Approximately Up Power and Data Routing

Approximately Up ships fail for boring reasons: power on a data port, a joystick wired to nowhere, or a router branch that starves half your thrusters. This guide explains power cables, data cables, routers, and the routing patterns that connect batteries to engines and joysticks to logic. Master routing before you chase Moon Landing or build Hover Logic circuits.

Start with Build Your First Ship if you still lack a basic frame and thruster stack. Keep Controls handy — H toggles garage debug when links look connected but nothing moves.

Power versus data: two networks

Network	Carries	Connects to
Power	Electricity from batteries/generators	Thrusters, routers, RCS controller, lights, freezers
Data	Control signals (-1..1, 0..1, logic)	Joysticks, levers, switches, math blocks, thruster data inputs

Power routers distribute electricity. Data routers split or merge control signals. They look similar in the parts list but are not interchangeable — plugging a joystick into a power router output does nothing useful.

Rule: power feeds actuators; data tells them how hard to act.

Basic power chain

Standard early-game power path:

1. Battery or generator → power router input
2. Router outputs → lifting thrusters (power ports)
3. Same router or a branched second router → RCS controller, instruments, cargo freezers

When you add more thrusters than one router comfortably feeds, place a second power router fed from the same battery bank. Avoid long single-line chains that pass through every consumer sequentially — branch early from the battery side.

Mission cargo like the ice cream freezer must stay powered entire trips — branch a dedicated power line with no shared switch that a cockpit toggle might cut. See Missions Walkthrough.

Basic data chain

Control routing examples:

• Vertical lever or throttle → data router (optional) → lifting thruster data input
• 3D joystick → RCS controller pitch/yaw/roll inputs (RCS Thrusters)
• Switch → data router → hover logic sub-circuit (Hover Logic)

Approximately Up recognizes common pairings — throttle data directly into thrusters often works without math blocks. Complex automation needs adders, multipliers, remappers, and accumulators on data lines only.

Use data meters while in garage mode to read live values before fly testing. A joystick stuck at 1.0 shows up immediately on a meter; in fly mode that means full thrust and a crash.

Data routers and branching

Data Router 2 (and similar) splits one input to multiple outputs or merges streams. Typical uses:

• One throttle signal → four corner thrusters equally
• Velocity meter output → hover PD circuit and a debug meter
• Switch gate → pass or block hover correction signal

When branching to multiple thrusters, each output should see the same control value unless you intentionally want asymmetric thrust for tuning — advanced and rarely needed on Earth.

Wireless exceptions

RCS thrusters pair wirelessly with the RCS controller — no per-thruster data cables. You still wire power to the controller and data from the 3D joystick. Do not confuse wireless RCS with wireless power; batteries still need physical power links.

Common wiring mistakes

Mistake	Symptom	Fix
Joystick on power port	No thrust response	Move cable to data port on thruster
Thruster power unplugged	Component dark in debug	Connect power router output
Data router instead of power router	Power consumers starve	Swap router type or rewire
No router branch	Last thruster in chain weak	Branch parallel from router
Switch kills cargo power	Mission fail — melted ice cream	Dedicated freezer power line
Hover logic on wrong port	Oscillation or no correction	Verify velocity meter directional mode

Logic blocks stay on data

Hover PD controllers, auto-braking experiments, and joystick splitters live entirely on the data network. They may read sensors powered separately, but math blocks never carry main engine electricity.

Building hover logic? Follow Hover Logic step order: velocity meter → router → accumulator → remapper → multiplier → thruster data, with a switch on the enable line.

Debugging workflow

1. Garage mode (G) — open debug (H) if available
2. Trace power from battery to each thruster — no gaps
3. Trace data from joystick to thruster or RCS controller
4. Place data meters on suspicious junctions
5. Short test flight (R) — Mouse 3 reset controls between tries
6. Fix one cable at a time; duplicate working branches rather than rewiring the whole ship

Scaling for Moon and co-op

Moon ships add atmospheric thrusters alongside electric jets — separate power branches prevent one router overload during landing burn. See Moon Landing Guide.

In four-player co-op, assign one crew member as wire lead so garage edits do not duplicate routers on the same battery without coordination. Co-op Guide covers handoff etiquette.

Use the Thrust Calculator after power routing works — under-voltage is not modeled, but under-thrust is.

Related guides

• Getting Started — garage and fly loop
• Build Your First Ship — minimal power/data template
• RCS Thrusters Setup — wireless rotation layer
• Tier List — which routers and batteries rank highest early

Good ships are good schematics. Draw power down the left side of your frame, data across the cockpit, and branches where thrusters mount. Future you — repairing at Moonstep with one pitch RCS dead — will thank present you for neat routers.