HELM: High-Efficiency Lightweight Monitor

HELM: High-Efficiency Lightweight Monitor

A configurable LCD and cockpit dashboard script for Space Engineers Programmable Blocks.

HELM turns LCDs and cockpit surfaces into telemetry dashboards. Define screens, panels, gauges, colours and block bindings in the Programmable Block's Custom Data.

Tools and Documentation

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• HELM Toolbox - build layouts visually using the real parser and renderer in your browser.
• Documentation - installation, DSL reference, gauges, telemetry fields, hardware profiles and preset gallery.
• Source and Issue Tracker - source code, releases and problem reports.
• Local PowerShell simulator - preview layout files from the command line.

Key Features

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• Declarative layouts - configure screens in Custom Data instead of editing C#.
• Automatic block discovery - bind exact names, groups and wildcards such as [code]Battery*[/code]
• 15 visual controls - bars, LEDs, sparklines, hazards, chevrons, dots, balance charts, toggles, checkboxes, status badges, ammo, flow indicators, text, dials and tanks.
• Responsive multi-screen layouts - grids, panels, row sizing, columns, mirrors and profiles for square, wide and cockpit surfaces.
• Telemetry and engineering units - batteries, power, gas, cargo, production, doors, weapons, flight systems and other terminal blocks with automatic unit scaling.
• Styling and alerts - gradients, conditions, markers, ticks, frames, backgrounds, textures, icons, blinking and ship-wide red alert state.
• Rates, ETA and history - charge or drain rate, estimated time remaining and rolling trends.
• Low-allocation rendering - retained sprite buffers and round-robin screen updates limit work per run.
• Diagnostics - scan bindings and surfaces, list grid names, probe display geometry and inspect runtime use from the Programmable Block console.

Quick Start

[hr][/hr] [olist] [*]Enable Experimental Mode and In-game Scripts for the world. [*]Subscribe, place a Programmable Block, open Edit → Browse Scripts, select HELM Core, then run it. [*]Run the Programmable Block with argument [code]starter[/code] to write a sample into empty Custom Data. [*]Change the sample [code]output:[/code] name to match your LCD or cockpit block, then run [code]reload[/code] [*]Use HELM Toolbox to choose a preset, edit it visually and copy the finished Custom Data into the block. [/olist]

Minimal Display Example

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@bind power = group("Main Batteries", agg: avg)

@screen bridge
output: "Bridge LCD", 0
profile: auto
title: "BRIDGE POWER"
line: "BATTERY" bar(power.percent) gradient(green, yellow, red)

Name a battery group Main Batteries and an LCD Bridge LCD, paste the example into Custom Data, and run [code]reload[/code]. See the Getting Started guide for multi-screen setup and cockpit surface numbers.

In-Game Commands & Micro-API

[hr][/hr] Run the Programmable Block with the following arguments:

• [code]reload[/code] - re-read Custom Data and rebuild the layout.
• [code]refresh[/code] - resolve block names and surfaces again.
• [code]scan[/code] / [code]diagnose[/code] - report bindings, displays, errors and runtime use.
• [code]starter[/code] - write a sample layout into empty Custom Data without overwriting existing data.
• [code]names[/code] - append grid block and group names as comments for copying into binds.
• [code]probe[/code] - draw a temporary geometry test pattern.
• [code]alert on|off|toggle|red[/code] - control the global alert state.
• [code]boot[/code] - replay configured boot sequences.
• [code]console on|off[/code] - show or hide the Programmable Block status console.
• [code]set <var> <value>[/code] - set an in-memory value for external automation and testing.

Headless Display Server (IGC Micro-Framework)

[hr][/hr] External scripts (autopilots, combat computers, sorters) can broadcast directly to HELM over IGC channel "HELM" without writing any UI code:

IGC.SendBroadcastMessage("HELM", "target.lock=1;dist=1420;speed=104");[/code]

[h2]Configuration Essentials[/h2]
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[list]
[*]Use [code]@bind

[*]Use [code]layout: grid(2, 2)[/code] and [code]@panel power at(0, 0, 1, 1)[/code] to split a screen. Reusable [code]@template[/code] and [code]@use[/code] directives avoid repeating layouts. [*]Raw item counts need a full-scale amount: [code]bar(cargo.ingot:Iron) max(5000)[/code]. Use [code]text(batt.rate)[/code], [code]text(batt.eta)[/code] or [code]text(batt.trend)[/code] for history-derived readouts. [*]For IGC variables, declare [code]@bind range = dynamic("dist", default: 0)[/code], then display [code]text(range.val)[/code]. [/list]

Troubleshooting

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• Blank display: run [code]reload[/code], check the Programmable Block detail output, verify the exact LCD name and confirm the surface index.
• Bind error or zero value: every alias used by a gauge needs a matching [code]@bind[/code]. Run [code]names[/code] to copy exact block/group names and consult the telemetry matrix.