This is by far the coolest things I've seen in SE! Love it!

I can see my concept working better in a 2x2 layout with a bigger truck.

Good idea! Nice to see that people are still using my UCU's. But yes, the smaller ones are way more usable. The larger ones tend to be too heavy for most ship designs.

I managed to build a land trailer that "sort of" works with these cargo units. It's more reliable with the smaller units.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2804279843

Thanks man. I appreciate your hard work to make cargo better in game. I wonder if you know of any mods that turn SE into a cargo ship sim at all? Or would this be something I would need to make in a scenario? Thanks again.

Hi,
they are regular blueprints. They should be listet in your blueprint list not in your mod list. :-)

Hi there, this doesn't show in my mod list in game, am I doing something wrong? It would be great if someone created a basic 'delivery' mod that sets simple 'bring cargo from point A - to point B', I wonder if someone has already made one? Thanks.

I see :) Thank you :)

@Elafis I just uploaded an Oxygen version. Thank you for the idea. I will experiment with a battery box, too.

Hull Break don't plan another UCU like OXYGEN, big battery box etc?

Actual built UCUs with this script and with my other modifications are in this collection: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1763753096

The comment at the top should explain the new behaviour. I also rewired the buttons on each end of the UCU to send commands to the programmable block rather than directly manipulating groups by setting their action to UCU Programmable block Beacon >> Run... and entering the listed command (ToggleArtificialMass for the artificial mass button, for example) in the prompt.

I did this because, when a ship has multiple UCUs docked to it, Space Engineers "helpfully" merges all the groups that have the same name, causing the buttons to behave unpredictably. I've hit the "toggle cargo connector" button and seen multiple UCUs fall off my ship because the buttons control the merged group. The script restricts those commands to blocks on the same construct, which prevents this anomaly. It's not strictly required, and if you aren't worried about it, I can send you a version with it removed. Your Grasshopper and other cargo handler designs actually rely on this group-merging behaviour, as well.

The updated script is here: https://gist.github.com/ojacobson/6435b74efcb23754e3ba1a488b22b1f9 - feel free to use & distribute it if you like, take it as inspiration, or just look at it and go "huh," as you see fit.

I'll publish blueprints shortly, as they contain larger changes - including on-container manifest displays using LCD panels. You're more than welcome to pick them apart when I do!

Sounds great, since I have no scripting skills. :-D

How would you feel if I made a few adjustments to the UCUs you've designed and published them as "Universal Cargo Unit - Enhanced" or similar?

* On-UCU cargo manifest display
* Fix issues with button commands affecting other UCUs through connectors
* Automatically disable the artificial masses when landed or docked
* Update the Beacon's HUD text to automatically match the name of the UCU

Alternately, I can send you code.

I really like this concept and it's been a big driver for my recent projects in the last year.

You can use the UCUs wherever you want. That's why I share my builds ;-)

Can I use this with one of my ships? And if I put it on the workshop should i Link this?

I think a UCU that is designed to be dropped from orbit would be very cool. I do a lot of mining in space/ on moons and transport (said ores) to my starter planet base for refining.

The Hercules Freighter should have enough power. But I don't know if the fuel consumption isn't too high. I have a "economic thrusters mod" in my workshop for this case.

Are any of your Freighters capable of transporting from Atmo-orbit?

Then paint it...

I think yellow containers would see more widespread adoption

Seems totally possible.

Just add a parachute to each UCU, and activate it either based on a timer or on a height sensor.

There used to be issues with objects impacting a planet surface with no player nearby; the dropped objects tended to crash through the planet surface and keep falling towards the planet center. That was a few months ago, I'm not sure if they ever fixed that. Just so you know what happened when you see an impact crater but your UCU isn't nearby.

1 and 3 to be exact, sorry for not making it clear

What exactly do you mean?
1) a ship, that can drop UCUs from orbit?
2) a cargo ship with atmospheric thrusters?
3) a UCU that can be dropped from orbit by any ship
4) none of the above.

Hey Question, could there also be a variant that could be used to drop supplies in orbit?

Thank you very much!

Amazing set of Blueprints. Love it sir!

thanks!
@Gonz.0 yes, the batteries are quite large for a compact grid like this. I had to try many solutions before I came to this one.

Sounds cool.

The biggest problem I had with my ISO containers was the large size of the batteries. When I first made mine, it was with the mode that had batteries that were 1x1 small block. Just keeping the connector, lights and buttons active never used more than .5% of the battery for a week's time. Small batteries can be assembled into many spots in a design. #smaller batteries Anyway, I again aplaud your design and being willing to share it. Published designs help people like my 12 year old who have trouble envisioning working designs. (I share mine with him, but he likes to see all the creativity of the community.)

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/workshop/filedetails/?id=1270388369

I've been working on system a bit like this. It's based on 3x3 blocks with an advanced rotor part on top. I'm keeping the scale much smaller to make it work on planets. Coming up with a reliable stevador is proving difficult, though.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1236028315

This is a great look and it is certainly a handy idea to standardise (for some people at least); though I'd personally go for something about half this size, so more smaller craft can be designed to use it and it can be made useful earlier in-game.

I used merge block in my first versions but the problem is, that the freighters and grasshoppers can't remember the saved item groups after the merged UCU is detached. So I had to reconfigure the whole menu bar everytime I connected to a UCU.

So I had to step back from the merge blocks and try the connectors. You can't use Button P now when locking landing gears, but I always put them in my ships menu bar anyway (on button for lock and one for unlock).

I don't know if this problem still persists but now I got used to using connectors instead of merge blocks . Maybe this is not the perfect solution for everyone, but It is a good solution for me xD

Shouldn't the UCU have merge blocks instead of connectors so you won't detach them when trying to lock landing gear?

You can also make batterys thet you can load them onto a ship to power it and if they get empty you can drop the battery cargo on a charg station and replace them with a other full loaded battery cargo same with jump cores

I have fuel tankers for this kind of job (Journeyman Class for example), but if there's demand for other cargo kinds, then I will think about it. The problem is, that there is not much cargo stuff in Space Engineers. only cargo containers and hydrogen tanks.

Jear i got this i have done something similar. https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=733906000
It would be just nice if you make some sort of universal cargo then you could also make more where you replace as examble the cargo container with hydrogen tanks or other stuff.

@Gonz.0 hehe, I thought about adding parachutes but I never used them before so I wanted to test them first because I have no idea how they work or behave.
@Samerrie the complete loadout is listed in the description. It is a cargo module with some little gadgets like artificial mass, landing gears, connectors and buttons to turn them on and off.

I do the same thing, though mine are smaller, an ISO standard size like the cargo boxes on freighters, trains and land trucks. I applaud some of your thinking, the artificial mass is something I did not think of, and standardization in your environment is pretty smart. One addition, I have parachute modules on mine.

Interesting but only cargo modul nothing else?

@Hull Breach These look great! I think i`ll make my next cargoship compatible with those ^^

@Sir Luis yhea, because your´s are realy much better: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1389843326
hope you understand the irony on this comment

nice. kindof like standardized containers in shipping. like it :)

I fail to see why a neat standardized little cargo container is a "sad design"

space engineer builds must be taking the piss this is on the workshop front page. and no

what a sad design.

@TastyChicken Legs, @EdgySpaceCactus
Tank you guys. Glad, you like it!

this is really great stuff