How to automate blueprint building in space engineers?

I have played Factorio before and now started playing Space Engineers. One of essential things in these kind of games is making blueprints and automating construction.

I know how to make blueprints by using Ctrl+B and F10 however I am having hard time automating construction based on blueprint.

Is automation based on blueprint even possible?
How to automate blueprint building in space engineers?

Solution 1:

Depends if you want to use mods or not:

If you wan't to do it without mods, then you could have a wall of welders that moves back and forth by a piston. Extend the piston as far as it can before starting the welders. When it's fully extended, turn on your projector block that contains the blueprint, then turn on the welders and retract the piston at steady but slow pace. It will construct the blueprint with each layer it passes trough. If the piston retract faster than your welders can weld, you could stop the piston let the welders finish welding the layer and turn the piston back on again.

However this takes a ton of resources to make such welding wall, and it will create lag if you play on a server.

So I rather suggest using a mod from the workshop like the "Nanites Control Factory" which I use.

Solution 2:

Depending on how you design your ships and bases, absolutely.

The "standard" way to automate blueprint manufacture in Space Engineers is to use a wall of welders attached to a piston or ship. This is likely to be very laggy, runs the risk of not fully welding up some blocks, and all around is not your friend.

The better way to handle this is to make your ships and bases self-constructing, but this takes quite a bit of thought to pull off, and forces you to design things differently than you might otherwise. Essentially, you build a grid of welders into your ship. All you need to do is weld up the first welder and a cargo container/conveyor connected to a cargo container. That first welder will weld up the nearest welders, which will then weld up other welders.

While this is happening, every block adjacent to the active welders is also welded up to full integrity. This will cause much less lag, because only a fraction of the total number of welders will ever be active at once. It will also guarantee that all blocks end up welded.

This also has the advantage of making any base or ship built this way, fully self-repairing. As long as that first welder remains intact and the object has supplies, it might as well be Wolverine.