Clutch

Clutches are components used to connect and disconnect two mechanical systems.

The clutch component measures 2x1x1 and has two power nodes labelled "RPS A" and "RPS B". Both sides are identical, meaning a clutch cannot be installed "backwards" by accident. The "Clutch Pressure" number input controls how much power is allowed to be transmitted between both sides.

A clutch without electricity will disconnect as though pressure was set to 0.

Modular engine clutch

Clutches for modular engines behave differently to regular clutch components. For more information, see the section in the Modular engine article.

Power transmission

TODO: needs verification

Clutches do not transmit power linearly. That means, an input of e.g. 0.3 will not transmit 30% of all power, but instead approximately 2% of power.

The real transfer rate is roughly cubic, meaning a function f(x) = x^(1/3) allows a clutch to be used linearly.

Slipping

A partially engaged clutch will slip, meaning both sides will move at different speeds. Slipping clutches have a known bug that causes significantly more power to be delivered than the amount that is actually being produced by the engine, often leading to vehicles achieving higher speeds when the clutch is only partially engaged. This effect is mostly seen around 0.8 clutch pressure, although it is noticeable as early as 0.6.

This bug affects both regular and modular engine clutches. Modular engine clutches, uniquely, have access to flywheels, which can multiply the power gained.