Gravity Generator

From Space Engineers Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Gravity Generator Icon.png
Large Ship / Station
Gravity Generator
Large Ship Icon.png

ComponentsRequired

 Functional 

 Hack 

Dimensions (W,H,L)1,1,1
Mass8,532 kg
8,532,000 g
8,532,000,000 mg
8.532 t
Integrity20,320
Build time50 s
Max Field Size150,150,150
Max Gravity Acceleration9.81 m/s²
Max Required Input567.13 kW
0.567 MW
567,130 W
Power Consumer GroupUtility
Is AirtightNo
PCU Cost185
BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-08

Overview

A Gravity Generator is a device used to create artificial gravity. It may only be place on large ship or station building blocks. The orientation of the gravity generator dictates the direction of gravity, with the side of the block that the gravity generator is installed on becoming "down", and the side with the control panel and the opposite one becoming the "depth" axis, relative to the gravity generator. Multiple generators will act together, increasing force significantly, and multiple generators at different angles will all play a role on the direction gravity affects the player, objects, and Artificial Mass Blocks.

Usage

The gravitational acceleration can be configured using a slider, with possible values being between -1G and 1G. By adjusting the depth, height, and width sliders accordingly, the shape of the gravitational field can be altered to be any variation of a rectangular prism, whether cubic, flat, tall, wide, narrow, short, or long.

Note that in Survival Mode, the larger the effective volume of the gravitational field and the acceleration force, the more power consumption the gravity generator will use. Considerable energy can be saved over time by carefully placing the gravity generator in a more central location and then adjusting the field to affect a smaller area.

Considered alternatives, and usage information is available on Marek Rosa's development blog[1]

Terminal

Grav Generator with the dimensions of the gravity field shown.

Artificial Gravity can also be configured to affect the shape of the gravitational field. The maximum effective depth, height, and width is 150 metres centered on the gravity generator, or 75 metres in all directions.

  • Depth - The distance "behind" and "in front of" the keypad of the gravity generator.
  • Height - The distance "above" and "below" the gravity generator.
  • Width - The distance "left" and "right" of the gravity generator.

Power requirements

The primary factors involved in calculating the power requirement of each individual generator are: Gravitational Acceleration that it provides (a number between 0 to 9.81) the volume of the field that is being generated which is a function of it's dimensions (width, height and depth). This is then raised to the power of a constant as follows:

Power Requirement (MW) = 0.0003 x absolute gravitational acceleration x volume of the field (w x d x h) ^ 0.35

So a field that is only a 50 meter cube, can be calculated to require:

0.0003 x 9.81 x 125000^0.35 = 178.94 KW

Effectiveness in Natural Gravity

Planets and Moons by default have their natural gravitational fields. While it is possible to use gravity generators in the presence of Natural Gravity, its effectiveness diminishes the higher the natural gravitational force is. It reaches to a point where Artificial Gravity has no measurable/noticeable effect. The formula for its effectiveness is as follows:

Ag - Artificial Gravity set in Gravity Generator
Ng - Natural Gravity in [G] units - [0, 1]
Max - higher of 2 values

effective Artificial Gravity = Ag * Max(1 - 2*Ng, 0)

For example at 0.25G of Natural Gravity acceleration from a single Gravity Generator set to 0.8G the effective acceleration is 0.4G, that is 3.9 m/s^2. At 0.5G or 1G of Natural Gravity acceleration from a Gravity Generator is 0 m/s^2 regardless of setting. No matter how many Gravity Generators are used they are essentially just drawing power for nothing.

Media

Gravity Generator gravgen01.jpg

Tips

Known Issues

Related Items

References

  1. http://blog.marekrosa.org/2013/09/artificial-gravity-in-space-engineers.html?m=0

Programming

Update History

01.018.021
  • configurable range of gravity generator