This is Rover. He refuels ships by biting them and wagging his tail (drilling).
Rover acts very differently depending on whether or not I'm watching him. Warping through a full day while he's under my direct control gives me X Liquid Fuel. But, if a day goes by when I'm gone, I get less than 1/6 X.
This problem appears to be independent of whether I supplement production with solar panels or use fuel cells. It seems, "away" production is limited by ore storage.
See that little ore tank on his head? The problem goes away if I use three large ore storage tanks instead. They add considerable weight to Rover, and in theory shouldn't be necessary, because the converter entirely consumes the ore output of the drills.
Has anyone else experienced this behavior? Are there any mods that correct this?