
Note that with this particular block, placement and rotation are essential. The screenshot shows the correct orientation: The “eye” in front and the gap on top.
If your newly built drone or shuttle unexpectedly flies sideways, grind down the RC block and rebuild it the right way round —— or select a different Forward Direction from the menu on its Control Panel Screen.
Tip: You can always “remote” control the ship you are seated in without building an antenna or extra camera. This means a passenger seat plus a remote control block can stand in for a (missing or broken) cockpit in a pinch, -- or for example, when flying a Drop Pod at the start of the game.
Manual Remote Steering[]
A purpose-built remote-controlled ship without cockpit and oxygen supply is called a drone:
- Advantages are that drones are cheap, light-weight, and compact, and if a drone should get destroyed, the player's health is not affected.
- Downsides of drones are their power-dependent antenna range and their limited (fixed first-person) camera view. Also, asteroids only spawn when players are near, drones don't see them.
In general, you can use the remote control to control any ship unless its main cockpit is in use by someone else.
Requirements[]
- Both sides (the controlling ship/controller and the controlled ship) must have a powered Antenna owned by or shared with the controller.
- The target ship must have a Remote Control block that is owned by or shared with the controller.
- You must be able to remotely access the target ship's terminal, and then click the Control button of the Remote Control block.
Now you can steer the ship using the WASD keys and mouse (by default) and view through the camera.
Steering[]
While in control of the Remote Control block, the player is able to pilot the target ship or rover as if sitting in its cockpit. The only difference is the limited viewpoint through the camera (can’t switch to third-person view in a drone).
To break the control link and regain control of your engineer, press (F key).
If either antenna stops working, or either vehicle moves out of broadcast range, or runs out of power, the link is broken as well.
Seeing where you’re going[]
Note that using the Remote Control block does not immediately change the viewpoint of the operator! To see where the drone is going, combine the use of the remote control block with at least one forward-facing Camera.
You can assign this camera to the remote control as default camera.
- If you use the engineers’s suit antenna to control the grid, your view immediately switches to the default camera.
- If you are seated, the view does not change automatically. Add the camera's View action to the toolbar to be able to see from its point of view.
The only way to look around, however, is to pitch/yaw the whole ship. You won’t be able to press (V key) to switch into third-person perspective, as you can in a cockpit. To exit the camera view, press (F key) (and then once more to close the control connection).
Autopilot[]
The remote control block also has an autopilot function. The Autopilot can be used to make shuttles, trams, or patrolling defense drones travel back and forth on a predetermined track. It’s also useful to tell a drone to disengage and return to the base for repairs.
For details, see Autopilot.
Terminal options[]
General Control options:
- Show on HUD -- Toggle whether the block’s location inside the ship is broadcast through an onboard antenna, so you can find it, e.g. to repair it.
- Control thrusters -- Allows or disables thruster control.
- Control wheels -- Allows or disables wheel control. Not available for Autopilot.
- Control gyros -- Allows or disables gyroscope control.
- Handbrake -- Allows or disables handbrake control.
- Park -- Whether pressing P puts this Remote Control block in park mode.
- Inertia Dampers -- Allows or disables the use of Inertial Dampers. Usually you keep it enabled.
- Show Horizon and Altitude -- Toggles whether you can see the artificial horizon while using the remote control camera view.
- Set up Action -- Set up the actions that are triggered when an enemy weapon initiates (or loses) Target Locking on this remote controlled grid.
- Main Remote Control -- Toggles whether this is the primary or a secondary remote control.
- Control -- Click this button to initiate a control link for manual remote steering.
- Assigned Camera -- Select a default camera on the same grid. When you remote control the grid via the engineer’s suit antenna, your view switches to that camera.
Optionally, you can enable Autopilot to tell this drone or shuttle to automatically travel to selected Waypoints.
For details of the following settings, see Autopilot:
- Autopilot
- Collision Avoidance
- Precision Mode
- Flight Mode
- Forward Direction
- Speed Limit
- Waypoints
- Set up Actions
- GPS Locations
If you are not using the Autopilot, because you want to only remote control the drone, you can leave these settings as is.
Recipe[]
 Remote Control | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Large Ship/Station Required | Large Ship/Station Optional | Small Ship Required | Small Ship Optional |
 Computer | 15 | — | 1 | — |
 Motor | 1 | — | 1 | — |
 Construction Comp. | 10 | — | 1 | — |
 Interior Plate | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
Media[]
