How can I build a self-loading torpedo launcher in survival mode?

Question

I am playing survival mode and am currently looking for ways to add some more firepower to my ship. One idea I had was to add a torpedo launcher. My basic idea was:

1. Use a projector to project a blueprint of the torpedo consisting of an ion thruster set on max thrust override, a battery to power it and a warhead.
2. Use a ship welder to construct it
3. Use a landing gear to hold the built torpedo and release it when ready

Unfortunately there is a problem. As you can see on this screenshot, the torpedo is not being built: The problem appears to be that welders only construct blueprint blocks which are in contact with a face of an existing block which is able to provide a hold for that block, and the landing gear isn't considered such a block. I know that because it works if I place some blocks at the side: But in that setup the torpedo is stuck to the holding block and can not be easily released.

Is there a way to build my torpedos automatically and provide a quick and convenient way to release them?

Answer 1

The sole of a landing gear is indeed not suitable for a projector to place a block on.

There are lots of ways to do this, but I'd probably do something like this:

I created this schematic only from top view nor did I draw the whole torpedo, but it should suffice. The're 2 torpedo shafts here: The top one is the actual torpedo, while the bottom one is a dud with a decoyblock in it. I would place the decoyblock as the first block in front of the engine.

The projectorblocks can be placed anywhere outside of the shafts, you can adjust the position of the projection in the controlpanel of the block itself (till a certain range, but the range is pretty big). And ofcourse the welders need to be connected to your conveyor network.

When you have done all this, you can place timerblocks anywhere on your ship. You need to program the chains of each timerblock, which will be the most time consuming. You'll need to chain timerblocks together so it does a lot of actions automatically:

2 timerblocks to override the thrusters on both torpedoes to ignite the thrusters and also they should activate the next 2 timerblocks to release both torpedoes (the dud should be released a little earlier than the actual missile). The timerblocks that released the the torpedoes should then activate 2 more timerblocks to turn on the welders to create new torpedoes and finally activating another set of timerblocks to finally turn them back off after a few certain amount of time. Make sure to name the timerblocks properly so you can distinguish them from each other in the controlpanel (for example TimerStartWelderDud and TimerStartWelderTorpedo).

This should be working as a fairly simple torpedo launcher mechanism. Just make sure the projections of both missiles have 1 block of free space on all sides except where the mergeblocks should connect each other. And also make sure the shaft is long enough that the torpedo engines won't burn a hole in it.