[VSI] AutoMiner [OLD VERSION]

VSI proudly presents the Autominer. This clever device is capable of - in a slow but steady pace - extracting precious ores out of the ground unattended. The ore must be underground.

New version is here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2113586059

This mod is designed to work with underground deposits! Deposits in surface boulders will not be detected!

Power Consumption and Mining Speed

The Autominer has an adaptive power consumption that depends on the actual mining depth. The extraction speed depends on the ore itself (mine ratio). At normal speed, two Autminers can keep an O2/H2 generator running almost constantly. Higher speeds (added in the last update) multiply the power consumption by a predetermined factor. The current average mining speed is displayed in terminal.

Ore filter and Voxel Removal

Voxels are actually removed during ore extraction, however even though the shown mining area starts from the middle of the block, extraction starts approximately 3 m below the block to avoid mining out the ground supporting it.

A new ore filter has been added to the terminal interface to select which ore the Autominer will extract. This makes it easier to mine deposits under ice for example, which would otherwise be collected even if not needed.

Inventory Handling

Due to Keen's usual restrictiveness, I wasn't able to initialize the conveyor endpoint on the block. To solve inventory issues, when a block with an inventory is connected to the Autominer's conveyor port (bottom of the block), it can be selected as a target inventory in the terminal. This results in the Autominer constantly pushing the contents of its own inventory to this target inventory. This way it is possible to indirectly "conveyor" the block up. When the Autominer's own inventory is full, the extraction is paused and its top light starts blinking yellow.

Limits and Placement restrictions

The autominer can be used both on asteroids and on planets. In space it has a 150 m depth limit, but can be placed anywhere in any angle. On planets however, it can only be placed in a vertical position (+- 45 degrees), above the surface but it will have a 1000 m depth limit. It must be placed on a static grid. If conversion to a ship is detected at any time, the block shuts down and has to be dismantled and rebuilt to function again.

It is possible to mine the same area with multiple Autominers.

Additional Info

At the top of the block, there is a signal light showing the actual state of the block: * Yellow (constant) - the block is stopped and ready * Yellow (blinking) - the block's inventory is full, extraction is paused * Red - the block is not working (not powered or disabled) * Green - the block is working, extraction is running

Additional Features

If you want additional features to be added to this block, please open a new thread where people can vote for the feature and where its details can be discussed. If there is enough vote or if I really like the feature, - and it is possible to do of course - it will be added, so keep them coming :)

The block supports multiplayer.

I would also like to thank Arstan for his invaluable help in testing this mod.