Antimatter Engine (AME)

Antimatter Engine (AME)

The Antimatter Engine is a short-term support generator for the station, providing a sizable chunk of power for a limited time.

It's mainly used to assist engineers in starting up bigger engines like the Singularity Engine or Tesla Engine, by supplementing the station's batteries with partial power to extend their runtime.

Construction

The AME Controller is the part of the AME that outputs power to the station's grid through an HV connection. Because of this, you'll want to start your AME construction with the controller on top of an HV wire.

Most stations have exposed HV wiring or designated spots to wrench an AME controller, so that it connects to the grid.

AME shielding is the physical structure that makes the antimatter engine. It's made by converting AME flatpacks into shielding using a multitool.

To construct an AME, start putting down a 3x3 or larger square of AME flatpacks in preparation for construction, making sure to maximize the number of "center" pieces that are surrounded on all eight sides. The greater amount of center pieces, the more cores your AME will have, and the more power it will be able to output safely.

Once this is done, you can use a multitool to convert each AME flatpack into shielding, which should form a finished AME configuration.

Operation

To start the AME, insert a fuel jar into the AME controller, and set the safe injection rate.

The safe injection rate is the point where the AME can safely run without overheating, while maximizing power output.

This rate is always twice the core count.

For example, an AME with one core will have a safe injection rate of 2. With two cores, the safe injection rate would be 4, and so on.

Any more than this ratio will eventually result in the engine overheating and, shortly afterwards, exploding.

The AME controller will report on both the amount of power it is providing to the grid, and the theoretical maximum power it could provide if demanded.